Blogcritics Comments on Mott the Hoople

Comment by Eric Olsen

Thu, 20 Oct 2005 07:41:37 EDT

it does my heart good to hear so many of the cognoscenti dig the Mott as hard as I did/do: between All the Young Dudes, Mott, The Hoople, and the Rock and Roll Queen catch-up collection coming out within a couple of years, I was agape and in awe

Comment by Barry Stoller

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 21:47:36 EDT

I always thought the first side of the first album was amazing. Covering Bono long before irony and so-bad-it's-great became mainstream. Funny, Bono failed to mention hearing it in his autobio...

Comment by Rodney Welch

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 21:09:25 EDT

Just a question: is there a hotter, wilder, crazier sax solo on any Top 40 record in history than the one on "All the Way From Memphis"? There are other great ones, sure, but I can't think of another one that pushes it like that.

Comment by uao

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 20:54:48 EDT

I discovered Mott the Hoople backwards; In 1981 I saw Ian Hunter do a great set with Mick Ronson on Midnight Special, loaded with songs from his then-current Short Back 'n' Sides album. That led me to check out Ian Hunter, the solo debut, and Welcome to the Club a live double with a lott of Mott the Hoople songs on it. That's the one that got me interested in All The Young Dudes, Mott, and The Hoople. I loved all three, particularly Mott, which I became obsessed with. Then I went to the local dusty used-record basement shop and picked up the then-out-of-print Mad Shadows, Brain Capers, and Wild Life. They sure did have a lot of great songs; it's a pity the radio only bothers with "All the Young Dudes" which isn't even their song. What about "All The Way From Memphis" or "Drivin' Sister" or "Ballad of Mott" or "Crash Kids" or "Violence" or "Roll Away The Stone"? Those could have been hitworthy too, given a chance. Side note: I like to collect very offbeat cover versions of songs; one I've always thought was a peculiar choice was Mott the Hoople's version of Melanie's "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)". Not a masterpiece, but points for unlikeliness.

Comment by Bennett

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 17:59:27 EDT

Thanks to whoever brought this back to the front row. I was a HS freshman when these guys started rocking the west coast, and we loved every minute of it. I can still hear Ian's depressed/sardonic verses in my head from All The Young Dudes, and the tragedy of All The Way From Memphis is still every guitar player's bad dream. Thanks for this EO, kudos two years after!

Comment by Eric Olsen

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 17:42:51 EDT

great recommendations Vern, thanks! And I'm glad you agree about Heartbreaker

Comment by Vern Halen

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 16:47:50 EDT

Now we got something to talk about. Free & Mott - two of the all time great lost English classic rockers (Badfinger completes the triple crown). Heartbreaker is indeed the greatest forgotten classic bar none, with Brain Capers running a close second. Hoople has a CD reissue of Two Miles from Heaven, their rarities compilation for if you can't afford the box set. And Mott the Hoople Live has been reissued as a 2 CD set, with the complete New YOrk & HAmmersmith shows. It's great to hear Ariel Bender go mental on Walking with a Mountain while the Hammersmith staff attempts to lower the curtain on the encore. A must have!

Comment by Eric Olsen

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 10:03:06 EDT

"What kind of Wood doesn't float?" and all of that

Comment by Rodney Welch

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 08:52:57 EDT

Yes, dammit, I mean Robert. That makes two examples of forgetting today. And it isn't even 9 a.m.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 08:45:47 EDT

thanks Rodney, I forget things from two months ago, let alone two years! Wagner got some hot babes for an opera dude, or do you mean Robert?

Comment by Rodney Welch

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 08:36:13 EDT

I must be getting old. As soon as I saw the title of this article in the Comments section, I clicked on it, read it enthusiastically, and was compiling in my head a list of nice things to say about Eric Olsen's wonderful dual abilitities for cohesive history and cogent commentary, and my own abiding love for the masterpiece that is Mott. Then I find out I already commented, because I read it two years ago and forgot. Oh well. As I think Richard Wagner once said of Natalie Wood, Still a great piece, even on the second go-round.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 07:32:55 EDT

thanks Dennis! I agree almost completely with your assessments of Mott and Free and love them both still - I really like Mott's "Sweet Jane" even though it's so different. I think Free's Heartbreaker is a real underrated classic, by the way. And I still can't believe what Mick Ralphs turned into - astonishing

