Under the guiding eye of
late sixties pop guru Guy Stevens a band
called “The Silence” hailing from that
Rock ‘n’ Roll back water Hereford were
signed to the newly formed Island records
in Britain. After a few days rehearsal,
Guy decided that original lead singer
and hardman Stan Tippins was not the man
for the job. He was removed and installed
as road manager/roadie/blinder to be replaced
through a Melody Maker small ad by a certain
Mr. Ian Patterson on the basis of a half
hour audition, where Ian spluttered his
way through a version of Dylan’s “Like
a Rolling Stone” and Sonny Bono’s “Laugh
at Me”. The band themselves were not impressed,
but Guy Stevens thought he could see something,
and probably recognized a kindred spirit,
subsequently enrolled the young man in
the band.
The band, without playing a single gig,
were then put into Morgan Recording Studios
in Willesden High Road North London and
were given a complete makeover.
They were re-named “Mott the Hoople”,
after the Willard Manus novel. Only lead
guitarist Mick Ralphs was allowed to keep
his own name, Ian Patterson was told to
stop straightening his naturally curly
red hair, let it grow long, lose 2 stones
in weight (he was way too pot bellied
to be a pop star), to wear sunglasses
permanently (to supposedly give him that
bit of Rony Orbison mystic, but must of
left him feeling a bit of a gherkin in
the pub at night), and renamed Ian Hunter.
Peter O. Watts was told to drop Peter
and stick with his middle name therefore
becoming Overend Watts. Terry Allen, too,
was told to drop his first name and adopt
his mother’s maiden name becoming Verden
Allen. Unluckiest of all, of course, was
the drummer (if there is going to be somebody
to draw the short straw it’s always going
to be the man with the sticks). Mr. Dale
Griffin esq. became quite simply “Buffin”,
now a well respected music producer. 35
years later he still gets called Buffin
and hates it.
After eleven days of rehearsal and getting
to know each other, Guy took them to a
recording studio and gave them 7 days
to record their debut album – and this
in the days when bands took up to six
months to record an album. This sounded
absurd, but you have to add to this that
the rest of the band had only just met
their new front man and weren’t even sure
if they liked him. Guy Stevens, their
new mentor, was dragging them in a new
direction, a direction they knew was innovative,
but had no idea where it was going. They
had never been in a proper recording studio
before and had only got two songs written,
which Stevens wouldn’t let them put on
the album anyway.
Confused yet? Imagine how these five young
lads felt, who had just become a rock
band called Mott the Hoople. But enthusiasm
they had by the bucket load, and record
they did. In seven days the new album
was down on tape.
Pawed by Mott The Dog
Remastered by Ella Crew
E-mail: review@mott-the-dog.com
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2
