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Spooky Tooth
Gründung	1967
Auflösung	1974
Genre	Psychedelic Rock, Bluesrock
Letzte Besetzung vor der Auflösung
Gesang, Keyboard	Mike Harrison
Gesang, Keyboard	Gary Wright
Gitarre	Luther „Luke“ Grosvenor
E-Bass	Greg Ridley
Schlagzeug	Mike Kellie

Spooky Tooth (dt. ungefähr „gruseliger Zahn“) war eine Blues-Rock-Band aus Großbritannien.

Geschichte

Die Gruppe wurde 1966 von Mike Harrison (Gesang, Keyboards) in Carlisle unter dem Namen „The VIPs“ gegründet. Für kurze Zeit spielte Keith Emerson mit. 1967 zog die Gruppe nach London um und nannte sich für kurze Zeit Art.

Ende 1967 stieß Gary Wright (ebenfalls Gesang, Keyboards) dazu und die Gruppe erhielt ihren endgültigen Namen. Die anderen Mitglieder bei den ersten beiden Platten waren Luther Grosvenor (Gitarre), Greg Ridley (E-Bass) und Michael Kellie (Schlagzeug). 1968 erschien das Debüt-Album It´s All About.

1969 wechselte Ridley zu Humble Pie und wurde vorübergehend durch Andy Leigh ersetzt. Im gleichen Jahr gab es eine Zusammenarbeit mit dem Elektronikmusiker Pierre Henry, die unter dem Titel Ceremony in einer LP in ungewohnter Machart resultierte. Hierüber geriet die Gruppe in Streit über die zukünftige musikalische Ausrichtung, worauf Wright die Gruppe verließ.

Zusammen mit dem Gitarristen Henry McCulloch (später bei Paul McCartneys Wings), Chris Stainton (Piano,Keyboards, Gitarre) und Alan Spenner (Bassgitarre) nahm die Gruppe 1970 noch das erfolgreiche Album The Last Puff auf, welches u.a. zwei hervorragende Cover-Versionen enthält, nämlich I Am The Walrus von den Beatles und Son Of Your Father von Elton John. Nach dem Erscheinen dieses Albums erfolgte die Auflösung von Spooky Tooth, da die Bandmitglieder ihr musikalisches Hauptgewicht in Soloprojekte legen wollten.

1972 reformierte sich die Gruppe, so dass 1973 die meisten Originalmitgliedern (Harrison, Wright und Kellie, der inzwischen bei Camel gespielte hatte, wieder zurückgekehrt waren. Statt Grosvenor, der zu Stealers Wheel und dann zu Mott the Hoople gegangen war, kam Mick Jones, der später mit Foreigner bekannt wurde. 1974 zerfiel die Gruppe wieder. Auf der vorläufig letzten Platte The Mirror war keiner der früheren Art-Mitglieder mehr dabei. Neben Wright und Jones spielten Bryson Graham (Schlagzeug), Mike Patto (Gesang, Keyboards, Schlagzeug) und Val Burke (Bassgitarre, Gesang).

1998 gab es jedoch ein Album von Spooky Tooth in der Besetzung von Art. Im November 2004 spielte die Gruppe noch einmal zusammen mit Humble Pie beim Greg-Ridley-Memorial-Konzert, u.a. mit Grosvenor and Kellie.

Stil

Spooky Tooth spielten eine Art Blues-Rock mit zahlreichen Stilelementen aus Country, Pop und psychedelischen Einflüssen. Der Sound wurde vor allem bestimmt durch die effektvollen Vokalharmonien der beiden Sänger und den kraftvollen Einsatz der elektronischen Orgel.

