It's reasonable, even logical, to question the need for a two-disc compilation from an early-'70s band that had negligible impact on the British or American charts or either of those country's musical sensibilities. But since 2000's
That Was Yesterday only covered the years ending with 1970's
The Last Puff, there was an opening, if maybe not a need, for a more extensive look at the act that finally called it quits after 1974's
The Mirror. Also, since the band served as a breeding ground for musicians who went on to greater acclaim elsewhere (bassist
Greg Ridley joined
Humble Pie, guitarists
Luther Grosvenor and
Mick Jones followed with
Mott the Hoople and
Foreigner, respectively, and
Gary Wright, who wrote the bulk of the group's material, went on to a solo career),
Spooky Tooth is deserving of this comprehensive, 34-track, two-and-a-half-hour collection. Both
Wright and vocalist/frontman
Mike Harrison were captivating blue-eyed soul singers, the latter nearly the equal of, and very similar to,
Steve Marriott. When they sang together and the material was of high enough quality, the effect was of a nascent
Humble Pie with more soul and less boogie.
Spooky Tooth's brooding, slow-to-midtempo blues-rock, tinged in the early years with more than a little psychedelia, was an intriguing concoction, especially when applied to covers such as their distinctive, and some might argue, definitive versions of
Janis Ian's
"Society's Child," blues staple
"Tobacco Road" and
"Evil Woman" (not the
ELO song of the same title, but one best recognized through
Canned Heat's rendition).
Mike Harrison had one of the U.K.'s great voices, though he never received the acclaim he deserved, even after releasing three solo albums.
Tooth's original material was inconsistent, and a career-killing collaboration with French electronic experimental composer
Pierre Henry (represented here by seven-and-a-half interminable minutes of
"Hosanna") that followed the band's one stab at popularity in
Spooky Two, pretty much killed whatever momentum they'd built up. A few rare singles and B-sides make an appearance along with a pair of previously unreleased songs circa 1968 on disc one. Most are worth hearing, with the rare Europe-only version of
"Oh! Pretty Woman" especially impressive. Disc two follows the latter part of
Tooth's historical progression and is, despite no hits, also intermittently enticing. Interestingly, the final four tracks from 1974's unfairly overlooked
The Mirror where lead singer
Harrison was replaced by
Boxer's
Mike Patto, are some of the most commercial, melodic, and driving tunes the band recorded. The only glaring omission is
"That Was Yesterday," not only one of the group's and
Gary Wright's best moments, but the title track to two previous
Spooky Tooth collections. A 16-page color booklet filled with excellent liner notes, detailed track annotation, rare photos, and an extensive history of the band help make this set the definitive profile of an act that, with a few more breaks, could have been a force to be reckoned with instead of a footnote to England's '70s blues-rock exports. ~ Hal Horowitz
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