''Drive On'' is a 1975 album by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

band Mott (one year before, named

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 fail ...

). It was released on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

label in the UK and the Columbia label in the United States. A remastered version was released in CD format in 2006 by

Wounded Bird Records Wounded Bird Records is an American compact disc only re-issue record label that was founded in 1998 in Guilderland, New York. They re-release lesser known albums from popular and lesser known artists, including Paul Butterfield, Cactus, Herbie ...

in US. It's the first album without former lead singer Ian Hunter, and includes two new members: Ray Major and Nigel Benjamin. The album features the singles "Monte Carlo / Shout It All Out" and "By Tonight / I Can Show You How It Is".

Background

In the afterglow of ''

The Hoople ''The Hoople'' is the seventh studio album by British rock band Mott the Hoople. The album peaked in the UK Albums Chart at No. 11, whilst its highest chart rating in the US was No. 28. A remastered and expanded version was released by Sony BMG ...

'' (1974), a live album ''

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

'' was quickly released, after which the guitarist

Ariel Bender Luther James Grosvenor (born 23 December 1946) is an English rock musician, who played guitar in Spooky Tooth, briefly in Stealers Wheel and, under the pseudonym Ariel Bender, in Mott the Hoople and Widowmaker. Grosvenor was born in Evesham ...

was replaced by

Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session music ...

. Mott The Hoople ended when vocalist/songwriter/guitarist Hunter left the group to form a solo band, with accompaniment from Ronson. In January 1975, Ray Major and lead singer Nigel Benjamin were added to continue the group, which abbreviated its name to Mott. The new line-up consisted of Pete Watts, Dale Griffin and Morgan Fisher, along with guitarists Major (formerly of Opal Butterfly, Hackensack, and a brief stint with Andy Fraser and Frankie Miller) and the relatively unknown Benjamin. Watts did the lion's share of songwriting, supplemented by Griffin and Major. Mott "arranged, produced and directed" ''Drive On'', and it was co-engineered by

Geoff Emerick Geoffrey Ernest Emerick (5 December 1945 – 2 October 2018) was an English sound engineer and record producer who worked with the Beatles on their albums '' Revolver'' (1966), '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (1967) and ''Abbey Road ...

. This line-up released only one more album, ''

Shouting and Pointing ''Shouting and Pointing'' is a 1976 album by United Kingdom, British band Mott the Hoople, Mott. It was the second and final album by the group. Despite favourable nods by critics in the music press, ''Shouting and Pointing'' was the only Mott ...

'' (1976), which also sold poorly. ''Drive On'' was the last studio album in British charts for the band.

Track listing

All tracks written by

Pete Overend Watts Peter Overend Watts (13 May 1947 – 22 January 2017) was an English bass guitar player and founding member of the 1970s rock band Mott the Hoople. Early life Watts was born in Yardley, Birmingham, on 13 May 1947. He moved as a child to Worthin ...

, except where noted.

LP version

Side one

#"By Tonight" – 3:46 #"Monte Carlo" – 4:35 #"She Does It" – 3:26 #"I'll Tell You Something" – 4:30 #"Stiff Upper Lip" 4:30

Side two

"Love Now" – 2:45 #"Apologies" (Ray Major) – 0:50 #"The Great White Wail" – 5:06 #"Here We Are" – 5:25 #"It Takes One To Know One" (

Dale 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 19 ...

) – 4:30 #"I Can Show You How It Is" (Watts, Griffin) – 2:30

Personnel

;Mott * Nigel Benjamin –

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 ...

(tracks 1-4, 7-11), backing vocals (tracks 5, 6, 11)

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, ...

(track 7) * Ray Major –

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 ...

(tracks 2-6, 8-11),

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 ...

(tracks 2, 3, 10),

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

(track 1),

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

(track 10) *

Morgan Fisher Stephen Morgan Fisher (born 1 January 1950) is an English keyboard player and composer, and is most known as a member of Mott the Hoople in the early 1970s. However, his career has covered a wide range of musical activities, and he is still ac ...

–

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 ...

(tracks 1-6, 9-11),

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

(tracks 2-4, 8),

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

(tracks 2, 4, 10), Davolisint (tracks 2, 8), electric piano (tracks 4, 8, 9, 11), backing vocals (tracks 2, 5, 10),

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...

(track 5), bass (track 8) *

– bass (tracks 1-6, 9-11),

(tracks 1, 5, 6, 8, 10), backing vocals (track 2, 3), lead vocals (tracks 5, 6),

(track 9) *

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 19 ...

–

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 ...

(tracks 1-6, 8-11), backing vocals (tracks 2, 6) ;Additional personnel * Stan Tippins –

(tracks 2, 10, 11)

Technical

* Mott – producer,

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

* Alan Harris,

, Ron Fawcus –

engineers 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 ...

* Arun Chakraverty – mastering * Art Direction – Roslav Szaybo * Gary Edwards, Geoff Emerick, Pete Henderson – mixing engineers * Mike Putland, Peter Lavery –

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 employed ...

* Roger Bamber – photography ront Cover

Charts

References

External links

Drive On reviewDrive On at Discogs
{{Authority control Mott the Hoople albums 1975 albums Columbia Records albums