Gilbert O'Sullivan - I'm A Writer, Not A Fighter (1973) Remastered Reissue 2012

1973 had started with so much promise for Gilbert O'Sullivan. In January, his second album, Back to Front had topped the chart and in March he had his second number one single with the up-tempo, bouncy "Get Down," which referred to a dog that seemed uncontrollable. However, changing his image from the street urchin from the poverty stricken 1930s to an up-to-date college lad, complete with sweaters with the big letter "G" on them, plus the twin-pronged attack on the charts by glam rock, particularly the Sweet and Gary Glitter, and teen idols David Cassidy and Donny Osmond, had changed the musical landscape. Then to launch his third album, I'm a Writer, Not a Fighter, his label MAM released the single "Ooh Baby" which was his first to miss the Top Ten after a long string of successes, hardly surprisingly, as "Ooh Baby" was not a great song, lacking both any sort of melody and lyrical ingenuity. In this context, the third album was released and although peaking at number two in October 1973, it was a disappointment compared to Back to Front; When it finally fell out of the Top Ten in February 1974, O'Sullivan appeared a spent force. The opening title track of I'm a Writer started with a funky guitar in an attempt to sound like a Stevie Wonder song, but O'Sullivan did not have Wonder's voice, and this type of song really didn't suit him. The same problem was on "Who Knows Perhaps Maybe" which could have been a rewrite of his own "Get Down." Much better were the ballads "They've Only Themselves to Blame" and "Where Peaceful Waters Flow," with its gospel style ending. I'm a Writer, Not a Fighter ended with its best song, "Get Down," and O'Sullivan would never again hit these heights.

Review by Sharon Mawer, Allmusic.com

*** THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE 2012 REMASTERED REISSUE ***

"I'm A Writer, Not A Fighter" is the 3rd release in a full-on reissue campaign by Salvo Records of the UK for Irish singer-songwriter Raymond Gilbert O'Sullivan. His UK debut album "Himself" from 1971 was relaunched in November 2011 and his second LP "Back To Front" from 1972 in February 2012 (both are reviewed separately). With fantastic new sound, four bonus tracks, quality packaging and a none-too steep price - legions of his fans worldwide will be thrilled to see that his MAM Records catalogue is finally receiving a thorough going-over (and like the others - this release is artist-approved too).

Here are the finite details - UK released Monday 2 April 2012 (10 April 2012 in the USA) Salvo SALVOXCD003 breaks down as follows (44:34 minutes):

Tracks 1 to 10 are his third studio album "I'm A Writer, Not A Fighter" - released September 1973 in the UK on Mam Records MAM-SS 505 and October 1973 on Mam Records MAM 7 in the USA. It peaked at 101 on the album charts in America - but reached Number 2 in England.

Track 11 is "A Very Extraordinary Sort Of Girl" - the non-album B-side of "Get Down" - a 7" single released March 1973 in the UK on Mam Records MAM 96 (it reached Number 1 on the UK singles chart and Number 7 in the USA). .

Track 12 is "Good Company" - the non-album B-side of "Ooh Baby" - the second single lifted off the album. "Ooh Baby" was issued September 1973 in the UK on Mam Records MAM 107 and charted at Number 18. "Good Company" is considered by fans to be one of Gilbert's best B-sides - and like Track 11 it's the first time this rare song has been made available for all markets since a rare Japanese CD compilation in 2004. It also features an electric guitar solo by BIG JIM SULLIVAN who played the beautiful acoustic guitar work on "Alone Again (Naturally)".

Tracks 13 and 14 are "Why, Oh Why, Oh Why" and "You Don't Have To Tell Me" - the A & B-sides of a non-album 7" single released November 1973 in the UK on Mam Records MAM 111 (it peaked at Number 6).

The original UK LP had a matt single sleeve with a lyric insert and a 6" inch black and white 'transfer' of the photo on the front cover (damp cloth and hot iron ahoy!). The transfer image has been reproduced for the CD label and there's a 'Gilbert O'Sullivan - A Singer And His Songs' logo sticker on the front of the card digipak which accompanies all of these expanded reissues. Like the other two releases in this series - the 20-page booklet is gorgeous. There's tastefully laid out lyrics to all the songs (including the bonuses), photos from his own archives, trade adverts, magazine covers, 7" picture sleeves from around the world and a detailed paragraph on each song with reminiscences from Gilbert on the album's creation. There's even a centre-spread photo of him sparring with no less than Mohammed Ali - both in boxer shorts! But the really big news for fans is the SOUND…

Remastered from original master tapes - the sound quality is a vast improvement on what went before (compilations and expensive Japanese imports). While "Himself" from 1971 is a little hissy in places - both "Back To Front" and this are incredibly clean with superlative clarity on all the instruments. You can now hear Laurie Holloway's piano thumping on "Get Down" rocking away like a goodun - while the bass and drums on the anthem-like "Where Peaceful Waters Flow" are incredibly clear (lyrics above). The funky keys starting "I'm A Writer, Not A Fighter" are followed by the almost Phil Spector beginning of "A Friend Of Mine" - both suddenly sounding huge. The pretty "They've Only Themselves To Blame" has both strings and brass - and the keyboards on "Ooh Baby" - again both just leaping out of the speakers.

The extras are excellent as well and will finally allow fans to sequence single releases on CD for the first time.

He followed "I'm A Writer…" with "A Stranger In My Own Back Yard" in 1974 and the equally forgotten "Southpaw" in 1977 - but it seemed that even with "Writer's" success as an LP and a number 1 single in the UK - the writing was already on the wall for Gilbert by the end of 1973.

