Spooky Tooth

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spooky Tooth
The British band Spooky Tooth performed in Kiel in 1969. With Mike Harrison, Gary Wright, Luther Grosvenor, Greg Ridley and Michael Kellie.
The British band Spooky Tooth performed in Kiel in 1969. With Mike Harrison, Gary Wright, Luther Grosvenor, Greg Ridley and Michael Kellie.
General information
Genre (s) Psychedelic rock , blues rock
founding 1967
resolution 1974
Founding members
Mike Harrison († 2018)
Vocals, keyboard
 Gary Wright
Luther "Luke" Grosvenor
Greg Ridley
Mike Kellie († 2017)
Mike Harrison, 1969
Greg Ridley, 1969

Spooky Tooth (German roughly "creepy tooth") was a blues rock band from Great Britain .

history

The group was founded in 1966 by Mike Harrison ( vocals , keyboards ) in Carlisle under the name The VIPs. Keith Emerson played for a short time . In 1967 the group moved to London and called themselves Art for a short time.

At the end of 1967 Gary Wright (also vocals, keyboards) joined them and the group got its final name. The other members on the first two records were Luther Grosvenor ( guitar ), Greg Ridley ( electric bass ) and Michael Kellie ( drums ). In 1968 the debut album It's All About was released . The following Spooky Two is considered by many fans and critics as her best work, it contained, among other things, the song Better By You, Better Than Me , which was covered by Judas Priest in 1978 .

In 1969 Ridley switched to Humble Pie and was temporarily replaced by Andy Leigh. In the same year there was a collaboration with the electronic musician Pierre Henry , which resulted in an LP in an unusual style under the title Ceremony . As a result, the group got into an argument about the future musical direction, whereupon Wright left the group.

Together with guitarist Henry McCullough (later with Paul McCartneys Wings ), Chris Stainton (piano, keyboards, guitar) and Alan Spenner (bass guitar), the group recorded the successful album The Last Puff in 1970 , which included two excellent cover versions contains, namely I Am the Walrus by the Beatles and Son of Your Father by Elton John . After the release of this album, Spooky Tooth was dissolved because the band members wanted to put their main musical emphasis on solo projects.

In 1972 the group formed anew, most of the original members (Harrison, Wright and Kellie, who had since played in Peter Bardens band Camel ) had returned in 1973. Instead of Grosvenor, who had gone to Stealers Wheel and then to Mott the Hoople , Mick Jones came along, who later became acquainted with Foreigner . In 1974 the group disintegrated again. On the last record, The Mirror , none of the previous Art members was there. In addition to Wright and Jones, Bryson Graham (drums), Mike Patto (vocals, keyboards, drums) and Val Burke (bass guitar, vocals) played.

In 1998, however, there was an album by Spooky Tooth with the original line-up of Art. In November 2004, the group played again with Humble Pie at the Greg Ridley Memorial Concert, including Grosvenor and Kellie.

In 2004, Spooky Tooth also recorded the live CD Nomad Poets in Germany, which they specifically dedicated to the founding member Greg Ridley, who had recently died. (The cast is as below with guest musicians Joey Albrecht - backing voc., Guit., + Michael "Bexi" Becker, bass guit., Backing voc.)

In February 2008 the band toured with the line-up Wright, Harrison, Kellie and two guest musicians through Germany and some neighboring countries.

style

Spooky Tooth played a kind of blues rock with numerous style elements from country , pop and psychedelic influences. The sound was mainly determined by the effective vocal harmonies of the two singers and the powerful use of the electronic organ as well as the cleverly used (reverb) effects (see for example Waitin 'for the wind ). Many Spooky Tooth songs are also clearly influenced by gospel ( I've Got Enough Heartache , Holy Water , Ocean of Power ). The expressive voice of Mike Harrison in particular became a trademark of the band.

In the first few years, her then producer Jimmy Miller , who played an important role in Traffic and later in the Stones LPs from 1968 to 1973 ( Beggars Banquet to Goats Head Soup ), played an important role.

Discography

Albums (type)

  • Supernatural Fairy Tales (1967)

Albums (Spooky Tooth)

  • It's All About (UK) / Tobacco Road (US) (1968)
  • Spooky Two (1969)
  • Ceremony (1970 with Pierre Henry )
  • The Last Puff (1970)
  • You Broke My Heart So I Busted Your Jaw (1973)
  • Witness (1973)
  • The Mirror (1974)
  • Best of Spooky Tooth (1975, Island Records Ltd.)
  • Cross Purpose (1998)
  • Comic Violence (2000) = re-release of The Mirror
  • BBC Sessions (2001)
  • Nomad Poets Live in Germany (2007)
  • Lost In My Dream-Anthology 1968-1974 (2009) double CD

Singles (The VIPs)

  • She's So Good / Don't Keep Shouting at Me (1964)
  • I Wanna Be Free / Don't Let It Go (1966)
  • Straight Down to the Bottom / In a Dream (1966)

Singles (Spooky Tooth)

  • Sunshine Help Me (1968)
  • The Weight (1968)
  • That Was Only Yesterday (1969)
  • Waiting for the Wind (1969)
  • I Am the Walrus (1970)
  • Son of Your Father (1970)
  • All Sewn Up (1973)

Movie

proof

  1. ↑ Spooky Two on Allmusic (English)

Web links

Commons : Spooky Tooth  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files