Spooky Tooth
Part of the early-'70s British hard rock scene, Spooky Tooth
had a towering sound, highlighted by swelling keyboards and - in
founding members Gary Wright and Mike Harrison - two full-throated
blue-eyed soul singers, each a match for Island head boy Steve
Winwood.
The group built a following through countless gigs and recorded
its debut album, It's All About, in 1968. 1969's Spooky
Two was their blues-rock gospel masterwork, notably the
swampy, deceptively intricate Better By You and the
histrionic proto-metal of Evil Woman.
Then came the noble effort of Ceremony (1970), which
teamed the band with electronics pioneer Pierre Henri, but too
often sounds like a self-indulgent mess.
Wright then left to form Wonderwheel, while Luther 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.
After a three year absence the group re-formed in 1973 and
released two albums - You Broke My Heart So I Busted Your Jaw
and Witness before splitting up again in 1974.
It is simplistic to brand Spooky Tooth as a heavy rock band,
but unlike serviceable label mates Free or Jethro Tull, they never
quite gelled with record buyers. Regular personnel changes
didn't help either: Humble Pie's Greg Ridley, Only Ones drummer
Mike Kellie, Foreigner's Mick Jones and Mike Patto had all served
time by the band's demise.
Wright went on to a reasonably successful solo career, scoring
pop hits like Dream Weaver.
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