Still - I've thoroughly enjoyed re-hearing this album even if some of the lyrics and sentiments are considered soppy by today's standards. It's not all genius of course, but this is a lovely reissue - and Salvo is to be praised for handling it so well.

Recommended.

Review by Mark Barry

Exact Audio Copy V1.1 from 23. June 2015

Отчёт EAC об извлечении, выполненном 14. февраля 2016, 12:15

Gilbert O'Sullivan / I'm A Writer, Not a Fighter

Дисковод: ASUS DRW-24B3ST Adapter: 0 ID: 0

Режим чтения : Достоверность
Использование точного потока : Да
Отключение кэша аудио : Да
Использование указателей C2 : Нет

Коррекция смещения при чтении : 6
Способность читать области Lead-in и Lead-out : Нет
Заполнение пропущенных сэмплов тишиной : Да
Удаление блоков с тишиной в начале и конце : Нет
При вычислениях CRC использовались нулевые сэмплы : Да
Интерфейс : Установленный внешний ASPI-интерфейс

Выходной формат : Пользовательский кодировщик
Выбранный битрейт : 1024 kBit/s
Качество : Высокий
Добавление ID3-тега : Нет
Утилита сжатия : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\FLAC\FLAC.EXE
Дополнительные параметры : -6 -V -T "ARTIST=%artist%" -T "TITLE=%title%" -T "ALBUM=%albumtitle%" -T "DATE=%year%" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%tracknr%" -T "GENRE=%genre%" -T "COMMENT=%comment%" -T "BAND=%albuminterpret%" -T "ALBUMARTIST=%albuminterpret%" -T "COMPOSER=%composer%" %haslyrics%–tag-from-file=LYRICS="%lyricsfile%"%haslyrics% -T "DISCNUMBER=%cdnumber%" -T "TOTALDISCS=%totalcds%" -T "TOTALTRACKS=%numtracks%" %hascover%–picture="%coverfile%"%hascover% %source% -o %dest%


TOC извлечённого CD

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13 | 37:26.31 | 3:52.49 | 168481 | 185929
14 | 41:19.05 | 3:14.70 | 185930 | 200549


Характеристики диапазона извлечения и сообщения об ошибках

Выбранный диапазон

Имя файла E:\Torrents\Gilbert O'Sullivan - 1973 - I'm A Writer, Not a Fighter\Gilbert O'Sullivan - I'm A Writer, Not a Fighter.wav

Пиковый уровень 98.7 %
Скорость извлечения 8.3 X
Качество диапазона 100.0 %
CRC теста A5209C13
CRC копии A5209C13
Копирование… OK

Ошибок не произошло

Конец отчёта

==== Контрольная сумма отчёта 14E2EE118938B36EEF93940B5676730EBB3400A14D51F9906EA0214DB1B94221 ====

[CUETools log; Date: 18.02.2016 17:27:42; Version: 2.1.4]
[CTDB TOCID: O6J9tbRWNvtyTkvYaGoB5IA1VIk-] found.
Track | CTDB Status
1 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
2 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
3 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
4 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
5 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
6 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
7 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
8 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
9 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
10 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
11 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
12 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
13 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
14 | (5/5) Accurately ripped
[AccurateRip ID: 00174825-00f6f837-bb0a720e] found.
Track [ CRC | V2 ] Status
01 [22deecb5|27cab75f] (0+9/9) Accurately ripped
02 [e6478444|f7a67fac] (0+9/9) Accurately ripped
03 [89532f29|32c7a0b9] (0+9/9) Accurately ripped
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13 [1d59e77d|e06a3258] (0+9/9) Accurately ripped
14 [03db9a44|7f30f8a2] (0+9/9) Accurately ripped

Track Peak [ CRC32 ] [W/O NULL] [ LOG ]
– 98,7 [A5209C13] [CD27D3CB] CRC32
01 98,2 [41F9E6AB] [12D8BF45]
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04 98,2 [15FC64B2] [50AFA86E]
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10 98,2 [B8D6CD39] [95B3F187]
11 98,2 [BA32A0FC] [FC18509E]
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13 96,6 [357FFA30] [15BFC738]
14 98,2 [AA7B238E] [0933FE09]

foobar2000 1.2 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2016-02-18 16:11:28

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Analyzed: Gilbert O'Sullivan / I'm A Writer, Not a Fighter
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
DR10 -0.16 dB -11.39 dB 3:18 01-I'm A Writer, Not a Fighter
DR10 -0.16 dB -11.45 dB 3:23 02-A Friend Of Mine
DR10 -0.16 dB -12.50 dB 2:45 03-They've Only Themselves To Blame
DR10 -0.16 dB -10.69 dB 3:14 04-Who Knows, Perhaps Maybe
DR10 -0.16 dB -11.95 dB 4:16 05-Where Peaceful Waters Flow
DR9 -0.16 dB -11.19 dB 3:45 06-Ooh Baby
DR10 -0.16 dB -11.73 dB 2:33 07-I Have Never Loved You As Much As I Love You Today
DR10 -0.16 dB -11.44 dB 3:01 08-Not In A Million Years
DR10 -0.16 dB -11.76 dB 3:18 09-If You Love Me Like You Love Me
DR10 -0.16 dB -11.08 dB 2:45 10-Get Down
DR10 -0.16 dB -11.06 dB 2:20 11-A Very Extraordinary Sort Of Girl
DR9 -0.11 dB -10.72 dB 2:49 12-Good Company
DR8 -0.30 dB -10.52 dB 3:53 13-Why, Oh Why, Oh Why
DR10 -0.16 dB -11.43 dB 3:15 14-You Don't Have to Tell Me
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Number of tracks: 14
Official DR value: DR10

Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 924 kbps
Codec: FLAC
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