The late Mick Ronson (1946-1993) was inextricably linked with David Bowie, playing with the superstar during his pre-fame days in The Hype and then as a Spider from Mars supporting Ziggy Stardust. But while Ronno's powerful licks still reverberate from his time with Bowie - on albums including The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars, Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane, The Man Who Sold the World, Pin Ups, and Lou Reed's Transformer - he left behind a rich legacy of music in other capacities, as well. He joined Bob Dylan's freewheeling Rolling Thunder Revue, and played on albums by Roger Daltrey, Ian Hunter, Ellen Foley, John Mellencamp, David Cassidy, and Roger C. Reale and Rue Morgue, to name a few. Late in 2019, his two solo albums released via Tony DeFries' MainMan Productions were collected with two discs of bonus material on a 4-CD box set from Cherry Red. Only After Dark: The Complete MainMan Recordings continues the series begun earlier last year with Dana Gillespie's What Memories We Make: The Complete MainMan Recordings 1971-1974, bringing together the only two solo albums released in Ronno's lifetime as well as numerous rarities.

The collection opens with Ronson's RCA/MainMan 1974 debut album Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, for which he assembled a band featuring Bowie alumni Mike Garson (piano), Trevor Bolder (bass), and Aynsley Dunbar (drums). David Wells' liner notes quote Ronson, "It was sort of being bamboozled out of the last David Bowie concert and approached with the offer that I could be the next David Cassidy or whoever it may be, do an album right now." The LP was quickly recorded in September-October 1973, not long after the recording of Bowie's Pin Ups, and the former Ziggy Stardust pitched in to help his guitar-slinging pal. He contributed new lyrics to an Italian melody to create "Music Is Lethal," set words to Ronson's music on "Hey Ma, Get Papa," and returned to the glam milieu with "Growing Up and I'm Fine." The album opened with a Bowie-esque cover of the Elvis Presley chestnut "Love Me Tender" and ended with a blazing take on Richard Rodgers' ballet "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue," composed for the musical On Your Toes. "Love Me Tender" was similar to Annette Peacock's arrangement on her own MainMan LP, and Ronson also revisited Peacock's "I'm the One."

If the Slaughter LP didn't turn Mick Ronson into David Cassidy as it attempted to reinvent the axe man as a lead vocalist, it nonetheless peaked within the U.K. top ten. It's expanded here with the non-LP live single "Leave My Heart Alone" plus live selections from 1974 and 1979 (issued on the 1999 release Showtime) and a flexidisc teen magazine interview.

After touring behind Slaughter, Ronno returned to the studio to craft a sophomore set. For Play Don't Worry, the guitarist/multi-instrumentalist salvaged the backing track featuring Garson, Bolder, and Dunbar of Lou Reed's "White Light/White Heat" from Bowie's Pin Ups sessions, and welcomed other guest musicians including Jeff Daly on saxophone, Neil Kernon on ARP, Ritchie Dharma, Paul Francis, and Tony Newman on drums, and John Mealing on piano. Ronson's guitar was more out front this time on tracks like Pure Prairie League's swaggering "Angel No. 9" which channeled the Bowie sound and the amped-up version of Bobby Troup's oldie "The Girl Can't Help It" featuring his Mott the Hoople pal Ian Hunter on background vocals. Another PPL song, "Woman," was also selected. Ronson had a history with the band, and had played on their original version of "Angel No. 9." He also contributed some original material, including the title track "Play Don't Worry."

Shortly after the album was completed, Ronson joined Mott the Hoople for a brief stint; three months later, the band split with frontman Hunter, and Ronson joined Hunter in the Hunter Ronson Band. All of this activity threatened to derail any promotion for Play Don't Worry, which featured more of the "Mick Ronson sound" his fans would have craved. It reached a top 30 peak within the U.K., disappointing compared to its predecessor.

Play Don't Worry is expanded here with the same complement of nine bonus tracks on previous CD releases including Ronson's versions of Annette Peacock's "Seven Days" (a single B-side), Bowie's "Stone Love," and a demo of "(Is There) Life on Mars." The latter tune, which was subsequently performed by Ronson on the Rolling Thunder tour, is not to be confused with Bowie's classic song of the same title. The five demos here were recorded by Ronson with members of Rolling Thunder backing band Guam, including future Alpha Band members T Bone Burnett, Steve Soles, and David Mansfield. The unit was short-lived, though, as Ronson decided to team with another Rolling Thunder bandmate, Roger McGuinn, as Thunderbyrd.

A third solo album never materialized as Ronson preferred the sideman's role to the spotlight. The third disc of the box set has 12 tracks Ronno recorded in Woodstock's Bearsville Studios in 1976 for an abortive LP, along with two more demos and an outtake. Other than the demo of "Just Like This," these tracks - in a guitar-heavy, confident rock vein - have been collected on various prior releases including 1999's Just Like This. The fourth and final disc of Only After Dark has more demos and a clutch of live recordings from the Buffalo Century Theatre in 1976, all previously released on the Showtime and Just Like This collections.

