Messing With The Mystic
	production credits unknown
	Released on 1995
	no chart information
	Find it at GEMM
EDCD 404 cover

S ometimes I think I buy these things just for Mark Paytress’ liner notes. Bolan stepped into a bit of brilliant fortune when he drew Paytress as a musical biographer. Take for example this insight (re: “All of My Love”): “Marc squeezed in as many notes as he could - a common occurrence around this time - but he probably had most fun with the coda, ‘My baby is a scooter and I love her,’ for which everyone was invited to join in. Another convivial session, no doubt.” There you have context, criticism, and innuendo wrapped neatly into two sentences. With Paytress as your compass, Messing With The Mystic takes you through unreleased songs recorded between 1972 and 1977 (the golden years of T. Rex and then some). The two dozen tracks are a sampler of what would become the Unchained series. I can’t speak to whether this constitutes the best of Unchained, simply because my affection for Bolan doesn’t extend so far. If the eternal boy with the Botticelli curls changed your world, or you’ve stumbled upon a wad of cash in your shadowy dealings with the dim bulbs of Babylon, then Messing With The Mystic’s meagre treasure may tempt a venture to the Unchained lands. Me, I’d be inclined to salvage “Bolan’s Zip Gun (Theme For A Dragon),” “Endless Sleep,” “Mr. Motion” and release the rest into the wild woods of ephemera. As with any “unreleased” compilation, this should come into consideration only after you’ve purchased the released recordings. Since I’ve got an arbitrary approach to collecting (and as an ardent lover of chaos, one doesn’t rebuff the random couplings that come from unexpected meetings), I messed around with this prematurely. However, this isn’t Bolan at his best, Bolan at his second-best, or even a suitable fill-in for Bolan’s album filler. That’s hardly a critical revelation, since the disc doesn’t purport to be anything but what it is. So why are you even reading this? Get out. Run in the rain. Live.

TRACK LISTING

1. IS IT TRUE    1:47
2. OVER THE FLATS    1:44
3. JET TAMBOURINE    2:00
4. CHILDREN OF THE WORLD    2:18
5. MR. MOTION    1:06
6. HOPE YOU ENJOY THE SHOW    3:34
7. ALL OF MY LOVE    2:49
8. SATURDAY NIGHT    3:30
9. DOWN HOME LADY    1:43
10. SKY CHURCH MUSIC    4:16
11. PLATEAU SKULL    3:49
12. BOLAN'S ZIP GUN (THEME FOR A DRAGON)    1:59
13. (BY THE LIGHT OF A) MAGICAL MOON    3:05
14. BUST MY BALL    2:32
15. SAVAGE BEETHOVEN    2:00
16. REELIN' AN' A ROCKIN' AN' A BOPPIN' AN' A BOLAN    1:00
17. CHRISTMAS BOP    3:36
18. FUNKY LONDON CHILDHOOD    2:25
19. LOVE DRUNK    2:38
20. FOXY BOY    2:15
21. 20TH CENTURY BABY    2:17
22. SING ME A SONG    3:08
23. ENDLESS SLEEP    (Jody Reynolds/Dolores Nance)    2:53
24. MESSING WITH THE MYSTIC    1:11
    
    All songs written by Marc Bolan unless noted

CREDITS

return to MARC BOLAN/T. REX discography

For more discographies visit...

© 2004 Connolly & Company. All rights reserved.