Luther Grosvenor talks about Spooky Tooth, Mott The Hoople, Widowmaker and his solo career
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- čas přidán 14. 06. 2023
- Luther Grosvenor ( AKA Ariel Bender) talks about Art, Spooky Tooth, Mott The Hoople, Widowmaker and his solo career with Phil Aston - The Now Spinning Magazine Podcast.
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Luther inspired me to play guitar ,I first met Luther over 50 years ago ,a great player and great person.
Spooky Two remains one of the best albums from 1969, from amongst some very heavy competition.
The Wonderful
Amazing
Fantastic
Legendary
Spectacular
Ariel Bender 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻
When I first heard Spooky "Two"---it was a mix of everything I liked: A little Vanilla Fudge, a little Traffic, a hint of Three Dog Night and a dash of James Gang. "Waiting for the Wind" was one of the all-time great album openers. I also love Luther's guitar tone on that particular track!
Agreed, but I guess you could make the point that had Spooky Tooth made it big time, Luther never would have joined Mott the Hoople, Gary Wright never would have had a solo career, and Foreigner probably never would have happened.
@@rayjr62 I see what you're saying---it was a "launching pad" band--like the Yardbirds and the James Gang. But I love those "launching pad" units. They made good music in their own right!
I've been on a quest for the last twenty years to discover the artist I missed in the seventies - and here he is, hiding in plain sight.
I have known Luther Grosvenor from those Island samplers and then Mott the Hoople, where he had as awkward a relationship with the band as did Mick Ronson.
Decades later, I followed the Mott '74 tour where I thought he really added huge energy, while continuing to invade Ian Hunter's center-stage space, the scamp.
But this interview has been a revelation. While you two talked, I listened to Luther's work and I love it. Amazing music, and I can understand his equal frustrations with Mott, because he had a lot of other things going on, as did Mick Ralphs.
So, it's fascinating how you have Ian Hunter as a very specific singer songwriter (whom I adore) working with two much more bluesy guitarists who can't really find their own space alongside him.
Anyway, quest over - I now have several Luther Grosvenor and Spooky Tooth albums to explore as my lost 1970s listening experience. Hours of pure joy.
Thank you!
And such a lovely guy.
Hi Tim, glad you enjoyed the interview - Phil :)
awsume interview luther me and you missed alot we will get rewarded in heaven
ST:You broke My Heart...So's I broke your Jaw!!🙌🙌
I first discoverd luther because i got heavily into collecting vinyl records in my teens during the 1990's.
Music from the 1960's and any 70's bands were/are my thing, so as i got towards mott the hoople with their 3rd album i was on a trip to hoople heaven with wanting anything by the band.
Of course as soon as i hit the 1974 album i discovered the name ariel bender.
In around 2010 i somehow ended up with the spooky two album on an 8 track cartridge which came new from the states.
I was totally taken and so bought it on vinyl.
I thought id heard most psychedelic tracks up until i heard the its all about debut album.
Spooky tooth, its all about is coming to me with my grave.
Whenever i think of luther, of course i can't help think of the tragic loss of lynsey de paul, but of her great sense of humour!
Just thought i'd add that some not too many distant years ago i was watching the bbc television comedy music quiz show never mind the buzzcocks, and long & behold for our panelist only, guess mott the hoople lead guitarist. The video was roll away the stone, sha la' la' la' push push thunderthigh girls.
I recall the host at the time mark lamar saying, Man'' i love mott the hoople....
Me standing up shouting out, almost as F###... much as me matey!
Under open skies🤩😍
Thank you Phil to fantastic opportunity to hear great Mr. Grosvenor. From the first hands! Incredible!!!
Thank you 🙏
Phil, you've outdone yourself again. You've done some great interviews but the Luther interview means a lot to me. I've followed Luther's career in real time starting with Spooky Tooth (yep, I'm 73). I don't think Luther truly understands what Spooky II meant to us in the States. The first time I heard his guitar on Evil Woman was on the radio. I already had the Art album and the first Tooth album, but I ran out and bought II. His playing is simply surreal. I have all of Luther's work and yes, Under Open Skies is a favorite (and my copy is a British Island copy). I can safely speak on behalf of all my music friends that the original lineup of Tooth is cherished. My biggest regret is not seeing the original band. By the time I saw them it was the lineup on The Mirror album with Mike Patto (who I also think is great). I really would have lik ed to see Luther and Mike Harrison with Kellie, Greg Ridley and Gary. Great interview and great to hear Luther is healthy and releasing new music.
