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Hotlegs Griffin House David Lee Howard John Howard |
Steve Howe Howell & Atkins Eddie Howell Sivert Høyem |
Ray Wylie Hubbard Bob Hudson Hudson Brothers Hudson Ford |
Glenn Hughes Alan Hull Human |
Hostsonaten (Italy) see: |
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Thinks: School Stinks (1971, 43.07) ***½/½Neanderthal ManHow Many Times Desperate Dan Take Me Back Um Wah, Um Woh Suite F.A. Fly Away Run Baby Run All God's Children |
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Hotlegs were a one-off project based in Manchester, consisting of Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, who, after adding Graham Gouldman to their ranks, went on to become 10cc. They're chiefly remembered for their no. 2 UK hit, Neanderthal Man, a bizarre effort based around, er, a rather Neanderthal drum pattern and massed acoustics, over which they chanted "I'm a Neanderthal man, you're a Neanderthal girl...(etc.)". You can actually envisage this as a 10cc single; it has the same kind of dry wit and inventiveness they used to such good effect later on.
The trio actually dragged the concept out far enough to record an album, Thinks: School Stinks (a variation on its tracklisting was also released as Song), though, in the best 10cc tradition, it's a little too clever for its own good, while the best track is the single. The rest of the material sits somewhere between the Neantherthal Man silliness of Um Wah, Um Woh and the twelve-minute Suite F.A. (ho ho); good, but not that good. Someone plays a brief Mellotron flute part on Fly Away and it sounds like a couple of string chords on Neanderthal Man itself, though it's rather hard to say, to be honest.
See: 10cc
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Flying Upside Down (2007, 52.04) ***/½ |
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| Better Than Love I Remember (it's Happening Again) Let Me in One Thing The Guy That Says Goodbye to You is Out of His Mind Live to Be Free Lonely One Heart of Stone |
Hanging on (Tom's Song) Flying Upside Down When the Time is Right Good for You Waiting for the Rain to Come |
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Griffin House (who sounds like a band, but isn't) shifted his attention from sport to music in his late teens, self-releasing several albums before being picked up (as they say) by Canada's Nettwerk label. 2007's rather overproduced Flying Upside Down is his third release for them and fifth overall, a perfectly acceptable, folk- and country-influenced singer-songwriter effort that flies a little too close to the mainstream in places for those whose taste sits nearer the 'authentic' end of the spectrum. Better tracks include I Remember (It's Happening Again), chiefly for its lyrics, the Wurlitzer-driven One Thing and the title track, but it's all a little anodyne, somehow.
Despite the presence on the album of two members of Tom Petty's band, including major Mellotron/Chamberlin user Benmont Tench, Jeff Trott actually plays Chamberlin here, presumably supplying the strings on the title track, although the sustained string part on Hanging On (Tom's Song) sounds generic. Flying Upside Down will appeal to a certain audience dynamic, specifically one that values lyrical content over musical, although House's melodies are memorable enough, if somewhat bland. Next to no obvious tape-replay work, however, so don't bother unless you have a yen for mainstream singer-songwriter stuff.
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Marie Antoinette (1980, 35.37) **½/TMarie AntoinetteSpino Ramona Who Brave the Storm Full Circle Blues Albatross |
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According to the bio on his website, San Franciscan Dave Lee Howard has been making a living from music and touring worldwide since the '60s, with a particular affinity for Germany, recording a clutch of new age albums along the way. Since he's neglected to include a full discography on the site, there's no way of knowing whether or not 1980's Marie Antoinette was his vinyl debut, although it gets a self-deprecating mention. It's one of those rather 'out-of-time' records, sounding more like a mid-'70s release in many ways, a soft rock/singer-songwriter album of no particular originality, typified by the rather anodyne title track and closer Albatross. Best tracks? Probably guitar instrumental Spino and Full Circle Blues, a fairly ordinary take on the style, but one that seems to work in this context, while Howard's 12-string playing stands out throughout.
