I just thought we should start a thread for each of Alan's major solo albums, where we can all post our thoughts about the album. Anyone want to start?

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SAVALOY DIP (unreleased 1974 LP)

TRACKLIST:
Smells Like Lemon, Tastes Like Wine
Over And Over Again
Savaloy Dip
Keep On Doin' It
Between Today And Yesterday
You Won't Get Me
Passin' Us By
And So Goodbye
Country Life
Willie The Queen
Poor Jimmy

This was a good bridge between O Lucky Man and Between Today and Yesterday. I don't understand why it wasn't released, although if it forced Alan to compose the Between Today and Yesterday album it was worth it.

Alan certainly goes off into a range of musical styles on this record. Maybe it was too "music hall" for the record company's tastes. I bet as soon as they heard "Over and Over Again" with its creaky funfair waltz, they got cold feet.

But still, they should have resurrected more than just the one song for the replacement album. "You Won't Get Me," "Passing Us By," and "And So Goodbye" sound like they could be on O Lucky Man!, with that characteristic mix of jazzy syncopation, touches of honky-tonk or boogie-woogie, and cynical lyrics. I guess "Willie the Queen" and "Poor Jimmy" were a little like Randy Newman wannabe songs, or maybe something Ray Davies might have written, but they're still entertaining. And "Savaloy Dip" is quite Beatlesesque, I think.

I'd really love to know the inside story here. Maybe it was internal record company politics that scuttled it. If I ever get a chance to interview Alan, I'd love to know how he felt about having it rejected. It's just a puzzling chapter of his career, all around.

Maybe the next time Tony comes on here, he could retell his story about how he found the only batch of eight-track tapes in a warehouse, about to be destroyed -- the last remaining traces of this album, stuck in a box headed for the dumpster, as I recall. Now there was fate at work, that it was Tony who was helping to sort out that warehouse full of discarded albums! I think I remember him saying that Alan didn't even have a copy of it himself, and years later when Alan learned that Tony had found the tapes, he asked Tony to make a copy for him too. Great story!

Hi Holly,
In response to your suggestion that I recount the story of how I came into possession of the last remaining copies of Savaloy Dip, I've cut and pasted a post that can still be found under the "Introduce Yourself" heading; the post is called something like "Hello from a long-time Alan Price fan":

From the mid-1970s through the late 1990s, I owned a music wholesale and mail-order company called "Rainbow's End" (named, of course, after Alan's song). I'm proud to say that, after several correspondences and phone calls with Alan, my company became the exclusive U.S. distributor for Alan's "A Rock 'n' Roll Night At The Royal Court Theatre" LP. When the Animals re-united and toured the US in 1983, I had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with Alan, Eric Burdon and the rest of the band. Being an amateur photographer, I was allowed full access of the arena. I made enlargements of many photos taken on the first leg of the tour, and gave them to the band on their return visit. Over drinks, Alan told me that they were some of the best photos of himself on stage he'd ever seen, and hoped to use them for a future project. (It didn't happen...yet. I'm still hopeful. I'll be sharing the photos here in the near future.)

While digging through a record warehouse in Albany, NY in the early 80s (or was it late 70s?), I was thrilled to discover a case of 8-track tapes of Alan's unreleased album "Savaloy Dip". I included the title on a discography I mailed to Alan, asking for additions or corrections. I was even more thrilled when Alan phoned me and asked if he could possibly have a copy! (Warners had kept the original masters, and Alan hadn't heard the songs at all since he'd recorded them.) It was my honor and my pleasure to send Alan several 8-track tapes (as well as home-made cassette copies) of "Savaloy Dip". (Alan's next release, which he mailed to me, was "Geordie Melody". It included some of the themes from "Savaloy Dip".)

My favorite songs are (again in no particular order):
Smells Like Lemon - Tastes Like Wine, Over And Over Again, Savaloy Dip,
Keep On Doin' It, Between Today And Yesterday, You Won't Get Me, Passin' Us By, And So Goodbye, Country Life, Willie The Queen, Poor Jimmy

That's right. EVERY song is on my favorites list! Tony Concatelli