Hi John, thank you so much for listening and for your very positive feedback! Phil
Fantastic listening to Luther talk about his musical life so thanks for getting him on the phone! Back to Open Skies and Widowmaker albums and him on Mott's Live. He's brilliant on that one!
Thank you 🙏
Great interview Phil! Most enjoyable. I first discovered Luther Grosvenor's guitar work after hearing "Evil Woman" from the Spooky Too album on a radio broadcast. Fantastic solo - great technique and exciting sound. I bought that album right away on the strength of that song and guitar solo. From there I moved on to other Spooky Tooth, I believe Last Puff, and then to Art's Supernatural Fairy Tales, to the Widowmaker albums; and then on to Mott the Hoople's The Hoople and Live albums with "Ariel Bender" on guitar. I couldn't get enough of Luther's great playing, so tracked down his solo albums too: Under Open Skies and Floodgates - both of those have great songs and great guitar work. There's still a lot of Luther's solo material I haven't heard yet and am working at hunting down physical copies of those as well. Great to hear Luther's recollections and stories.....a wealth of rock and roll history! Well done!
Hi Gary, how fantastic to hear you are such a big fan. You have made me want to listen to Spooky Two again! - Phil
Thank you Phil for interviewing Luther! I always been a huge Mott the Hoople fan..Great history lesson
Thank you for listening - Phil
Was he bandmates with Mick Ralphs.
Another great interview, Phil. Take Care!
Thank you 🙏
I just cannot understand some rock journalists who view the early 1970s as a musical wasteland. It was a time bristling with innovative bands like Mott the Hoople, Black Sabbath and The New York Dolls. They laid the groundwork for all the NWOBHM/Hard Rock/ Punk that exploded like a superrnova post 1976! That decade is just as creative as the 1960s.
Totally agree, it is my favourite decade as well - Phil
Yeah most journalists don't know anything.
Don‘t forget the
WIDOWMAKER
Albums
Hi Phil
What a great interview. Well done for letting him talk, and asking the right questions at the right time. I'd love it if you got in touch with Joey Molland and did a similar career review over the phone or as a split screen chat.
Thank you 🙏
Hi Phil.
Like Spooky Two, Under Open Skies is yet another album which is due for a vinyl reissue (The few G's and VG's out there won't cut it).
I cannot help but wonder what record companies are thinking when they choose what to put on the market. When going through the selection at loads of record stores (both physical and online) you see piles of weird things no one want's, while completely obvious things are missing. When following up on the weird and crappy things, you'll see time and time again that they won't get sold - It's simply one misjudgment after another, which must cost both the record companies and the stores a fortune. The climbing prices aren't really a surprise, but it bites them in the butt, due to the logical lower sales it leads to (and so does the bad pressings of good stuff due to pushing/rushing loads of unsaleable junk through).
One way to solve the problem could be that record companies made a shared website where people could tell what they want, that could give the companies holding the copyrights an overview of what to release, when to release it, and how many copies to make (ordering should of course be binding to avoid all sorts of scam). That way there wouldn't be all the hopeless releases that put expenses through the roof, and people could actually get what they want. Better quality and prices would probably follow as well. Just a thought of course.
Awesome interview with an amazing dude. Can't thank you enough for making this happen, and available to the world.
Stay cool Mate.
All the best from Denmark.
Fantastic comment with lots of insight as usual, thank you very much - Phil
Hi Phil. What the hell does "he was bending all these ariels" mean???? Lol.... This isn't clear to us Americans... Thanks.
After a bad gig in Germany Mick Ralph’s the original Mott the Hoople guitarist walk down a street bending car Ariel’s in his frustration. The singer Lindsay De Paul who was with them said to Ian Hunter what a complete Ariel Bender! Ian liked the name so much he decided that Luther Grosvenor should take on the name when he replaced Mick when he went off to join Bad Company. Phil
@@NowSpinningMagazine Oh I see, so he was bending ANTENNAS on cars! In the USA we don't refer to them as ariels, we refer to them as car antennas. That's why I was confused. Thanks!
aerials?
EXACTLY! When I first watched this I was like "wtf are aerials??" Then Phil was kind enough to explain it. Aerials are car antennas.... The OLD school ones that protruded upward.@@jorgeperez9842
🙃 "Promo SM"