You do not need to be a car fan to have heard about the recent discovery of a 1937 Bugatti Atalante, which was unearthed in a Newcastle lock-up, last having been road-taxed in 1960. The same sense of unrivalled excitement must have affected the art appreciator, who, upon being asked to clean a fairly worthless painting, discovered a Grand Master beneath layers of other faded oil paints.

To the ardent music fan, finding an unreleased master-tape of a much-loved Glaswegian rock ensemble, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, has a similar magic. I can recall spending a few stolen moments enjoying a refreshing drink with Scottish comic legend, Billy Connolly, at a well-known Manchester hotel, when he told me about one of his greatest friends and the sense of loss he felt when Harvey died in 1982, aged just 46 years, of a catastrophic heart attack.

The band was everything that its extravagant name had suggested. Harvey was the charismatic heart of the movement. Whether you can recall his outrageous version of ‘Delilah’, or his sense of humour in ‘Boston Tea Party’, one aspect was sure, he was a rock giant, a living legend, very much in the ascendant during the mid-1970s. Well, on 30th March 2009, his previously unreleased full-length studio album makes its debut no less than 35 years on, from its original recording, carried out by legendary US producer, Shel Talmy, who also wove his talents into recordings by The Kinks and The Who. It was the result of three and a half tough months of refining and formulating the lively and honest rock sound of this awesomely potent band. It was Harvey’s third album.

However, for reasons best known to the band and its management, the recording was ‘scrapped’. Talmy returned to LA with his tapes. The irony lay in the fact that many of the song titles were re-recorded and appeared on another album, ‘The Impossible Dream’, which was released later that year. Although the reasons are lost in time, former manager, Martin Kielty, has sanctioned through Talmy the re-release of this original soundtrack, complete with its phenomenal versions of SAHB favourites, like ‘Vambo’, ‘Man In The Jar’, ‘Tomahawk Kid’ and even the outstanding ‘Anthem’, all of which will have you tapping your feet and shaking your head, with their classic rock beats and Alex’s memorable vocal gymnastics.

There is even a previously unreleased track, ‘Ace In The Hole’, which none of the surviving members of the band have heard since 1974. This is pure classic gold. Awesome material. A rocker’s treasure trove of unparalleled delights. Savour it and be satisfied.