Spooky Tooth-The Mirror (1974)

The origins of this important British blues-rock band with progressive influences date back to late 1964, when a band called The V.I.P.'s released several singles with little success. These singles paved the way for Spooky Tooth, specifically for a group called Art, who released the album "Supernatural Fairy Tales" (1967). Just a year later, singer Mike Harrison, keyboardist and vocalist Gary Wright, guitarist Luther Grosvenor, bassist Greg Ridley, and drummer Mike Kellie officially formed Spooky Tooth, releasing their first album, "It's All About a Roundabout" (1968), on the Island label. On this first album, the psychedelic influences of their predecessor, Art, are quite evident, but the blues-rock sound that would later become the band's hallmark is also timidly emerging. The album alternated between covers and original songs, but it ultimately met with little fanfare. The same could not be said for their second album, the magnificent "Spooky Two" (1969), which managed to carve out a place for itself on the British and American charts, thanks in part to tracks like "Evil Woman" and "Waitin' For The Wind". After the album, Greg Ridley left the group to join Humble Pie. With a new bassist, Andy Leigh, they released "Ceremony" (1970), which, due to the shift towards a more electronic sound, suffered a monumental failure and precipitated the general exodus of almost all the band members. From this point on, Luther Grosvenor joined Stealers Wheels and Gary Wright founded Wonderwheel. In the middle of that same year, the group reformed with the addition of some members of Joe Cocker's Grease Band, such as Chris Stantion, Henry McCulloch, and Alan Spenner, but they were unable to revive the group's career with the recording of the album "The Last Puff" (1970). This latest failure led to the band's disbandment in late 1970. But three years later, Spooky Tooth resurfaced with a harder rock sound. The return of keyboardist Gary Wright and Mike Harrison, along with new members like singer Mike Patto, guitarist Mick Jones, drummer Bryson Graham, and bassist Ian Herbert, seemed to breathe new life into the group. With this lineup, they released the albums "You Broke My Heart So I Busted Your Jaw" (1973) and "Witness" (1973), achieving respectable sales and even better reviews, marking the band's peak period. On "The Mirror" (1974), the group recruited new members, including former Van Der Graaf Generator bassist Keith Ellis. However, despite containing strong tracks like "Kyle", "Fantasy Satisfier", "The Mirror", and "The Hoofer", it failed to achieve the desired success. In 1974 the band officially broke up, although this didn't prevent the occasional reunions with some of the original members. A year later, Island Records released the compilation album "The Best Of" (1976). Subsequently, some of the members went on to join bands such as Foreigner (Mick Jones) and The Alvin Lee Band (Bryson Graham).