Between 1966 and 1970 Birmingham based British rock band The Move, led by multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter Roy Wood, issued three albums, a live EP, and numerous singles, seven of which reached the top 12 in the UK.

Japanese labels Solid Records, Ultra-Vybe and Fly Records have joined forces in releasing all these tracks, supplemented by live performances, radio broadcasts and remixed versions in a massive, comprehensive eleven disc, two hundred fifteen track eleven disc box set, unquestionably the last word regarding The Move, with the exception of their 1971 LP “Message From The Country” and related single/EP sides released on the Harvest label and unavailable for inclusion here.

The first three discs include ninety tracks related to the band’s 1968 self-titled debut album, issued only in mono. Disc one opens with the thirteen tracks included on “The Move” recorded by lead vocalist Carl Wayne, Wood, rhythm guitarist/vocalist Trevor Burton, bassist/vocalist Ace Kefford and drummer/vocalist Bev Bevan. Ten of the thirteen tracks were written by Wood, with a tasty take on Moby Grape’s “Hey Grandma” among the three covers. The disc is fleshed out with eighteen bonus tracks including the top 5 UK singles “Night Of Fear” and “I Can Hear The Grass Grow” found here in mono mixes, while the album itself contained two more top 5 hits in “Fire Brigade” and “Flowers In The Rain.” Disc two titled ‘Stereo Versions Plus’ has twenty nine tracks, beginning with stereo remixes of the album tracks, supplemented by enhanced stereo, instrumental and full-length versions of tunes such as “Cherry Blossom Clinic” included in both mono and stereo. Disc three is comprised of thirty tracks, twenty five of which were recorded for BBC radio broadcasts, including an inspired psychedelic take on the Bonnie Dobson/Tim Rose classic “Morning Dew” from 1967 as well as their performance of The Byrds’ “So You Want To Be A Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” from the same year, along with live versions of “Flowers In The Rain,” “I Can Hear The Grass Grow,” ‘Night Of Fear” and “Fire Brigade” along with fan favorite and band originals “(Here We Go Round) The Lemon Tree” and “Kilroy Was Here” which were included on the studio album.

Disc four, ‘Something Else From The Move Plus)’ is centered around the five track EP recorded live at the Marquee Club in 1968. The mono only release was highlighted by covers of “So You Wanna Be A Rock ‘n’ Roll Star,” Love’s “Stephanie Knows Who” and Spooky Tooth’s “Sunshine Help Me” included here in edited and full length takes Failing to sell the EP was quickly pulled from record shops. Tracks recorded, but unreleased at the time included Jerry Ragavoy’s “Piece Of My Heart” popularized by Janis Joplin with Big Brother And The Holding Company. Of the twenty two tracks included here, ten are in mono, while twelve are presented in stereo, having been remixed and remastered from the master tapes for inclusion on the 2008 Salvo Records four disc box set, “Anthology 1966-1972.”

Disc five ‘Blackberry Way: Singles 1968-1969 Plus’ is dedicated to non-LP singles such as the title track, The Move’s sole #1 UK hit. Eighteen of the twenty two titles are presented in mono, and include the group’s #12 hit from 1969 “Curly.” “Wild Tiger Woman” released the same year, is included in both its US and UK versions. For completeness “Omnibus” is included in edited and full-length mono as well as enhanced stereo versions, while “Blackberry Way” is found in its original version, along with a shortened edit as well as enhanced stereo and 2011 mix versions. “Curly” appears in its originally released version along with enhanced stereo and an early take titled “Curly Where’s Your Girly.”

Discs six and seven include ‘Live At The Fillmore 1969’ which remained unissued until 2012. The band, by then consisting of Wayne, Wood, bassist Price and drummer Bevan is showcased on band originals like “Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited,” a ten minute run through “I Can Hear The Grass Grow” and “Hello Susie” along with outstanding covers of Nazz’s “Under The Ice” and “Open My Eyes” running fifteen and seven minutes each, as well as extended takes on Jon Pierson and Wyatt Day’s “Fields Of People” and Tom Paxton’s “The Last Thing On My Mind” along with two tasty takes on Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil’s “Don’t Make My Baby Blue.” The set also includes a ten minute interview with drummer Bevan who shares his recollections of the American tour.

