''Brain Capers'' is the fourth album by the band

Mott the Hoople Mott the Hoople were an English rock band formed in Herefordshire. Originally known as the Doc Thomas Group, the group changed their name after signing with Island Records in 1969. The band released albums throughout the early 1970s but fai ...

. It was originally released in November 1971 in the UK by Island Records (catalogue number ILPS 9178) and on Island Records in Canada (cat. no. SW-9178), and was reissued in 2003 (on CD) by

Angel Air Angel Airlines, trading as Angel Air, was an airline based in Bangkok, Thailand, which was operational between 1998 and 2003. Destinations Over the years, Angel Airlines flew to the following destinations: Thailand * Bangkok — Don Mueang In ...

(cat. no. SJPCD160). It was released January 1972 in the US on Atlantic Records (cat. no. SD 8304). The release was not initially a commercial success, and was the only Mott the Hoople album that failed to chart in either the UK or US. The initial working title of ''AC/DC'' would be abandoned in favour of a combination of alternate choices ''Brain Damage'' and ''Bizarre Capers.'' Ultimately, the album was titled ''Brain Capers'' as a compromise between the latter two.This is referenced by an oblique credit on the back cover that reads "Sleeve - Bizarre Damage." (Original Atlantic Records pressing, cat. no. SD 8304.) Earlier sessions, self-produced by the band, were also abandoned when svengali

Guy Stevens Guy Stevens (13 April 1943 – 28 August 1981) was a British music industry figure whose roles included DJ, record producer, and band manager. He was influential in promoting R&B music in Britain in the 1960s, gave the rock bands Procol Ha ...

was called in to rescue the recording but a number of these tracks have resurfaced on ''All the Young Dudes: The Anthology'' and as bonus material on Angel Air's re-issues of Mott the Hoople albums. The covers of the original UK and Canadian LPs do not feature the mask seen on the US version (and some later re-releases). There was an actual mask packaged inside with the UK version of the album, but not with the Canadian LP. The band name and line under it are in the centre of the cover where the mask would be and the title shifted upwards. The US and Canadian LPs do not have the inner sleeve picturing fighter planes that the original UK album had. The album is dedicated to James Dean, as stated below the band photo on the back cover.

Track listing

Side one

# "Death May Be Your Santa Claus" ( Ian Hunter,

Verden Allen Verden Allen (born Terence Allen, 26 May 1944, Crynant, Neath, Wales) is a british organ player and vocalist best known as a founding member of 1970s rock band Mott the Hoople. Before that band formed, he had in the mid-1960s been in a rhythm ...

) – 4:48 # "Your Own Backyard" (

Dion DiMucci Dion Francis DiMucci (born July 18, 1939), better known simply as Dion, is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. His music has incorporated elements of doo-wop, pop, rock, R&B, folk and blues. Initially as the lead singer of Dion and t ...

, Tony Fasce) – 4:12 # "

Darkness, Darkness "Darkness, Darkness" is a song written by Jesse Colin Young in 1969, which has been covered by many artists. Young's band The Youngbloods released a version on their 1969 album '' Elephant Mountain''. They released a version of the song as ...

" (

Jesse Colin Young Perry Miller (born November 22, 1941), known professionally as Jesse Colin Young, is an American singer and songwriter. He was a founding member and lead singer of the 1960s group the Youngbloods. After their dissolution in 1972, Young embarked ...

) – 4:28 # "The Journey" (Hunter) – 9:15

Side two

# "Sweet Angeline" (Hunter) – 4:49 # "Second Love" (Allen) – 3:48 # "The Moon Upstairs" (Hunter, Mick Ralphs) – 5:00 # "The Wheel of the Quivering Meat Conception" (Hunter,

) – 1:15 "The Wheel of the Quivering Meat Conception" is essentially part two of "The Journey," beginning with a fade-in at the point where "The Journey" was earlier faded out. On original pressings of ''Brain Capers'', the running time of "The Journey" is incorrectly listed at 8:31, "Sweet Angeline" at 5:13, "The Moon Upstairs" at 5:13 and "The Wheel of the Quivering Meat Conception" is listed at 2:07.

2003 CD bonus tracks

* "Midnight Lady" (Hunter, Ralphs) – 3:33 * "The Journey" (Hunter) – 9:47

Personnel

Mott the Hoople

* Ian Hunter –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, keyboards,

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

* Mick Ralphs –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featu ...

, vocals * Pete Watts – bass, vocals *

Dale "Buffin" Griffin Terence Dale "Buffin" Griffin (24 October 1948 – 17 January 2016) was an English drummer and a founding member of 1970s rock band Mott the Hoople. Later, he worked as a producer, and produced many of the BBC Radio 1 John Peel sessions from 1 ...

– drums, vocals *

– keyboards, vocals

Additional musicians

* Jim Price –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

on "Second Love" *

–

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, producer

Technical

Andy Johns Jeremy Andrew "Andy" Johns (20 May 1950 – 7 April 2013) was a British sound engineer and record producer who worked on several well-known rock albums, including the Rolling Stones' '' Exile on Main St.'' (1972), Television's '' Marquee Moon'' ...

–

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

* Zal Schreiber – mastering * Richard Polak –

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

References

{{Authority control 1971 albums Mott the Hoople albums Island Records albums Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by Guy Stevens