Mott the Hoople Live Reunion Shows And Rehearsal In Person Exclusive
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This blog exclusive written primarily by David Clayton on the recent Mott the Hoople UK Reunion Concerts comes from the current February 2010 Issue 122 of The Free Appreciation Society magazine. It is edited from the full version of The Free Appreciation Society magazine which is available to buy individually or by Subscription. Details can be found at the bottom of this blog or at www.myspace.com/freeappreciationsociety You’ll also find details of how to order the excellent biography of Free ‘Heavy Load’ and also how to obtain T-shirts and other memorabilia. The Free Appreciation Society is one of the most respected of all the independent fanzines. Running since 1979 it has continued to review and support the careers of all the Free related artists with fair and balanced critique through its subscription based magazine. It is run and written by fans of the band for fans of the band and it deals with Paul Kossoff, Paul Rodgers, Andy Fraser & Simon Kirke throughout their different groupings in all eras. It also runs features and reviews on all the sisters and brothers of the Free unit. Back Street Crawler, Crawler, Bad Company, Sharks, The Law are all featured, as are the individuals that made up those bands and others, John Rabbit Bundrick, Terry Slesser, Snuffy Walden, et all. The magazines breadth and depth is its strength and it has also featured Cry Of Love, Gov’t Mule, Black Crowes and a variety of other acts that name Free as an influence. The magazine is a wealth of knowledge and information if you like this type of blues based Rock.
David Clayton is also an excellent Rock Guitarist and songwriter and his recording and performance with Rabbit Bundrick of The Who on the original “New in 3D Dot Com” can be heard on the promo 3D Video featuring a natural busty 3d Animated Hot Babe at the New in 3D Store (Click the Link!) which helps support this blog! I’ve added a few videos of the Mott the Hoople Reunion Concerts which I found on You Tube and assume that I can include on this Blog. You can find Mott the Hoople discount CDs including the 2009 Reunion Concerts CD Box Set, Videos and Other Mott the Hoople Items at our Discount Gift Store which helps support this blog. Just put in Mott the Hoople in the Gift Store Search Engine.
Now Without further adieu:
Mott the Hoople Live Reunion Shows And Rehearsal In Person Exclusive by David Clayton (All text © 2010 David Clayton / Free Appreciation Society. Reproduced here with permission. No copying or reproduction allowed in any form whatsoever)
It has to be said that there are some bands that define our perception of certain record companies. Deep Purple and Pink Floyd are forever linked in my mind to the EMI ‘Harvest’ label. Black Sabbath and Status Quo to ‘Vertigo’, and it doesn’t matter who else they signed to later I always think back to those early 70s ‘File Under Progressive Rock’ (remember that?) labels. Island were the same, and when you mention the label most people ‘of a certain age’ will reel off Traffic, Free, Spooky Tooth, Nick Drake and possibly Jethro Tull too. What’s most interesting about this is that all of those bands could be said to have made their name with that label to be forever associated with it, but not so Mott The Hoople – who after no great success with Island in terms of chart positions and financial rewards went on to CBS and far greater heights. In reality however, and with hindsight, it’s the Island version of the band that people really loved. The original five piece. Success came at a price, and soon after they’d signed to CBS and ‘All The Young Dudes’ became a hit Mott lost Verden Allen, Hammond player extraordinaire and a big part of their sound, followed shortly by Mick Ralphs. The hits continued and the band made some more good records but even Ian Hunter agrees today, that when those guys left the soul of the band was destroyed. When Ian Hunter, on, I think, the final Hammersmith show of this reformation, turned to Verden Allen and told the audience that it was Verden who had actually set the seed for this resurrection of the original band, and then added something along the lines of ‘which is quite ironic as he was the first wanker to leave’ it was as much a prod in the chest with an accusing finger as it was a warm comment on the fact that they were all glad that he’d made the necessary moves to start the ball rolling. This was a reformation with few if any regrets after the event.
