dinner at mr billy's (coloured)

• Edition: Archival collection of mainly previously unreleased early-1970s recordings
• Packaging: Printed inner sleeve featuring a photographic collage and liner notes by original bassist Frank Secich

Dinner at Mr. Billy’s opens another fascinating chapter in the history of Blue Ash, the celebrated Ohio group whose combination of British Invasion melody, hard-rock energy and concise songwriting helped define the American power-pop sound of the 1970s.

Drawn from the archives of Peppermint Productions, the album collects early recordings made before and around the period of the band’s classic 1973 debut, No More, No Less. Many of these performances were originally recorded as one-take demonstrations, copyright recordings or tapes intended for record-company executives, preserving Blue Ash with an immediate and refreshingly unpolished sound.

The collection begins with material from the group’s first professional recording session at Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound Studios in December 1970. “We’ll Live Tomorrow,” written following the deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, appears alongside the tough original “I’ve Been Rolled.” Other selections were recorded at Peppermint Productions in Youngstown, Ohio, where Blue Ash signed an unusual agreement that provided the group with regular studio time throughout the 1970s.

The title originated during a journey to a concert in Pennsylvania. Guitarist Bill “Cupid” Bartolin noticed a roadside sign for a restaurant called Mr. Billy’s and suggested that, should the band ever make an album, it ought to be called Dinner at Mr. Billy’s. Bartolin and Frank Secich subsequently wrote the title song, which remained hidden in the archives for more than five decades.

From jangling power pop and Beatles-inspired vocal harmonies to raw garage rock, heavy guitar work and flashes of early punk energy, these recordings demonstrate that Blue Ash were considerably more varied than their familiar power-pop classification suggests. Highlights include “When I Get You,” “Dangerous Dynamite,” “Movin’ Right Along,” “She’s a Pleaser” and a previously unheard version of “Jazel Jane.”

Track listing:

Side A
1. We’ll Live Tomorrow – 3:12
2. I’ve Been Rolled – 3:24
3. When I Get You – 3:26
4. Stay – 2:27
5. Here and Gone – 1:50
6. Dinner at Mr. Billy’s – 1:51
7. Dangerous Dynamite – 2:48
8. Jazel Jane – 3:43

Side B
1. It’s Alright by Me – 2:26
2. Movin’ Right Along – 3:47
3. She’s a Pleaser – 2:06
4. She Cried for 15 Years – 2:31
5. Make It Easy – 3:09
6. Dinner at Mr. Billy’s (Reprise) – 1:14
7. Say Goodbye – 2:24
8. She Isn’t There – 4:55