Status Quo - The Early Years 5CD Box Set (1966-69) due March 15th 2024

Status Quo broke through commercially in the 1970s, but this was no overnight success story. Long before the denim and the heads down boogie, there was a band formed in 1962 by school friends Francis Rossi and Alan Lancaster, learning their craft for many years before they became the Quo we know. There would be many ups, downs and sartorial as well as musical variations into which ‘The Early Years’ a new 5CD set from BMG, takes a deep dive, including material from pre-Quo acts The Spectres and Traffic Jam as well as the first two albums credited to Status Quo with plentiful bonus tracks including BBC sessions. The full press release and track listing follows: 

Status Quo release “The Early Years (1966-69)” on 15 March 2024 via BMG on 5CD clamshell boxset [Cat No BMGCAT900BOX].  This collection features songs from the Pre-Status Quo days, as the first iterations of the bands that developed into Status Quo found their feet, and began to find their sound, and also early material from the nascent Quo.
 
“The Early Years (1966-69)” boasts recordings from The Spectres, who then became Traffic Jam. Included also are full Mono and Stereo remastered versions of the first two original Status Quo albums, the debut ‘Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo’ and ‘Spare Parts’. There is also a selection of Single A- and B-Sides, extensive material from BBC sessions, fascinating Outtakes, Demos and Alternate Mixes, and rare track versions. The whole collection is completed by the addition of 40 page booklet with extensive sleeve notes and wonderful photography of memorabilia from the era, including items drawn from the band’s own collection.
 
Status Quo are one of Britain's most successful and long-running bands. They were founded in London in 1962 by Francis Rossi and Alan Lancaster. After a number of name and line-up changes, including the introduction of John Coghlan in 1963 and Rick Parfitt in 1967, when the band were known as The Status Quo; they became Status Quo in 1969. The band have had over 60 chart hits in the UK, 22 of which reached the top 10. They have released over 100 singles and 33 albums, 25 of which made the UK top 10. In 1985, Status Quo opened Live Aid at Wembley Stadium with ‘Rockin' All Over The World’ and in 1991 they received a Brit Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution To Music’. Status Quo, still led by Francis Rossi, continue to tour, and Francis has also developed his own one-man show telling stories from these early days and beyond.
 
Fully supported by the band, “The Early Years (1966-69)” is a phenomenal collection that will be cherished by Quo fans the world over. “The Early Years (1966-69)” is not only packed full of incredible music, but is also a release that tracks the development and evolution of one of rock’s most enduring and important acts.

Disc 1: Picturesque & Spare Parts - Original Mono albums

Picturesque:
1. Black Veils Of Melancholy
2. When My Mind Is Not Live
3. Ice In The Sun
4. Elizabeth Dreams
5. Gentleman Joe’s Sidewalk Café
6. Paradise Flat
7. Technicolor Dreams
8. Sheila
9. Spicks And Specks
10. Sunny Cellophane Skies
11. Green Tambourine
12. Pictures Of Matchstick Men

Spare Parts:
13. Face Without A Soul
14. You’re Just What I Was Looking For Today
15. Are You Growing Tired Of My Love
16. Antique Angelique
17. So Ends Another Life
18. Poor Old Man
19. Mr. Mind Detector
20. The Clown
21. Velvet Curtains
22. Little Miss Nothing
23. When I Awake
24. Nothing At All


Disc 2: Picturesque & Spare Parts - Stereo albums

Picturesque:
1. Black Veils Of Melancholy
2. When My Mind Is Not Live
3. Ice In The Sun
4. Elizabeth Dreams
5. Gentleman Joe’s Sidewalk Café
6. Paradise Flat
7. Technicolor Dreams
8. Sheila
9. Spicks And Specks
10. Sunny Cellophane Skies
11. Green Tambourine
12. Pictures Of Matchstick Men

Spare Parts:
13. Face Without A Soul
14. You’re Just What I Was Looking For Today
15. Are You Growing Tired Of My Love
16. Antique Angelique
17. So Ends Another Life
18. Poor Old Man
19. Mr. Mind Detector
20. The Clown
21. Velvet Curtains
22. Little Miss Nothing
23. When I Awake
24. Nothing At All


