Description
CCS – A's, B's & Rarities / EMI Gold Audio CD 2004
UPC 724356025325
Product Details:
Editorial Review:
It seems strange to see the output of Mickie Most's RAK label finally being taken seriously by record labels as well as collectors, 30-plus years after the imprint established itself as the epitome of disposable pop tunes. Yet EMI's ongoing As, Bs & Rarities series offers nothing less than the same thorough treatment that any other, more hallowed, label could expect. The format is essentially the same throughout: a gathering up of every RAK single (A-sides and B-sides) released by a given band, with the remainder of the CD filled with choice outtakes and oddities -- which, in CCS' case, covers a lot of territories. From the band's opening shot (and hit), a spectral cover of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love," and on through such off-kilter delights as "Brother," "Walking," and the quite salacious "Tap Turns On the Water," CCS maintained a dignified but often unsettling role in the U.K. charts of the early '70s. Neither did the magic cease when the records stopped selling -- their first-ever flop, 1972's "16 Tons," offers up a near-definitive rendition of that jolly old chestbeater. Seven straight singles plug the bulk of this collection, with the B-sides (a superlative rendition of John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom" among them) frequently sounding as great as the hits. From there, five tracks highlight CCS' three original albums, before two superlative, and previously unissued, outtakes close the set. The sleeve notes make the point that, of all the music that main man Alexis Korner made throughout his career, CCS is frequently overlooked by the repackagers. This collection goes a long way toward remedying that oversight and might, if listeners are really lucky, even lead to reissues for the original LPs themselves.
Tracklist:
| 1 | Whole Lotta Love | 3:35 |
| 2 | Boom Boom | 3:36 |
| 3 | Walking | 3:13 |
| 4 | Salome | 3:05 |
| 5 | Tap Turns On The Water | 3:43 |
| 6 | Save The World | 4:02 |
| 7 | Brother | 3:26 |
| 8 | Mister What You Can't Have I Can Get |
4:10 |
| 9 | Sixteen Tons | 2:57 |
| 10 | This Is My Life | 4:26 |
| 11 |
The Band Played The Boogie | 3:37 |
| 12 | Hang It On Me | 4:00 |
| 13 | Hurricane Coming | 3:18 |
| 14 | Dragster | 3:14 |
| 15 | Sunrise | 5:16 |
| 16 | Wade In The Water | 2:57 |
| 17 | Hundred Highways | 3:50 |
| 18 | Primitive Love | 3:16 |
| 19 | I Want You Back | 3:44 |
| 20 | Blues | 2:48 |
| 21 | If I Never Sing Another Song | 1:44 |
About the Band:
Collective Consciousness Society, more commonly known as C.C.S., were a British musical group, led by blues guitarist Alexis Korner.
Formed in 1970 by musical director John Cameron and record producer Mickie Most, C.C.S. consisted largely of session musicians, and was created primarily as a recording outfit. The personnel also included Peter Thorup, vocals; Alan Parker, guitar; Harold McNair, flute; Herbie Flowers, bass; Roger Coulam, keyboards; Barry Morgan, drums; plus Don Lusher and Bill Geldard, trombone. Some of the musicians were also members of Blue Mink.
C.C.S. are best known for their instrumental version of Led Zeppelin's 1969 track "Whole Lotta Love", which entered the UK Singles Chart in 1970, and was used as the theme music for the BBC pop programme Top of the Pops ("TOTP") for most of the 1970s, and, in a remixed version, between 1998 and 2003. Technically, the TOTP theme was not by C.C.S., but was recorded by the TOTP orchestra one morning before the day's rehearsals. Nevertheless, the band was conducted by John Cameron on that occasion and many of the musicians were C.C.S. regulars. This enabled the production to tailor the tune to the correct duration and, more importantly, avoided the weekly payment of royalties to the record label.
Their highest-charting singles were the Donovan song "Walking", and "Tap Turns on the Water". They also recorded three albums, including cover versions of the old blues standard "Boom Boom", "Living in the Past", and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" as well as original material.
Their single, "Brother", was used as the theme to Tom Browne's and Simon Bates' Sunday Top 40/20 Chart Rundown on BBC Radio 1 in the 1970s. Not widely known is that the band were also responsible for the first set of jingles for Manchester's Piccadilly Radio when the station launched in April 1974 – examples can be found on ex-Piccadilly presenter Jeff Cooper's website. The short-lived C.C.S. broke up in 1973, while Alexis Korner moved on to form the group Snape.