I have thought quite a lot recently of how the heroes from my record collection are now falling and how some of those bands are, in truth, gone forever. Pink Floyd could go out and play without Rick Wright, but it wouldn’t really be Pink Floyd would it? The same as it wasn’t when they continued without Roger on board, but at least he wasn’t dead! Alice Cooper continues to tour and record, but there’s no way that seminal band (for Alice Cooper was a band, not just one man) could go out without Glenn Buxton. Bad Company without Boz Burrell seems to give some people problems and Free without Paul Kossoff is just unimaginable to most fans. So I was really pleased to see Mott The Hoople sort themselves out and get back out there, if only for a short while (I’m not sure staying together would be such a good idea in the long term). It gives the fans a chance to hear the songs played by the original, guys, gives them a chance to say ‘thank you’, and possibly even ‘goodbye’ to musicians who sometimes forget how much music can affect and shape peoples lives and memories.
The following review of the Mott reunion consists of some of Bob Davis’ on-line blog of the shows (This section is not reproduced here. You’ll have to buy a copy of the magazine to read this), as Bob and I went together and he did a good job of rounding up the first few days and the events backstage at Hammersmith, then I’ve rounded out the events where I felt there were other things to say. When Pete Watts said, while we were chatting at Rockfield studios in Wales,’ “what if we’re crap” he was being both humorous but also quite sincere in the fact that he’d always been concerned the band couldn’t live up to the reputation that had built up over the 30 plus years they’d been away. He need not have worried, I think many of the audience would have paid to see them just walk on and then off the stage without playing a note! Such was the sheer feeling of joy every night when they came on the stage. It was a great few days and I know for everyone in that audience the years just peeled off and rolled back like flipping the pages of a well-read book. It was good feeling like that again, even for just a few days, and any cares of the world were left outside the venue while Mott The Hoople filled us up inside.
I remember when I spoke to Pete ‘Overend’ Watts in 1999 I mentioned that Mott should reform before one of them died and then they were all left to regret it, but the timing wasn’t right or the stars weren’t aligned or whatever and so nothing happened. They had talked about it but… I was always a fan of early Mott and Pete was my favourite. I mean, thigh length boots, a bass shaped like a Swallow and Rolls Royce silver hair along with that flamboyant dress sense… what wasn’t there to like! I last saw him at ‘The Skybird Club’ in Nottingham with British Lions (after the excellent AC/DC support dates) and then, rather like that club – he vanished. I’d never really met him, and I don’t think drunkenly yelling “Overend! I love you!” at the British Lions show really counts, even though he did laugh! When Todd and I chased the Mott guys for interviews for ‘Heavy Load’ in 1999 Ian Hunter refused and Mick Ralphs never returned my calls. Peter Purnell from Angel Air (who handles most of the Mott releases these days) told me it was unlikely Pete would speak to me, and that he hated taking about Mott The Hoople (“Don’t even go there!”) but as there was nothing to lose… I rang the number and left a simple and brief message asking if he’d like to talk about Free for my book, NOT Mott The Hoople. Pete doesn’t answer the phone anyway; you have to leave a message. I wasn’t too hopeful. I hung up and went to make a coffee and the phone rang almost immediately, and there he was. We then spent a couple of hours on the phone right then and followed up with a couple more long calls as well. We spoke about Free and we spoke about Mott, fishing, his old shop in Notting Hill, you name it. In fact we spoke quite a bit about Mott I recall. And I liked him a lot. Pete ‘Overend’ Watts is a genuinely nice guy. Since then I’ve had no contact with him but have enjoyed reading about his walking exploits in the excellent ‘Two Miles From Heaven’ Mott fanzine. He’s now pretty much walked the entire UK coastal road. Not bad for someone who actually doesn’t like walking! I never really thought I’d meet him being as he doesn’t play anymore. Pete hasn’t played in a band for over 30 years. This man definitely retired!
