reDiscover ‘Mott The Hoople’

The 1970s heyday of Mott The Hoople is well remembered and reported, and has been in the forefront of their fans’ memories following the sad death in January 2017 of bassist Pete Overend Watts, and of drummer Dale “Buffin” Griffin a year earlier. Less often recalled are the early albums the band made on the Island label, before their departure to CBS, so we’re reDiscovering their 1969, self-titled debut LP.
Mott’s geographical origins in Hereford, just 15 miles from the English border with Wales, may have been something of a disadvantage given that the West Country music scene of the mid-1960s was rather less obviously prosperous than those in London, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.
Back in the UK, they headed for London and famously auditioned, unsuccessfully, for The Beatles‘ new Apple label. Then they became the Silence, opened for the still-obscure reggae singer Jimmy Cliff and, in the fascinating rock family tree of the time, auditioned (again with no joy) for the Heavy Metal Kids. The musicians who beat them to that gig renamed themselves Free.
But some good did come of it, because the Silence were noticed by Guy Stevens, a DJ, A&R man and a flamboyant mover and shaker who was instrumental in the formation of the Island label. His role in the story is undiluted by the fact that early 1968 saw him doing time in Wormwood Scrubs Prison. Indeed, it specifically informed what happened next.
“I was doing eight months for possession of drugs,” Stevens later recalled, “and I read this book called Mott The Hoople by Willard Manus. I wrote to my wife and said ‘Keep the title a secret.’ She wrote back: ‘Are you joking? ‘Mott The Hoople.” That’s ridiculous.”
It may have sounded so, but when he regained his freedom, Stevens managed to persuade the members of the Silence that this would be their new name — except for frontman Tippins, who decamped to Italy to make the best of the band’s popularity there. He returned in the increasingly celebrated and long-lasting role of the later band’s road manager.
Mott The Hoople showcased the group’s robust, Rolling Stones-influenced rock sound in which Hunter’s Dylanesque vocals and narratives came to the fore, on his own ‘Backsliding Fearlessly,’ songs by Ralphs and some notable covers. The album opened with an instrumental version of the Kinks’ ‘You Really Got Me’ and also sported a remake of ‘Laugh At Me,’ the solitary 1965 solo hit by Sonny Bono of Sonny & Cher.


A Mott The Hoople concert poster from late 1969
Mott enhanced their reputation with tireless work on the UK live circuit, in venues such as the Roundhouse, the Marquee and local clubs such as the Greyhound in Croydon and Friars in Aylesbury. An extremely modest breakthough was reached when the album spent one week on the chart at No. 66, six months after release, in May 1970.
Far greater recognition would eventually arrive, but Hunter remembered these as halcyon days. “The buzz was in the air,” he later said. “We were green as grass, not too good, but enthusiastic. It was fun, nothing to lose.”
Listen to Mott The Hoople on Spotify


steve
February 28, 2016 at 3:07 pm
I’d describe the West Country Scene of that time as bustling instead of a backwater, with acts like The Move, Moody Blues, Traffic, Black Sabbath, The Idle Race,etc.
Sal
April 12, 2016 at 1:21 pm
One of the greatest and most influential bands of all time.
larry
April 29, 2016 at 12:08 am
Listened to them all through college. Still love to hear the sound, lyrics, and beat of the group.
A&M
February 28, 2017 at 5:40 pm
Just for a short moment I had high hopes. Could Mott’s great Island records finally be heard in Spotify on the Dutch side of the North Sea? But alas – no such luck.
Alan
June 22, 2018 at 4:51 am
Still love MTH. I still think to be half as good as MTH is to be twice as good as anyone else.