Forum Home Forum Home > Other music related lounges > General Music Discussions
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Spooky Tooth appreciation thread
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Topic ClosedSpooky Tooth appreciation thread

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Message
Certif1ed View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: April 08 2004
Location: England
Status: Offline
Points: 7559
Direct Link To This Post Topic: Spooky Tooth appreciation thread
    Posted: January 06 2008 at 16:40
I expect this to disappear without trace in a few days, but I'm disappointed with the huge number of Beatles, Queen, Deep Purple, Led Zep and similar threads in here - let's go for some unsung Proto Proggers!
 
Spooky Tooth's second album, imaginatively entitled "Spooky Two" predates Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, yet sounds very similar to all 3. The sound is a bit like Traffic, but more heavily riff-based, and a little more diverse. Any fan of any of the aforementioned bands should own this album.
 
"It's all About" is an amazing psyche-rock album, with flavours of pure Prog in the swirling Hammonds and powerful melodies - and their cover of "I Am The Walrus" on "The Last Puff" is heavy and just brilliant - if a little Vanilla Fudge in its inspiration.
 
Then there's "Ceremony", the album they did with electronics guru Pierre Henry - with 4 such incredible albums in their catalogue, this band deserves more recognition!
 
Here's some YouTube goodness;
 
 
Here's a well-known Spooky Tooth cover that the band in question got into a lot of trouble over...
 
 
Big%20smile


Edited by Certif1ed - January 06 2008 at 16:46
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Back to Top
jimmy_row View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member


Joined: July 11 2007
Location: Hibernation
Status: Offline
Points: 2601
Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 06 2008 at 17:48
Great band, but I still don't have Spooky Two yetUnhappy.  I was surpised when I first saw that "Better By You Better Than Me", made famous by Judas Priest of course, was written by Gary Wright - the same guy responsible for "Dream Weaver" *yuck*  IMO the original version of BBYBTM is better, I really love Mike Harrison's vocals, so full of grit and soul.
 
edit:  ...just checked out the youtube clips - interesting to see them doing The Weight, I've always loved that song and Spooky Tooth seem to do it justice.  That Was Only Yesterday is also a good one...I can remember hearing it on the radio for a long time and thinking it was Joe Cocker...damn Harrison was such a good singer!


Edited by jimmy_row - January 06 2008 at 17:54
Signature Writers Guild on strike
Back to Top
Intruder View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member


Joined: May 13 2005
Status: Offline
Points: 2065
Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 07 2008 at 04:29
The Tooth!  I was so stuck on the second album back in the day....alas, I've never upgraded any ST albums to CD...and the Best Of CD is sitting in the cut out bin at my local used shop....but since Hangman Hang My Head isn't on it, I've given in a miss.
 
I'd say the second album and The Last Puff are my faves....the latter has a mean cover of I Am the Walrus....Mike Harrison really deserves more attention.
I like to feel the suspense when you're certain you know I am there.....
Back to Top
BaldFriede View Drop Down
Prog Reviewer
Prog Reviewer
Avatar

Joined: June 02 2005
Location: Germany
Status: Offline
Points: 10256
Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 07 2008 at 06:17
The cover of "I am the Walrus" is one of the very best Beatles covers out there. Simply brilliant.


BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue.
Back to Top
Jim Garten View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Retired Admin & Razor Guru

Joined: February 02 2004
Location: South England
Status: Offline
Points: 14693
Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 07 2008 at 07:51
Aha - somebody else out there likes Spooky Tooth; great band, great Hammond playing, especially I Am The Walrus & Sunshine Help Me; not flashy playing, but bloody effective

Jon Lord 1941 - 2012
Back to Top
salmacis View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member

Content Addition

Joined: April 10 2005
Status: Offline
Points: 3928
Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 07 2008 at 09:42

All is not lost, Cert. I love 'Spooky Two' and have posted many, many times how much I love it. It's by far their peak, though, IMHO- none of their other albums are bad per se, but they don't quite match up to that one.

