Under-Rated – The Elephant's Trunk

Written for Glyn’s Mixed Music Bag week #27 where we are asked
to write about a song by a group or solo singer beginning with
the letter M or N. Here is my group for this week.

Formed in 1967, Mott the Hoople wanted to make music like Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones. They never quite achieved the level of success of their idols but they were still important to British music at the start of the 1970s. They initially had limited commercial success, although they were popular in mid-sized venues in London and were always considered to be a good live band. Fans caused so much damage at their 1971 concert at the Royal Albert Hall that rock concerts were banned from the iconic venue. By the beginning of 1972, following poor album sales, an aborted tour and an onstage fight in Switzerland, Mott the Hoople were on the brink of breaking up.

Sometimes in life, quality is more important than quantity, and even if you don’t have a huge number of fans, if your hardcore group of fans includes David Bowie, you must still have some hope. Such was the case for Mott the Hoople. After hearing of the band’s troubles, Bowie offered to give them his song “Suffragette City”. They declined the offer thinking that it would not get them the kind of radio airplay that they needed to sell more records but took him up on his offer of “All The Young Dudes”. The single release became their greatest hit and a classic of the glam rock genre; the album of the same name that followed, produced by Bowie and Mick Ronson, got to #21 in the album chart. This was their fifth album and it was where they moved away from standard 1960s rock music and jumped firmly onto the glam rock band wagon.

David Bowie’s production gave Mott the Hoople a hit album at their fifth attempt but unfortunately without him they were not able to maintain this level of success. Their sixth album actually charted higher than All The Young Dudes but they split up in 1975. Mott the Hoople was one of those groups who were absolutely brilliant live on stage but could not quite recapture that magic in a studio.

In 2009 they played a 5 night sell out reunion residency at the Hammersmith Apollo in London. The crowd were on their feet through the entirety of each show and apparently lead singer Ian Hunter commented that it was the first time he had ever had a standing ovation for an entire concert. The surviving members of the band have continued to play sporadically since. Not bad for a band that never had a #1 hit single or album.

Despite being commercially unsuccessful, Mott the Hoople influenced some serious musical players such as Queen, REM and, of course, David Bowie. The Clash, The Sex Pistols, The Smiths and the New York Dolls all cite Mott as influencing them.

Mott the Hoople was one of our favorite groups; we loved their sound, their delivery, their attitude and the fun they brought to live shows. We saw them perform live twice .… August 3, 1973 at the Felt Forum with the New York Dolls and again on May 7, 1974 at the Uris Theatre with Queen. The Uris (now known as the Gershwin Theatre) was newly opened when Mott and Queen performed there; it’s Broadway’s largest theater, with almost 2,000 seats across two levels. Over the years, it has hosted musicals, dance companies and concerts. It’s a beautiful place. Unfortunately, the theatre sustained significant damage by the fans during one of Mott’s shows …. fortunately not the one we attended. Here’s a clip from the New York Times:

“Mott the Hoople arrived on Broadway Tuesday night for the first of six shows, the first hard rock group ever to appear there, and the Uris Theater will probably never be the same again. Cigarette burns in the rugs and seats, spilled drink stains on the floor and torn upholstery were just part of the mess after their final show leaving people wondering how something like this could happen.”

Really …. who could blame them? That type of wonton destruction and disregard for property is disgraceful. You’d think the owners of the Uris Theatre would have been prepared after hearing about the damage at Royal Albert Hall three years earlier. Still, there’s no excuse and we were shocked to hear the reports just days after we were there.

This is Mott the Hoople’s greatest hit song … “All The Young Dudes” written by David Bowie.

This next song tells us about the protagonist who is in a rock band and his friends, Jack and Jane, who work as a banker and clerk. They all come home from work, sit by the fire, and listen to classical music together. The song talks about different aspects of life, such as working hard and dealing with difficult people, but also acknowledges that life is short. The song is “Sweet Jane”; written and originally recorded in 1970 by Lou Reed, it was covered by Mott the Hoople in 1973.

This is Mott the Hoople with Lou Reed’s “Sweet Jane”.

“All The Way From Memphis” is a single written by Mott the Hoople’s front man, Ian Hunter. It was released as the lead track from the album Mott in 1973. The song is based on true events and describes the unglamorous side of rock stardom …. the tale of a guitar lost in transit (shipped to Oriole, Kentucky instead of Memphis, Tennessee) and what seemed like a paltry and unenthusiastic concert audience. Despite the album’s popularity, the song never charted in the US although it did receive considerable airplay on album-oriented rock stations. The Mott album reached the Top 40 of the Billboard 200, peaking at #35.

This is “All The Way From Memphis” by Mott the Hoople, featuring the great Andy Mackay from Roxy Music on sax.

Big thanks to Glyn for hosting Mixed Music Bag every week.

Thanks for joining me today and spinning some tunes.

See you on the flip side. 😎

Tag: Under-Rated

Hoople Head

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