It was a complete surprise at the beginning of this year to read the ‘Original Mott The Hoople Reform’ headlines. My initial response to the announced shows was ‘F*****g hell!” actually. I’d only just read the news when there was a ‘ping’ in my email box with a message from Bob Davis, who determined to see all of them. Sounded like a plan to me. Many of you will remember Bob from his involvement with the much-missed Cry Of Love (he was their tour manager), he’s also about the biggest Mott The Hoople fan I know. Over the year we planned and schemed and the two shows sold out and became three, four, and then five. No problem. If they play five we go to five. Then they added the warm up in Monmouth - I was on the phone when the box office opened to sell them that day, and then they sneakily added another show before that. Almost missed that one but the very helpful Blake Theatre box office staff managed to get me a couple of returns. So, seven shows it was. Tickets for the Mott Reunion Concerts were generally between $60 and $80 depending on where the seats were with some more expensive ones. Bob was lucky too. His touring with Coldplay ended in London the week before so his annual visit here now coincided with his ultimate gig fantasy! Nice! You can read about the rehearsal and the Monmouth shows more fully in Bob’s blog (reprinted here for you). Once I heard they were rehearsing in Wales I knew that meant Rockfield Studios, and having never been that was an exciting day. Rockfield has a real history with Rock, and Budgie recorded one of my favourite albums right there (Squawk). I wasn’t expecting Pete to remember me at all, but I certainly wanted to shake his hand and say ‘thanks’. It was a surprise to meet (briefly) Mick (nice guy) and the iconic Ian Hunter, still looking good at 70 and nothing like talking to someone of his age (no disrespect meant there). Ian stood and chatted with us for an age and he told us how much he’d enjoyed the rehearsals. “Even if we never did the shows, this last few weeks has been great,” he enthused. He kindly invited us in and there was Pete and Verden, but no Dale ‘Buffin’ Griffin. Dale had been at some of the rehearsals but his ill health had meant Martin Chambers had been drafted in to help. No one at that point seemed sure if Buffin would play at all, which seemed so sad considering how long he’s been waiting for this. I introduced myself to Pete as I shook his hand for the first time, and he smiled from ear to ear when I told him who I was. That made my year! And off we went, chatting away. Great fun.
I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed ALL the shows but it wasn’t all smooth sailing. The warm ups were definitely a good idea. At the first show Mick seemed to spend most of the gig looking at his shoes or the wall. And his lead playing was mostly poor – a great disappointment. Ian was counting out the bars for Verden so he knew when to come out of his organ solos (but he played great!) and the set was missing (I felt) some real important material, especially Thunderbuck Ram, which Ian had explained Mick couldn’t sing anymore – fair enough as it’s right ‘up there’. Perhaps they should have considered an instrumental medley opening with the bulk of Ram and going into things like Whisky Women and some of the other absent material. Still you can’t have it all and there was something for everyone in the set. The best bit however was watching Pete Watts step out onto the stage for the first show in Monmouth and immediately picking up his ‘Overend’ persona. That was just brilliant, and brought in tear to my eye, literally before they even played a note.
The London shows were a gas overall, and I was amazed to speak to people who had travelled from all over the world. Europe, America, Japan, Australia. It was amazing really. Here they improved things a bit and had some back projection but I wished someone would have had a word with the twat doing the lights as continually having them shining out directly at the audience was a pain in the ass every single night without exception. The lights should be on the band, not in the audiences’ eyes you tosser. That really pissed me off and wherever we sat it was the same, every single night. The first night was the only one recorded for the ‘Instant live’ release, and I thought that was a mistake – as was only filming the last night. The first night was better than Monmouth and the band looked better. Over the period Mick became far more animated – more than I’ve ever seen him in fact, and it was great to watch him enjoying himself. It was just a shame that he constantly blew the solos, and I couldn’t understand it. He was flat or sharp, in the wrong key (For Gods sake!) and fumbled most of them. It was like watching Kossoff on a bad night! Sometimes it was a real train wreck. His ‘tone’ wasn’t great either. Everyone we spoke to mentioned it, and while it didn’t ruin the gigs I’d expected more from a professional musician on a series of shows like this. But the biggest surprise was that some of his chord work was great. Sometimes his timing wasn’t too hot but every single night he brought a tear to my eye with his lovely ringing chords on the quiet sections of The Journey. That was fabulous every night, and on the heavier stuff like ‘Sucker’ and ‘The Moon Upstairs’ he really roared in the body of the song. Seems he needs to get some practise with a backing track and get those solos into some kind of shape though.
