Description
With 1978's brilliant album "Alive On Arrival," Steve Forbert made one of music's greatest entrances ever, arriving fully formed as an extraordinary singer-songwriter, a subtle troubadour for his times, and for all time too. Now or then, you would be hard-pressed to find a debut effort that was simultaneously as fresh and accomplished as "Alive On Arrival."

"Jackrabbit Slim," released the following year hot on the heels of its predecessor, is full of songs that are among Forbert's most enduring. The opening track, "Romeo's Tune" became Steve's greatest hit, cracking the Top 20 and propelling this album to Gold status.

This special anniversary edition includes exclusive outtakes from the original recording sessions.

[CD1: Alive On Arrival]
1. Goin' Down To Laurel
2. Steve Forbert's Midsummer Night's Toast
3. Thinkin'
4. What Kinda Guy?
5. It Isn't Gonna Be That Way
6. Big City Cat
7. Grand Central Station
8. Tonight I Feel So Far Away From Home
9. Settle Down
10. You Cannot Win (If You Do Not Play)
Bonus Tracks:
11. It's Been A Long Time
12. House Of Cards
13. Song For The South (Time's Gonna Take Me Back)
14. Steve Forbert's Moon River
15. Lonesome Cowboy Bill's Song

[CD2: Jackrabbit Slim]
1. Romeo's Tune
2. The Sweet Love That You Give Sure Goes A Long, Long Way
3. I'm In Love With You
4. Say Goodbye To Little Jo
5. Wait
6. Make It All So Real
7. Baby
8. Complications
9. Sadly Sorta Like A Soap Opera
10. January 23 - 30, 1978
Bonus Tracks:
11. The Oil Song
12. Make It All So Real (Alternate Version)
13. Witch Blues
14. Oh, Camille
15. Smoky Windows
16. Poor Boy
17. Romeo's Tune (Live At The Palladium, NYC, November 1979)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B7U51MO/?tag=imwan-20

That is pretty dang sweet!

Boy, I really loved these albums years ago. I don' t know what happened to my vinyl and I certainly never picked them up on CD. Now's the time. Thanks for the info Jimbo.

Wow...sweet price for a 2-CD set too!

You're not kidding Walter P, under $14.00. I'm in!

Interesting how the physical media is cheaper than the downloads. This is supposed to encourage people to go all download exactly how?

I ordered mine from my indie and I'll have it tomorrow.

Steve, want me to order one for you so it's ready for you on Sunday?

I'll take care of it on my own...but thanks.

Just got mine and I'm getting ready to listen. Unfortunately, the packaging is pretty crappy. No liner notes or anything. Of course, I only paid $13 for the two cds, so I'm not really in a position to complain.

I ordered mine yesterday. Disappointed to hear about the packaging. I assume that means no lyrics either, right? Are there any credits (musicians, songwriting, etc)?

Nothing at all. It's one of those old cardboard double packs with plastic trays attached to each side. Each outside flap has an album cover. And that's it. No notes, musician info, or track lists. It's definitely a budget release. But since I didn't own either, I'm happy with the purchase.

Wow, they didn't even include info under the trays? That's really cheap. I only own "Jackrabbit Slim" and I was hoping to replace that existing CD with this one, adding "Alive On Arrival" to my collection. But unless my "Jackrabbit Slim" CD has barebones packaging as well, I'll probably choose to keep it. I shouldn't complain: this new set cost me just under $10 and I'm getting an album I didn't already own with a number of bonus tracks along with a (hopefully) remastered version of a disc I've owned for years.

The trays are clear, but there is just a single photo under each tray. I can't speak to whether it is remastered, though I expect it is since the bonus tracks are included. It's not overly loud, but I don't think that means anything (though it will please some of you young whippersnappers who haven't already destroyed your hearing, as I have).

It's damn good music though.

That's for sure. And that's the bottom line, of course.

Sounds bare bones, but I'll happily take it over "Deluxe Digital Booklet". Maybe it's just me.

Look closely underneath the Jackrabbit Slim cover and you'll find your liner notes -- by David Wild, no less. A very nice essay along with track lists and album credits.

Ah yes...I didn't see that little pocket. Sorry for getting folks worked up.

I think the discs sound pretty good overall. Most definitely not brickwalled in any sense and you can really crank it up if you want.

Alive On Arrival has five bonus tracks from the original sessions and I think that most, if not all, stand along side of the tracks on the original album well. If the album had been released in the age of the CD, I would have expected these bonus tracks to have been a part of the sequence of the album proper. "Song For the South" and "It's Been A Long Time" are especially good. It's worth noting that all of the bonus tracks were originally released on Young, Guitar Days in 2001 except that Lonesome Cowboy Bill's Song is more fully realized on YGD and the version on this release is a different take. The YGD version has a stronger lead vocal and includes some female backing singers to good effect. I'd have to check the YGD version, but the version of "Moon River" on the new remaster has a good amount of hiss that I don't remember it having initially.

Jackrabbit Slim has seven additional bonus cuts, some which would work well if placed in the context of the original album and some that don't. "The Oil Song", of course, was originally included with the vinyl record as a bonus one-sided 7" single -- a true bonus track. This version has only been released on CD on his What Kinda Guy? Best Of that Sony released in the early '90s. A version of the song cut for Alive On Arrival (a more acoustic guitar based "folk" version) can be found on the out-of-print More Young, Guitar Days CD. "Make It All So Real" is an alternate version and is previously unreleased. It's worth noting that "Make It All So Real" was the b-side of the US "Romeo's Tune" single and that version is an extended version of the studio cut found on the album (the vinyl b-side includes Steve vamping like a lounge singer and lasts another minute so after the album version would have faded out -- this extended version has never been released digitally). "Witch Blues," "Oh, Camille," and "Poor Boy" were all released on Young, Guitar Days. "Smokey Windows" was released on both Young, Guitar Days and More Young, Guitar Days -- the version found here is from More Young, Guitar Days and sounds like a demo when compared to the studio version on YGD (and is actually a Little Stevie Orbit outtake, but a good song nonetheless so we'll let that pass). The live "Romeo" was also released on More Young, Guitar Days, but this new version is missing the short spoken intro that should have been included since it sets up the song well. Of course, the LP version of "Wait" has never been released digitally. There's an article somewhere that discusses the specifics, but when Sony released Jackrabbit on CD in the '90s an alternate version was selected because of a tape issue or something along those lines. The version on this release is also the alternate version that has always been the standard "CD" version.

I'm not a fan of the packaging either, but in an age in which most discs are sold online does it even matter if the tracks are listed on the packaging? My copy is already dinged up a bit.

Steve has a lot of records that are now out of print that would be great to see available again or how about a "Best of" that gathers tracks from Streets of This Town to the present?

Got my copy of this today. Haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but I'm much happier with the packaging than I originally thought I would be. The fact that they included an 8-panel booklet with original album credits, photos and a brief essay about the albums made it much more complete than expected, and the bonus tracks make it even more of a bargain (and now I can unload my existing copy of Jackrabbit Slim since I won't be giving up any packaging elements). Hopefully the sound quality is good too.

One addendum to my previous comment: I hate what they did on the spine of the digipak. They have "Jackrabbit Slim" facing upright and "Alive On Arrival" upside down (or vice-versa), even though the front cover for each album is upright on either side of the digipak. That was a terrible design choice that will look awkward on the shelf. I know, it's nit-picky, but that's what we do around here.

I know that "Alive on Arrival" had previously been reissued as a double disc set, available through Forbert's website. Does anybody know if "Jackrabbit Slim" had been given the same treatment?

Yes it was; in fact, his first 4 albums received the double-disc treatment.