One David Townsend plays keys, including credited Mellotron, with a pseudo-orchestral string part on Who, although it's hardly a feature of the track. A certain Doug Rayburn (of Pavlov's Dog fame) is listed in the 'thanks' section, not least for his engineering work, so it seems more than likely that it's his M400 we're hearing. Saying that, a piece of evidence to the contrary is that the album was recorded in West Seattle (where Howard was living at the time), so it may well be a local studio or hire machine. This can still be picked up for a dollar or two, if you know where to look, but I'm afraid I can't honestly recommend it for anything much, Mellotron use included.
See: Pavlov's Dog
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Kid in a Big World (1975, 33.46) ***/T |
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| Goodbye Suzie Family Man The Flame Maybe Someday in Miami Gone Away Missing Key Spellbound Guess Who's Coming to Dinner |
Deadly Nightshade Kid in a Big World |
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Lancashire-born John Howard released his debut, 1975's Kid in a Big World, in his early twenties, subsequently effectively disappearing from the scene for three decades, before releasing a slew of albums in recent years. It's an MOR-end-of-'70s-pop-rock album, highly accomplished, both of its time yet not, harking back to a Cowardesque, pre-war writing style in many ways, while utilising contemporary production tricks. Best track? Possibly the Rhodes-and-synth-driven Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, although everything here's more than competent, if not entirely to my personal taste.
Howard plays a lush, if somewhat background string part on Gone Away and a flute line on Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, from Abbey Road's MkII, making this a relatively late appearance for the machine, although the strings and harmony flutes on the closing title track are real. RPM have reissued this with a raft of bonus tracks, but no more Mellotron.
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Beginnings (1975, 39.53) ***/TDoors of SleepAustralia The Nature of the Sea Lost Symphony Beginnings Will o'the Wisp Ram Pleasure Stole the Night Break Away From it All |
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Steve Howe's first solo album away from Yes was his contribution to the band's 'mass solo project' of 1975, all of which (with the possible exclusion of Alan White's Ramshackled) are worth hearing. For the record, the others are Jon Anderson's uniquely wonderful Olias of Sunhillow (****½), Chris Squire's Fish Out of Water (****) and Patrick Moraz' i (a.k.a. The Story of i). Saying that, Beginnings isn't the strongest set ever, its the guitar work (unsurprisingly) being the best thing about it. The songs are OK, but nowhere near Howe's contributions to his alma mater, while someone should've told him not to sing.
Moraz plays a little Mellotron on Will O'The Wisp among his other credits on the album, but nothing to get steamed up about, really; a few seconds of Mellotron strings on an otherwise inconsequential song. The title track and Ram are far better pieces, but I don't feel I can give the album more than three stars overall, I'm afraid.
See: Yes | Patrick Moraz
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Howell & Atkins (1979, 38.06) *½/TT½ |
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| Complaining Race Pictures 1 and 2 Paint the Night Oh My Lady South Carolina Catch on We've Been Through Love From Day to Day |
Don't Blame Me Cry an Empty Tear |
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Howell & Atkins? Who? Vocalist/keyboard player Kurt Howell and guitarist Dave Atkins, that's who. What, another successful soft-soft-rock duo like Hall & Oates, perhaps, or maybe Steely Dan's Becker and Fagen? Well, have YOU heard of 'em? Point proven, methinks. 1979's Howell & Atkins (hopefully their only release) is pretty rank, frankly, possibly best described by the term the aforementioned Becker and Fagen used for their first single: 'stinko'. Its slushy balladry and not-very-soulful r'n'b-lite could actually have been a hit with suitable promotion; yes, it's that bad. Is there a best track? OK, a least worst? Catch On ups the rock quotient slightly, even featuring a groovy synth solo, so it'll have to be that.
Although John Robertson is credited with 'Mellotron string arrangements', it seems likely that Howell actually plays the thing, with pseudo-orchestral strings all over Pictures 1 And 2, Paint The Night, We've Been Through Love, Don't Blame Me and Cry An Empty Tear, plus cellos on the last-named. Given the current propensity for reclaiming '70s rubbish as 'guilty pleasures', it's almost surprising that this guff hasn't been rediscovered; I can only assume that its deserved obscurity allows it to fly unhindered under the hipster radar, for which we should all be truly thankful. Absolute tosh, albeit tosh with passable levels of Mellotron.
