The Linear Canvas

When I was ready to move to a more serious type of music, after years of top 40 hits, I found myself listening to whatever was popular with my friends. Grand Funk Railroad comes to mind. I’m not slamming Grand Funk. Personally I think their pre-Craig Frost (keyboards) days were some of the best times of my life.

I always tried to be a little ahead of the others in my crowd musically. I read Rolling Stone regularly and had been reading Creem and Circus magazines for awhile. I found out about Mott the Hoople mainly from those publications. They had been getting a lot of press for holding shows in England that ended in a riot.

They were kind of artsy mayhem. They were led by a cork screw red haired guy who always wore black sunglasses named Ian Hunter. But to me, they were all equally Mott the Hoople and their sound changed as they changed members, especially guitar players.

Press      to play All the Young Dudes

All the Young Dudes (1972)

Lead singer Ian Hunter, who also played guitar and keyboards, seemed to have a bit of an ego problem. He always saw himself as an English Bob Dylan and the media repeated that in every interview or story about him. The band was also the start for guitarist Mick Ralphs . He would get to write a few songs per album, but even those, Hunter would add his personal touch to. They were a band, but it always was the Ian Hunter show, no matter what, at least to Ian.

They got their lucky break when David Bowie saw them play, got them signed and gave them the song All the Young Dudes. That certainly was their trademark song, as was the riot inducing Violence. They would always end their shows with Violence, probably so they could play their whole set before the police arrested everyone. I bet there weren’t any Dylan fans that rioted after any of his shows.

The keyboard player, Verden Allen dropped out before the “Mott“ album’s release leaving Hunter, Ralphs, bassist Overend Watts and drummer Dale “Buffin” Griffin. But probably the biggest mistake Ian Hunter made with Mott was losing Mick Ralph’s guitar and musical talents before the next album. I heard Mick took the song Can’t Get Enough to Ian and was told the song was no good. I guess Mick knew better, quit the band, formed the super group Bad Company and became rich. Can’t Get Enough probably falls into that classics of all time category and Ian Hunter turned it down and insulted Mick Ralphs doing it.

Mick Ralphs was replaced by a guitarist renamed Ariel Bender who had been called by his real name, Luther Grosvenor, when he played in the band Spooky Tooth. Ian was reportedly so mad that he would not talk to or about Mick. I have a Mott the Hoople music book from 1974, just after the change, and very little of the material and none of the photos featured Mick Ralphs, only Ariel Bender. They did tour together again years later, so there must not be any bad feelings between them.

Here is a poor performance by Ariel Bender on All the Way to Memphis. I could’ve done better. There’s even a moment where Ian Hunter shoves him out of his way.

    Press      to play All the Way to Memphis

All the Way to Memphis (1973)

The last guitarist for Mott the Hoople, was probably added just to fulfill contractual obligations for them. Mick Ronson had been known for his guitar work with David Bowie’s Spiders from Mars band. Most people will remember his opening guitar line in the song Suffragette City. I believe it was Ian Hunter’s plan to bring Mick Ronson on board , finish any obligations as Mott the Hoople, ditch the rest of the band and regroup as The Ian Hunter Band. I saw them live around this time at Veteran’s Memorial in Columbus, Ohio. They were promoting their new album, called Ian Hunter. It was a big hit for the band. Years later the song Once Bitten, Twice Shy from that album, was remade by Great White. Mick Ronson died in 1993 of cancer.

     Press      to play Once Bitten Twice Shy

The Ian Hunter Band “Once Bitten Twice Shy” (1975)

The rest of the Mott the Hoople band carried on as Mott (as opposed to “Not the Hoople”), then reformed as The British Lions with a different singer. They had a minor hit called Eat the Rich. Their album was very well done, and they probably made a little money at it. A few years later some of them got together with A Box of Frogs (with a little help from Jeff Beck) and then disappeared. More recently Ian Hunter’s , Cleveland Rocks,  was being used as the theme song for the Drew Carey Show.