''Dog of Two Head'' is the fourth studio album by the English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...

, released by

Pye Records Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brotherhoo ...

in November 1971.

Background

At the time of recording, the band consisted of

Francis Rossi Francis Dominic Nicholas Michael Rossi, (born 29 May 1949) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He is the co-founder, lead singer, lead guitarist and the sole continuous member of the rock band Status Quo. Early life Rossi was born o ...

(credited on the sleeve as ''Mike Rossi''),

Rick Parfitt Richard John Parfitt, (12 October 1948 24 December 2016) was an English musician, best known as a singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist with rock band Status Quo. Parfitt began his career in the early 1960s, playing in pubs and holiday cam ...

(credited as ''Ritchie Parfitt''),

Alan Lancaster Alan Charles Lancaster (7 February 1949 – 26 September 2021) was an English musician, best known as a founding member and bassist of the rock band Status Quo, playing with the band from 1967 to 1985, with brief reunions in 2013 and 2014. As ...

and John Coghlan (credited as ''John Coughlan''). They had released a non-album single that March, a Rossi/Young song called "Tune to the Music", but it was not a hit. The band then set to work writing and recording a new album. A couple of the songs, such as the opening track "Umleitung" (German for 'diversion'), had been written the previous year. Rossi and Young's "

Mean Girl Meanness is a personal quality whose classical form, discussed by many from Aristotle to Thomas Aquinas, characterizes it as a vice of "lowness", but whose modern form deals more with cruelty. Classical formulation In his dictionary, Noah Web ...

", a single from the album, was to become a UK #20 hit some time later, in April 1973, after they had their third top ten British hit single with "Paper Plane", from their next album '' Piledriver''. When "Mean Girl" charted, the record company decided to release another single from the album: a rerecording of "Gerdundula", the B-side to their 1970 single "In My Chair". This was released in July 1973, and failed to chart. The B-side to this single was Rossi and Parfitt's "Lakky Lady", taken from the band's previous album ''

Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon ''Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon'' is the third studio album by English rock band Status Quo, released in August 1970. It was the first album by the band to leave behind their early psychedelic sound and begin experimenting with a hard rock style, ...

''.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

largely praised the album's unusual stylistics in their retrospective review, commenting that Status Quo "were going to find their characteristic sound in their posterior effort, '' Piledriver'', but never again were they going to sound as innovative and inventive as they sound here."

Track listing

All songs written by

and Bob Young, except where noted. "Gerdundula" was written by the duo under the pseudonyms Manston and James. ;Side one # "Umleitung" (

Roy Lynes Roy Alan Lynes (born 25 October 1943, Redhill, Surrey) is an English musician and occasional singer, who was the keyboardist for the rock band Status Quo (originally The Spectres then Traffic Jam). He joined the band in 1964/1965, two years afte ...

) - 7:11 # "Nanana (Extraction I)" - 0:51 # "Something's Going on in My Head" (Lancaster) - 4:44 # "

" - 3:53 # "Nanana (Extraction II)" - 1:11 ;Side two # "

Gerdundula ''Dog of Two Head'' is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Status Quo, released by Pye Records in November 1971. Background At the time of recording, the band consisted of Francis Rossi (credited on the sleeve as ''Mike Rossi''), Ri ...

" - 3:49 # "Railroad" - 5:30 # "Someone's Learning" (Lancaster) - 7:08 # "Nanana" - 2:26

1998 bonus tracks

# "Tune to the Music" reviously unreleased version- 3:36 # "Good Thinking" reviously unreleased version- 3:40 # "Time to Fly" (Lancaster) - 4:18 # "Nanana" reviously unreleased version- 2:58 # "Mean Girl" reviously unreleased version- 3:58

2003 reissue bonus tracks

# "Mean Girl"

arly mix The Arly () is a 32.1 km long river in the departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie, France. It is a tributary of the Isère, which it joins at Albertville. Towns crossed by the river * Megève * Praz-sur-Arly * Flumet * Saint-Nicolas-la-Cha ...

- 3:58 # "Tune to the Music" - 3:09 # "Good Thinking" (Rossi,

, Lancaster, John Coghlan, Young) - 3:43 # "Mean Girl" BC session# "Railroad" BC session

Personnel

;Status Quo *

–

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 featur ...

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

–

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

, acoustic guitar,

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 keyboa ...

, backing vocals, co-lead vocals on "Railroad" *

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

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 stri ...

* John Coghlan –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

;Additional personnel * Bob Young –

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

Bruce Foster Bruce Foster is an American paper engineer and graphic designer who specializes in pop-up books. Called a "paper magic master", he has created more than 40 pop-up books for both children and adults, in addition to the pop-up designs that appea ...

– piano *

Grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

– backing vocals on "Nanana"

References

{{Authority control Status Quo (band) albums 1971 albums Pye Records albums Albums produced by John Schroeder (musician)