"Mental Train: The Island Years 1969-71" by MOTT THE HOOPLE (November 2018 UK Universal/Island 6CD Box Set of Remasters) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...Thunderbuck Ram..."

I was both looking forward to and in some ways dreading this MOTT THE HOOPLE Box Set - an odd thing to say when you're spending over £40 of your pensioner’s pre-Brexit allowance. And typically "Mental Train..." both delivers and disappoints is several weird ways.

What’s good - the new Andy Pearce and Matt Wortham Remasters have massively improved on what went before - as their skills always seem to do (see my reviews for Free, Budgie, Rory Gallagher, ELP  – a very long list of great work). Some of the unreleased stuff is shockingly magnificent - check out Take 6 of "Angel Of Eight Avenue" on Disc 5 mixed from faders-up multi-tracks - whilst Kris Needs once again nails it with wickedly insightful liner notes that feature new contributions from key players (Campbell Devine and Kris Needs compiled the set). But there's fluff too aplenty, the mock distressed look card artwork is horribly presented and the actual albums themselves have always left so much to be desired – piano-plonking tedium often sitting uncomfortably alongside thundering Rock brilliance. Guy Stevens would have been proud even if the band weren't selling jack for four whole LPs.

There's an absolute ton of Buffin details to crawl through, so Mad Shadows and Willard Manus paperbacks ahoy (they took their name from one of his novels) – let’s get Overend Watts mental on this huge haul...

UK released Friday, 2 November 2018 - "Mental Train: The Island Years 1969-71" by MOTT THE HOOPLE on Universal/Island MOTTBOX 001 (Barcode 602547869623) is a 89-Song 6CD Box Set of New Remasters (30 Previously Unreleased) with a 52-Page Hardback Book, Single Sleeve Mini LP Artwork for all Six Discs and a fold-out Colour Poster all housed in a 10x8 Box with Ribbon. It breaks down as follows:

CD1 "Mott The Hoople" (79:13 minutes, 17 Tracks):

1. You Really Got Me [Side 1]

2. At The Crossroads

3. Laugh At Me

4. Backsliding Fearlessly

5. Rock And Roll Queen (Full Album Version, 5:10 minutes) [Side 2]

6. Rabbit Foot & Toby Time

7. Half Moon Boy

8. Wrath And Wroll

Tracks 1 to 8 are their debut album "Mott The Hoople" - released 22 November 1969 in the UK in Stereo on Island Records ILPS 9108 and June 1970 in the USA on Atlantic Records SD 8258. Produced by GUY STEVENS - it didn't chart in the UK but peaked at No. 185 in the USA in July 1970. 

BONUS TRACKS:

9. If Your Heart Lay With The Rebel (Would You Cheer The Underdog) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED INSTRUMENTAL

10. Rock And Roll Queen [Single Edit, 3:20 minutes] - October 1969 debut UK 7" single on Island WIP 6072, non-album version

11. Road To Birmingham - non-album B-side to their October 1969 UK debut 7" single on Island WIP 6072

12. Road To Birmingham (Guy Stevens Mix) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

13. You Really Got Me (Full Take, 11:14 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

14. You Really Got Me (Guy Stevens Vocal Mix, 2:51 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

15. Rock And Roll Queen (Guy Stevens Mono Mix, 3:21 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

16. Rock And Roll Queen (Kitchen Sink Instrumental, 5:22minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

17. Little Christine [Recorded 24 June 1969] - first UK released March 1981 on the Mott The Hoople compilation LP "Two Miles From Heaven" on Island Records IRSP 8

CD2 "Mad Shadows" (73:24 minutes, 15 Tracks):

1. Thunderbuck Ram [Side 1]

2. No Wheels To Ride

3. You Are One Of Us

4. Walkin' With A Mountain

5. I Can Feel [Side 2]

6. Threads Of Iron

7. When My Mind's Gone

Tracks 1 to 7 are their second studio album "Mad Shadows" - released September 1970 in the UK on Island Records ILPS 9119 and October 1970 in the USA on Atlantic SD 8272 (didn't chart in either country)

