The Albums Clamshell

I came across SBQ in the mid 70s after I heard 2 songs from their Beat of The Street album on the Old Grey Whistle Test. After that I was hooked, I immediately bought Beat of the Street, and over a period of time discovered and bought their other albums. Each album is unique and is different from its predecessor.The first album, the Sutherland Brothers Band, is their most folky with several outstanding ballads. On this album there are classics, I Was in Chains, Medium Wave, The Pie, Midnight Avenue, Long Long Day, these songs were all potential Number ones, but the single that was released, The Pie, never charted. My favourite on this album is Long Long Day.Their second album was Lifeboat, by now the Sutherland Brothers had evolved to become SBQ, with the addition of Quiver (another outstanding band who got little recognition). The addition of Quiver allowed this "new" band to become a fully fledged rock and roll band. The result of this union was the great Lifeboat album. My favourites on this album , are Lifeboat, (I Don't Want to Love You But) You Got Me Anyway, the all-conquering Sailing (which became a 2 time number 1 for Rod Stewart), and my all time favourite, Real Love. Sailing was released as a single but never charted.Their third album was Dream Kid, which is my favourite album. This album as a package is the most well-balanced of their works, all songs on this album are sensational without being individually very commercial. The most commercial of the songs, is the title track, Dream Kid, which was released as a single but again never charted. This album is a connoisseur album, each song flows into the next, all songs are outstanding. My own favourite is Flying Down to Rio.Their fourth album was Beat of The Street, which is the most "rocky" of all their albums and was the album that introduced me to SBQ. This album is the least known of their albums, but it is one of their best. There are so many great songs on this album that could have been number ones and this album should have been a number one, but wasn't. The album came and went, and slipped through the net, undetected and forgotten, like a diamond in the dark. My favourite song from this great album is Laid back in Anger, but really it could have been any song from the album.The fifth SBQ album, was Reach For The Sky. This album was their most commercially successful and gave them their best selling single, "arms of Mary." I listen to this album quite a bit, but not as much as their earlier albums. Its a bit of a mix bag, mixing different styles reggae (Dr Dancer), romance (Moonlight Lady), rock and roll (When the Train Comes). The best song on the album, for me is Moonlight Lady. I think SBQ, even at their worst, are better than most mainstream bands and this album is a perfect illustration of that, its not their best album but its a lot stronger than most bands best.Their sixth album was Slipstream. It's not my favourite album, but one some SBQ fans think it's their best, for my ear its too commercial, with a fair bit of orchestration. which I don't think is necessary, but saying that there are still fantastic songs on this album, Sweet Cousin, Wild Love, Love On The Side, High Nights, each of these would have made a great single, instead Secrets, a far inferior song, was released and flopped. For me the best song on this album is Love On The Side, another ballad. But overall this is still a great album.Their penultimate album was Down to Earth, and by now SBQ had split and the group again reverted to being called the Sutherland Brothers. This album again is a mixed bag, but it does contain two of their best ever songs, Dark Ship, and Where Lies Your Soul and there are several others which are nearly as good, e.g Ice in the Fire, Every Tear I Cry etc. My opinion is that any album which has "Dark Ship" on it would always be a great album.Their eighth and last album is When the Night Comes Down. By now the Sutherland Brothers duo had come to the end of the road. This album was not up there with their best, but still a fine album. The album is very jazzy with a lot of horns in it. My favourite song on the album is "Crazy Town," (….the tears I see in your blue eyes are only raindrops falling from the sky).I saw SBQ live 3 times and each time they gave a great live performance. Their standout musician was lead guitarist, Tim Renwick, who was originally part of Quiver. I had hoping for many years that SBQ would reunite and tour, but they never did, and with the death of their main song writer Iain Sutherland in November 2019, they never will. This is a great band, they really should have been up there with the best. Their first four albums are all classics and would rival any band's best albums. Their second four weren't as good as the first four but would still match most band's best.

I have all the first 6 albums either on vinyl or on CD or both, plus a greatest hits collection, but for some reason never caught up with the last 2.I just checked through The Hit Singles and Hit Albums reference books and officially SB&Q have had 2 "hit" albums and 3 "hit" singles. Personally I find this incredible for such a good band that created so many great songs. But then they didn't fit neatly into any "genre".My favourite album is Beat of the Street ( especially side 2 ), an utterly amazing album, but it didn't even feature in the album charts. It wasn't till Reach For The Sky and Slipstream albums that they made a commercial breakthrough.I must admit however that this collection of all their albums tempted me but I kept feeling the price at £28 was just a bit steep in comparison with some other collections, so I held off for a while, but the price didn't come down. In the end I couldn't resist it any more and bought the box set. It is worth every penny. Cherry Red have produced a really good quality product, which just enhances the cracking songs on all these CD's.I'd recommend this box set for any fan of the band, but it may be a bit much for anyone just looking to find their music. Greatest Hits album would be a good place to start, but if you fancy a recommendation, then as I've earlier stated look no further than Beat of The Street, just buy it. You will thank me.

As many have commented, what an overlooked pair of song of songwriters and band. I have recommended this band to friends for years, prefacing the recommendation with, listen to their albums rather than judging them on one hit single in "Arms of Mary". They were a fabulous live band and I had the honour of being part of a support act on one of their university tours. Great bunch of guys as well as being superb performers, Tim Renwick, being one of my favourite guitarists of all time. Like others, I have the majority of these albums, but couldn't resist the package and a lovely product it is too ! Favourite albums? Well, Lifeboat is stunning, with "Real Love" a highly charged track, with "All I got is you", pulling at the heart strings. Dream Kid is probably the best overall album, with an energy and drive, culminating in a final track Rollin` Away, that's simply rock and roll heaven! I could go on for ever, with each album revealing little gems, for instance, Down to Earth with Dark Ship and Ice on Fire. If the remaining members of the band ever read comments about their work, how about a reunion tour??

A vfm boxed set, have been a fan of SB & Q since the 70s, this set shows how under rated & under appreciated they were, a great pity they didn't get the commercial success they should have got. Iain & Gavin were fine songwriters , 'Sailing' being the most famous but 'Real Love' & 'You got me anyway' also classics plus 'I was in chains' . Dream Kid & Beat of the Street should have sold far more copies than they did but alas not to be.Nevertheless a great epitaph to a band I will always love & enjoy listening to over & over again. Recommended.

Containing 8 discs in a clamshell box, it covers all the releases by Sutherland Brothers & Quiver during the period 1971-79 (on Island and CBS Records).The box-set includes the band's biggest hit ‘Arms Of Mary’ and their most well-known song (made famous by Rod Stewart) in ‘Sailing’.My favourite album in the set is 1976’s “Slipstream”, where they were heading in a more contemporary pop direction.You can get plenty of background on the band's history with the booklet that comes with this set.This is a great collection for fans of the band and anyone who loves 70s music. RIP Iain Sutherland.

This is a CD clamshell box set. Most buyers of this type of box set will know what to expect. CDs are housed in cardboard replica sleeves. The music is excellent and it is good to see that artists that people may have either missed or forgotten or maybe had a couple of albums by in the past can be reintroduced in such an affordable way. Great value for money.