Hudson / Totally Out Of Control / Hollywood

Always wanted the Hollywood Situation on cd and it is still as good as in the 70s. Great cd.

The Hudsons made a lot of great music and reissues of their LPs and numerous non-LP tracks are long overdue, but this set and the corresponding “Volume 2" are not worthwhile. Both consist entirely of needle drops of varying quality, with no effort made to avoid surface noise or even remove ticks and pops. Worse still, the sound warbles on some of the transfers, some of the songs are incomplete, and surface noise between tracks is left in place.Fans might be attracted to the bonus tracks on this set, but those leave much to be desired. “The World Would Be a Little Bit Better,” the first 45 the brothers recorded as “Hudson” which was issued on the Lionel label, sounds decent, but the set omits its rare B-side, “Love Nobody,” as well as their second Lionel single (an early version of “Straight Up and Tall” b/w “Enough,” issued only in Canada).“America” and “Fight Back,” both outstanding songs, were recorded during the “Totally Out of Control” sessions but were not included on the LP. They were instead issued on the B-side of the initial single from the LP (long before the LP was issued), “Straight Up and Tall” (2nd version) in England and Europe and “If You Really Need Me” in the US, thus making the single actually an EP. “America” has a very long fade which is truncated here, and the sound inexcusably warbles.“Me and My Guitar” was the non-LP B-side of the Hudsons’ second Casablanca single, “Coochie Coochie Coo” (though the set omits the single version, with added percussion). The transfer is noisy and the song is incomplete.The last bonus track, “Pauline,” was the rare non-LP B-side of the group’s second Arista 45, “I Don’t Wanna Be Lonely,” and was the only track the Hudsons recorded for Arista which they both wrote and produced. The transfer omits the last part of the song.Fans of the Hudsons will be far better off seeking out the original records.

The is the most complete collection of Hudson Brothers recordings available. No issues on my end, with regard to quality. This stuff deserves to have been digitized for years now.I had all of these recordings on vinyl (LP's and 45's) back in the 1970s. To find it all on CD was akin to striking gold.The Hudson Brothers made some solid music together, and all three went on to perform noteworthy stuff in music and other media. Mark Hudson was the top-notch leader of Joan River's late show band. I could go on. Suffice it to say, if you enjoyed their music, buy this collection.'Nuff said.