The (wonderful) UK Decca label "Rock Roots" Series LPs (vinyl)

I've been impressed with the Decca 'Rock Roots' series on vinyl - at least the few that I have. These all appear to have come out in or shortly after 1976, covering singles, B-sides and obscurities of several key UK rock groups. The ones I have are nicely cut, although they tend to exceed the 20 minute mark so are a bit lower in volume, have that legendary quiet Decca vinyl, and often feature dedicated mono and true stereo mixes with a few electronically processed stereo tracks on a few releases.

Researching these is problematic, it seems no discography was done that I am aware of. (I doubt it was very extensive though). What I've found so far:

ROOTS 1: GENESIS - This features the A & B sides of two singles from 1969, in true mono, plus their first LP in stereo. It sounds pretty good too.

ROOTS 2 - ZOMBIES - don't have this one so I can't say much about it, a great 16-track listing though!

ROOTS 3 - THEM - First 8 tracks in MONO, (several 45 B-sides) then 5 tracks never before released in the UK. The 1st track is true stereo, the next 4 in fake stereo (although they are pretty narrow and don't actually sound that bad frankly).

ROOTS 4 - PROCOL HARUM - again don't have this one, but an interesting track listing including sessions from the time of their debut....

ROOTS 5 - SMALL FACES - Eight Decca 45 rpm singles, both A & B sides, all in MONO!

ROOTS 6 - BLUES ROOTS - BRITISH R 'N B - Not familar with it (includes the GRAHAM BOND ORGANIZATION with the Ginger Baker / Jack Bruce / Dick Heckstall-Smith line up: High Heel Sneakers (&) Hoochie Coochie Man.

ROOTS 7 - SAVOY BROWN - This appears to have mostly previously released tracks, no indication whether its stereo or mono. (Incidentally, Mike Vernon produced them early on, and I've been told the early Savoy Brown LPs in Mono are actually fold downs, can't vouch for that though).

ROOTS 8 - JOHN MAYALL - 2 MONO tracks, the rest listed as stereo (probably true stereo although I'm not sure).

Several of these seem to be fairly scarce although they are not valuable when located. The 'Them' LP seems to be the most pricey.

Anyone have anything to add to this list, or further details?

What do you think about the ones you have? (I love mine)

 

I only have this one, and it's a joy to listen to!
doc

 

I have the Genesis and Zombies LPs. Both sound quite nice.

Cheers,
Chris

 

I have the Genesis LP also (UK pressing).

I agree with you that it sounds great.

 

I have the Genesis one and have enjoyed it.

 

I've got the first five... Don't know if I ever saw the others. They are all nice sets. The Procol was fairly essential, as it has two songs that weren't released. I believe they have appeared on the remasters.

 

I have 1, 4 and 5 and they sound fantastic.

Apart from the fake stereo on Them (wonder why?), Decca did a great job - taking a purist approach after years of re-channelled stereo.

Pick them up if you see them!

 

I picked up a copy of Roots 3 THEM today and after two spins today have to admit, I'm quite impressed! I already have a copy of the all-mono Roots 5 SMALL FACES that I really like so I thought I'd take a chance on this one. The eight true mono (and one true stereo) cuts on this sound great and even though the last four tracks are "electronically reprocessed" they actually sound quite decent and are some great songs to boot!

 

I picked up this THEM compilation a few weeks ago. I have a bunch of Them compilation albums as well as the original actual albums, and I was very pleased to find that the ROOTS album had several things on it I didn't have elsewhere. Regarding someone's question about the fake stereo tracks: those all appeared along with "Mighty Like A Rose" (the true stereo track from side B) on the same US compilation album, and appeared there in fake stereo as well. I am assuming from this that after the US fake stereo compilation was created, the original mono mixdowns were lost or no longer available, so the ROOTS album used the US copy. Under any circumstances, ROOTS is well worth picking up.

 

Hi all, thanks for the kind words about the Rock Roots series as I was the person who conceived the idea when I was working at Decca in the 70's. If you look closely on most of the sleeve notes (not all - I didn't do Savoy Brown - not sure about John Mayall) my name - Alan Fitter - is there as the compiler. I came up with the concept when I realised how much of the Decca catalogue was being neglected and knew there was a market for these kind of compilations. I don't have all the albums I'm afraid but I think there were just the 8 listed by Raunchnroll - I left Decca in 1977 and I don't think anyone carried on the series. The idea was to use mono when there wasn't any stereo and stereo if there was but none of the pseudo/enhanced/fake stereo that was around at the time. In the case of the Them album, there were no mono mixes of those tracks available so we had to use what was. It's very satisfying to know that over 35 years after they were first released, people are still enjoying them.

 

Count me in as one who has greatly enjoyed the Rock Roots releases, and welcome to the Forum!

 

Hi Alan.

Congrats again Alan, I have been enjoying the Zombies and Small Faces albums for many years, I think they are superb. The Zombies one especially seems very well put together.

And I bought the Them one last week on ebay!

 

I also have the Zombies title. Great record. I haven't run into any others but would snap them up if I did.

 

After looking for quite awhile I was finally able to pick up ROOTS 2 ZOMBIES, it's an excellent compilation (just like Rock Roots Small Faces and Them) and everything is either mono or true stereo on it.

 

Welcome!. Long time admirer of your work, Alan. I bought all these LPs back in the 70s and even then, as an adolescent, I thought they were terrifically compiled and annotated compilations. Great to see you here. You must have some interesting stories about Decca. I was always impressed by the way the company kept its catalogue open for so long with many things still in print until the early 80s. What was your experience with the Small Faces tapes, we constantly hear (especially since Charly are now trumpeting that their current reissues are using the 'original master tapes' for the first time) that the tape archive was in disarray?