Spooky Tooth - The Weight (1969)

Spooky Tooth were one of the best progressive rock bands of he late 60's and early 70's, although they never really had the massive success that they deserved. Most of the band started out in a combo called Art, and when they broke up Spooky Tooth was formed from the ashes. Their line-up was a breeding ground for musicians who went on to greater fame later in their career, with Luther Grosvenor changing his name to Ariel Bender and joining Mott The Hoople, Mike Kellie teaming up with Peter Perrett in The Only Ones, Greg Ridley joining Humble Pie and Mike Harrison and Gary Wright going on to considerable solo success, with Wright having a huge hit with his 'Dream Weaver' single. Their first two albums are classics of the psychedelic rock genre, and as the 70's drew on they became more experimental, culminating in a collaboration with French music concrete artist Pierre Henry on the generally well-received 'Ceremony', before regrouping and turning to a heavier sound as the 70's wore on. During their career they released a number of singles, some of which never featured on their albums, and some also had exclusive b-sides, while they also recorded a number of sessions for the BBC, playing songs that only ever appeared in their live sets. Of those recordings, the take of 'I Can't Quit Her' wasn't taped that well, with a jagged fade in at the beginning and an unconvincing fade at the end, and so in my first attempt at patching I've tried to make a more convincing version of the song. This post collects the best of their hard to find songs into an album which shows just what a great band they were, even from material not considered worthy of inclusion on their album releases.

Track listing

01 Weird (b-side of 'Sunshine Help Me' 1967 - reworking of Art song)
02 The Weight (single 1968)
03 Do Right People (b-side of 'The Weight')
04 Sunshine Help Me (Original version)
05 I Can't Quit Her (BBC 'Top Gear' session 1968)
06 Blues Town (BBC 'Top Gear' session 1968)
07 When I Get Home (Previously unreleased 1968)
08 Something Got Into Your Life (Previously unreleased 1968)
09 Too Much Of Nothing (BBC 'Top Gear' session 1968)
10 Luger's Groove (b-side of 'Love Really Changed Me' 1968)
11 Oh! Pretty Woman (b-side of 'That Was Only Yesterday' 1969)