In a career spanning eight decades, guitarist Ray Fenwick has played pop, prog, hard rock, rhythm and blues, rock-and-roll, and just about every genre conceivable.  He's curated a new 3-CD compendium for Cherry Red's Lemon imprint appropriately entitled Playing Through the Changes: Anthology 1964-2020, bringing together 61 tracks (some previously unreleased and new to CD) on which his guitar is heard alongside The Spencer Davis Group, Roger Glover, Ronnie James Dio, David Coverdale, Bo Diddley, Ian Gillan, Graham Bonnet, The Syndicats, James Burton, Hardin and York, and many others.  It covers his discography as a solo artist, sideman, band member, leader, and guest alike.

While arranged out of chronological order, Playing Through the Changes stretches back as far as Fenwick's first professional band.  The Essex native joined Rupert and The Red Devils at the age of fifteen, playing beat and ska with the brassy outfit as on the selection here of "Everytime I Do."  Soon after he joined up with The Excels (not to be confused with any number of American groups by this name).  In mid-1965, he hooked up with The Syndicats, replacing future Yes guitarist Steve Howe in the band's line-up.  Fenwick's very first release with the band, the B-side "Crawdaddy Simone," showcased his heavy, proto-psych licks on a 3-minute freakbeat explosion produced by Joe Meek.  He was soon lured to the Dutch band The Tee Set (represented by a re-recording of the band's 1967 hit "Don't You Leave," as Fenwick hadn't joined as of the original single) and its successor After Tea (a live "Long Ago").  The latter group's song also entitled "After Tea" was picked up for a cover version by The Spencer Davis Group - by which time Ray was a bona fide member of that outfit.  Fenwick's tenure with the group is represented by four tracks here (his single debut "Mr. Second Class," the Indian-influenced "After Tea," the edgy "The Screw," and "Letters from Edith"); Cherry Red's retired RPM imprint collected some of his work with the band on the 2016 box Taking Out Time: Complete Recordings 1967-1969.

When The Spencer Davis Group went on hiatus as the 1970s dawned, Fenwick plied his trade with such studio projects as Musicians Union Band and The Guitar Orchestra before making his solo debut with the album Keep America Beautiful, Get a Haircut (1971).  He was joined by Elton John Band members Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson as well as studio drummer and fellow Elton veteran Roger Pope.  Both of the ambitious album's two lengthy suites, "The Dream" and "Stateside," are reprised here.  Also in 1971, Fenwick co-authored the nursery rhyme-meets-rock theme to children's television show Magpie with SDG members Spencer Davis and Pete York.  David, Fenwick, York, and Eddie Hardin all played on the record which was released under the name of The Murgatroyd Band.  Ray also joined Hardin and York in their own eponymous band (heard here on "Have Mercy Woman") and contributed to Hardin's musical adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows.

The seventies brought even more high-profile opportunities for Fenwick including the glam group Fancy (whose output was collected earlier this year by Cherry Red on The Complete Recordings); Deep Purple/Rainbow bassist Roger Glover's concept album The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast featuring Ronnie James Dio; and Purple vocalist Ian Gillan's own Ian Gillan Band.  In the latter, Fenwick drew on American funk and jazz fusion influences to shape a sound far-removed from Deep Purple.  All of these diverse projects are featured on this collection.

Fenwick continued to bounce between bands (Rowdy, also featuring Billy Bremner, Jackie McAuley, John Gustafson, and Les Binks), studio projects (Eddie Hardin's Wizards Convention), session work (Bo Diddley, Graham Bonnet, even some budget LPs for the old Woolworths chain), and various solo endeavors (Ray Fenwick's White Lightning).  In the late '80s, Fenwick called upon many of his musical heavyweight pals to form the loose supergroup Forcefield.  Between 1987 and 1990, four albums were released featuring Fenwick and luminaries such as Graham Bonnet, Black Sabbath vocalist Tony Martin, stalwart drummer Cozy Powell, Focus guitarist Jan Akkerman, bassist Mo Foster, and others.  Forcefield's albums offered melodic hard rock originals and covers; Playing Through the Changes offers their takes on Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water," The Kinks' "Tired of Waiting for You," and the Graham Bonnet-led "Hit and Run" co-written by Fenwick.  In 1992, he and Powell tore through Mason Williams' hit instrumental "Classical Gas."  Ray got back to his R&B and ska roots, respectively, when he supported Geno Washington on 1998's bluesy Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, and worked with the South Coast Ska Stars.  He also fulfilled a lifelong dream when he played with Wrecking Crew member and Elvis TCB Band guitar-slinger James Burton.  "Milk Cow Blues," with Burton, Fenwick, Clem Cattini, and Dave Samson, makes its official debut here.

