Musicology

Spooky Tooth - The Last Puff 1970

Part of the early-'70s British hard rock scene, Spooky Tooth grew out of the bluesy VIPs and prog-rock group Art and consisted of vocalist Mike Harrison, keyboardist/vocalist Gary Wright, guitarist Luther Grosvenor, bassist Greg Ridley, and drummer Mike Kellie. The group built a following through countless gigs and recorded its debut album, It's All About, in 1968. Spooky Two became their most successful album in the U.S.; afterwards, Ridley left to join Humble Pie and was replaced by Andy Leigh. Following 1970's Ceremony, Wright left to form Wonderwheel, while Grosvenor took the name Ariel Bender and joined Stealers Wheel and later Mott the Hoople. The addition of three members of Joe Cocker's Grease Band -- Henry McCullough, Chris Stainton, and Alan Spenner -- was not enough to keep the band afloat, and Spooky Tooth broke up after The Last Puff in 1970. A reunion in 1973 with Wright, Harrison, and future Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones produced several LPs, including the moderately successful You Broke My Heart So I Busted Your Jaw, but personnel shifts and a lack of top-notch material ended the project in 1974. Wright went on to a successful solo career, scoring pop hits like "Dream Weaver," and Mike Kellie later joined the punk-pop Only Ones. Perhaps "The Last Gasp" would have been a more apt title here.

Spooky Tooth appeared to be on its last legs, and being propped up by members of the Grease Band, this record should have been merely one of those contract fulfillments, but it isn't. It's a good, solid effort that includes a burning cover of the Beatles' "I Am the Walrus." Unfortunately, Spooky Tooth didn't stay together to reap the rewards of this new combination of musicians.

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