Diskografie

Singles (The VIPs)

She’s So Good/Don’t Keep Shouting at Me (1964)
I Wanna Be Free/Don't Let It Go (1966)
Straight Down to the Bottom/In a Dream (1966)

Singles (Spooky Tooth)

Sunshine Help Me (1968)
The Weight (1968)
That Was Only Yesterday (1969)
Son of Your Father (1970)

Alben (Art)

Supernatural Fairy Tales (1967)

Alben (Spooky Tooth)

It’s All About (UK)/Tobacco Road (US) (1968)
Spooky Two (1969)
Ceremony (1970 mit Pierre Henry)
The Last Puff (1970)
You Broke My Heart So I Busted Your Jaw (1973)
Witness (1973)
The Mirror (1974)
Cross Purpose (1998)
Comic Violence (2000)= Wiederveröffentlichung von The Mirror
BBC Sessions (2001)
Nomad Poets Live in Germany (2007)

Background information

Also known as	Art
Origin	England
Genre(s)	progressive rock, hard rock
Years active	1967-1970 1972-74 1998 2004
Label(s)	Island Records, CBS
Associated acts	The V.I.P.'s
Website	spookytooth.co.uk
Members
Mike Harrison Greg Ridley Luther Grosvenor Mike Kellie Gary Wright Alan Spenner Henry McCullough

Spooky Tooth was an English progressive rock band from the late 1960s. They faded into obscurity afterwards.

Career

Crucial to their sound was their instrumentation; they were one of the few acts within the rock forum of the time to adopt the twin keyboard approach (both an organ and a piano player) alongside The Band (whose "The Weight" was recorded by Spooky Tooth as a single in 1968) and Procol Harum.

They formed in October 1967, out of a combination of The Ramrods (1960 - late 1963), The V.I.P.'s (late 1963 - April 1967) and Art (April - October 1967). The line-up changed several times, but typically was -

Mike Harrison (born Michael Harrison, 3 September 1942, Carlisle, Cumbria) (keyboards/vocals)
Greg Ridley (born Alfred Gregory Ridley, 23 October 1942, Aspatria, Cumbria — died 19 November 2003, in Java, Spain) (bass guitar/vocals)
Luther (Luke) Grosvenor (born Luther James Grosvenor, 23 December 1946, Evesham, Worcestershire) (guitar/vocals)
Mike Kellie, (born Michael Kellie, 24 March 1945, Birmingham, Warwickshire) (drums)
Gary Wright, (born 26 April 1943, Cresskill, New Jersey, U.S.) (organ/vocals)

It was the latter's addition (after one album - see Discography) that signalled the name change from Art to Spooky Tooth.

1969's Spooky Two LP is generally considered to be the best effort by the group and was the last album release by the original lineup. It included the song "Better By You, Better Than Me", which was covered by Judas Priest. Ridley joined Humble Pie in 1969 and was replaced by Andy Leigh (in time for 1970's album Ceremony) who went on to Matthews Southern Comfort with ex-Fairport Convention vocalist Ian Matthews. The experimental nature of Ceremony received mixed reviews and following its release Wright also bowed out. The core of Harrison, Grosvenor and Kellie struggled on for one more album, aptly titled The Last Puff, completed with friends from Joe Cocker's Grease Band.

They broke up in the autumn of 1970, however after solo efforts Harrison and Wright reformed Spooky Tooth in September 1972 with a different (and frequently changing) line-up. The best known member of these line-ups (from March 1973 to September 1974) was Mick Jones (born Michael Leslie Jones, 27 December 1944, London) (guitar / vocals), later in Foreigner and, from February - May 1974, Mike Patto (born Michael Thomas McCarthy, 22 September 1942, Cirencester, Gloucestershire) (vocals) replaced Harrison for the 1974 release The Mirror. The group then split again in September 1974.

Post Spooky

Grosvenor later played with Stealers Wheel and Mott the Hoople; while Wright had an enduring hit with the radio friendly Dream Weaver. Harrison / Grosvenor / Ridley / Kellie briefly reunited in 1998 for an album ('Cross Purpose'), before Ridley died in November 2003. Harrison / Wright / Kellie reunited again in 2004 with two concerts in Germany, resulting in a DVD release 'Nomad Poets' (2007).

