''Mott the Hoople'' is the debut studio album by the band of the same name. It was produced by

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 ...

and released in 1969 by Island Records in the UK (ILPS 9108), and in 1970 by Atlantic Records in the US (SD 8258). It was re-issued 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 ...

in 2003 (SJPCD157).

Background

Stevens, the group's initial mentor and guide, wanted to create an album that would suggest

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

singing with

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

. This was partially achieved, with the album including several Dylanesque cover versions along with aggressive rock originals. Years later, vocalist Ian Hunter - who had only just joined the band prior to ''Mott the Hooples recording and had yet to play live with them - would insinuate, in an August 1980 ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' magazine interview, that the Stones' 1971 track "

Bitch Bitch may refer to: * A female dog or other canine * Bitch (slang), a vulgar slur for a human female Bitch or bitches may also refer to: Arts and media Film and television * ''The Bitch'' (film), a 1979 film starring Joan Collins * ''Bitc ...

" bore more than a passing resemblance to this album's "Rock and Roll Queen." (Both songs are in the key of A, and use the pentatonic scale.) An instrumental version of

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhyt ...

' "

You Really Got Me "You Really Got Me" is a song written by Ray Davies for English rock band the Kinks. The song, originally performed in a more blues-oriented style, was inspired by artists such as Lead Belly and Big Bill Broonzy. Two versions of the song were ...

" introduces the album, though a vocal version was recorded and is available on Mott's compilation release '' Two Miles From Heaven''.

Doug Sahm Douglas Wayne Sahm (November 6, 1941 – November 18, 1999) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist born in San Antonio, Texas. Sahm is regarded as one of the main figures of Tex-Mex music, and as an important per ...

's "At the Crossroads" (originally recorded by Sahm's

Sir Douglas Quintet The Sir Douglas Quintet was an American rock band, formed in San Antonio in 1964. With their first hits, they were acclaimed in their home state. When their career was established (subsequent to working with Texas record producer Huey Meaux), t ...

in 1968) and

Sonny Bono Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono (; February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and politician who came to fame in partnership with his second wife Cher as the popular singing duo Sonny & Cher. A member of the Republica ...

's "Laugh at Me" (originally issued by

Sonny & Cher Sonny & Cher were an American pop and entertainment duo in the 1960s and 1970s, made up of husband and wife Sonny Bono and Cher. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector. The pair f ...

on their second full-length album in 1966, but without vocals from Cher) are suitably reminiscent of Bob Dylan, as is Hunter's "Backsliding Fearlessly." Initial copies of the UK album were wrongly pressed with the song "The Road to Birmingham," (the B-side of their debut single in the UK) at the end of side one, with "Backsliding Fearlessly" replacing "Rock and Roll Queen" at the start of side two. The album's cover is a colorized reproduction of

M. C. Escher Maurits Cornelis Escher (; 17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972) was a Dutch graphic artist who made mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. Despite wide popular interest, Escher was for most of his life neglected in t ...

's lithograph " Reptiles." In an interesting coincidence considering Guy Stevens' desire for Mott to sound like the Rolling Stones, in early 1969

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

had approached Escher wanting to commission a painting for the cover of the Stones' upcoming album ''

Let It Bleed ''Let It Bleed'' is the eighth British and tenth American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released 28 November 1969 on London Records in the United States and shortly thereafter by Decca Records in the United Kingdom. ...

''; Escher declined the request.Wyman, Bill and Ray Coleman (1990). ''Stone Alone: The Story of a Rock 'n' Roll Band'', Penguin/Signet, , pp. 617-618.

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of

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 databa ...

, gives the album four stars out of five and states: Robert Christgau however rates the album "C+" and states:

Track listing

Side one

# "

" (

Ray Davies Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter for the rock band the Kinks, which he led with his younger brother Dave on lead guitar and backing voc ...

) – 2:55 # "At the Crossroads" (

) – 5:33 # " Laugh At Me" (

) – 6:32 # "Backsliding Fearlessly" (Ian Hunter) – 3:47

Side two

# "Rock and Roll Queen" (Mick Ralphs) – 5:10 # "Rabbit Foot and Toby Time" (Ralphs) – 2:04 # "Half Moon Bay" (Ralphs, Hunter) – 10:38 # "Wrath and Wroll" (

) – 1:49

2003 CD bonus tracks

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

" (

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...

) – 4:26 # "Find Your Way" (Ralphs) – 3:30

Personnel

Mott the Hoople

* Ian Hunter – lead vocals (all but 9),

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 ...

, rhythm guitar * 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 ...

, backing and lead (9) vocals *

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 ...

– bass, backing 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, backing vocals *

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 ...

– organ,

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 ...

Additional personnel

– piano

Technical

* Guy Stevens – producer *

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 ...

– front cover drawing

Charts

Album

References

{{Authority control 1969 debut albums Island Records albums Mott the Hoople albums Albums produced by Guy Stevens Atlantic Records albums M. C. Escher Albums recorded at Morgan Sound Studios