BONUS TRACKS:

8. Thunderbuck Ram - BBC Session, Top Gear, 21 February 1970 [John Walters Producer]

9. Thunderbuck Ram (Original Take with Organ Solo, 4:50 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

10. No Wheels To Ride (Demo Version, 6:29 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

11. Moonbus (Baby's Got A Down On Me) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

12. The Hunchback Fish (Vocal Rehearsal, 6:01 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

13. You Are One Of Us (Take 9, 5:12 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

14. Going Home [recorded 16 Jan 1970] - first UK released March 1981 on the Mott The Hoople compilation LP "Two Miles From Heaven" on Island Records IRSP 8

15. Keep A Knockin' (Studio Version, Take 2, Little Richard cover, 2:30 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

CD 3 "Wildlife" (73:30 minutes, 17 Tracks):

1. Whiskey Women [Side 1]

2. Angel Of Eight Avenue

3. Wrong Side Of The River

4. Waterflow

5. Lay Down

6. It Must Be Love [Side 2]

7. Original Mixed Up Kid

8. Home Is Where I Want To Be

9. Keep A Knockin' (Live 1970 at The Fairfield Hall, Croydon in London)

Tracks 1 to 9 are their 3rd studio album "Wildlife" - released 19 March 1971 in the UK on Island Records ILPS 9144 and April 1971 in the USA on Atlantic Records SD 8284 (didn't chart in either country); the Live Version of "Keep A Knockin'" also includes an uncredited version of "What I’d Say" by Jerry Lee Lewis

BONUS TRACKS:

10. Midnight Lady – 9 July 1971 UK 7" single on Island WIP 6105, Non-album A-side

11. The Debt – Non-album B-side of "Midnight Lady"

12. Downtown – 17 September 1971 UK 7" single on Island WIP 6112, Non-album A-side (B-side was the Mick Ralphs album track "Home..."); A-side is a Crazy Horse cover version originally written by Danny Whitten and Neil Young on his backing band's self-titled debut album from 1970

13. Brain Haulage (Whiskey Women) (3:55 minutes) – PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

14. Growing Man Blues (Take 10, 3:40 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

15. Long Red (Demo, 3:53 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

16. The Ballad Of Billy Joe (3:38 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

17. Lay Down (Take 8, 5:08 minutes, Melanie cover) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

CD4 "Brain Capers" (68:58 minutes, 16 Tracks):

1. Death May Be Your Santa Claus [Side 1]

2. Your Own Backyard

3. Darkness Darkness

4. The Journey

5. Sweet Angeline [Side 2]

6. Second Love

7. The Moon Upstairs

8. The Wheel Of The Quivering Meat Conception

Tracks 1 to 8 are their fourth studio album "Brain Capers" - released 19 November 1971 in the UK on Island Records ILPS 9178 and January 1972 in the USA on Atlantic Records SD 8304 (didn't chart in either country)

BONUS TRACKS:

9. Mental Train (The Moon Upstairs) (5:16 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

10. How Long (Death May Be...) (4:10 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

11. Darkness Darkness (3:04 minutes, Jessie Colin Young song, Youngbloods cover) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

12. Your Own Backyard (Complete Take, 4:12 minutes, Dion Cover) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

13. Where Do You All Come Front? (Backing Track, 3:16 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

14. One Of The Boys (Take 2, 4:22 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

15. Movin' On - first UK released March 1981 on the Mott The Hoople compilation LP "Two Miles From Heaven" on Island Records IRSP 8 (mastered from a cassette)

16. Black Scorpio (Mamma's Little Jewel) - first UK released March 1981 on the Mott The Hoople compilation LP "Two Miles From Heaven" on Island Records IRSP 8 (mastered from a cassette)

CD5 "The Ballads Of Mott The Hoople" (Exclusive compilation, 73:18 minutes, 12 Tracks):