While the non-chronological sequencing can make for a slightly schizophrenic listen, Playing Through the Changes adds up to a miniature history of the rock era with one of its busiest if most underrated guitarists.  This isn't the first anthology of Fenwick's work; RPM's 1997 release Riding the Rock Machine: Groups and Sessions 1962-1976 covered much of the early period of his career, and most of its tracks have been carried over for this much more comprehensive and up-to-date survey.

Playing Through the Changes is housed in an eight-panel digipak and includes a 24-page full-color booklet with full discography and copious liner notes by David Randall chronicling Fenwick's entire career (including mentions of other work not addressed on this collection) and peppered with the guitarist's own memories.  Alan Wilson has remastered all tracks.  This enjoyably eclectic musical tour of Ray Fenwick's back pages is available now at the links below.

Ray Fenwick, Playing Through the Changes: Anthology 1964-2020 (Cherry Red/Lemon CDLEMT243, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. Mercury High - Ian Gillan Band
2. Tijuana Holiday - Minute by Minute
3. Range Rider - The South Coast Ska Stars
4. The Dream - Ray Fenwick
5. She's Ridin' the Rock Machine - Fancy
6. Swingin' Low - Ray Fenwick and Clem Cattini
7. The Screw - The Spencer Davis Group
8. Blues Never Gonna - Ray Fenwick
9. Everytime I Do - Rupert and The Red Devils
10. Crawdaddy Simone - The Syndicats
11. Long Ago (Live) - After Tea
12. After Tea - The Spencer Davis Group
13. Are You Wiv - Tich Turner's Escalator
14. Bad Boy - Musicians Union Band
15. Ghost Town - Guitar Orchestra
16. Apache - Ray Fenwick (*)
17. Second Class - The Spencer Davis Group
18. Cartwheel Rag - Ray Fenwick (*)
19. Three Times Your Age - Minute by Minute
20. Wind in the Willows (Main Theme) (Live) - Eddie Hardin

CD 2

1. Smoke on the Water (Single Version) - Forcefield feat. Pete Prescott
2. Magpie - The Murgatroyd Band
3. Trying to Get to You (Alternate Version) - Ian Gillan
4. I Can't Let Go - Angel Montgomery (*)
5. Money to Burn - Wizards Convention feat. David Coverdale
6. I Wanna Boogie - Ray Fenwick
7. Walk Don't Run - Ray Fenwick (*)
8. High Class Baby - Rowdy (*)
9. Don't You Leave (Re-Recording) - Tee-Set
10. Between the Devil and Me - Ray Fenwick
11. Fly Away - Roger Glover and Guests feat. Liza Strike
12. Love Is All - Roger Glover and Guests feat. Ronnie James Dio
13. The Blues Walks with Me - Geno Washington and The Purple Aces
14. One Fine Day - Summer Wine
15. Queen of the Night - Ray Fenwick
16. Tired of Waiting for You - Forcefield feat. Tony Martin
17. Hot Head of Steam - Eddie Hardin's Wizards Convention 2 feat. Chris Farlowe
18. Have Mercy Woman - Hardin and York
19. Please Call Me - Graham Bonnet
20. Stewing My Wine - Guitar Orchestra
21. Broken Man - Marlon
22. When the Sun Stops Shining - Wizards Convention feat. Ray Fenwick

CD 3

1. Country Lights - Ian Gillan Band
2. Hit and Run - Forcefield feat. Graham Bonnet
3. Sultana - Eddie Hardin's Wizards Convention 2
4. Try a Little Tenderness - Eddie Hardin's Wizards Convention 2 feat. Chris Farlowe
5. Twice - David Harks
6. Show Me the Way to Georgia - Mike Hurst
7. Stateside - Ray Fenwick
8. In the Hall of the Mountain King - The South Coast Ska Stars
9. Letters from Edith - The Spencer Davis Group
10. Bad Love - Geno Washington and The Purple Aces
11. Classical Gas - Cozy Powell
12. Maybe Baby - Eddie Hardin
13. Tom-Tom - Ray Fenwick
14. Don't Want No Lyin' Woman - Bo Diddley
15. Milk Cow Blues - James Burton, Clem Cattini, Dave Samson and Ray Fenwick (*)
16. Back U.S.A. - The Wheelin' and Hammerin' Band
17. Shine It on Me - Ray Fenwick's White Lightning
18. Mail Box - Ray Fenwick's White Lightning
19. We Persuade Ourselves We Are Immortal - Amorphous Androgynous (*)