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The Eddie Howell Gramophone Record (1975, 36.54) **/T |
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| Happy Affair First Day in Exile Miss Amerika If I Knew Young Lady These Walls Chicago Kid Can't Get Over You |
Waiting in the Wings Little Crocodile You'll Never Know Enough For Me Don't Say You Love Me |
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Eddie Howell was a sensitive kind of chap who also, clearly, badly wanted to be American. I suspect he equally badly wanted to sing in Queen. His only album, 1975's The Eddie Howell Gramophone Record, is at the limpest, most insipid end of singer/songwriter pop/rock, typified by opener Happy Affair and If I Knew and at its least rubbish on Miss Amerika.
For some reason, it took both Howell and Brand X's Robin Lumley to play the distant Mellotron choirs on Can't Get Over You, partially backing real voices. Howell is best-known (if at all) these days for a 1976 single, Man From Manhattan, easily the best thing with which he's been involved, featuring a pair of unknowns called Freddie Mercury and Brian May, the latter adding a distinctive guitar solo that couldn't be anyone else.
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Exiles [as Sivert Høyem & the Volunteers] (2006, 51.45) ***/T |
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| Love, Leave Me Alone January 3rd Don't Pass Me By Exiles Arcadians Into the Sea Just a Little Closer Now Horseshoes |
Black Cross I've Been Meaning to Sing You the Song |
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Moon Landing (2009, 52.50) ***½/T |
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| Belorado The Light That Falls Among the Trees Moon Landing What You Doin' With Him? Going for Gold Lost at Sea Shadows/High Meseta Empty House |
High Society Arcadian Wives |
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Sivert Høyem (or Höyem) was vocalist with Madrugada, who split after guitarist Robert Burås died in 2007, although his one album as Sivert Høyem & the Volunteers appeared the previous year. The Dylanesque Exiles is a decent enough record, albeit one in thrall to its chief influence, the original Saint Bob, heavily Zimlike opener Love, Leave Me Alone setting the tone for the rest of the record. Mikael Lindqvist plays the Mellotron strings solo in the middle of January 3rd, sounding nice'n'real at the end of the track, plus distant strings on Black Cross, rather less effectively.
2009's Moon Landing is his third solo album and the first since Madrugada's split; it improves upon that band's sound, in my opinion, largely consisting of major-key psychedelic epics with subtle nods towards Sigur Rós' elegiac mini-symphonies. Other influences become apparent: Shadows/High Meseta has more than a hint of Hawkwind about it (squiggly synths and all), while Neil Young remains a touchstone from Madrugada days, all of which adds up to the kind of album that should be able to reach out to indie and psych fans alike, maybe even some of the less dyed-in-the-wool prog types. Cato Salsa plays Mellotron, with background choirs and upfront strings on Lost At Sea; any other possible parts show themselves up as being something else, sooner or later.
See: Samples etc. | Madrugada
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Ray Wylie Hubbard & the Cowboy Twinkies (1975, 38.35) ***/½ |
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| West Texas Country Western Dance Band Portales $60 Ford Bordertown Girl The Lovin' of the Game Compromise Blackeyed Peas Jazzbo Dancer |
He's the One (Who Made Me #2) Belly of Texas |
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Texan country/blues artist Ray Wylie Hubbard has had a rather sporadic career, possibly due to his refusal to stick to a single genre. 1975's Ray Wylie Hubbard & the Cowboy Twinkies was his second album, of only three released across that decade, largely consisting of authentic country, of the kind far removed from Nashville schmaltz. Exceptions to the rule (and probable best tracks) include the honky-tonk of $60 Ford, the funky Blackeyed Peas and excellent blues-rocking closer Belly Of Texas.
Drummer Jim Herbst also plays Mellotron, adding background strings to opener West Texas Country Western Dance Band and only slightly more upfront ones to Portales, so while this is a decent album of its type, you really aren't going to track it down for its Mellotron content. Hubbard is still playing and recording, a recent album superbly titled A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment (Hint: There is No C). A maverick, in the best possible way.
