SHOCK TREATMENT
(Columbia CS 9668, © 1967/Koch Jazz KOC CD-8590 ©2001)

TRACK LISTING
FIRST VINYL PRESSING
A New Kind of Country (Hank Levy)
Mercy Maybe Mercy (Hank Levy)
Opus 5 (Howlett Smith)
Beat Me Daddy, Seven to the Bar (edit)
The Tihai
Milo's Theme
Star Children
Homecoming
Seven Up (Howlett Smith / arr. Joe Roccisano)
Zim (John Magruder)

SECOND VINYL PRESSING
A New Kind of Country (Hank Levy)
Night City (Ellis, MacFadden / arr. Don Ellis)
Homecoming
Mercy Maybe Mercy (Hank Levy)
Opus 5 (Howlett Smith)
Star Children
Beat Me Daddy, Seven to the Bar
Milo's Theme
The Tihai

THIRD VINYL PRESSING
Same as the second but with slightly different liner notes.

CD
A New Kind of Country (Hank Levy)
Night City (Ellis, McFadden / arr. Don Ellis)
Homecoming
Mercy Maybe Mercy (Hank Levy
Zim (John Magruder)
Opus 5 (Howlett Smith)
Star Children
Beat Me Daddy, Seven to the Bar
Milo's Theme
Seven Up (Howlett Smith / arr. Joe Roccisano)
The Tihai
Zim (alternate take) (John Magruder)
I Remember Clifford (Benny Golson / arr. Terry Woodson)
Rasty

REVIEW
Originally, I had asked if those were Don's eyes on the cover. I never thought I'd get a straight answer, but Don's son Tran wrote to me and confirmed that they were. Thanks, Tran.

There are actually three vinyl versions of this album, all of which are frustratingly packaged. The first vinyl pressing features the songs listed above (in the order listed above), with an editted take of "Beat Me Daddy." I got my hands on this version (thanks to my uncle) though I didn't know other pressings existed at the time. The second version, though the packaging is the same, features most of the songs in a different order, "Seven Up" and "Zim" are omitted, and another obscure song is added to the program..."Night City," featuring an uncreditted Fifth Dimension-type vocal group. Weird, very weird. "Beat Me Daddy" is in its uneditted form here, which helps the liner notes make a little more sense. The third version has different liner notes than the other two, including the words to "Night City" which are 60s-hip and banal all at the same time.

As far as the similar material goes, Ron Starr cooks on Hank Levy's "A New Kind of Country," Don takes a soulful solo on "Homecoming," and the echoplex is utilized on the creepy yet enchanting "Milo's Theme." "Star Children" is equally as creepy, and features the vocal group once again, ooohing and ahhhing. There's an overall aesthetic to Shock Treatment, very science-fiction-esque, that isn't really apparent on any other of Don's albums (save but the "Open Beauty" track on Electric Bath, and to a lesser extent "Child of Ecstacy").

Thanks to the CD version from Koch Jazz, Shock Treatment can finally be realized in its complete form, Two versions of John Magruder's "Zim" are included, one featuring the composer's baritone sax and the other featuring Don (the latter ended up on the first pressing, yet the liner notes referred to the former). Also added to the program are lost recordings of "I Remember Clifford" and "Rasty." Terry Woodson's arrangement of "Clifford" is pretty straightfoward, revealing the irony that the band sounds odd playing traditional material. "Rasty" is an Ellis original that roots the album in 1968 (gotta love that clavinet). I'm still in disbelief (shock, if you will) that Shock Treatment made it to CD, which gives me hope for Don's remaining out-of-print albums. Thanks to Koch Jazz, Nick Di Scala, and everyone involved.