There Is No Reason Why You Shouldn't Own Every Mott The Hoople Album

Best solo albums are the first one and the third one. The first one has "Once Bitten Twice Shy" on it, which was covered by, um, Great White. The heater don't work and it's oh so cold. They didn't know that rock and roll burned, then they found the candle and they lived and they learned. Except one of them didn't. It's really fucking sad.

I spent some time with the mid-period Mott, and always really enjoyed it, perhaps in the same way I used to enjoy The Faces. But nowadays, I would put Mott high above The Faces.

Anyhow, someone should tell me more about Mad Shadows. I read Julian Cope's review on Head Heritage, and it made my ears weep with desire to hear it. Now.

I just had a couple beers and listened to Brain Capers and it blows me away. Hunter is a grand emoter. He means that shit!

All The Young Dudes: The Anthology is an import box set w/great unreleased tracks: live covers of CSNY's "Ohio" Mountain's "Long Red" and a dinky Merseybeat pre-Bad Company "Movin' On." Choice.

Ditto

nah it's Mick Ralphs. "movin on from town to town" interesting but actually not as rockin-good as Bad Co.

faves for today: "The Hunter" (Tons of Sobs) "I'll Be Creeping" (Free) "Mr. Big" (Fire & Water) "The Stealer" (Highway).

after guitarist Paul Kossoff split, things kinda went downhill.

The first four Mott albums are all fantastic and worth owning, though -- besides Sonny Bono, Mott also tackle Doug Sahm ("At the Crossroads") and the Kinks (a molten instrumental of "You Really Got Me"). Nice M.C. Escher art on the LP cover, before that kind of thing was really hip.

I've never read the Ian Hunter bio, but I have fond memories of my buddies mocking the way it was padded with lackluster tales of Life On The Road- "If you've never been on an airplane, cats - that's the place for you! You sit there and all the while a bird keeps bringing round food and drink..."

In terms of downhill slides, the Mott post Ian Hunter records and British Lions are both much better than Crawler. The Gooseberry Sessions, listed above, is also post Ian Hunter. What it is are recordings of Overend Watts leading the band, playing guitar and bass in the studio spec'ing for a new contract. Some them are good, particularly when he indulges his Everly Brothers fandom.

The anniversary edition of Mott Live was excellent. It was an import but really worth getting. Ariel Bender was tremendous on it and the band at its most powerful. Very kickass.

S/T Free album rules SO hard! and Skot is so right, as usual. You do need all of their albums. "Lying in The Sunshine" and "Mouthful of Grass" are so goddam floaty I want to swim with the dolphins. Best music ever! Paul Rodgers is such a hero -- such a voice. I am working up my response to dave q's bad co op10

I guess what you need is first and foremost their 72-74 ones.

For me, it's all about:
Mott The Hoople
Brain Capers
Mad Shadows
Mott

As for All The Young Dudes, I think that one is merely okay, despite the classic title track.

I hated the Bowie-braying in "All The Young Dudes" so much for so long that I never bothered to give the rest of their catalog any attention. Which was my loss, obv, since I've come to really like 'em, particularly that initial pre-CBS (and pre-Bowie) quartet. Bob Dylan abandons The Hawks in Nashville, goes to England and records Blonde On Blonde with Deep Purple backing him up instead - I never woulda suspected I harbored a need to hear that. But I guess I apparently did. "The Moon Upstairs", what a great song.

I've never bothered with anything beyond "Dudes", "Mott", "The Hoople".

Mott's a great band. The Dion cover on Brain Capers is priceless, nearly brings me to tears.

The Journey is another great song on Brain Capers.

It's all good on Brain Capers, goddamn is that a great album.

Bowie-braying

lol so accurate

Hey don't get me wrong, I own a stack of '70s Bowie that I like a lot. But he tended to damage OTHER people's albums with his backing vocals. (Not to mention what he did to Raw Power!)

I've never bothered with anything beyond "Dudes", "Mott", "The Hoople".

this is all I own, but I want more! haven't had any luck running across Brain Capers & earlier, but I guess I could be looking harder.