1. Like A Rolling Stone (Fragment, 1:29 minutes)

2.  No Wheels To Hide (Live, 1st House Fairfield Hall, Croydon, 7:25 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

3. Angel Of Eight Avenue (Take 6, Mastered from faders-up multi-tracks) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

4. The Journey (10:24 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

5. Blue Broken Tears (3:11 minutes, Mastered from faders-up multi-tracks) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

6. Black Hills (Full Ralphs Version, 4:07 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

7. Can You Sing The Song That I Sing (15:54 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

8. Till I'm Gone - first UK released March 1981 on the Mott The Hoople compilation LP "Two Miles From Heaven" on Island Records IRSP 8 (mastered from a cassette)

9. The Original Mixed Up Kid - BBC Session, Mike Harding, 16 March 1971

10. Ill Wind Blowing - first UK released March 1981 on the Mott The Hoople compilation LP "Two Miles From Heaven" on Island Records IRSP 8 (mastered from a cassette)

11. I'm A River (Rehearsal, 10:40 minutes) - PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED

12. Ride On The Sun (Sea Diver) - first UK released March 1981 on the Mott The Hoople compilation LP "Two Miles From Heaven" on Island Records IRSP 8 (mastered from a cassette)

CD6 "It's Live And Live Only" (Exclusive Compilation, 78:18 minutes, 12 Tracks):

1. Rock And Roll Queen

2. Ohio

3. No Wheels To Ride/Hey Jude

4. Thunderbuck Ram

5. Keep A Knockin'

6. You Really Got Me

Tracks 1 to 6 recorded 1 September 1970 at The Fairfield Hall in Croydon, London

"Ohio" is a Neil Young song - a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young cover; "Hey Jude" is a Beatles cover; Keep A Knockin' is a Little Richard cover and "You Really Got Me" is a Kinks cover

7. The Moon Upstairs

8. Whiskey Women

9. Your Own Backyard

10. Darkness, Darkness

11. The Journey

12. Death May Be Your Santa Claus

Tracks 7 to 12 recorded 30 December 1971 for the BBC's Radio 1 "In Concert" programme (produced by Guy Stevens)

MOTT THE HOOPLE was:

IAN HUNTER (Ian Hunter Patterson) – Lead Singer, Piano

MICK RALPHS – Lead Guitars and Second Lead Vocals

VERDEN ALLEN (Terence Allen) – Organ and Other Keyboards

OVEREND WATTS (Pete Overend Watts) – Bass

DALE “Buffin” GRIFFIN (Terence Dale Griffin) – Drums

Guests:

Guy Stevens – Production, Song Contributions

James Archer of the LSO – Violin on "Angel Of Eighth Avenue"

Jess Roden (of Bronco) – Backing Vocals on "Lay Down"

Stan Tippins (of Doc Thomas Group) – Backing Vocals on "Lay Down"

Jerry Hogan – Pedal Steel Guitar on "It Must Be Love" and "Original Mixed-Up Kid"

Jim Price – Trumpet on "Second Love"

The box looks the part and ribbon allowing you to access the six single card sleeves in the inner well is a nice touch – but as already said and noted by other buyers – none of the card sleeves actually reflect the original British albums. The gatefolds for the first three are gone – removed to the book. The five pinched faces on the inner debut gatefold is spread across the back pages of the hardback, the child and lions photo inside "Mad Shadows" is on the inside of the front, the live shot of the band on the inner gatefold of "Wildlife" is behind text on Pages 36 and 27 and the airplanes inner for "Brain Capers" and the gimmick mask appear at both ends of the book too. The colouring of the CDs reflects the original British LP pressings - the Pink Island 'Pink I' Logo for the first two – the Palm Tree Pink Rim Logo Label for the other two and so on...