(*) previously unreleased

CD 1, Track 1; CD 3, Track 1 from Scarabus, Island LP ILPS 9511, 1977
CD 1, Tracks 2 & 19 from Timewatch, Sky CD TCD 10077, 1989
CD 1, Track 3 and CD 3, Track 8 from Mod City, Angel Air CD SJPCD097, 2001
CD 1, Track 4 and CD 3, Track 7 from Keep America Beautiful, Get a Haircut, Decca LP SKL 5090, 1971
CD 1, Track 5 from Something to Remember, Arista LP ARTY 102, 1975
CD 1, Track 6 from Joe Meek Should Inherit the Earth Vol. 2, Western Star CD WSRC 014, 2006
CD 1, Track 7 from Gluggo, Vertigo LP 6360 088, 1973
CD 1, Track 8 rec. 1971 & 1997 released on Keep America Beautiful, Get a Haircut, Angel Air CD SJPCD013, 1997
CD 1, Tracks 9 & 11; CD 2, Track 3 rec. 1964/65, released on Riding the Rock Machine, RPM CD 176, 1997
CD 1, Track 10 from Columbia single DB 7686, 1965
CD 1, Track 12 from United Artists single UA 2213, 1968
CD 1, Track 13 from Cheapskate single CHEAP 7, 1980
CD 1, Track 14 from Musicians Union Band, Polydor LP 2675 009, 1971)
CD 1, Track 15; CD 2, Track 20 from Guitar Orchestra, Angel Air CD SJPCD002
CD 1, Track 17 from With Their New Face On, United Artists LP SULP1192, 1968
CD 1, Track 20 from The Wind in the Willows, In-Akustik CD INAK 9010, 1992
CD 2, Track 1 from President single PT 551, 1986
CD 2, Track 2 from Decca single F 13256, 1971
CD 2, Tracks 5 & 22 from Wizards Convention, RCA LP RS 1085, 1976
CD 2, Tracks 6 & 15 from Mercury single 6007 176, 1978
CD 2, Track 9 from Greatest Hits - Hot Nights, Corduroy CD CCD 2411, 1988
CD 2, Track 10 from Philips single 6003 667, 1978
CD 2, Tracks 11-12 from The Butterfly Ball and The Grasshopper's Feast, Purple LP TPSA 7514, 1974
CD 2, Track 13 and CD 3, Track 10 from Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, Thunderbird CD CSA 114, 1998
CD 2, Track 14 from Presenting Our Fabulous Summer Wine, EM CD EM1004, 1999
CD 2, Track 16 from Forcefield II - The Talisman, President LP PTLS/PCOM 1095, 1988
CD 2, Track 17; CD 3, Tracks 3-4 from Eddie Hardin's Wizards Convention 2, Edelton CD 0029152 EDL, 1995
CD 2, Track 18 from For the World, Decca SKL 5095, 1971
CD 2, Track 19 from Here Comes the Night, President LP PTLS/PCOM 1114, 1991
CD 2, Track 21 from Purple single PUR 120, 1974
CD 3, Track 2 from Forcefield III - To Oz and Back, President LP PTLS/PCOM 1100, 1989
CD 3, Track 5 rel. digitally 2021, previously unreleased on CD
CD 3, Track 6 from In My Time, Capitol LP ST 21819, 1971
CD 3, Track 9 from Funky, Date LP TES 4021, 1970
CD 3, Track 11 from The Drums Are Back, Electrola CD 799226 1, 1992
CD 3, Track 12 from Circumstantial Evidence, RCA LP PL 30101, 1982
CD 3, Track 13 rel. digitally 2021, previously unreleased on CD
CD 3, Track 14 from The London Bo Diddley Sessions, Chess LP 7208 009, 1973
CD 3, Track 16 from Decca single F 13133, 1971
CD 3, Tracks 17-18 from Manza single MON 008, 1980