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"...Who Will Save The World? The Mighty Groundhogs..."
When the "Original Album Series" first appeared in 2010 it was entirely WEA artists and albums. But when the EMI umbrella of labels came into the fold - punters were suddenly getting fresh blood - a whole flurry of associated labels and artists in this massive and popular 5CD Mini Box Set series.
So far we've had Robin Trower, Edgar Broughton Band, Kiki Dee, Ten Years After, Jethro Tull - and in amongst them is of course England's very own grunge-before-there-was-grunge rockers Groundhogs fronted by ace guitarist Tony McPhee.
This 2015 instalment in the "Original Album Series" misses out their uber-rare debut album "Scratching The Surface" from 1968 on Liberty and gives us the five studio efforts that followed (all now rare and expensive on original British vinyl). And at a tad above two quid a CD - this 5CD Capacity Wallet with Mini LP Card Sleeves and tasty Remasters is properly great value for money.
Each of these albums has received a quality CD remaster in the last two decades (many in 2003) - each fitted out with bonus tracks and comprehensive booklets. As it is with most "Original Album Classics" - the bonuses have been stripped away and each album placed in a dinky 5" card repro sleeve with just the front and rear artwork reproduced. But as fans will know Discs 2, 3, 4 and 5 listed below came with tremendous original artwork when first released on vinyl all those years ago (gatefolds, cartoon sleeves, die-cut holes etc) and that's completely lost here which is a damn shame really. But the good news is that there's been no compromise on the Audio front - they've simply used the PETER MEW Abbey Road Remasters (mostly from 2003) and each is ballsy, clear and full of presence. Here are the world saving details...
UK released February 2015 - "Original Album Series" by GROUNDHOGS is a 5CD Mini Box Set (with 5 x 5" Repro Card Sleeves) on Parlophone/Warners Music Group 0825646179732 (Barcode the same) and breaks down as follows:
Disc 1 (33:55 minutes):
1. B.D.D. [Side 1]
2. Daze Of The Weak
3. Times
4. Mistreated
5. Express Man [Side 2]
6. Natchez Burning
7. Light Way The Day
Tracks 1 to 7 are their 2nd studio album "Blues Obituary" - released September 1969 in the UK on Liberty Records LBS 83253 and in the USA on Imperial LP 12452. The 1996 CD Remaster is used.
Disc 2 (41:14 minutes):
1. Strange Town [Side 1]
2. Darkness Is No Friend
3. Soldier
4. Thank Christ For The Bomb
5. Ship On The Ocean [Side 2]
6. Garden
7. Status People
8. Rich Man, Poor Man
9. Eccentric Man
Tracks 1 to 9 are their 3rd studio album "Thank Christ For The Bomb" - released June 1970 in the UK on Liberty Records LBS 83295 and in the USA on Liberty LST 7644. The 2003 CD Remaster is used.
Disc 3 (39:49 minutes):
1. Split - Part One [Side 1]
2. Split - Part Two
3. Split - Part Three
4. Split - Part Four
5. Cherry Red [Side 2]
6. A Year In The Life
7. Junkman
8. Groundhog
Tracks 1 to 8 are their 4th studio album "Split" - released March 1971 in the UK on Liberty Records LBG 83401 and in the USA on United Artists UAS 5513 (with different artwork). The 2003 CD Remaster is used.
Disc 4 (36:32 minutes):
1. Earth is Not Room Enough [Side 1]
2. Wages of Peace
3. Body In Mind
4. Music Is The Food Of Thought
5. Bog Roll Blues [Side 2]
6. Death Of The Sun
7. Amazing Grace [Traditional Song cover]
8. The Grey Maze
Tracks 1 to 8 are their 5th studio album "Who Will Save The World? The Mighty Groundhogs!" - released March 1972 in the UK on United Artists UAG 29347 and in the USA on United Artists UAS 5570. The 2003 CD Remaster is used.