Band members

1967 - 1969	Mike Harrison - keyboards, vocals Gary Wright - organ, vocals Luther (Luke) Grosvenor - guitar, vocals Greg Ridley - bass, vocals Mike Kellie - drums
1969 - 1970	Mike Harrison - keyboards, vocals Gary Wright - organ, vocals Luther (Luke) Grosvenor - guitar, vocals Andy Leigh - bass, vocals Mike Kellie - drums
1970 - 1971	Mike Harrison - keyboards, vocals Chris Stainton - organ Luther (Luke) Grosvenor - guitar, vocals Henry McCullough - guitar Alan Spenner - bass Mike Kellie - drums
1973 - 1974	Mike Harrison - keyboards, vocals Gary Wright - organ, vocals Mick Jones - guitar, vocals Johnny Hallyday - guitar, vocals Chris Stewart - bass, vocals Bryson Graham - drums
1974	Mike Patto - keyboards, vocals Gary Wright - organ, vocals Mick Jones - guitar, vocals Johnny Hallyday - guitar, vocals Chris Stewart - bass, vocals Bryson Graham - drums
1998	Mike Harrison - keyboards, vocals Luther (Luke) Grosvenor - guitar, vocals Greg Ridley - bass, vocals Mike Kellie - drums
2004	Mike Harrison - keyboards, vocals Gary Wright - organ, vocals Joey Albrecht - guitar, vocals Michael Becker - bass, vocals Mike Kellie - drums

Discography

as Art (Mike Harrison (voc), Greg Ridley (b), Luther Grosvenor (guitar), Mike Kellie (drums))

1967 - Supernatural Fairy Tales

as Spooky Tooth

1968 - It's All About
1969 - Spooky Two
1970 - Ceremony (with Pierre Henry)
1970 - The Last Puff
1971 - Tobacco Road (=It's All About)
1973 - You Broke My Heart So I Busted Your Jaw
1973 - Witness
1974 - The Mirror
1999 - Cross Purpose
1999 - The Best of Spooky Tooth: That Was Only Yesterday
2000 - Comic Violence
2001 - BBC Sessions
2007 - Nomad Poets (DVD)

Spooky Tooth were one of Island Records' finest acts, yet never quite scaled the upper echelons of the late 60's / early 70's rock hierarchy. Always a band much loved by writers and fellow musicians, they lacked the commercial sucker punch that would've catapulted them to the toppermost of the poppermost. It didn't stop them making some corking records, however.

The Spooky Tooth story (for those of us who are into this sort of thing), if you want to wax analytical about it, provides the perfect paradigm of how various members of disparate 60's British Beat bands pooled their musical resources and mutated into a psychedelic / progressive outfit.

The story begins in summer 1963, in Carlisle, Cumbria, in the far North-West of England. Jimmy Henshaw (guitar, keyboards), Walter Johnstone (drums), Frank Kenyan (guitar) and former export clerk Mike Harrison (vocals) formed a beat combo, and dubbed themselves The VIPs. Johnston and Kenyan had previously been in The Teenagers; not long after forming the band, The VIPs added Greg Ridley on bass, who had previously lined up with Dino & The Danubes, and The Dakotas and The Ramrods, together with Harrison. They scored a record deal with RCA, who put out their debut single, "She's So Good" / "Don't Keep Shouting At Me" in 1964, both sides being penned by Henshaw. The single is a great slice of sneery Brit R&B, and is now an ultra-rare collector's favourite. From 1965 to 1966 the band were a top club attraction in London, and gigged regularly at the Star Club in Hamburg, garnering a sizeable cult following,

The original VIP's line-up recorded three more singles ("Wintertime" as The Vipps for CBS, plus "I Wanna Be Free" / "Don't Let It Go" and "Straight Down To The Bottom" / "In A Dream" for Island, produced by Island stalwart Guy Stevens) before disbanding. Henshaw, Johnstone and Kenyan were replaced by Luther Grosvenor (guitar), Mike Kellie (drums), and Keith Emerson (keyboards). Emerson had previously been a member of Gary Farr & The T-Bones; this variant of The VIPs gigged for only three months, before Emerson upped and formed The Nice, with Brian "Blinky" Davidson, Lee Jackson and Davy O'List. The remaining quartet changed their name from the by then somewhat anachronistic VIPs, to simply Art-Worcester-born Grosvenor had played guitar for The Hellians, whose 1964 single, "Daydreaming Of You", released on Pye subsidiary Piccadilly, was produced by maverick West Coast genius / madman /charlatan Kim Fowley. The Hellians, if I may digress still further, boasted the nascent talents of both Dave Mason and Jim Capaldi, who would, of course, go on to form Island mainstays Traffic with Steve Winwood, and a young Poli Palmer, who latterly rattled the Joanna for Family. The