The book may seem a little slight at first but there’s a lot of info inside and period stuff to peruse (a fab promo photo on Page 13 for the Doc Thomas Group which featured a young Mick Ralphs and Pete Watts before Guy Stevens altered their names for Mott). Renowned writer KRIS NEEDS provides the tangled and at times chaotic history of the British Band – informative and entertaining reading, as always. The uber rare British picture sleeve for the 1969 "Rock And Roll Queen" single in on Page 48 as is the front sleeve for the final Island album from the period – the 9-Track "Rock And Roll Queen" compilation from 1972 on Island ILPS 9125. It was issued to cash in on the success of the "All The Young Dudes" single and LP on CBS Records (their first chart single courtesy of a song gifted to them by David Bowie). The LP is pictured on Page 48 (along with other European single picture sleeves) and if you want to sequence the popular "Rock And Roll Queen" compilation as a CD from this Box Set use the following tracks:

Side 1:

1. Rock And Roll Queen (Disc 1, Track 5, Album Version)

2. The Wheel Of The Quivering Meat Conception (Disc 4, Track 8)

3. You Really Got Me (Disc 1, Track 1)

4. Thunderbuck Ram (Disc 2, Track 1)

5. Walkin' With A Mountain (Disc 2, Track 4)

Side 2:

1. Death May Be Your Santa Claus (Disc 4, Track 1)

2. Midnight Lady (Disc 3, Track 10)

3. Keep A Knockin' (Live, Full Album Version) (Disc 3, Track 9)

The Audio is fabulous and as these hirsute/girl-leering gents were prone to Rocking out big time like Spooky Tooth with spiked Vodka or a demented Free in a graveyard after dark – both Pearce and Wortham capture all that bottled power so well. The listen is also surprisingly downbeat – way too many slow ballads – ill-advised Country Rock stints on "Wildlife" and a 15-minute outtake from Hunter that will test his mother’s patience. Having said that – I actually think that Disc 4 with the Previously Unreleased material is one of the strongest discs on here – fantastic alternate versions – that Take 6 of the Manhattan morning ballad "Angel Of Eight Avenue" brought a tear of joy to my demonically-possessed elderly-person’s eyes. Let’s get to the content...

The self-titled debut always felt to me like a rudderless beginning - the opening three covers (The Kinks "You Really Got Me", Doug Sahm's "At The Crossroads" and Sonny Bono's "Laugh At Me") displaying a band that seemed to be recording whatever they liked as they were rehearsing. For sure there's power in the sheer riffage on offer as they turn the Kink's proto-punk anthem into an instrumental - whilst Hunter's "Backsliding Fearlessly" sounds like a bad Dylan cover. The first sign of a genuine 'rawk' hit comes with Mick Ralphs "Rock And Roll Woman" presented here in two variants - the full and clear stereo album cut at 5:10 minutes and the severely muffled single edit of 3:20 minutes that sounds like it was mastered in a bucket. "Rabbit Foot And Toby Time" is another rockin' Ralphs tune, but it's an instrumental of two minutes duration that goes absolutely nowhere. Side 2 and the album in general is dominated by the 10:39 minutes of Ian Hunter's "Half Moon Bay" - a slow boiler with great organ playing from Verden Allen that at times feels both epic and indulgent with just the right measures of both. The debut ends with a mad Guy Stevens contribution called "Wrath And Roll" (a habit they would repeat again and again) and unfortunately you can't help thinking it might have been a better idea to include something possibly resembling a tune. Way more interesting is the Previously Unreleased and catchy-titled "If You Lay With The Rebel (Would You Cheer At The Underdog)?" - a riffage instrumental with better Production values than some of the album tracks. Die-hard fans will appreciate 11:17 minutes of "You Really Got Me" where the take descends into guitar mayhem and the fruity "Little Christine" from the "Two Miles..." compilation actually feels like the Faces circa their debut.

