Spooky Tooth is an English progressive rock band principally active, with intermittent breakups, between 1967 to 1974. In recent years, the band has been reconstituted at various points,[1] and continues to perform occasionally.
Career
Crucial to their sound was their instrumentation; they were one of the few acts within the rock forum of the time to adopt the twin keyboard approach (both an organ and a piano player) alongside The Band (whose "The Weight" was recorded by Spooky Tooth as a single in 1968), Procol Harum, and Mott the Hoople.
They formed in October 1967, out of a combination of The Ramrods (1960 - late 1963), The V.I.P.'s (late 1963 - April 1967) and Art (April — October 1967). The line-up changed several times, but typically was -
- Mike Harrison (born Michael Harrison, 3 September 1942, Carlisle, Cumberland) (keyboards/vocals)
- Greg Ridley (born Alfred Gregory Ridley, 23 October 1947, Aspatria, Cumbria — died 19 November 2003, in Java, Spain) (bass guitar/vocals)
- Luther (Luke) Grosvenor (born Luther James Grosvenor, 23 December 1946, Evesham, Worcestershire) (guitar/vocals)
- Mike Kellie, (born Michael Alexander Kellie, 24 March 1947, Birmingham, Warwickshire) (drums)
- Gary Wright, (born 26 April 1943, Cresskill, New Jersey, U.S.) (organ/vocals)
It was the latter's addition (after one album - see Discography) that signalled the name change from Art to Spooky Tooth. Gary Wright was introduced to the members of Art by Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records.[2]
1969's Spooky Two LP is generally considered to be the best effort by the group and was the last album release by the original lineup. It included the song "Better By You, Better Than Me", which was covered by Judas Priest on their 1978 release Stained Class. The track later gained some attention in the media as subject of a court trial in 1990. It was claimed that the subliminal messages in the song's recording by Judas Priest caused two youngsters to commit mutual suicide. The court finally judged in favor of the accused.
Ridley joined Humble Pie in 1969 and was replaced by Andy Leigh (in time for 1970's album Ceremony) who went on to Matthews Southern Comfort with ex-Fairport Convention vocalist Ian Matthews. The experimental nature of Ceremony received mixed reviews and following its release Wright also bowed out. The core of Harrison, Grosvenor and Kellie struggled on for one more album, aptly titled The Last Puff, completed with friends from Joe Cocker's Grease Band.
They broke up in the autumn of 1970, however after solo efforts Harrison and Wright reformed Spooky Tooth in September 1972 with a different (and frequently changing) line-up. The best known member of these line-ups (from March 1973 to September 1974) was Mick Jones (guitar / vocals), later in Foreigner and, from February — May 1974, Mike Patto (vocals) replaced Harrison for the 1974 release The Mirror. The group then split again in September 1974.
Post Spooky
Grosvenor later played with Stealers Wheel and, adopting the stage name Ariel Bender, with Mott the Hoople. He later founded the band Widowmaker, which was active in the 1970s. In 2005, he founded The Ariel Bender Band, with which he continues to perform on occasion.[3]
Kellie later joined The Only Ones, a respected rock and punk band that came to priminence in the late 1970s and early 1980s and, having reformed in 2007, continues to perform with substantially all original members, including Kellie.[4]
Ridley, who died in 2003, came to international prominence, particularly in the 1970s, as a member of Humble Pie.
Wright developed an international solo career, commencing in the 1970s, and had an enduring hit with the radio-friendly "Dream Weaver".
Harrison, Grosvenor, Ridley and Kellie reunited at points in 1997 and 1998, which resulted in an album, Cross Purpose , released in 1999.
Harrison played and recorded with The Hamburg Blues Band, releasing an album, Touch , in 2002.[5]
Mike Harrison, Wright and Kellie reunited in 2004 for two concerts in Germany, resulting in a DVD release, Nomad Poets (2007).
In 2006, Harrison released his first solo album in over thirty years, Late Starter.
Band members
1967 - 1969 |
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1969 - 1970 |
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1970 - 1971 |
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1972 - 1973[6] |
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1973 - 1974 |
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1974 |
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1998 |
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2004 |
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Discography
as Art (Mike Harrison (voc), Greg Ridley (b), Luther Grosvenor (guitar), Mike Kellie (drums))
as Spooky Tooth
Singles
- 1969 - "Feelin' Bad" US Bubbling Under #132
References
- ^ Such as in 1999, resulting in the release of Cross Purpose and in 2004, resulting in the 2007 release of Nomad Poets.
- ^ Uncredited, Spooky Tooth Official Biography; www.spookytooth.co.uk.
- ^ See Ariel Bender Band Website; www.arielbenderband.com. Retrieved 09-06-25; site does not appear to have been updated beyond 2008.
- ^ See The Only Ones Website; www.theonlyones.biz
- ^ Profile of Mike Harrison and The Hamburg Blues Band; www.rufrecords.de
- ^ For details of 1972-1974 band configurations, see Miguel Terol, Bryson Graham Biography; The Musicians' Olympus.
- ^ Reissued 1971 as Tobacco Road.
External links
