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Ballad of Mott the Hoople: Retrospective

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Mott the Hoople was one of the most interesting British glam-rock bands of the 1970's. They started their recording career with Island Records as a progressive rock band. They released 4 fine ( though uneven ) records for Island during 1969-72, before they changed for CBS. This change combined with David Bowie producing his own "All the Young Dudes" for them gave the big breakthrough and a new profile as the rock'n rollers of glam rock.

This 2 CD collection concentrates on their CBS period, though each of their 4 Island albums are represented by one track. These 4 tracks are all good songs in their own right, but can obviously not cover the great variety of their output during that period. So go for other compilations / or the originals ( now with bonus-tracks ) if you want to research their early days.

David Bowie produced their first album "All the Young Dudes", and his touch his very apparent through-out the album. The sound is close to his own on albums like "Hunky Dory", "Ziggy Stardust" or "Alladin Sane". Only two track has been left out from that album, which along with the follow-up "Mott" was their most consistent record. Their song-writing matured during that period, and although the band was uncertain whether they would be able cope with Bowie's skill, when the recording's of "Mott" began, that self-produced album shows the band at the peak of their creativity. Only one track is missing from the album. Outstanding tracks from the album are the rockers "All the Way From Memphis" and "Honaloochie Boogie" along with the great ballads ""I Wish I Was Your Mother", "Ballad of Mott the Hoople" and "Hymn for the Dudes".

Unfortunately guitarist and songwriter Mick Ralphs was growing frustrated with Ian Hunter taking more and more of the spotlight, and he left soon after the release of "Mott". Spooky Tooth guitarist Luther Grosvenor ( Ariel Bender ) was recruited to take his place, but things never become the same again.

Their final studio album, the slightly chaotic and spotty "The Hoople", did contain some fine tracks and was a commercial succes, containing the two hit-singles "The Golden Age of Rock'n Roll" and "Roll Away the Stone"; but the spark had gone, and they spilt up in 1974.

Besides their albums the band recorded some fine singles-only tracks; all of which are included here. Hunter's ballad "Rose" is outstanding and it also became a live-favourite. The late B-side "Rest in Peace" is another song in the same category - great song!

The two 1974 A-sides "Foxy Foxy" and "Saturday Gigs" are also great; especially the autobiografical ballad "Saturday Gigs" is outstanding. This was one of the very last recordings they did, featuring guitarist Mick Ronson. A little sad they did split up after that, because the recording shows that this new line-up had the potential of creating new exciting material. On the other hand "Saturday Gigs" is a worthy final note to the career of a great band.

Great informative booklet!! Recommended!

This set is a remastered 2 cd anthology of Mott The Hoople. It concentrates primarily on their Columbia material. It contains only material from the period when Ian Hunter was the vocalist in the band. The Ian Hunter incarnation of the band started out in Great Britain with Mick Ralphs on guitar, Overend Watts on bass, Dale "Buffin" Griffin on drums, and Verden Allen on organ. The band released four mostly forgotten but underrated albums for Atlantic. Cuts from these albums appear on the first disc with one cut from each album. These cuts include the great "Rock And Roll Queen" and "Walkin' With A Mountain". I would have liked a few more cuts from this era included such as covers of "You Really Got Me", Sonny Bono's "Laugh At Me", "Darkness Darkness", and "Your Own Backyard". Ian Hunter's vocals are somewhat in the style of Bob Dylan. Verden Allen's prominent organ on some cuts also reminds listeners of Dylan's band from this time period. Due to lack of success the band was about to call it quits when David Bowie offered them his song "All The Young Dudes" which became a rock anthem and secured them a contract with Columbia Records. One of the cuts included is "Ready For Love/After Lights". This was a percursor of Mick Ralph's exit to form Bad Company with Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke. Bad Company rerecorded their own version of "Ready For Love" after Ralphs left Mott The Hoople. Ralphs was replaced by Luther Grosvenor (renamed Ariel Bender when he joined Mott The Hoople) formerly of Spooky Tooth. The band was still successful but concentrated more on the theatrical aspects of the band during this period even wearing some make-up. Bender was then replaced by ex-David Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson because Hunter needed some more creative input. Soon Hunter lost interest and quit to start a solo career. The band soldiered on but was not successful. This set contains a number of unissued tracks, alternate takes, and non-lp single sides. My favorite cuts include "Ballad Of Mott The Hoople", "One Of The Boys", and "All The Way From Memphis" among others. I wish they would have included "Jerkin' Crocus" from the Columbia years though. Hunter's songwriting was interesting and at times autobiographical. Their music and stance influenced a variety of bands including hard rock/heavy metal bands, punk rockers, and the glitter bands among others. If you like smartly written seventies era hard rock, you will enjoy this set. If you want to hear more of their earlier material I recommend Rhino's Backsliding Fearlessly: The Early Years anthology. It is a single disc anthology which contains only material from their first 4 Atlantic albums plus some rare tracks.