Mott is the business, total classic. I'm thinking ...Dudes might be the weak one in this run.

Anybody but me have the newish 2CD Ian Hunter/Mott The Hoople best-of on Shout! Factory? It's a disc of Mott and a disc of Hunter and it's pretty damn rockin'.

Everybody who likes Mott should check out the Live 1970 from Fairfield Halls disc from last year. Great stuff. Two concerts (despite the title, the second concert is in Sweden) from when Mott was still an opening act. Judging from this disc, following them was probably pretty difficult.

Look for some reunion shows in London in the Fall of '09, and possibly a new album. All original members (Hunter, Ralphs, Allen, Overend, Buffin). The Ian Hunter discussion forum is all abuzz.

I was just listening to "Marionette".

Damn, I'd love for them to come to the States if they get back together. Please, guys.

This makes it sound like less than a done deal:

http://www.expressandstar.com/2008/10/06/mott-the-hoople-returning-to-roots/

On the other hand, a supposed insider on the IH forum says:

The tour for IH and the Rant Band is going ahead in April/May 2009 and then an announcement will be made at the end of it for MTH re-union gigs in Oct `09 in London only....(for now).

The folks on the forum are discussing hotel arrangements and stuff.

Damn, I'd love for them to come to the States if they get back together. Please, guys.

I recall from Ian's Diary of a Rock and Roll Star book that Mick Ralphs was deathly afraid of flying, so I wouldn't hold my breath for a US tour if this goes down...

Then how on earth did he ever survive in Bad Company?

lovin "all the young dudes"

this 1971 clip of pre-glam Mott chugging through "Rock & Roll Queen" is chaotic & beautiful, sloppy & smokin' just the best.

embedding disabled by request kiss my muthafuk...

go to youtube it works there/

I got all the young dudes and all the young dudes was really the only song I got into.

I have the live album and Free's Heartbreaker. Where do I go next?

If you watch Roll Away the Stone from the youtube selections available in the failed youtube above, those lipsyncing backup singers are having a great time.

Oh joy, it's happened at last:
http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/42112

(I met that Overend Watts in our village pub over the summer, and he said that something was afoot...)

"Just thought you'd like to know the Mott the Hoople reunion IS going to take place on October 2nd & 3rd, 2009 at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo in London. It will be the original members - Mick, Pete, Phally, Buff and me. They've asked our esteemed webmaster, Justin, to formulate a Mott the Hoople site which should be up and running in the near future. Why are we doing it? I can't speak for the others, but I'm doing it just to see what it's like. Short of war, death, famine etc. ...it's ON." - Ian Hunter

Those original members in full: Ian Hunter, Mick Ralphs, Verden Allen,
Pete "Overend" Watts, Dale "Buffin" Griffin.

this i would definitely pay more than $25 to see, and I haven't done that in over ten years.

Holee fuckin shit.

Free was the best bad evah

Very very cool! I will definitely watch this, thanks for posting.

Seeing reports on FB that Overend Watts has passed away (cancer).

RIP :(

Almost a year to the day after Buffin too. RIP.

RIP Overend. Recover quickly, Mick Ralphs. (suffered a stroke a short time ago.)

morgan fisher on FB:

My dear, darling, crazy friend Peter Overend Watts passed on today. I can't speak, am numb. All I can do is share one of the last emails he sent me, on December 6th 2016. Unedited, unexplained. His bravery, honesty, generosity, open heart and still-devastatingly witty humour during his last days utterly blow me away. He left this world as a total hero, a samurai. Love you, Pete <3

