ADD FLAC + SCANS! Many of you have been asking for some old Rock Candy releases to complete collections, and here’s one quite hard to find – almost out of print, not listed anymore – the remastered & reloaded reissue of MOTT (The Hoople) “Drive On“, including a bonus track.
Having gone from a struggling club band to wider international success, it came as something of a shock when leader Ian Hunter pulled the band apart by quitting in late 1974, taking flamboyant guitarist Mick Ronson with him to peruse a solo career. For the other members of Mott The Hoople this could have spelt disaster but fortunately their resolve and determination overcame all obstacles resolving to carry on with a revised line up.
Enlisting new guitarist Ray Major and unknown vocalist Nigel Benjamin, the band reconvened, still signed to CBS, but under the new handle of ‘Mott’.
It was this line-up (also featuring former MTH stalwarts Pete Overend Watts, Dale Buffin Griffin and Morgan Fisher) that recorded ”Drive On”, one of the year’s most surprising and exciting albums. Although it exploring some of the more grandiose musical themes touched on by latter day MTH, the album is also a hot-bed of hard rocking, allowing the extraordinary vocals of Benjamin to take centre stage.
The record label quickly realized that while the band missed Hunter’s songwriting abilities, they didn’t suck as a band. In fact, they were quite good. Gone was Hunter’s grandiose approach to rock and roll (and life in general), replaced by a harder rocking, straight ahead approach.
It worked as the album had a ton of energy, even becoming a favorite of a future rock star named Joe Elliott of Def Leppard. Benjamin sang well, and while the group failed to escalate their success over MTH, they did okay. The album is simply fun rock and roll and contains a great songs including “By Tonight”, single “Monte Carlo”, and the slick “Stiff Upper Lip.”
There’s a sound similar to the Queen rocking side at the time, not strange as both band shared a tour and become friends (Morgan Fisher went on to play piano on a Queen tour in Eighties).
All in all this is not one of those albums where every song is an instant classic, but it is one where the songs all work together and make up a most enjoyable listening experience. For the novice, this is a great place to learn a little more about a band that history has not done any favors in remembering.
01 – By Tonight
02 – Monte Carlo
03 – She Does It
04 – I’ll Tell You Something
05 – Stiff Upper Lip
06 – Love Now
07 – Apologies
08 – The Great White Wail
09 – Here We Are
10 – It Takes One To Know One
11 – I Can Show You How It Is
BONUS TRACK:
12 – Shout It All Out (b-side)
Nigel Benjamin – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
Ray Major – guitar, backing vocals
Morgan Fisher – piano, synthesizer, backing vocals
Pete Overend Watts – bass, lead vocals (tracks 5, 6), acoustic guitar
Dale “Buffin” Griffin – drums, backing vocals