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The Scottish rockers of Primal Scream always refused to be pigeonholed, with their music reflecting a wide range of sounds from jangle pop and garage rock to psychedelia and house/dance.  In 1993, the band traveled to Memphis, Tennessee’s Ardent Studios for a brace of blues-rock sessions with legendary producer Tom Dowd (Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin, Jackie DeShannon), engineer Jeff Powell, and the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section.  But Creation Records reportedly wasn’t happy with the results, so the tapes were remixed by George Drakoulias (Black Crowes) with additional recording taking place, too – including a new title track co-written with producer George Clinton.  The reworked productions first appeared on 1994’s Give Out But Don’t Give Up, yielding the U.K. hit single “Rocks” (a Faces pastiche so effective, Rod Stewart later covered it).  The album fared well, reached No. 2 in the U.K. and No. 22 on the Billboard U.S. Heatseekers Albums Chart.  But in 2018, Primal Scream revisited the sessions on Give Out But Don’t Give Up: The Original Memphis Recordings.  Now, Run Out Groove is reissuing those original Tom Dowd mixes on vinyl for the first time in the United States, expanding the album to include the Ardent demos in their vinyl premiere.

Vocalist and Primal Scream co-founder Bobby Gillespie (who penned all of the songs with Robert Young and Andrew Innes) comments in ROG’s press release, “We are so happy to be able to release our Give Out But Don’t Give Up: The Original Memphis Recordings in the country where it was recorded. We love American music especially the soul sound of Memphis and Muscle Shoals in the 1960s and 70s which was such a huge influence on this album. We were working class boys from Glasgow who realized our dream to work with the legendary producer Tom Dowd, Roger Hawkins and David Hood of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and Wayne Jackson and Andrew Love of the Memphis Horns. All of whom produced and played on so many classic soul records. Working at Ardent where Big Star recorded was also part of our dream that came true. Finally, American music fans can hear the full fruits of our labor during that long, hot Memphis summer of 1993. Hope u have as much fun listening to it as we all had making it.”

The 3LP set has three sides of 140-gram vinyl presenting the original nine Tom Dowd mixes intended for album release and three sides with the Ardent Studios outtakes including jams, rehearsals, alternates, and covers of Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, The Bee Gees, and The Everly Brothers.  This deluxe vinyl set will be mastered and lacquered by original engineer Jeff Powell at Sam Phillips Recording Studio on 33 1/3 speed for the first time.  A booklet includes liner notes and photos.  It’s all housed in a lavish tri-fold sleeve with new cover artwork.  (The CD release used a cassette tape box as the cover art.) This individually numbered and limited release is available to pre-order until February 17 with a tentative release date of June 4.

You’ll find the track listing and pre-order link for Primal Scream’s Give Out But Don’t Give Up: The Original Memphis Recordings on Run Out Groove below.

Primal Scream, Give Out But Don’t Give Up: The Original Memphis Recordings (Sony U.K. 19075815742, 2018 – reissued Run Out Groove, 2021)

Side A (Original Tom Dowd Album Mix)

1. Jailbird
2. Rocks
3. Call on Me
4. Everybody Needs Somebody

Side B (Original Tom Dowd Album Mix)

1. Sad and Blue
2. Big Jet Plane
3. Free

Side C (Original Tom Dowd Album Mix)

1. Jesus
2. Cry Myself Blind
3. Side D (Ardent Outtakes)
4. Billy/To Love Somebody
5. Memphis Groove (Improvised Song Jam)
6. Sad and Blue (Early Rehearsal Jam)
7. Call on Me (Monitor Mix)
8. Big Jet Plane (Early Rehearsal Jam/Tom Dowd Instructions)

Side E (Ardent Outtakes)

1. Free (Bobby Vocals/Full Band Rehearsal Jam)
2. Everybody Needs Somebody (Alternate Recording)
3. Blue Moon of Kentucky/Trying to Get to You
4. Jailbird Guitar
5. Jesus (Monitor Mix)

Side F (Ardent Outtakes)

1. Funky Jam (Original Recording)
2. Free (Early Rehearsal – Sitar/Piano/Bobby Vocal)
3. Cry Myself Blind (Monitor Mix) / Big Jet Plane (Sitar Version)
4. All I Have to Do Is Dream