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

FYI: I have Mott and the live album. And two Ian Hunter solo ones.

And you know what? No one got onto the Free thread here, but Scott's right, they're damn good records, especially FIRE & WATER.

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...

I bought that comp - extra kudos to Kris Needs for the inclusion of the Silhouettes's song!

"don't think I've ever actually heard Mad Shadows or Wildlife all the way through"

you crazy! get on that! it's all good if you ask me.

really been digging the first two ian solo records (and the production on those! hoo boy).

AND i've been digging the two british lions albums too. which are quirky cool. was really happy to get a copy of the unreleased-at-the-time second album that cherry red was kind enough to put out a few years after the fact. cool stuff!

and i've been playing the two widowmaker albums (ariel bender's band) as well. like the first one and not so sure i need the second one.

I have a soft spot for Mick Ronson's Slaughter on 10th Avenue and Play Don't Worry: bizarrely, they contain two covers of Italian mainstream pop songs (his take of Lucio Battisti's I Giardini di Marzo aka Music Is Lethal is astounding).

Joe Elliott has formed a band to cover post-Mott-the-Hoople output from Ian & the boys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-lrlcmNxLY

They've received the rock doc treatment:

http://www.filmlinc.com/films/on-sale/the-ballad-of-mott-the-hoople

I found a DJ promo copy of Brain Capers yesterday!

Not much to say really, but just enjoyed the BBC4 doc on Mott, Britishes might want to watch on iplayer if they missed it. (or stay up till 2.55 this morning, when it's repeated. I guess that's an option)

I need to find out which of their lps I rate, don't think I've listened to them anywhere near enough.
Enjoyed the documentary when i saw it a couple of weeks back.

Have had a couple of their lps on disc for a few years, including the 2fer of the 1st 2 which I don't think has the best sound. THink i need to pick up The Hoople and Brain Capers on disc too.

I've seen Brain Capers refered to as protopunk or similar on a couple of occasions. Not sure if that's down to Clash connections, not hearing it on the FLAC files I have of it that I noticed anyway. May just be taht they're too quiet sounding.

I think the protopunk content of Capers is maybe down to "Death May Be Your Santa Claus" being on it? I don't really hear much protopunk going on, thought they seemed to have an influence on Slaughter and the Dogs...

All The Young Dudes is turning out to be my favorite of theirs. Most consistent - down to some of the songs being kind of samey - but really good material and production throughout.

They're back! Five November gigs in the UK, all original members but Buffin, who's in poor health. They're playing the O2 of all things. Is this their first arena gig?

I am really pleased they are back together again. I saw one of their warn up shows before their 2009 reunion and it was a lovely experience - the band were enjoying being together as much as the audience loved seeing them together.

brain capers is almost too epic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpp4C_fmhR0

RIP Buffin

http://m.herefordtimes.com/news/14212483.Mott_The_Hoople_drummer_Dale__Buffin__Griffin_dies_at_67/

very sad.

:(

i'll sometimes listen to mott the hoople albums and focus in on the drumming alone. he played with such humor and that seemingly effortless swing that characterized that wave of british rock drummers. he always seemed to be playing catch-up to the band. wait for me, guys!

that swing, or whatever it is, is entirely unachievable by modern rock drummers from what i can see. even listening to the zep reunion show, or any classic band with a new drummer (e.g. sabbath, boc, whatever). drummers today are clobberers.

Tend to agree with this last.

Thus Sang Freud otm. I remember a John Paul Jones interview from around 1990 where he was asked about Zeppelin's influence on current bands. He said the drummers all completely missed the point, and were all (in Jones' words) "BOOM. BASH. BOOM. BASH." He pointed out that Bonham was heavily influenced by Motown and (especially) James Brown records, and that those elements were completely absent from the work of late 80s/early 90s metal or hard rock drummers.

And drummers today, if they want steady work, have to learn to play with a click-track. All a click-track does is suck the soul out of a drummer. Such towering classics like "Honky Tonk Women," "Superstition" and the Isleys' "Fight The Power" speed the fuck up, which only benefits the songs. But a contemporary producer would hear such speedups as "wrong."

Buffin's playing on "Violence" is some of my favorite of anyone. He does the push-pull of the tempo like Ringo, speeding up ever-so-slightly, then pulling back. No drummer today would dare try that.

there is always that guy from Helmet...

i do love that guy from helmet...i don't love a lot of modern drummers. there are metal drummers i like.

that guy from helmet is wonderful

Interesting, Tarfumes, I've heard Jimmy Page say that the biggest 'mistake' you could make as a session musican was speeding up - so he was always deliberately breaking that rule w/ Zep.

RIP, Mott4ever

(i've said it before a million times but it bears repeating. a lot of the olden day heroes of yore had played in a zillion kid/teen/garage/club/wedding bands for years - even at really young ages - and they played a hundred different crowd-pleasing styles and THEN they joined the band that made them famous. they had years of gig experience under less than optimal conditions. battle-tested you could say. this is not true of most musicians starting out now.)

um so they - the people now - they learn how to do something one way - the thing that they like doing - or maybe two ways - and that's about it. they aren't really about variety. though technically they may be very accomplished. to me, it's rare to hear a musician now - especially within rock - who has a musical personality or identity. something that comes through in their playing that tells you who they are and what they are about. not in the way that so many of the old geezers did. of any genre.

yeah all those british drummers probably cut their teeth playing trad jazz, which benefited their later playing so much. buffin was basically the man. RIP.

Mick Fleetwood!

RIP Buffin. I'm disregarding the fact that I met him and he was kind of a dick because, well, he was in Mott the Hoople.

Some Ian Hunter wisdom to cheer you up in this sad time: free summer shows of NYC 2009

This documentary is so lovely, I've watched it now like 3-4 times. I'd almost think you could do a feature film period piece on Mott and Guy Stevens. I'd really like to track down Ian Hunter's book from the period.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2MJWIVeVNo

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.