MOTT

Mott The Hoople: Ian Hunter (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Mick Ralphs (vocals, guitar); Overend Watts (vocals, bass); Verden Allen (keyboards); Dale Griffin (drums). Additional personnel includes: Graham Preskitt (violin); Paul Buckmaster (electric cello); Andy Mackay (saxophone); Thunderthighs (backround vocals). Engineers: Bill Price, Alan Harris, John Leckie. Recorded at Air London Studios and EMI Abbey Road, London, England, from February-April 1973. Digitally remastered by Larry Keyes (CBS Records Studio, New York, New York). Mott The Hoople are often associated with the '70s glam movement, but their only real connection to that style was their involvement with David Bowie. In fact, the band was much more closely tied to the post-folkie work of Bob Dylan. Singer Ian Hunter had his British version of Dylan's transcendent moan down to a science. Though they were essentially a pure rock & roll band (and one of the main influences on the Clash), Mott sported detailed lyrics informed by the Dylan school, almost to the point of self-consciousness. One of the band's great strengths was its knack for self-mythology, as borne out by "All The Way From Memphis," a Chuck Berry-ish number about the travails of the road. "Ballad of Mott the Hoople" is an ironic but poignant look at the way the band failed to meet the expectations of both themselves and their fans. Amidst all this heady introspection, there's plenty of arresting hard rock guitar courtesy of Mick Ralphs. Things end on a quirky, oddly sentimental note with "I Wish I Was Your Mother," a folkie, idiosyncratic love song colored by chiming mandolin, and marked by some of Hunter's most inspired writing.