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Newcastle Song (1974, 49.44) ***/TT½ |
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| J.L. Budgie Livin' it Up on the Dole R Certificate Song Clarissa Motor Car Song Christened My Dog Librarian Lady Teenage Cremation |
Who's Your Friend? I Never Was Born Like Mel The Girls in Our Town The Newcastle Song No More Songs |
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Bob Hudson was one of Australia's top comedians of the '70s, vaguely comparable to Billy Connolly or Jasper Carrott in the UK, combining music and humour in roughly equal quantities. His live recording of The Newcastle Song, his paean to the perils of growing up in that rather singular industrial city, topped the Aussie charts for four weeks in 1975, triggering demand for a long-player, sensibly also titled Newcastle Song. As you might expect, although some of Hudson's humour still works today (notably the title track), much of it isn't far off mother-in-law jokes for (non-)topicality, but then, I rather doubt whether he was keeping one eye on the future.
None other than Chris Neal, of the previous year's Winds of Isis non-fame, plays guitar and keys, including Mellotron, with strings and choirs on Motor Car Song, choir on Shangri-Las spoof Teenage Cremation (almost as tasteful as it sounds), strings and flutes on The Girls In Our Town and strings on the nearest the album gets to a serious song, closer No More Songs, along with Neal's massed synths. This isn't on CD, but is probably easy enough to find in the outback, so if you're partial to a bit of '70s Aussie humour (you'd almost have to be Australian yourself), you might wish to give this a go, particularly with its surprisingly high Mellotron content.
See: Chris Neal
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Totally Out of Control (1974, 38.39) **½/TT |
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| Long Long Day Be a Man Truth of the Matter Killer on the Road Dolly Day Lover, Come Back to Me Straight Up and Tall If You Really Need Me |
Sunday Driver Isn't it Lovely La La Layna Medley: These Things We Do/Home/Out of the Rainbow/Find Me a Woman |
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The Hudson Brothers, Bill, Brett and Mark (actual brothers, real name Salerno), formed their first band in the late '60s, working their way through several similar names before settling on the above in 1974, in time for their second album, Totally Out of Control. By this point, they'd signed to Elton John's Rocket label, being helped out on the album by Bernie Taupin and members of Elt's band, which sort of figures, given their style. It's a surprisingly rocky effort in places, although much of it slots into that 'mid'70s pop/rock' thing, as you'd expect. Better tracks include opener Long Long Day and Killer On The Road, but it's all far from essential. Bill and Mark both play Mellotron, with strings on Be A Man, flutes and strings on Dolly Day and strings on parts of the closing Medley.
The Hudson Brothers were a pretty mainstream bunch generally; they hosted two TV series, later working in TV and film together and separately, while Bill was married to Goldie Hawn for a while, fathering the very successful Kate. Mark went on to work with Aerosmith and Ringo Starr, amongst others, playing supposed Mellotron on three of the latter's albums and one with Chastity Bono's Ceremony.
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Free Spirit (1974, 39.39) ***/TT½Take a Little WordFree Spirit Mother Mild I Don't Want to Be a Star Silent Star Such a Day How Many Times Floating in the Wind |
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Drummer Richard 'Hud' Hudson and bassist John Ford left The Strawbs in 1973, after gifting them the execrable Part Of The Union, striking out on their own, although both (together and separately) have been on/off members of the Strawberry Hill Boys in more recent years. Free Spirit was their second album of four, full of the kind of mainstream rock that went out of fashion later that decade, never really returning. It's not a bad album per se, just one of considerable averageness, if there can be such a thing, with probably only the mildly proggy Silent Star's stately rising string lines and the Strawbs-ish Such A Day being really worthy of note.
Chris Parren plays Mellotron on several tracks, with a so-so string part on opener Take A Little Word and a brief, if better one on the title track, although the strings and flute on Mother Mild are real. More o' dem strings on I Don't Want To Be A Star and Silent Star, complete with pitchbends of a level of smoothness of which my own machine, a few months old when this album was released, would struggle rather badly these days. I have to say, Parren's keyboard work overall stands out; his multiple monosynth parts on otherwise unremarkable closer Floating In The Wind are excellent and he provides some of the album's best moments. Incidentally, the duo reinvented themselves in the noo wave era as The Monks, releasing the horrible Nice Legs, Shame About The Face. "Shame abaht the boat race"? Thanks, chaps.