Disc 3: Before Status Quo

The Spectres:
1. I (Who Have Nothing) (Single A-Side, 1966)
2. Neighbour, Neighbour (Single B-side to ‘I (Who Have
Nothing)’)
3. Hurdy Gurdy Man (Single A-Side, 1966)
4. (Her Name Was) Laticia (Single B-Side to ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’)
5. (We Ain’t Got) Nothing Yet (Single A-Side, 1967)
6. I Want It (Single B-Side - B-side to ‘(We Ain’t Got)
Nothing Yet’)
7. Spicks And Specks
8. Walking With My Angel
9. When He Passed You By
10. Love In Vain
11. Say That You Need Me
12. Neighbour Neighbour (Alternate version)
13. Gloria
(BBC Session, Saturday Club - 10/9/66)
14. Interview With Francis Rossi
(BBC Session, Saturday Club - 10/9/66)
15. I (Who Have Nothing)
(BBC Session, Saturday Club – 10/9/66)
16. Neighbour, Neighbour
(BBC Session, Saturday Club – 10/9/66)
17. Bloodhound
(BBC Session (Saturday Club - 10/9/66)
18. Bird Dog
(BBC Session, Saturday Club - 10/9/66)

Traffic Jam:
19. Almost But Not Quite There (Single A-Side, 1967)
20. Wait Just A Minute (Single B-Side to ‘Almost But Not
Quite There’)
21. I Don’t Want You
(BBC Session, Saturday Club – 24/6/67)
22. Almost But Not Quite There
(BBC Session, Saturday Club - 24/6/67)
23. It Takes Two
(BBC Session, Saturday Club - 24/6/67)
24. Spicks And Specks
(BBC Session, Saturday Club – 24/6/67)


Disc 4: A-Sides, B-Sides, Demos & Outtakes

1. To Be Free (B-Side of ‘Black Veils Of Melancholy’ –
Mono - non album B-side)
2. Make Me Stay a Bit Longer (Single A-Side, 1969 - non
album single)
3. Auntie Nellie (B-Side - Mono - B-side to ‘Make Me
Stay A Bit Longer’)
4. Are You Growing Tired Of My Love (Single A-Side,
1969)
5. The Price Of Love (Single A-Side, 1969)
6. Little Miss Nothing (B-Side to ‘The Of Love’)
7. Nothing At All (Demo Excerpt)
8. Josie (From Spare Parts sessions)
9. Do You Live In Fire (From Spare Parts sessions, 1981)
10. Pictures Of Matchstick Men (Mix Of An Alternate
Version)
11. Paradise Flats (Alt Version remixed in stereo by Mike
Brown for 1998 remaster)
12. Hey Little Woman (You're Just What I Was Looking For Today) (Alternate
version)
13. The Price Of Love (Alternate version)
14. Auntie Nellie (Stereo remix of B-side to ‘Make Me Stay A Bit Longer’, 1969)
15. Josie (Alternate mix)
16. Pictures Of Matchstick Men (Mix of Alternate Version)


Disc 5: BBC In Session, 1968-1969

1. Spicks And Specks
(David Symonds - rec. 16/1/68, transm. 22/1/68)
2. Judy In Disguise
(David Symonds - rec. 16/1/68, transm. 22/1/68)
3. Pictures Of Matchstick Men
(David Symonds - rec. 16/1/68, transm. 22/1/68)
4. Interview With Brian Matthew
(Saturday Club - rec. 13/2/68, transm. 17/2/68)
5. Pictures Of Matchstick Men
(Saturday Club - rec. 13/2/68, transm. 17/2/68)
6. Things Get Better
(Saturday Club - rec. 13/2/68, transm. 17/2/68)
7. Gloria
(David Symonds - rec. 29/3/68)
8. Interview With Alan Lancaster
(David Symonds – rec. 29/3/68)
9. Black Veils Of Melancholy
(David Symonds - rec. 29/3/68)
10. Bloodhound
(David Symonds - rec. 29/3/68)
11. Ice In The Sun
(Saturday Club - rec. 30/7/68)
12. When My Mind Is Not Live
(Saturday Club - rec. 30/7/68)
13. Paradise Flats
(Saturday Club - rec. 30/7/68)
14. Interview
(Symonds on Sunday - rec. 27/1/69)
15. Make Me Stay A Bit Longer
(Symonds on Sunday - rec. 27/1/69)
16. Are You Growing Tired Of My Love
(Symonds on Sunday - rec. 27/1/69)
17. The Price Of Love
(Symonds on Sunday - rec. 27/1/69)
18. The Price Of Love
(Symonds on Sunday - rec. 31/3/69)

Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo