MOTT THE HOOPLE - Roll Away The Stone

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"ROLL AWAY THE STONE" - Released 1973. MOTT THE HOOPLE. were a 1970s English rock band known for being part of the popular glam rock scene of the early to mid-70s. They are best known for the song "All the Young Dudes", which was written for them by their fan David Bowie which appeared on the 1972 album of the same name. The roots of Mott The Hoople can be traced back to two beat bands from Herefordshire in the early 1960s. The Soulents were from Ross-On-Wye, and boasted Pete "Overend" Watts on guitar, and Dale "Buffin" Griffin on drums. The Buddies were from Hereford, and featured Mick Ralphs on guitar and Stan Tippins on vocals. By 1966, the trio of Ralphs, Tippins, and Watts (now on bass) had come together in a band called The Doc Thomas Group, and soon secured a residency at a club in a resort town in Italy. The group were soon offered a recording contract with the Italian label Dishi Interrrecord, and released a self-titled album in January 1967. By 1968, drummer Dale Griffin and organist Verden Allen had joined the band. Although the group toured and recorded in Italy as The Doc Thomas Group, their gigs in the UK were played first as The Shakedown Sound, and later as Silence. Silence recorded demos at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales, which were shopped to EMI, Polydor, Immediate, and Apple with no success. In early 1969 the group came to the attention of Guy Stevens at Island Records, who liked the group but not with Tippins as lead singer. Advertisements were placed ("Singer wanted, must be image-minded and hungry"), and Ian Hunter was eventually selected as lead singer and piano player. Tippins assumed the role of road manager. Stevens changed the band's name to "Mott the Hoople" from a novel of the same name by Willard Manus; the book is about an eccentric who works in a circus freak show. Their debut album, Mott the Hoople (1969), was a cult success, and their repertoire included cover versions of "Laugh at Me" (Sonny Bono), and an instrumental cover of "You Really Got Me" (The Kinks). The second album, Mad Shadows (1970), sold poorly and received generally negative reviews; as did Wildlife (1971). Even though the group was building a decent following, the hard-rocking Brain Capers (1971) failed to sell well, and when combined with an aborted UK tour with The Lothringers, the band was close to breaking up. David Bowie had long been a fan of the band, and heard that they were about to split. He persuaded them to stay together and offered them "Suffragette City" from his then yet-to-be-released Ziggy Stardust album. They turned it down so Bowie wrote "All the Young Dudes" for them instead. Released as a single in July 1972, it was a success in the UK, with the band using Tippens - who by this time was their tour manager - to sing backing vocals during live gigs. A Bowie-produced album, also called All the Young Dudes, sold well. Late in 1972 they were going to record another Bowie song, "Drive-In Saturday"[citation needed], but their intended arrangement did not satisfy him and their professional relationship effectively ended. Another casualty in the wake of All the Young Dudes was Verden Allen, who departed before the release of their next album, Mott. Mott climbed into the Top Ten of the UK album charts, and became the band's best seller to date in the US. It yielded two UK hits, "Honaloochie Boogie" and "All the Way from Memphis", both featuring Andy Mackay of Roxy Music on saxophone. "All the Way From Memphis" is also featured in the movie Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. In 1974, for their tour of America, Mott the Hoople were supported by the band Queen. This tour later provided the inspiration for Queen's 1975 single "Now I'm Here," which contains the lyrics "Down in the city, just Hoople and me." The song became a live favourite of Queen fans and reached #11 in the UK Singles Chart. The tour resulted in a lifelong friendship between the two bands, with Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson and David Bowie performing "All the Young Dudes" at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992. Morgan Fisher went on to play piano on Queen's "Hot Space" tour in 1982, and Brian May, Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor performed backing vocals on the Ian Hunter solo song "You Nearly Did Me In". May would later cover Mott's "All the Way from Memphis" on his solo album, Another World, with Hunter making a guest appearance. In October 2007 at Ian Hunter's concert at the Shepherds Bush Empire, he was joined by Mick Ralphs and Verden Allen for the encore.

Category: Music
Uploaded: October 15th, 2008 @ 9:16 pm
Author: MusicMeanMachine

Length: 04:50
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Views: 1,334

Tags: oldies pop rock

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