Customer Reviews

Last Puff (Dig)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The 'Last Puff' is the greatest musical accomplihment "Spooky Tooth" has made in thier on again/off again career starting in 1968.
I am hard pressed to think of a better song, to play very loud, than Spooky Tooth's take on the "Beatles" classic, 'I am the Walrus'. The sheer volume that Luther Grosvenors guitar is played and recorded on this, the lead track of the album is inspiring.
'Nobody there at all' is one of the best examples of Spooky Tooths tradition of offering thier special flair of interpretating. I would have said that "Elton Johns 'Son of your father'" is but I'm more partial to Eltons version.
The Gary Wright penned tune 'The Wrong Time' suffers only in that the "Dream Weaver" had not sung on the song, having left the band earlier in the year(1970).
The saddest day in this bands career was when splintered once again after the release of 'The Last Puff' and Luther Grosvenor left the band for greater stardom in 'Mott the Hoople'. Some would argue that that was OK since within the next year or 18 months Gary Wright would have come back to the band. But, even though the band would recapture the interplay vocals of Gary and Mike Harrison, the band had also irreparably lost the instrumental interplay of melody and rhythm from Luther and Greg Ridley/bass which was just as important as the vocalization.
One area that seems to miss alot of reviewers response is the musical ability of the band, which didn't just happen to come to them in time to record 'Spooky Two'. Which is the other main reason to give this effort a listen. The recently demised "Grease Band" alumni of Henry McCulloch/guitar, Allen Spenner/bass, and the now deeply missed Chris Stainton/bass/piano/organ/guitar, who was so instrumental in the early rise of Joe Cocker in '68/69.
The 'Grease Band' addition for this album gives the overall sound of the Spooky Tooth band the muscle it had lost due to internal collapse following the release of the earlier 1970 album "Ceremony".
One only wonders what could have been, unfortunately the band had taken its Last Puff and ran out of gas. All later renditions of the the band were really just vehicles for some alterior motive and lacked the original quintets ability to create and interpret on a level of early "Traffic" if not better.
If you are going to buy only one album/CD of 'Spooky Tooth' the this is the one.

I found this LP album recently. Not knowing about the group, I took a chance. Boy am I impressed! Unexplicably, its become one of my favorite albums. Its got a loose, shambling quality that is endearing. I love the slow "heavy" groove of all the tracks. They somehow managed to "outweird" Joe Cocker on their cover of the Cocker tune. I especially like "Nobody There At All"; it has such great songwriting and soulful playing I surprised myself by getting a little verklempt. Buy this album for an example of an overlooked heavy late-60s rock 'n roll classic.

This is one of the great blues/rock albums. I want to echo a previous reviewer that three of the original members remained but, most importantly, Gary Wright had left. Chris Stainton, who guided Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishman tour, fills in. Alan Spenner on bass eventually would turn up on Roxy Music's Avalon album. This album combines an emotional wail with searing guitar passages that send shivers up my spine. If any album deserves a "Gold" remastering treatment this is it. In terms of its genre it ranks with Beggars Banquet and The Byrds Untitled.

The cover of "I Am The Walrus" is great, but the second cut, "The Wrong Time" is where this album really takes off. Contrary to the careless "professional review", Luther Grosvenor was still playing guitar for Spooky Tooth on this album, and he shines on this cut. Chris Stainton's offbeat noodling on piano is indeed "spooky" and Mike Harrison is right up there with early Cocker. Unlike many drummers, Mike Kellie loosens up the tension on his drums and discards the notion that quantity and volume are substitutes for intuition and timing. Taken as a whole, this album is a great example of a fine tradition of late 60's/early 70's British rock, typified by Cocker, Jethro Tull and Traffic. It's a shame it's never gotten the attention it deserves.

only the tremendous spooky two album tops this one. their version of david ackles' down river is great as is the i am the walrus cover and their version of elton john's son of your father. spooky tooth were great with other people's material. mike harrison was surely one of the finest british vocalists of this or any period.this is a fine album worth picking up , not quite a classic( there's a pair of mediocre cuts on this ) but above average.

In 1968 I was drawn into Spooky Tooth, a band that at the time was one of Island Record's "best kept secrets." Already familiar with many of Island's avant garde rock acts (Traffic, Fairport Convention, Free, Jethro Tull) I was eager to hear what these lads from Carlisle had to offer. I was floored by "It's All About" and even more impressed by "Spooky Two." from there the splintering of the band and the subsequent releases "Ceremony" and "The Last Puff" were clearly downhill endeavors. This re-issue of "The Last Puff" demonstrates that fact with the original tracks augmented by the somewhat earlier singles. A case in point is the album version of Elton John's "Son Of Your Father," which when compared to the earlier single release of the same tune (even using the same instrumental track), shows that Gary Wright's strong lead vocals intertwined with Mike Harrison's are absent from the album's rendition and the latter suffers somewhat from their omission. Truth is this album was a contractual obligation and not really a credible step forward. Still it does mark the final stage of an extraordinary band, and can be appreciated for what it is: a final hurrah or a last puff.

I bought THE LAST PUFF in 1970 because I liked the cover art. but when I heard the music I was overwhelmed with feelings and emotions.Each song has a different style and highlights a different instrument or aspect of the music.Example: the piano in DOWNRIVER. This albumn helped me to "come of age" musically.

I have had the vinal version for 25 years, and finally found the CD. This album features Spooky Tooths cover of the Beatles "I am a Walrus," distinctive in that John Lennon said it was one of the very few covers of one of his songs he liked. The rest of the album features the distinctive rough guitar licks and heavy rock you would expect from Spooky Tooth. An album that requires your attention

and you like solid rock with depth and emotion... you've got to hear this album. I first bought the 8 track version of this album! then the LP back in 1970. Now I own the CD. This music and this album carry an emotional punch that epitomizes the depth and potential of rock in that era. The "unevenness and muddy" sound mentioned by one reviewer only add to the unique qualities and character of this album... It just wouldn't work any other way. This music incites feelings that take you back (me anyway) to a time when rock was an adventure just beginning.

Unfortunately, Spooky Tooth was not a very popular band during the late 1960's and early 1970's. At least within the United States. So needless to say, thirty years later, their music is all but forgotten. For the loyal followers, the music from this great band will never disappear. Mike Harrison is a great vocalist, period. Songs from "The Last Puff" are a haunting memory of styles long removed from today's tasteless music scene. The power behind "I Am A Walrus" still captivates the senses. The Beatles should be proud! Try this record out and revisit a great time in music history. I hope someday A&M Records will release their entire line on CD.