ALBUM OF THE WEEK # 380 SPOOKY TOOTH - SPOOKY TWO (1969)

[RJhog (Admin)]

Disclaimer: All info that does not reside in my brain is gathered from wikipedia.com (mostly because Jon can't stand it) unless otherwise noted.

Band

Gary Wright - Vocals, Keyboards

Mike Harrison - Vocals, Keyboards

Luther Grosvenor - Lead Guitar

Greg Ridley - Bass Guitar

Mike Kellie - Drums

Halloween is Tuesday, so let's get spooky.  Spooky Two is your Album of the Week.  Of course, the artist is Spooky Tooth, whose name is so scary that it just has to be the Album of the Week during Halloween.  Who is Spooky Tooth you ask?  Well, let me tell you.  The band is an English rock band that started life as The V.I.P.'s, then the Vipps, then Art.  The band Art folded near the end of 1967 and the principle band members joined up with American Gary Wright and became Spooky Tooth.  The band name came from one of Wright's friends who attended Yale and wrote atonal poetry.  

Spooky Two is the band's second album.  It is widely considered the band's finest work.  According to Gary Wright, several well-known musicians contributed to the album but were un-credited on the final album sleeve. Steve Winwood played piano on I've Got Enough Heartache, Joe Cocker sang backing vocals on Feelin' Bad and Dave Mason played guitar on That Was Only Yesterday.  

Despite the album being the band's signature work, it saw very little in the way of chart success.  Later in 1969 Greg Ridley left Spooky Tooth and joined forces with Steve Mariott and Peter Frampton in Humble Pie.  Gary Wright hung around for one more album.  

Weekly Tidbits:

• Grosvenor went on to play with Stealers Wheel and, under the stage name Ariel Bender, Mott The Hoople
• Gary Wright had a huge solo hit in Dream Weaver (betcha didn't know that)
• Spooky Tooth is featured in the 1970 documentary Groupies

Tracks:

1. Waitin' For The Wind

2. Feelin' Bad

3. I've Got Enough Heartaches

4. Evil Woman

5. Lost In My Dream

6. That Was Only Yesterday

7. Better By You, Better Than Me

8. Hangman Hang My Shell On A Tree

[Jon]

This is really good. I mean REALLY good.

However, I wonder if Judas Priest rues the day they heard track #7. You know, one of those with the backward messages. Didn't hear any here, but I had an incredible urge to go outside and have a beer and a cigarette and it's not even 8 am!

Of course gotta mention that Mick Jones was also in this band, but after this album. Think he was only on one.

[Scott]

Some initial thoughts…

• Gary Wright is cool and anyone who didn’t know about Dream Weaver is not!
• Did anyone know Better By You, Better Than Me was covered by Judas Priest?
• Mick Jones is cool too except when he’s skipping out on 40th Anniversary concerts (Kelly Hansen is annoying to me as a front man) but I digress since he’s not on this album
• I’ve often thought of this band but never really checked into them for some reason, which is weird because I’m the biggest Gary Wright fan on here (its true!)

That drum intro with the echo is cool and the opening song just improves from there. These first two are really classic Wright penned tunes. Really strong!

I’ve Got Enough Heartaches has great gospel feel, sometimes you just gotta reset and some old school gospel rock is just what the Pastor ordered! Evil Woman keeps the religious pressure on… Jon surely needed it most but it was good for my soul too…

There is some darkness to this album, very interesting! Sad to admit this but I'm most familiar with Priest version of BBY,BTM… The original is very interesting but I didn't connect the dots to Spooky Tooth! In fact this whole thing is quite interesting, I enjoyed this … Off to fill a gap in my wish list!!

[Jon]

Nice bullet point #2. Not like someone else mentioned that well before you did.