Only After Dark: The Complete MainMan Recordings is available now. It's housed in a compact, clamshell case with each disc in individual paper sleeves and a 24-page booklet boasting David Wells' fine biographical essay. (While credits are included, discographical annotation is unfortunately missing.) As all of this material save the "All Night Long" demo has been previously released, longtime Ronson collectors may deem it inessential. But for those unfamiliar with his solo recordings, this set is one-stop shopping. Ultimately, Mick Ronson was more comfortable supporting other artists than fronting his own band and elevating their art with his powerful, searing musicianship, but these recordings reveal a talented artist searching for his own sound...somewhere between David Bowie and David Cassidy.

Mick Ronson, Only After Dark: The Complete MainMan Recordings (Cherry Red CRCDBOX85 (U.K.), 2019) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1: Slaughter On 10th Avenue (1-7, RCA Victor APL1-0353, 1974) and bonus tracks

1. Love Me Tender
2. Growing Up and I'm Fine
3. Only After Dark
4. Music Is Lethal
5. I'm The One
6. Pleasure Man/Hey Ma Get Papa
7. Slaughter On 10th Avenue
8. Leave My Heart Alone
9. Slaughter On 10th Avenue (Solo Guitar Sections)
10. Love Me Tender (Live @ The Rainbow, London - 2/23/1974)
11. Slaughter On 10th Avenue (Live @ The Rainbow, London - 2/23/1974)
12. Teen Magazine Interview
13. Slaughter On 10th Avenue (Live @ Grosse Freiheit, Hamburg - 2/19/1990)
14. Angel No. 9 (Live @ The Ford Auditorium - 4/28/1975)
15. F.B.I. (Live @ My Father's Place, Roslyn, NY - 6/12/1979)

Disc 1, Track 8 from "Slaughter On 10th Avenue" U.K. single - RCA Victor LPBO 5022, 1974
Disc 1, Tracks 9-11 from Slaughter On 10th Avenue reissue - Original Masters SMMCD503 (U.K.), 1997
Disc 1, Track 12 from Mainman/RCA flexidisc, April 1974
Disc 1, Tracks 13-15 from Showtime - New Millennium Communications Ltd. PILOT 16X (U.K.), 1999

Disc 2: Play Don't Worry (1-9, RCA Victor APL1-0681, 1975) and bonus tracks

1. Billy Porter
2. Angel No. 9
3. This Is For You
4. White Light/White Heat
5. Play Don't Worry
6. Hazy Days
7. Girl Can't Help It
8. Empty Bed (Io Me Ne Andrei)
9. Woman
10. Seven Days
11. 28 Days Jam (Outtake)
12. Stone Love (Soul Love) (Outtake)
13. I'd Rather Be Me (Outtake)
14. Life On Mars? (Demo)
15. Pain In The City (Demo)
16. Dogs (French Girl) (Demo)
17. Woman (Demo - Alternative Version)
18. Seven Days (Demo - Alternative Version)

Disc 2, Track 10 from "Billy Porter" U.K. single - RCA Victor 2482, 1974
Disc 2, Tracks 11-18 from Play Don't Worry reissue - Original Masters SMMCD504 (U.K.), 1997

Disc 3: The 1976 Sessions (all tracks except * released on Just Like This - Burning Airlines PILOT50 (U.K.), 1999)

1. Just Like This
2. I'd Give Anything To See You
3. Takin' a Train
4. Hard Life
5. (I'm Just a) Junkie For Your Love
6. Crazy Love
7. Hey Grandma
8. Is That Any Way
9. I've Got No Secrets
10. Hard Headed Woman
11. Roll Like The River
12. Angel No. 9
13. Junkie (Demo)
14. All Night Long (Demo) *
15. Ronno's Bar and Grill (Studio Outtake)

Disc 4: Rarities

1. Hey Grandma (Demo)
2. Crazy Love (Demo)
3. Hard Life (Demo - Ballad Version)
4. I'd Give Anything To See You (Demo)
5. Takin' The Next Train (Demo)
6. Crazy Love (Live @ The Century Theater, Buffalo, NY - 12/15/1976)
7. Hey Grandma (Live @ The Century Theater, Buffalo, NY - 12/15/1976)
8. (Takin' a) Train (Live @ The Century Theater, Buffalo, NY - 12/15/1976)
9. Junkie (Live @ The Century Theater, Buffalo, NY - 12/15/1976)
10. I'd Give Anything To See You (Live @ The Century Theater, Buffalo, NY - 12/15/1976)
11. Hard Life (Live @ The Century Theater, Buffalo, NY - 12/15/1976)
12. Just Like This (Live @ The Century Theater, Buffalo, NY - 12/15/1976)

Disc 4, Tracks 1-5 from Just Like This - Burning Airlines PILOT50 (U.K.), 1999
Disc 4, Tracks 6-12 from Showtime - New Millennium Communications Ltd. PILOT 16X (U.K.), 1999