It seems that I've spent years convincing people of the greatness of Mott the Hoople. The review below from the fan in Chicago sums up this superb introduction to Mott. The Greatest Hits CD is a nifty sampler, but for a few bucks more you get great liner notes and a deeper song selection. Mott's place in the music history books is not always recognized. Critics loved them, so you can't call them underrated. So, I call them the most overlooked band of the 70's. This 2 CD set is a chance for you to catch up. Then go and buy their other catalog items.

Until six months ago I'd never heard a single song by Mott the Hoople. However, after reading a number of good reviews from diverse sources I decided it was time to check out the goods, and this collection seemed to be the most comprehensive available (which, as far as I know, it is). Having digested the contents, a far wiser man than before presents you with 5 good reasons to purchase this CD:

1. "Sea Diver" - OK, so it's got all the hallmarks of 70's power ballad schlock (strings, a monumental blast of instrumentation in the middle), but it's also got something many similar songs don't have - passion, and the ability to make you believe that the singer actually cares about what he's singing. Great stuff.

2. "Ballad of Mott the Hoople" - mix one part Dylan twang, two parts world-weariness and some restrained instrumentation and you've got this song, a ballad for the ages. And has there ever been a better summation of the lure of fame th! an "I wish I'd never wanted then, what I want now twice as much"?

3. "I Wish I Was Your Mother" - words fail me. A beautiful song.

4. "All The Way From Memphis" - this song is damn near irresistable, sweeping the listener along with its seamless mix of piano, guitars, horns and massed-voice choruses. The stand-out track.

5. "Sweet Jane", about as good as a cover of a great song can get; "Roll Away The Stone", which chugs along quite nicely; "Foxy Foxy", unfairly derided by Robert Christgau, an overblown ballad which ranks with Brandy Alexanders as the consummate guilty pleasure ...

I could go on, but I won't. Suffice to say that this CD is the antidote for anyone suffering from an overdose of passionless, plastic music, and feels like having a bit of fun to boot. Highly recommended.

I read many good reviews regarding their album MOTT and since every track but one from that album is included in this compilation I opted for this album. They have since become one of my all time favorite bands along with a few others from the early 70's. Rock and roll is simply not played this way anymore. Ian Hunter certainly has some great influences (the Stones, Dylan, the Beatles, The Band, Chuck Berry) and they are all brought together and regurgitated in cynical punk rock fury. They're not blatant like the Sex Pistols' songs but they carry a wallop. "Violence", "All the Young Dudes", "I Wish I Was Your Mother", and "Crash Street Kidds" say about as much or more about teenage angst as any punk rock that came afterwards. They're not as heavy as The Who but they seem to bridge the gap between that band and what later became the punk movement in England. Pick it up if something like "heavy metal-Dylan with angry but literate lyrics" is your thing. You'll love it!

Actually, this CD rates five stars, but has to be marked down for the deletion of "I'm A Cadillac/El Camino Dolo Roso" from MOTT that still blows me away after 27 years of listening to it....seek it out on the original CD. "I Wish I Was Your Mother" and "Laugh At Me" still brings me to tears; I can and do, play those songs over and over again. Mott The Hoople/Mott could really pack a guitar/driving keyboards punch that made this band about the best to come out of England. Most of this material has not dated, but continues to cook, simmer, and rock. When Ralphs left the band, he took so much of the energy. I love Ian Hunter, but the band was on the way out. This CD is an introduction to the rest of their output that never ceases to amaze me.

How to describe Mott the Hoople? Raucous, wry, introspective, passionate, fun -- What a shame Mott never really hit it that big in the US -- our loss.

This was my intro to Mott. Now I am so hooked. On Ballad of Mott:Retrospective, you get nearly all of their three most famous records -- All the Young Dudes, Mott, and The Hoople. You get a little taste of their sound from before they joined the Columbia label -- just enough to wet your whistle for the early stuff.

What's really remarkable about this set is the high quality of the b-sides and previously unreleased material. Mott's b-sides were better than many other group's best songs.

This compilation captures the raw power, energy and innovation of the music that Mott produced in the late 60s and early 70s. The influence on such performers as The Sex Pistols, Bad Company and Bruce Springsteen can clearly be heard in this fine selection of rockers and ballads spanning the band's history.

