siLLy puPPy Considered by many to be the best and strongest of the SPOOKY TOOTH albums, the sophomore release SPOOKY TWO built on the momentum of the smooth psychedelic soul tendencies of the debut “It’s All About” but at the same time maintained its trippy psychedelic demeanor and added the occasional heavier doses of hard rock. Likewise the keyboard sounds were better integrated into the musical mix and the band sounded like it was firing on all cylinders. Riding on the wave of a successful American tour, the five members crated a new batch of eight original tracks and left out the filler in the form of cover tunes. Primarily written by Gary Wright, SPOOKY TWO featured a more cohesive stylistic effect than its predecessor and showcased the band’s ability to emulate the soulful blues rock of Traffic but by distancing itself even further from that band’s similarly styled approach.

By this time keyboardist Gary Wright had also taken control of the lead vocals and had developed quite the sophisticated range of singing styles. The band tightened up its quirky mix of psychedelic rock, blues, soul and even adding a tinge of gospel. The album features a more dynamic songwriting process and the use of the double keyboard attack with the heavy guitar heft accompanied by the psychedelic smooth soul vocal style of Wright was exactly the perfect tour de force for success. Once again the critics raved yet once again the album sales floundered despite a stellar production and engineering job by the combo powerhouse duo of Jimmy Miller and Andrew Johns. The album produced one of the band’s better known singles “That Was Only Yesterday” however it failed to chart during its day. Gary Wright at this point was becoming more recognizable as the singer who crafted the huge 1975 hit “Dream Weaver.”

The album deftly blends smooth softness with moments of heavier contrast. Compared to both Savoy Brown and the Yardbirds, SPOOKY TOOTH at this point started to become its own with even the Traffic connections dissipating and whereas the debut was clearly influenced by the 1967 album “Mr. Fantasy,” SPOOKY TWO is a powerhouse that stands on its own with epic performances that evoke a true sense of accomplishment. In many ways SPOOKY TWO prognosticated bluesy rock bands such as Little Feat that would find increasing popularity in the 1970s. Considered a blues rock band that didn’t behave like one, SPOOKY TOOTH found a unique intersection between blues guitar, psychedelic atmospheres, Baroque pop compositional styles and a touch of jazz rock influences.

On top of the excellent musicianship and the impeccable instrumental interplay, Wright crafted some of the catchiest pop hooks of the band’s entire career with tracks like “Better By You, Better Than Me” and “Waitin’ For The Wind” topping the ear worm charts. While considered by some in prog circles to have been a progenitor of the prog movement, in reality SPOOKY TOOTH wasn’t particularly progressive and considering this album emerged the very same year as King Crimson’s stunning debut as well as other bands like High Tide, SPOOKY TOOTH is actually pretty tame in that regard. The band wasn’t about crafting overly complex tunes and on the contrary was about nurturing beautifully addictive melodies into a total band experience and in that regard they reached an apex on SPOOKY TWO.

Due to disappointing album sales the band began to splinter and although several members would stick it out and release a few more albums before the final break up in 1974, the original lineup ended here and the band would never regain the momentum that SPOOKY TWO had delivered so well. Luckily the album has been reevaluated over the ensuing decades and has become designated a classic of period psychedelic soul rock which found all the band’s best qualities synergizing for this brief moment in time. This album is very much as good as any Traffic album and although SPOOKY TOOTH didn’t stick it out as long or produce as many hits, the first two albums are quite pleasing to the ears with this second offering being the most accomplished.

siLLy puPPy With roots originating all the way back to 1963, the four members that would form SPOOKY TOOTH played together in the British blues mod band The V.I.P.’s in Carlisle, England which most notably is the early act that also launched a fledgling Keith Emerson before he went on to form The Nice and later ELP. The four members of Luther Grosvenor (lead guitar), Mike Harrison (harpsichord, vocals), Greg Ridley (bass) and Mike Kellie (drums) released several EPs and singles as The V.I.P.’s but never really decorated the charts with hits and when the mod and beat scenes started to morph into the world of psychedelic rock, the four members wisely shifted gears and released a flower power freak out album as the band Art in 1967 but after one album the band moved on again and became SPOOKY TOOTH the same year.