See: The Strawbs | Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera
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The Way it is (1999, 55.38) ***/T |
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| The Way it is You Kill Me Neverafter Rain on Me Curse Freedom The Truth Will Set Me Free Stoned in the Temple |
Too Far Gone Second Son Take You Down Don't Look Away |
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As I'm sure you all know, Glenn Hughes has a long and honourable history: Trapeze, Deep Purple, plus stints with Gary Moore, Black Sabbath etc. etc. I'm not entirely sure he has the right to label himself 'The Voice of Rock', though, especially as he's chiefly known for his bassist/vocalist role in Purple, but that's how he seems to be billed these days, like it or not. 1999's The Way it is is certainly rocks, if only in places, too many tracks sitting nearer the 'funk' camp (don't forget that Hughes was one of the proponents of the style in Purple). As a result, for every rockin' track, there's one that doesn't quite cut it; variety, I expect it's called, but to my ears it fatally weakens the album and makes for an inconsistent listen.
Marc Bonilla is credited with Mellotron on Curse on Hughes' own site, so, although there's something somewhat Mellotronesque on the opening title track, I think we have to assume it's not. Curse opens with a nice little string part, plenty more strings and flutes further in, but that's your lot. This is only really worth it if you're a big fans of Hughes, I suspect; he's in great voice throughout, although he doesn't seem to know when to hold back. Subtlety, my dear sir, subtlety.
See: Hughes Turner Project | Deep Purple | Marc Bonilla
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Squire (1975, 38.21) ***/T½ |
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| Squire Dan the Plan Picture a Little Girl Nuthin' Shakin' One More Bottle of Wine Golden Oldies I'm Sorry Squire Waiting |
Bad Side of Town Mr. Inbetween The End |
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Alan Hull was, of course, linchpin of Geordie superstars Lindisfarne, who really should be remembered for more than the tedious Fog On The Tyne. Squire was his second solo album, after 1973's Pipedream, covering a variety of styles, the good-time boogie of Nuthin' Shakin' and the jaunty Mr. Inbetween contrasting sharply with the gentle Picture A Little Girl and I'm Sorry Squire, the rest of the album covering most bases in between. The end result is a little uncohesive - think: the folk end of pub rock - but we'd complain if it all sounded the same, wouldn't we? In fact, it mirrors Lindisfarne's dichotomy, juxtaposing a song as beautiful as Lady Eleanor and the previously-mentioned Geordie anthem, so its variety and on/off lack of taste shouldn't come as much of a surprise.
Mellotron on two tracks: string swells and a flute solo in opener Squire (from Hull) and slightly Strawberry Fields-esque flutes and (excuse the cliché) ethereal choirs in the instrumental I'm Sorry Squire (from Kenny Craddock). In actuality, there aren't many more places on the album where it would've fitted, while both tracks feature a decent amount of the Great White Beast, so no complaints here. Squire has several nice tracks, particularly the Mellotron ones, but doesn't really hold up that well overall. Sadly, Alan Hull died in 1995 at the age of fifty, almost certainly a victim of the folk-rock lifestyle; think: 'rock'n'roll lifestyle, but more so. With beards'. RIP.
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Out of the Dust (1998, 41.05) **½/T |
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| Read Your Mind I.O.U. Make Your Light to See I Can't Live Hand Me Down In the Name Lemonade Fat Man's Delicacy |
Disguise Feel |
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By three or four tracks into Human's Out of the Dust, I knew they were Christians. I wasn't even listening to the lyrics; they just have that irritating 'Christian-ness' about their vocal melodies, that and the insipid content, given that they're supposed to be a bloody rock band. The best tracks sound like King's X-lite, the worst like any other shitty Christian 'rock' band you can think of. None of it's any good, anyway and for what it's worth, I'd have said the same if I'd had no idea of their religious persuasions, before you start pointing your accusatory god-bothering fingers at me.
Blair Masters plays Mellotron, with a nicely full-on string part (and woozy cellos?) on In The Name, making it easily the best thing about this dull record, although I must commend the second half of Fat Man's Delicacy, the one time on the album where the band actually rock out properly. So; one reasonable Mellotron track on a flaccid, CCM/rock album. No thanks.
