Widowmaker
is the nickname shared by a hurricane
wind, a jetfighter plane, and a high powered
drill, all of which are renowned for mayhem,
destruction, havoc, and literally blowing
you away. Well, as it happens, it is also
the name of one of the most devastating
Rock 'n' Roll bands to emerge from the
musical cauldron that was around in the
mid-seventies. Comprised of five of the
most inflammable and provocative artists
around at the time.
After
a year as lead guitarist with Mott the
Hoople, Ariel Bender (also known by his
real name of Luther Grovesner, when he
started out on Rock 'n' Roll's long and
winding path with early British Progressive
Rock legend Spooky Tooth. But for the
purposes of this review we will stick
to the Ariel Bender pseudonym by which
he was known at this time) left the Band
at the height of their commercial successes
looking to find his own way rather than
on the tailcoats of an already Big Name
act.
First he found Paul Nicholls, a young
powerful drummer, who had thumped the
tubs in a reformed "Lindisfarne'',
but was looking for something a little
more powerful to bend his wrists to rather
than the Geordies Folk/Rock. Next to be
pulled into the ranks was talented New
Zealander Bob Daisley, who had already
built up a solid reputation in such bands
as "Chicken Shack" and "Broken
Glass" as an excellent Bass player,
a talented songsmith, with a reputation
for enjoying the wild side of the Rock
'n' Roll Lifestyle. After Widowmaker Bob
Daisley went on to leave his mark with
"Rainbow", ''Ozzy Osbourne",
" Uriah Heep", and "Gary
Moore" to name but a few.
Obviously a Singer had to be found to
front this lot. Ariel Bender had always
been a great admirer of the singer from
"Love Affair" (who had had a
massive hit with the fabulous 'EverLastin'
Love'). That man was Steve Ellis, who
was lazing around in London after the
collapse of his own Band "Ellis".
When he was first approached Ellis was
not keen to join this venture as he was
jaded by the whole Rock 'n' Roll Business.
But once they persuaded him to come to
one rehearsal, magic bonds were formed
and the Band was complete. Their debut
album, recorded in 1976, released under
the Band's own name, was a classic collection
of hard rockers, stadium powerballads,
some remarkable singing, with Ariel Bender
living up to his reputation as the Greatest
Rock 'n' Roll Guitarist of his era. Now
we are not talking technical ability here,
there are probably hundreds of better
guitarists, but Ariel Bender brought with
him that priceless commodity: Excitement.
Album opener 'Such a Shame' is very much
in the same mould as 'Black Dog' that
opened up "Led Zeppelin's" fourth
album, allowing the band to put their
collective wears on show. After that comes
the beautiful 'Pin a Rose on me', the
sort of song that Jon Bon Jovi would kill
to write. Next up is rocker 'On the Road',
which live used to be held back as the
final encore, then the track that this
collection is named after, another slower
song but not exactly what you would call
a ballad. The next two songs close side
one and open side two (when this album
was released on vinyl they are rightly
the center piece of both their debut album
and their stage show). 'Ain't telling
you Nothing' starts off as a slow burner
before building to a frantic climax, where
Ariel Bender's guitar takes the song by
the scruff of the neck and rings every
ounce of excitement from it. 'When I met
you' had originally been released on Luther
Grovesner's solo album "Under Open
Skies", but was dusted down and given
the Rock 'n' Rolls by the Band. The album
closes with two more Rockers and two more
ballads including the heart felt 'Leave
the Kids Alone'.
You may now be thinking: "But I
thought this stupid dog said they were
a Five piece". Well, thereby hangs
a tale. After recording the album, whilst
they were rehearsing to take the music
to the streets, Ariel Bender liked moving
and giving the Audience a show so much,
it was impossible for him to hold down
all the guitar parts at the same time.
So Huw Lloyd-Langton, the original space
daze guitarist from
Hawkwind, was drafted in to give 'Widowmaker'
a two pronged lead guitar attack. Huw
Lloyd-Langton stayed with the band until
the bitter end two years later. Steve
Ellis left the band after just a year,
sighting frustration within the music
business. They had signed with Don Arden
Management (Father of Sharon Osbourne),
who had put them on good tours of the
United States and Europe (including the
Who's Stadium tour of Britain). However,
the management was still concentrating
more on Golden Goose stablemates "The
Electric Light Orchestra", who was
probably the biggest band in the world
at the time. Things were not moving quickly
enough for Steve Ellis, so he left. In
John Butler an able replacement was found
and a new album recorded. But with the
advent of Punk Rock, and the fact that
although everybody seems to say that Ariel
Bender is the most lovable man they have
ever met, he was so crazy at times he
was impossible to work with, the band
imploded and was laid to rest.
But now, twenty five years after their
demise, Castle Music have put out this
two CD collection under the title of 'Straight
Faced Fighters'. What you get is: on CD
one the whole of their debut album, and
on CD two a B.B.C. Radio One Live session
recorded a couple of weeks after the release
of the first album at the Paris Studios,
London, introduced by Whisperin' Bob Harris.
That really shows the Band at their best
with the twin lead guitars truly fired
up, then the best of the second album,
which had been titled 'Too Late to Cry',
Very apt.
This collection has Greatness stamped
all the way through it. Catch it on the
rebound.
Pawed by Mott The Dog
Remastered by Ella Crew
E-mail:
review@mott-the-dog.com
