The Charlatans to reissue ‘Some Friendly,’ play 20th anniversary shows in May

Beggars Archive will release an expanded 2CD reissue of The Charlatans’ 1990 debut Some Friendly — although not the larger “Omnibus” multi-disc box set originally planned — to coincide with the band’s 20th anniversary performance of the full album in London and Barcelona this May.

Formed in 1989 during the height of the Madchester scene, the Charlatans — who received a “UK” appellation here in the U.S. — recently announced plans to mark the anniversary of their debut by playing it in its entirety at the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona on May 29 and The Roundhouse in London on May 31.

Thursday, Beggars Archive — the back-catalog arm of the venerable Beggars Banquet label — unveiled plans to “mark the occasion with a wash and brush up of the recorded work.” Although no release date was announced, plans call for a two-disc set, including a remastered edition of the full album (using the original UK vinyl tracklisting, which omits “The Only One I Know”) and a 19-track bonus disc that includes B-sides from the “The Only One I Know” and “Then” singles, plus the full 1991 non-album “Over Rising” single and eight BBC session recordings. (See full tracklist below.)

That, however, is scaled back from Beggars’ original plan to release a multi-disc Omnibus Edition box set commemorating the album. As the label posted on its blog earlier this month after the Roundhouse gig was announced:

“Which is, well… nice but also disappointing, as we were talking to the band since two years ago about tying in an Omnibus Edition style re-issue of the album (the first two albums, in fact), but their new management weren’t keen, so the idea of celebrating the 20th anniversary was shelved. A shame, since a box set with a re-mastered album, singles, sessions, all the demo material and live recordings would have done the album justice and been a special bonus for the fans, which would have been nice, too.”

While Beggars has scaled back its plans for Some Friendly, it’s not known what’s in store for the band’s 1992 sophomore album, Between 10th and 11th. In announcing its reissue plans last summer, Beggars said it would be releasing Omnibus sets for both albums.

See full tracklist for the ‘Some Friendly’ reissue after the jump…

Tracklist: The Charlatans, Some Friendly reissue

Disc 1: Some Friendly
1. “You’re Not Very Well”
2. “White Shirt”
3. “Opportunity”
4. “Then”
5. “109 pt2”
6. “Polar Bear”
7. “Believe You Me”
8. “Flower”
9. “Sonic”
10. “Sproston Green”

Disc 2: Bonus Disc
1. “The Only One I Know”
2. “Imperial 109”
3. “Everything Changed”
4. “Then” – Peel Session
5. “Always In Mind” – Peel Session
6. “You Can Talk To Me” – Peel Session
7. “Polar Bear” – Peel Session
8. “Some Friendly” – Goodier Session
9. “Indian Rope” – Goodier Session
10. “The Only One I Know” – Goodier Session
11. “White Shirt” – Goodier Session
12. “Then” (alternate take)
13. “Taurus Moaner”
14. “Taurus Moaner” (instrumental)
15. “Polar Bear” 12” mix
16. “Over Rising”
17. “Way Up There”
18. “Happen To Die”
19. “Opportunity Three”