After recruiting a fifth member in the form of American keyboardist Gary Wright, the band set out on the English club scene and after quickly capturing the attention of Island records commenced to record SPOOKY TOOTH’s debut album IT’S ALL ABOUT which arrived in May of 1968. Taking a cue from fellow Brits, Traffic, SPOOKY TOOTH crafted a psychedelia-tinged slab of catchy pop rockers with Baroque piano influences, bluesy guitar riffing and a major leap up from the amateurish sounds of Art. The most notable improvement was the psychedelic soul smoothness of lead singer Mike Harrison who found his match in his harmonic double newbie Gary Wright. The two would alternate vocals and eventual Wright would wrest control.

A veritable treasure trove of catchy psychedelic pop records IT’S ALL ABOUT featured seven original compositions and three covers including the Janis Ian track “Society’s Child,” Bob Dylan’s “Too Much of Nothing” and the classic J.D. Loudermilk song “Tobacco Road.” The album was graced with the production techniques of Jimmy Miller who worked with The Spencer Davis group and would become the legendary force behind The Rolling Stones, Motorhead and Blind Faith. Sounding virtually nothing like the band Art which featured four of the members in SPOOKY TOOTH, the songwriting skills of Gary Wright became a prominent aspect of the band’s ability to distinguish itself from many of the other British blues based psych bands of the era however the Traffic similarities from the 1967 “Mr. Fantasy” album are undeniable. The other members did contribute by cowriting a few of the tracks.

SPOOKY TOOTH’s recruitment by Island Records gained instant time pressures which only allowed so many hours in the recording studio and by the time the band went to record the band only a handful of originals and did what many bands were doing in the 1960s and simply finding some songs to cover. The album is a brilliant mix of bluesy psychedelic pop and although in the same vein as Traffic, at times prognosticated the style of Led Zeppelin especially in some of the vocal styles. The band was actually hailed by the critics and praised for its amazingly successful mix of blues, rock, psychedelic and Baroque pop. Unfortunately that didn’t translate into successful album sales and after the band was set to go on an extensive tour in Europe, a sudden invitation to the United States altered the bands plans.

The American tour changed the course of the band’s game plan and while practically ignored in its native UK, SPOOKY TOOTH enjoyed the attention of promotor Bill Graham and played at San Francisco’s Fillmore Wets and all across America where it built its largest fanbase and subsequent success. While not as prog oriented as the following “Spooky Two,” IT’S ALL ABOUT” paved the road with the right stepping stones for the band to ratchet up its sound a few notches. Taken on its own terms, this debut album is quite the pleasant slice of 60s psychedelic pop rock with great instrumentation, interplay and grooviliscious melodic constructs and even better are the vocal harmonies that borrow a few ideas from both The Beatles and The Beach Boys while capturing the essence of American soul music.

Warthur On Spooky Two, Spooky Tooth offer a gritty organ and guitar-driven sound which charts a course that meanders between the evocative prog-leaning proto-metal of Deep Purple or Atomic Rooster on the one hand and the brash, bluesy hard rock of the Faces on the other. Unlike the classics of those bands, however, it doesn't quite elevate itself beyond the aesthetic of its time and the album never quite catches fire; although all of the songs on here are good, if you've got an appreciable 1970s hard rock collection you've probably heard a lot of the tricks on here done better by other artists.

The absolute best and most original song on here is Better By You, Better Than Me, and to be honest the Judas Priest cover version of that number absolutely blows the original out of the water. Doubtless innovative on release, Spooky Two doesn't quite endure the test of time, though if you are feeling nostalgic and want to evoke the feel of the early 1970s it's an effective way to accomplish that.