Out of all the shows the best was the Saturday (3rd). The mix was great from where we were, the band was at its tightest and Mick had his best night too. The Monday show (5th) was the worst for me, and that was when Mick really was poor. After that show Bob was all for sacking him (!) and a number of people mentioned that Ariel Bender (Luther Grosvenor, Mick’s original replacement) would have been better! Ouch! I was lucky enough to see all the shows but I think if I’d travelled from Japan and only got the chance to see one show and it had been Monday’s I’d have been a bit disappointed if not annoyed at Mick specifically. Ian Hunter was amazing for all the shows. I’ve never been a big fan of his solo stuff but he nailed it every night and what a great front man too. He’s still a cocky git and he’s a dry wit but I was on his side every night. Verden was great (even if Ian was still counting him out every night) and his Hammond playing was fantastic. He also clearly loved it all. He had the biggest smile of anyone on the stage, and it was apparently Venden who sparked this reformation in the first place. Overend, for it was never Pete once he was on the stage, was fantastic and I did spend a good deal of time watching him. He never missed a note and lurched around like it was 1972. He didn’t need the boots or the silver hair. It was great. The Swallow bass made an appearance every night, but having seen it at rehearsals there’s no way he could play it as the strings are half a mile off the fretboard (due to Overend breaking the head off in an irate moment with a safety curtain during a show somewhere long ago). The band was actually a joy to watch. They were all over the stage like teenagers, in front of the monitors and all.
In Wales at the warm up shows there had been something missing. Martin Chambers had done a good job, and got better every show, but without Buffin – and lets be honest here – we were watching Mott The Hoop. There was a piece missing, an important piece too. Over all these years it’s been Dale ‘Buffin’ Griffin that’s continued to push the Mott name. He has been involved in all those great compilations with all that unreleased material, and even written sleeve notes for the majority of the re-issues and releases. He’s the Mott historian and archive keeper and only when he took his seat on a second drum kit and joined in did this really become Mott The Hoople. Every night at Hammersmith when he joined for the encore the place went bananas. There could be no doubt that his health isn’t good, and he did look frail too – even though I think he’s actually the youngest of them – but when he got behind the kit FINALLY it WAS Mott The Hoople, right there at Hammersmith! There wasn’t a dry eye in the house and it was great. He didn’t play his best, and Martin really did well to hold it all together but having Buffin there meant everything to the fans, and to the band themselves.
It was funny watching the audience every night. The variety of people, many celebs just took their seats every night with the punters, and that included the charming Joe Elliott, who chatted with everyone, no ego, no problems – just another fan in the crowd. Lots of age differences too, generations apart. I enjoyed that. I’m not embarrassed to say that certain sections of the show brought tears to my eyes. Some of those songs were just a delight to hear, and I mean they really got the hairs on the back of my neck standing up like they’ve not done for a LONG time. I watched lots of people in the audience hugging their friends and wiping tears away from their eyes but my overwhelming vision is of the guy on the final night one row in front and to my left. As we all stood up as the Jupiter suite from Holst’s Planets blasted out the familiar Mott intro he had tears streaming down his cheeks. They hadn’t even come on yet! I guess he was in his sixties. He regained his composure briefly but then every time he tried to sing along the unbridled joy of it all was too much and he was in floods. It’s remarkable that a band can do that. If those guys ever needed any justification for doing these shows, then he was it. He was the happiest man in the world, right then, right there and nothing else mattered to him for those two hours. NOTHING. And I think that’s really something. That kinda sums up the whole thing. It was a joy guys, and thank you. I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. Sadly I didn’t get to tell Pete (or Ian or Mick) how much I’d enjoyed the shows. Pete only showed up backstage once and he was constantly surrounded by people, old friends and probably family too – so I didn’t want to interrupt. Ian and Mick I didn’t see at all after chatting to them at Rockfield. Martin came backstage most nights and was as friendly as could be, and it was also nice to see Buffin in the backstage bar, all smiles and chatting away to friends and fans.
From what I gather this isn’t the end, and it seems they may be planning a few more shows, and possibly some in America. And so they should. If you get the chance then make sure you go and see them. I had a great time and I’m sure you will too. These were without doubt the shows of the year as far as Bob Davis and I were concerned
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