'Spooky Two' sounds like a cross between The Band and Traffic, IMHO, also harking forth to that Uriah Heep/Atomic Rooster Hammond attack.

Back to Top
glass house View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: June 16 2005
Location: Netherlands
Status: Offline
Points: 4986
Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 07 2008 at 16:08
Salmacis mentioned Spooky Two a long time ago, after that I was hooked on that album. I especially like the vocals by Mike Harrison. And the songs are great. The first three songs are really really good. Although Evil Woman is a good song, I'm not too fond of the high vocals there. Must admit I don't know the other stuff by them.
 
Good call Cert Thumbs%20Up.
 
 
Back to Top
Moogtron III View Drop Down
Prog Reviewer
Prog Reviewer
Avatar

Joined: April 26 2005
Location: Belgium
Status: Offline
Points: 10616
Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 07 2008 at 16:30
I only have Spooky Two, which is sensational! Other albums didn't get really raving reviews, so I never tried out another album. I'm not sure if that was a wise decision.
Back to Top
jammun View Drop Down
Prog Reviewer
Prog Reviewer
Avatar

Joined: July 14 2007
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 3449
Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 07 2008 at 22:04
Spooky Two is one of my all-time favorite albums.  The guitar solo on "Evil Woman" alone is worth the price of admission.  I used to have LP's of Spooky Two, Ceremony and The Last Puff, but only Spooky Two is still in the collection.  Not sure what happened to the others.   I also have a greatist hits CD that has a good chunk of Spooky Two on it, as well as a few songs from their other albums.  For the uninitiated, it's a cheap way to become acquainted with the band.
Back to Top
glass house View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: June 16 2005
Location: Netherlands
Status: Offline
Points: 4986
Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 08 2008 at 05:30
In a book published by a leading Dutch pop/rock magazine Spooky Tooth songs were described as: Slow, at times almost dragging songs, with autumn-like melancholic lyrics and with a, at that time, unprecedented rough edge.
 
Translating that was not easy, but I think it sums it up quite nice.
 

 
Back to Top
Certif1ed View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: April 08 2004
Location: England
Status: Offline
Points: 7559
Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 08 2008 at 15:33
Originally posted by glass house glass house wrote:

Salmacis mentioned Spooky Two a long time ago, after that I was hooked on that album. I especially like the vocals by Mike Harrison. And the songs are great. The first three songs are really really good. Although Evil Woman is a good song, I'm not too fond of the high vocals there. Must admit I don't know the other stuff by them.
 
Good call Cert Thumbs%20Up.
 
 
 
The riff to "Evil Woman" is strikingly similar to "Sweet Leaf" by Sabbath... Wink
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Back to Top
glass house View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: June 16 2005
Location: Netherlands
Status: Offline
Points: 4986
Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 08 2008 at 16:03
 
The riff to "Evil Woman" is strikingly similar to "Sweet Leaf" by Sabbath... Wink
[/QUOTE]
 
It is, yeah.
 
And they are still touring, they are coming to a town near where i live at the 17th of february. I wonder if Mike still has got a good voice?
 
 
 
Back to Top
Melomaniac View Drop Down
Prog Reviewer
Prog Reviewer
Avatar

Joined: May 07 2006
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 4088
Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 09 2008 at 13:44
My favorite ST singer is Mike Harrison, but my favorite album is The Mirror.  One of my bandmates is a Spooky Tooth nut, and he has their reunion concert DVD which they filmed to celebrate the memory of their old bass player, and I find it to be a good DVD with a band in shape and Mike Harrison still good at vocals, but I must admit that Gary Wright is quite embarassing to watch in his awful red outfit and that God forsaken (and out of place) 80's strap-on keyboard, which allowed him to play only with his right hand...
"One likes to believe in the freedom of Music" - Neil Peart, The Spirit of Radio
Back to Top
Certif1ed View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: April 08 2004
Location: England
Status: Offline
Points: 7559
Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 09 2008 at 17:23
Is anyone familiar with "Ceremony"?
 
It's the only one of the 1960s-early 1970s albums I've never heard.
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 0.144 seconds.
Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.