Discs eight and nine are devoted to February 1970’s ‘Shazam’ which many consider The Move at its best, with Trevor Burton having exited and The Move becoming a quartet. The album consists of six extended tracks, side one containing band originals “Hello Susie,” “Beautiful Daughter” and “Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited” with the track from the group’s debut indeed revisited and stretched from three minutes to nearly nine, while side two presents covers of Day and Pierson’s “Fields Of People,” Mann and Weil’s “Don’t Make My Baby Blue” and Tom Paxton’s “The Last Thing On My Mind.” The first disc is completed by shortened versions of “Hello Susie” including one intended for single release in the US, and three alternate versions of “Beautiful Daughter.” The second disc comprises twenty three recordings done for the BBC. These include takes on “Hello Susie” and “Beautiful Daughter” from ‘Shazam’ as well as revisits of earlier tracks such as “Blackberry Way” and “Curly” and covers such as “Open My Eyes” and “Fields Of People.”

Discs ten and eleven include the recordings of The Move following the addition of multi-instrumentalist/vocalist/songwriter Jeff Lynne, formerly of The Idle Race, replacing vocalist Carl Wayne. The band continued the shift toward heavier, harder edged rock found on ‘Shazam’ with December 1970’s ‘Looking On’ again consisting of extended tracks such as the nearly eight minute title track and the heavy, yet commercially accessible “Brontosaurus” both penned by Wood. “Brontosaurus” peaked at #7 on the UK charts, but its follow-ups “When Alice Comes Back To The Farm” and “Turkish Tram Conductor Blues” both failed to click with record buyers, and like ‘Shazam’ the long player failed to make an impact on the charts. Disc ten contains edited versions of “Brontosaurus” in both mono and stereo, issued in the US and an edit of Wood’s eight minute “Feel Too Good” also intended for radio release. Sadly, like all their predecessors, they failed to impact the US charts. Disc eleven opens with nine recordings done for BBC broadcast, including “Brontosaurus” and its b-side “Lightning Never Strikes Twice” as well as a fiery take on the album’s title track. The disc and box set close with the alternative, single edits of “Lightning Never Strikes Twice” and “Turkish Tram Conductor Blues.”

‘The Move Complete Collection 1966-1970’ comes in a lift lid box, with each of its eleven discs contained in cardboard mini-LP sleeves with plastic liners included to protect the discs from being damaged when removing them. The set comes with an impressive one hundred plus page booklet. Unfortunately, the liner notes and track annotations are in Japanese, so that only the lyrics appear in English. With tape research done by Margaret Fraser, Rob Caiger, Bob Adams, Bill Inglot, Bill Levenson, Cary Anning, Ian Pickavance, Kevin Flaherty, Tony Lunn and Andy Skurow it’s hard to imagine how exhaustive the work done on this box set was as it contains every track found on reissues done in the past three decades by Repertoire, Salvo or Esoteric Records. The Move sound incredible thanks to the tape transfers done by Rob Kylock, Nick Robbins, Peter Mew, Beth Lopez, Erick Labson and Tim Hunt. Masato Wakatsuki and Eji Ishiyama did an amazing job compiling this mammoth box set. One need only supplement it with “Message From The Country” most recently reissued by Esoteric Recordings to have a truly complete collection of The Move. This box set will appeal to fans of psychedelic rock, pop rock, 1960s and 1970s rock, classic rock, and rock music in general and cannot be recommended highly enough.

Kevin Rathert

The Move – ‘The Move Complete Collection 1966-1970’ (Solid, Ultra-Vybe, Fly, 2022)