Oh Yay Clifford T. Whoard!
Thanks fur your lovely message me old son. Looks like the news is finally out. But PLEASE KEEP IT UNDER YER HAT. IF POSS.
Managed to keep it quiet for more than 6 years though - so that was pretty good.If you remember I wasn't great at Hammo in 2009 - felt very grimeworthy then !
I just dread being besieged by Mott fans - all PRAYING for me, sending cards or gifts -
or worse still, trying to visit me ! God forbid - even tho I don't believe in him - even NOW.
Can't deal with all that crap - even tho I know they mean well. My sis got a message from Joe Elliot yesterday which made me think the game might be up. I know Jean and Buff were overwhelmed and were upset by it all after going public.
I think it's about 5 years too late for 2nd opinions now son. I've had every type of treatment, surgery etc, - it was far worse than the illness itself ! I've had enough now and am fine about going - it might be plezz up there (or down there)- an adventure, whichever way yer look at it. I'm not in any great pain, just giddy tired and weak. To be honest I'm more worried about Ralphur than myself right now. I really hope he recovers so he can play again. I love the guy so much - just as I love you son. I hated having to tell you that only the original band were doing the reunions - I know it must have hurt you a lot. One of me worst jobs ever. I wish we could've done it but it wasn't financially possble + too difficult to co-ordinate. with everyone concerned.

The Hospice is great - very much like Carry On Nurse - so I 'aint complainin' ! Another 3 decent years of travel would've been good but it's not to be.after all - but I did a hell of a lot anyway.
Glad you shifted the skin cancer - and I hope you have a long, healthy and happy life.
I can hardly type so I may not be able to keep in touch, but i just wanted you to know that you are still the best musician I ever had the privilege to work with and a brill bloke to boot...... - but David Reid - guitarist from The Contrast 'int far behind you !!! I was gonna bloody join them on electric 6 & 12 string till this bloody disease returnrd. What a bummer that was.
Anyway, must sleep now. I refuse to say "Goodbye" [ so I;ll just say ........
Take care Morgo - Love you son - Olde Gruff Pete xxx

PS OH - PIES OF GRATE MEAT !! We had some great times didn' t we !

My list of their (and Ian Hunter's) best.

I miss Sweet Angeline which is my favorite faux Dylan ever

Nice work! I'd throw The Moon Upstairs on there, and maybe even Threads of Iron from Mad Shadows, but you got just about everything.

reunion of mott mach ii dudes.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/mott-the-hoople-reunion-2018/

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/mott-the-hoople-tour-782276/

Listening to the All the Young Dudes album while a bit drunk right now, "Jerkin' Crocus" revealed itself as an extremely hilarious Rolling Stones parody ("a JUDO HOLD on a BLACK MAN'S BALLS")! This is probably groundless, or else extremely commonly known, but it prompted me to take it from the top, and haha the tempo difference.

Yes, they definitely weren't a click-track band!

I've got a certain amount of patience for chaotic sloppiness, but after the first track Mad Shadows is just unendurable. They returned to this style a lot more successfully on Brain Capers. Wildlife is also quite a good record, don't know why it's generally disliked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vyvtQS88Sg

my gosh that beautiful buffin flourish at the end.

well i do like them quite a bit i guess, lol.

“Ha there, ya friendly neighborhood …”

RIP Mick Ralphs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvwPfOPGiu4

Kind of irritates me to see so many headlines and obits memorializing him mostly for Bad Company with little to say about Mott. Further proof that record sales is a shit metric for quality, not that we needed it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuMOWrRZ0HA

Especially when you consider Rock 'n' Roll's a loser's game.
I think people were overwhelmed by the title of this thread, that they had no excuse not to own every Mott the Hoople album, and decided ignoring them was an easier choice.

One of the problems is the Mott's biggest period of exposure in America (TV appearances, the Broadway residency w/Queen) was after Ralphs quit. Even then, it seems like they were always in Bowie's shadow over here.

because I didn't really discover them until 2009, this is the one classic rock band I can listen to any time with fresh ears. Think I'd rank 'em:

Brain Capers
The Hoople
All the Young Dudes
Mott
Mott the Hoople
Live
Mad Shadows
Wildlife (but man...'Waterlow")

I only own three albums and a two-CD compilation: Brain Capers, All the Young Dudes and Mott + The Ballad of Mott: A Retrospective.

The Mental Train box set is worth owning for the bonus disc of unreleased ballads, all from the Island years. Man, they could really do a ballad.

