Mott the Hoople is a 1966 novel by Willard Manus, now out of print and best remembered as providing the name for an English rock group of the early 1970s.
Smart hard rock is kind of an oxymoron.
Sal:
I imagine that many Mott The Hoople fans have been listening to the band since the death of bassist Overend Watts. We do that. And that's okay. It's sad that death is the reminder to pay attention, but you can't place the blame on anyone. It's simply how it is.
As I said earlier in the week, Mott The Hoople were life-changing for me. And for BBJ, as well. It was his idea to put this mix together. He had his favorites and I had mine. But we worked that out and came up with what's below.
Maybe some of you gave up once David Bowie took over. Maybe some of you had no idea Mott existed before "All The Young Dudes." This mix isn't really about any of that. It's more about celebrating a unique band.
BBJ:
It was fun collaborating on last week's Weekend Mix so I asked Sal if he wanted to do another and maybe that could be Mott The Hoople.
I ended up making the final track list, and Sal sequenced it. It all went so smoothly until Sal realized I'd included an alternate "One Of The Boys." It's the same take without the phone and coda at the end, which as it turns out are key elements of the experience for him. On the other hand, since the '70's, I'd rudely made similar edits when compiling. I always thought it overstayed it's welcome and occupied valuable real estate.
Sal and I agree completely on many things, but we also disagree just as completely on others.
The album version in question is almost seven minutes long. The shorter just over four.
I try to make the mixes fill up an entire CD. I still like to burn one for the car, and often give them away. Something would have to go. "It'll Be Me" looked at me and said, "It'll be me, won't it mate?"
"Probably," I said. I listened to both very carefully.
In the end, I just couldn't do it.
My solution was to proceed as planned with the shorter, but for those who prefer it, here is the longer one. Album version.
Get both. You decide.
Dale "Buffin" Griffin archived a lot of material, some of which, including David Bowie singing the verses on "All The Young Dudes" is included.
Enjoy!
-BBJ
All The Way From Midlands
All The Way From Midlands, too
6 comments:
Love these guys. They were one of my mainstays. Remember seeing them on Broadway with Queen. Love that Ian is still at it and it good form. Looking forward to revisiting a lot of these songs.
Greetings from England, though not the Midlands. Just to say that this is a wonderful compilation. One of the few groups whose albums and singles had different devoted sets of fans.If anyone is not convinced about Mott's greatness, listen to Saturday Gigs
https://youtu.be/VRxIM7mkK-o
Recently, I discovered amongst my hoardings... er, souvenirs ... a ticket stub from a Mott the Hoople performance at the Royal Albert Hall. Obviously from my London exile, summer 1971. I have no memory of the event whatsoever.
However, having just Googled, I see that it was a semi-infamous performance, in that audience reaction led to a "relatively short-lived" ban on rock shows there. You'd think I'd remember.
Another fantastic collection! A super slice of prime Mott The Hoople.
Keep up the great work! Great cover art too!
Thank you. Cheers Marlon
Nicely done, gentlemen. When I first came across the band it was the juxtapositioning of the Hunter/Ralphs compositions that intrigued, but it was Hunter's songs that drew me in & kept me coming back for more. Cheers for the mix!
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