From the axe of Mick Ralphs, "Mad Shadows" opens with the wild "Thunderbuck Ram" where England’s Mott The Hoople suddenly thinks it’s a hybrid between MC5 and The Stooges with a bit of melodic Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac thrown in for the middle eight. As Ian Hunter delivers the brooding, epic and even sad "No Wheels To Ride" – only two songs in and the second album already feels like the band has found something – their own MTH sound. A trio of Hunter songs - the reverential "You Are One Of Us", the Chuck Berry boogie of "Walkin' With A Mountain" and the warbling seven-minute keyboard ballad that opens Side 2 "I Can Feel" (complete with Uriah Heep drama vocals) stamps his songwriting authority on proceedings (lovely solo too from Ralphs). "Threads Of Iron" is a jaunty little number from guitarist Ralphs with a catchy 'you are what you are' vocal line. The album closes with Hunter's unnerving and funereal composition "When My Mind's Gone" - a six-and-half-minute piano plonk that sounds as casket-inducing as its title suggests. It's a good album. Amidst the extras - Radio 1's Fluff Freeman introduces an in-the-distance BBC Session version of "Thunderbuck Ram" immediately indicating what an exciting prospect this band must been - live and in yer face. Far better however is the 'Original Take with Organ Solo' of the same song where Mott start to sound dangerously close to Peter Green's "Oh Well" with a disgruntled Hammond playing in the background (have to say this is a highlight amongst the unreleased). Another goody comes in the guise of the Kossoff-sounding riffage for "Moonbus (Baby's Got A Down On Me)" – a very tasty period find. It's also cool to finally hear their fast and furious studio take for Little Richard Penniman's "Keep A Knockin'" – here kept down to a boogie baller of just two and a half minutes (the Georgia Peach would approve).

They try to go American-ish with the very Steppenwolf guitar vs. organ boogie of "Whiskey Women" – the opening track to the infuriating every-musical-direction-will-do third album "Wildlife". But that boys-own beginner is solidly trounced by what I believe to be Ian Hunter's first moment of musical magic – the gorgeous ballad "Angel Of Eight Avenue" where he describes waking up in New York on the first Mott US tour with a lady who is as fragile and as beautiful as the Manhattan morning he's gazing out upon (what a lovely transfer too – great work boys). The cover of Melanie's "Lay Down" features a chorus contribution from Bronco's Jess Roden but the Country-Rock of "It Must Be Love" is awful (the "Downtown" stand alone single wasn't much better - a cover of a Crazy Horse song). The album ends of what feels like a different group - a crowd rousing 11-minute live take on Little Richard's "Keep A Knockin'" with Mick Ralphs showing what he can do when let rip. Late 1971's "Brain Capers" was always their best album and it seems the band thinks so too. "Death May Be Your Santa Claus" opens the record in raucous Rock fashion and this time covers of Dion's "Your Own Backyard" and The Youngbloods "Darkness Darkness" (a Jessie Colin Young song) actually sound like Mott made the right choices. Both "The Journey" and "Sweet Angeline" see Hunter in a melancholy mood (there's a man on a bridge called Suicide) - while Verden Allen provides a rare lead vocal on his own "Second Love". A damn good album "Brain Capers" - wee bit of a lost masterpiece really. I hadn't expected either CD5 or CD6 to provide much but they're full of goodies – especially those unreleased studio outtakes on disc five.

For sure "Mental Train..." is not for the casual browser and it would take until album number five ("All The Young Dudes") to awaken record buyers to MOTT THE HOOPLE. But their is a strange kind of bloody-minded heroism on offer here - a time when bands were allowed to sound nuts - grow with each release - until that initial magic someone saw before they signed them - finally broke through.

Leaping lizards but it's astonishing any of them survived given the times and acrimony within the ranks. Ralphs would go on of course to form Bad Co. with Paul Rodgers of Free whilst Ian Hunter would enjoy a massive solo career and aged 79 in 2018 is still rocking, touring and writing.

Always nuts but glam loveable - on the musical evidence presented here - you may find yourself seeking out Mott The Hoople and "Death May Be Your Santa Claus" this Christmas...