Comment by Dennis Lockhart

Wed, 19 Oct 2005 02:21:30 EDT

It's difficult to believe no one has had anything to say about Mott here for over two years. Mott, along with Status Quo and Free, are my favorites. Never saw Free or Mott, but I saw Status Quo supporting Slade--whom they sliced and diced--at Santa Monica Civic in l973. Mott and Free both had dreary early albums, with noted exceptions: Tnunderbuck Ram--why doesn't some symphony orchestra blow down the walls with a version of this?--and Walking with A Mountain make Mad Shadows worthwhile. Rock and Roll Queen is an essential album. One of the Boys is monstrous, but their Sweet Jane owes more to Andy Williams than Lou Reed. Hard to believe they're on the same album.I miss Mott, Status and Free....where have all the good ones gone, indeed.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Thu, 15 May 2003 16:08:11 EDT

Bowie was about at his best then

Comment by Tim Hall

Thu, 15 May 2003 15:38:18 EDT

It'd take me some research to find another rock and roll band that (arguably) put out their three best albums between 1972 and 1974. Slade? Black Sabbath? Heh. Uriah Heep? Although I thought the early 70s were the golden age of rock (before Punk ruined everything), I'm hard pressed to name many bands whose best years were 72 to 74. Led Zep peaked in '71, Deep Purple's best years were '70 to '72, other bands like Thin Lizzy didn't hit their stride till about '75.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Thu, 15 May 2003 11:10:09 EDT

Glad you agree Rodney, I see it as the center of this great trilogy that frays a bit on either end but is without flaw in the middle. After thinking so much about this yesterday, I had dreams about Mott songs all night last night - talk about ear worms.

Comment by Rodney Welch

Thu, 15 May 2003 09:48:24 EDT

Eric, I totally agree that Mott is a great album that holds up to limitless re-listens, mainly because the songs were all over the map -- and that's a good thing. It's a very diverse album that is never about one thing. "All the Way to Memphis" and "Ballad of Mott the Hoople" are, of course, personal songs about the bands travels and travails, but "Whizz Kid," "Violence," and "Hymn for the Dudes" are all tuned in to some other vibe, and then there's that blissful and beautiful closer "I Wish I Was Your Mother," which perfectly capsulizes a certain kind of obsessive relationship. It seems, with that list of songs, one should be complaining about incoherence or lack of focus; instead, the picture you get is of a band with a great batch of songs and loads of talent to burn. Easily one of the very great albums of the 1970s.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Wed, 14 May 2003 17:20:52 EDT

I like that one too, Dave, no beating that title - it's also on Rock and Roll Queen

Comment by Hazy Dave

Wed, 14 May 2003 17:08:15 EDT

To this music consumer, a band's records are far more important in judgment of their greatness than their live show. My chances of seeing a band in concert anywhere near their peak are a lot smaller than somebody who lives in NYC or LA in any case. (And even a Springsteen concert seen from the back half of an arena is a lot less impressive than the raves written by occupants of the VIP seats would lead one to believe.) It'd take me some research to find another rock and roll band that (arguably) put out their three best albums between 1972 and 1974. Slade? Black Sabbath? Heh. BTW, I'd recommend "Backsliding Fearlessly" on Rhino as a superior collection of songs from Mott's four Atlantic (Island UK) LP's. Good as they are, nothing on the Columbia albums can match cranking "Death May Be Your Santa Claus" up to eleven.

Comment by Marty Thau

Wed, 14 May 2003 15:06:09 EDT

I agree for the most part but this all started when you wrote that Mott were the greatest band in the world for a period of time between '72 & '74. Sorry, but I don't buy that. Like I said, they were a 'nice' band. That's as far as I can go. Great bands must be great 'live', too. Mott weren't.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Wed, 14 May 2003 14:29:32 EDT

I like the first Queen album a lot, but it was downhill from there.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Wed, 14 May 2003 14:28:36 EDT

My favorites from that era ('72-'74) are Roxy Music, Stones, Dolls, Bowie, Springsteen, Mott the Hoople - I think they hold up extremely well.

Comment by Marty Thau

Wed, 14 May 2003 14:22:24 EDT

Eric, Eric, Eric -- I didn't say Mott were anything musically like Queen. Aside from a few great songs, Mott were basically a pretty boring live group. Queen were beyond boring. I don't think that when people think back and refelct on the great bands of that era that either one stands out.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Wed, 14 May 2003 14:06:23 EDT

Marty, Marty, Marty, Mott the Hoople was the anti-Queen: totally unpretentious, organic, working class but literate, centered on songs not sonics, rock 'n' roll not arena rock, MUCH more like the Dolls than like Queen.

Comment by Mark Saleski

Wed, 14 May 2003 14:05:04 EDT

hey, wait...I like Queen!! ;-)