by Mott the Dog
***** 5 Stars
Every time that Hunter and Ronson got together to make
an album’s worth of material there was always a lot of magic in the air.
Unfortunately this only happened three times. Once for Ian Hunter’s
first solo album in 1975, then four years later in 1979 with the fabulous
“Your never alone with a Schizophrenic”. It was not for another eight
years that the two of them finally got back together again.
The recording process was only undertaken after the
band had been on the road for six months with a set that included nearly
all the material to be recorded for “Yui Orta” (the title being a play
on the old “Three Stooges’’ catchphrase). So if there is a live
feeling to this album it is hardly surprising. With producer Bernard
Edwards at the controls, the whole album was recorded over a seven week
period at the Power Station in New York City.
Hunter’s song writing throughout is nothing short of
superb, but the overall feeling of greatness that is put across cannot be
laid entirely at the songwriter’s feet. The rest of the band is so tight
they make identical twins seem like strangers. Micky Curry plays the drums
as though they are a lead instrument instead of a time keeping device. Pat
Kilbride really comes of age here as one of Rock’s leading bassists,
keeping the groove of the album going in one continuous whoosh. The great
Tommy (Mad Dog) Mandel handles the keyboards, and is best served whilst
bashing out the rhythms on piano, which always suited Hunter’s songs the
best anyway. Here Mandel can be heard at the height of his powers before
he was later submerged in the Bryan Adams Band.
Then, of course, on every instrument with six strings
there was Mick Ronson. (In many people’s opinion Bowie has done nothing
of real merit since he parted company with his main collaborator when he
split up “The Spiders from Mars”.) Whether playing some quiet tasteful
licks behind Hunter’s ballads like ‘Livin in a Heart’, where Hunter
sings of the regrets he harbors for the break up of his first marriage and
the guilt that he feels, or the straight ahead party time Rock ‘n’
Roll of ‘Big Time’, every note is perfect, making each song come
alive.
Add to this some of the finest songs to come from the
pen of Ian Hunter, during his long and illustrious career, you have here
an album worthy of the tag ‘Milestone’ in Rock ‘n’ Roll. Nowhere
will you find a finer rapid fire salvo of opening tracks than ‘American
Music’ with it’s references to British radio, which only played Rock
‘n’ Roll music very occasionally in the late fifties and early
sixties, and completely at random, so you had to listen to an awful lot of
dross whilst hoping for a bit of Jerry Lee Lewis. Follow this with ‘The
Loner’ (one of Hunter’s favorite songs) and then the hard rock of
‘Women’s Intuition’, a song of vengeance concerning the theme of
injured love. You are left breathless by track four. And believe me, there
is a lot more to come, including this Dog’s favorite ever Hunter song,
the gut wrenching ‘Beg a Little Love’, plus the album’s closing
song, a guitar instrumental of the Don Gibson song ‘Sweet Dreamer”,
which was originally a hit for Dolly Parton, but in the hands of Mick
Ronson it becomes a thing of rare beauty.
With Hunter’s redoubtable song writing skills and
idiosyncratic vocals, the snap, crackle, pop, and flash of Ronson’s
guitar playing, this album is a timely reminder of the talents of two of
rock’s mavericks, whose influence is still recognized by many of
today’s young Buckaroos.
I will leave you now with some of the lyrics to ‘Beg
a Little Love’
“Life takes a little piece of you away
Everyday of your life
You learn to get wise, you learn to compromise -
You learn to criticize yourself
I guess we all grow up ‘cos one day everything -
Seems further from the truth
And you try find yourself - in this endless youth
You try find yourself - and you
Beg a little love
When my mind had gone
When both of my minds had gone
When all of my minds had gone”.
Musicians
Ian Hunter/Vocals
Mick Ronson/Guitars
Tommy Mandel/Keyboards
Mick Curry/Drums
Pat Kilbride /Bass
Tracks
American music
The Loner
Women’s Intuition
Tell it like it is
Livin’ in a heart
Big Time
Cool
Beg a little love
Following in your footsteps
Sons ‘n’ lovers
Pain
How much more can I take
Sweet Dreamer
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To contact Mott the Dog email: [email protected]
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