Disc one focuses on the earlier Mott efforts when Mick Ralphs and Ian Hunter shared the band's helm. "Rock n' Roll Queen", "Walking With a Mountain" and "Drivin' Sister" showcase the band's raw power, while ballads like "Rose" and "I Wish I was Your Mother" are both introspective and touching. "One of the Boys" and "Ready for Love" demonstrate the ideas that Ralfs later took to Bad Company, and cause us to question why Mott never achieved the commercial success of those who later took the same music and sold millions. The Bowie-penned "Dudes", probably the best known offering by t! he band sounds strangely out of place, and while the tune is great the fit is not.

Disc 2 shows the band with Hunter firmly in control of the direction, and stronger melodically for it. Social commentary is clearly evident on the hard-rockin' "Crash Street Kids" and "Marionette", while his disillusionment with the whole music scene comes through with biting eloquence on "Hymn for the Dudes" and "Saturday Gigs". We also get a glimpse of the post-Hunter Mott sound in "Born Late in '58" as well as preview Hunter's solo career in "Lounge Lizard", the band's only studio recording with Mick Ronson who went on to collaborate extensively with Hunter.

Once listening to the depth and breadth of this band's impact on today's music, you'll be left wanting to hear more, and wondering why you never heard of them before.

In my humble opinion, this is the best Mott compilation ever, bar none. Why Legacy / Epic has allowed it to pass out of print is a crime against 20th-21st century culture. I mean, you get all the great Mott tunes and more ... "All The Way From Memphis," "Honaloochie Boogie," "All The Young Dudes," "Marionette," "Sucker", and so forth and so on. And where the heck else will you find the unfinished gem that is "Henry And The H-Bomb"? Or experience an outburst more vitriolic than the one Ian Hunter unleashes at the end of "Through The Looking-Glass", lobbed toward some horrible record company drone that happened to boss his way into the studio control room while Hunter was laying down his vocals?
Christian Bale's a piker!
I hope Columbia / Epic / Legacy will consider re-releasing this two-disc wonder, along with an expanded edition of the group's mid-seventies live set from Hammersmith Odeon, the one that was used for a King Biscuit Flour Hour way back in the day. That was an excellent show, and a wonderful farewell from one of the greatest rock bands that ever power-chorded an M-shaped guitar.
One can hope.

This is the definitive Mott The Hoople retrospective! It includes a good overview of the band's classic albums "All The Young Dudes" (1972), "Mott" (1973), and "The Hoople" (1974). A great mixture of R&B, hard rock, and some awesome piano/string driven ballads is showcased throughout the 33 tracks that effectively show the songwriting talent of band leader Ian Hunter (vocals/rhythm guitar/piano). Also of note is guitarist Mick Ralphs who plays on the majority of the tracks and later formed the cool group Bad Company with ex-Free singer Paul Rodgers. For the last album "The Hopple", Ralphs was replaced by Ariel Bender, a former Spooky Tooth member. Completing the line-up was keyboard player Verden Allen, Pete "Overend" Watts on bass, and Dale Griffin on drums.

Songs like "Rock And Roll Queen", "Walking With A Mountain", and "Driving Sister" are good examples of the band's hard rock sound with a Rolling Stones vibe while "Rose", "Hymn For The Dudes", "Sea Diver", "Waterlow", and "Rest In Peace" are awesome ballads. The band's biggest hit, the David Bowie penned "All The Young Dudes" is included as well plus some of the lesser known hits like "All The Way From Memphis" (awesome piano and lead guitar) and their cover of Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane"; this one has great melodic soloing from Ralphs too.
Some favorite songs of mine include "Ready For Love/After Lights" which guitarist Ralphs wrote and later re-recorded it in Bad Company, the self-titled ballad with the date of March 26, 1972 (written about the group's break up before Bowie convinced them to continue), "Crash Street Kidds" (a great proto-punk sort of thing), "Whizz Kid" (great haunting melodies), "Honaloochie Boogie" (a catchy pop tune), the fifties rock influenced "The Golden Age Of Rock And Roll", the pure hard rock of "Lounge Lizard" which features guitarist Mick Ronson and the experimental "Marionette", but all songs are great really!

The "Ballad Of Mott" 2 CD set is the best place to start for the new fans of the group. The only negative aspect is the fact that the band's first four albums "Mott the Hoople" (1969), "Mad Shadows" (1970) , "Wildlife" (1971), and "Brain Capers" (1971) are represented by only one song from each (tracks one to four on CD one) so the solution is to get "The Best Of The Island Years: 1969-1972"; it's the perfect companion to this retrospective!
Thanks for taking the time to read!
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