Mick sang and maybe wrote "I'm a Cadillac, " right? Good stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynMI_rpLCTA

And speaking of ballads, this is one of the first MTH tracks I ever heard: was frustrated with Dylan, and the Dylaness of this hit me so hard---I think I thought it was a band original too, not knowing it was by Sir Doug: "At The Crossroads"!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53_4f2I4weg

Not meaning to imply that Doug was just imitating Dylan---it was very much his own POV, judging by other originals, and also what I was still looking for in Dylan, not finding just then.

In the liner notes for The Ballad of Mott: A Retrospective, Ian says he "recently" spoke with Mick and he told him he never would've left Mott the Hoople if he had known people were talking about them the way they did now. Not sure how that could've happened, punk hadn't crystallized yet and the Clash were still a few years away so it's not like he would've caught Mick Jones showing off all the tricks he learned from them.

I only own three albums and a two-CD compilation: Brain Capers, All the Young Dudes and Mott + The Ballad of Mott: A Retrospective.

You should pick up The Hoople, which is a pretty solid, no-skips album in its own right. And bar picking up the other Atlantic albums individually or in a box, you might want to track down the Backsliding Fearlessly comp on Rhino, which has a generous selection of tracks from said albums alongside some good rarities.

The Hoople is worth it for the cover art alone. A framed copy has been on one of my walls for 25 years.

Even xgau's more right than wrong about these (while somehow, though praising several tracks, undervaluing Brain Capers as a whole):

Rock and Roll Queen [Atlantic, 1974]
Mick Ralphs's title tune--which is to "Starfucker" as Bad Company is to the Rolling Stones--defines the virtues and limitations of this raucous compilation. Rescuing serviceable rockers from all of their Atlantic albums and utilizing only the most simple-minded covers ("You Really Got Me" and "Keep a Knockin'"), it presents pre-Bowie Mott as an endearingly crude touring band, with enough hooks to keep things going. And it draws on only five minutes of Brain Capers. B+

Greatest Hits [Columbia, 1976]
Hits my ass. Never heard "Foxy Foxy" on the radio, and never want to. But the other new one, "Saturday Gigs," recapitulates quite movingly a banal theme this collection fleshes out with real wallop: a band and its fans. Four songs is too much overlap with Mott, but this is the essence of Mott the Hoople as a group, which always needed Ian Hunter and always did more than back him up. A-

The Ballad of Mott: A Retrospective [Columbia/Legacy, 1993]
I could cavil about omissions, "Death May Be Your Santa Claus" especially. But 20 years after the fact, you remember great bands for their sound as much as their songs, and these guys had one. They were prepunk, everybody knows that, but too often the "pre" is given short shrift. So remember this: committed to sarcasm, dystopia, and noise, they never took refuge in punk's inspired-amateur minimalism. On the contrary, their expansive mess was pure '60s, as was their penchant for the elegiac and the lyrical. It's a synthesis 10,000 garage bands have fucked up since. The 10,001st was Nirvana. A

He led me to this fine comp too:

Shades of Ian Hunter: The Ballad of Ian Hunter and Mott the Hoople [Columbia, 1979]
Exemplary discophilia. The Mott 45s on side one are all the young stiffs--great album tracks edited down for an AM exposure that was rarely forthcoming, they race along with an almost punky punch on LP. The B sides and miscellaneous on side two are uneven, natch, but worth getting to know (as owners of Greatest Hits have already learned with two of them). Those circumspect enough to have passed up Ian's two solo albums are now rewarded with side three's best-of. And side four excerpts the solo Ian that was never released here to impressive effect. A genuinely obsessive compilation. A-

I took that first review to mean, "they didn't have to rely too much on Brain Capers to fill this compilation, unlike the later compilation which draws too much from Mott".

R&R Queen was kind of a doofy comp, although for a long time it was the easiest place to score "Midnight Lady", their single with Shadow Morton (really wished they did a whole album with him, but it might have been too much too soon).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR7-lGwsOL8