Disc 5 (39:21 minutes):
1. I Love Miss Ogyny [Side 1]
2. You Had A Lesson
3. The Ringmaster
4. 3744 James Road
5. Sad Is The Hunter [Side 2]
6. S'one Song
7. Earth Shanty
8. Mr. Hooker, Sir John
Tracks 1 to 8 are their 6th studio album "Hogwash" - released November 1972 in the UK on United Artists UAG 29419 and in the USA on United Artists UA-LA008-F. The 2013 CD Remaster is used.
Proceedings open with "B.D.D." (Blind, Deaf & Dumb) which clearly lays out the bands Rocking Blues credentials (all songs on the "Blues Obituary" album are by McPhee). But as well as (Reverend as he's known on the sleeve) McPhee's frantic axe playing - you also get his not-so-great monotone voice and the very basic production values he gave everything. This is down and dirty stuff as evidenced by the wicked Blues of "Daze Of The Weak" - a standout on the record. The Bass of Peter Cruickshank and Ken Pustelnik's Drums on "Time" and "Mistreated" are now clear in the remaster transfer and give the track a very Juicy Lucy swagger.
For most people 1970's "Thank Christ For The Bomb" and its illustrious 1971 follow
Up "Split" are probably their first introduction to the band's particular brand of Rock with a Blues and even Prog twist. "Shafts of moonlight light up the floor..." McPhee tells on "Darkness Is No Friend". In April 1970 Liberty Records UK tried a 45 on LBF 15346 by coupling the unlikely duo of "Eccentric Man" and the slow plod of "Status People" on the B-side - but it raised little interest. There are times when "Ship On The Ocean" sounds like doom-laden Black Sabbath on a jangly guitar tip. The four-parts of "Split" are probably fan's go-to Groundhogs rave up while the hard-rocking "Cherry Red" takes no prisoners chugging along on its rough 'n' ready path. The near six-minute "Groundhog" has McPhee going solo - sat on a chair with his amped up slide guitar - stomping his foot like John Lee Hooker meets ZZ Top meets Rory Gallagher as he whizzes up and down those strings like he owns the Blues. What a winner and it ends the album on a real high (the remaster is fabulous).
1972 was a busy time for The Hogs - two albums in one year. For March's "Who Will Save The World? The Mighty Groundhogs!" - McPhee seemed to have discovered Funk or at least his guitar-strumming version of it. The opening three tracks are all almost Jonathan Richmond in their frantic jagged pace and I love them. There's also a warmth and mellowness to his Side 1 finisher "Music Is The Food Of Thought" where he increasingly sounds like a concerned Michael Chapman or Roy Harper over on EMI's Harvest Records. The Audio Remaster on this album is superb by the way - cymbals, flute and bass - all the backing-instruments so clear. The crudely recorded and doom-treated guitars return with Side Two's "Bog Roll Blues" which again swings in a strange Groundhogs kind of way. The fantastically played Acoustic Guitars on "Death Of The Sun" are superb but again the song is undone by his deadpan vocals treated with some echo in the mix. There's a Soulful church organ and guitar version of the Traditional "Amazing Grace" which is ruined by fuzzed excess and the album finishes on the ten-minute Ten Years After boogie of "The Grey Maze" sounding like a throwback to the best stuff on "Split".
By the time "Hogwash" arrived in late 1972 - the public wasn't really listening and as a result it's hard to find an original vinyl copy - so its CD presence here is welcome. Stuff like "I Love Miss Ogyny" just don't have a tune - better is the jagged Prog rhythms of "You Had A Lesson". But again his vocals grate. The live-in-the-studio "3744 James Road" is preceded by a "1, 2, 3 4!" count in and is probably the best track on the album where the band sound like Alvin Lee's Ten Years After in 1972 with McPhee letting rip on some truly impressive and wild guitar playing. "Hogwash" was another McPhee Self-Production - but this time the audio quality was on the up and you can really hear it in the power of the remaster where both Cruickshank's Bass and the Drums of Clive Brooks leap out of the speakers at you.
"Original Album Series" by GROUNDHOGS is not all genius by any means and with that deadpan set of pipes of his - I've always felt that his band was an acquired taste. But if you've any affection for them - then this latest addition to the impressive "Original Album Classics" is a must own...
