Any "Groundhogs" fans out there?

Hogwash is in my top 20 lp's of all time. Earth Shanty is one of my favorite songs of all time with that heavily reverbed Mellotron, just a stunning masterpiece that blows me away every time I play it. The followup lp (Solid) is almost as good.
I wish that McPhee/Cruickshank/Brooks lineup could have prog'ed on for a few more lp's but it wasn't meant to be.
My essential G'hogs collection would include Thank Christ, Split, Who Will Save The World, Hogwash, Solid, Black Diamond - all of those lp's are superb studio efforts. Crosscut Saw is the weakest of the bunch but is worth it just for the track Boogie Withus.
The first two Hogs lps are more for fans of British Blues. I round out my core collection with the Sad Go Round 45 (different mix) and the Herbal Mixture 'Machines' 45 from 1966 which was a pretty advanced early psychedelic effort.

 

Great band!

 

"Split" was the very first LP that I bought! I was a HUGE fan in the early 70s. Tony McPhee and Rory Gallagher were my idols (with Jimi and Johnny Winter).
I saw them live twice at Manchester Free Trade Hall. All I remember is Tony playing "Groundhog" to close the show, with the full house lights on.
I loved "Thank Christ For The Bomb" also but went off the group after the patchy "Who Will Save The World".

 

yes, if you do a search there's multiple threads about them...

 

How's the sound on the " Thank Christ for The Groundhogs: The Liberty Years 1968-1972?"

Always loved these guys and never realized that it was available on CD. My first intro was "Who Will Save..."

 

Better than the old pirated needle drop copies I used to have and relatively cheap. The second box set of the U.A. Years is cool because there is a lot of live BBC material on it as a bonus and the Groundhogs were one the bands that were better live IMHO.

 

I've always been a bit lukewarm about the first 3 LPs, but IMO "Split" through "Solid" is an incredible run of albums.

 

Thanks! Added to my wish list for both sets.

 

You're welcome. I hope you enjoy them.

 

Love the Groundhogs!

Tony McPhee was a major 70's guitar hero for me.

Nine great studio albums spanning from Scratching The Surface in '68 to Black Diamond in '76.

Must give a shout out for the not often mentioned Razor's Edge from 1985 and Back Against The Wall from 1987.

Both releases contain excellent hard driving rock complemented with some very thoughtful lyrics.

 

Found "Thank Christ" and "Hogwash" original pressings for good price at a record fair today. Sound great first play, it's kind of silly how they are lumped into the blues sections. They were far more progressive than a lot of rock bands from the same time period. They certainly need a re-evaluation from the classic rock crowd, they kick serious ass.

Now I'm on the lookout for "Who Will Save The World?" on LP.

 

Tony McPhee released a solo record in the 1970's "The Two Sides of TS MCPhee". There is some really interesting stuff on it. Check it out if you get a chance.

 

Listening to the track "A Year in the Life" from "Split" on Spotify right now and it has A LOT of sibilance. As I do not own this album and haven't heard it in a physical format, I wonder: Is it supposed to sound like this?

 

OK, I ought to check them out. Where to start? Recommendations? thanks

 

Opinions may differ, but my favorites have been , "Thank Christ for the Bomb", "Split", "Hogwash". If you like blues, you might want the check out "Blues Obituary". It was one of their earlier records.

 

There are deliberate effects/distortion on the vocals (which are doubled/tripled in places), so yes, this track does sound edgy in places.

I certainly agree with Sax-son's advice. Thank Christ... and Split are definitely the high points in The Groundhogs' catalog (ignoring live and BBC titles), and my preference is for Split though both are excellent. If you like electric blues in general, there are certainly things to enjoy in the first two albums (Scratching The Surface and Blues Obituary), and you can hear the band take shape. Blues... is the better album of the two, and sounds better recorded too. However, Martin Birch (Deep Purple) came on board for Thank Christ.../Split/Who Will Save The World? and sound quality improves further.

 

I should have added, if you are interested in the early Groundhogs albums, you should probably consider getting this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003P6BB5E

though the Amazon price is a bit on the high side at present (cheaper at 3rd parties).

This will save you some money over the individual albums, but will not give you the bonus tracks from some of the 2003 remasters, but does, surprisingly, give you a couple of other tracks exclusive to these CDs. You can rip and re-assemble the albums that span two discs!

 

Thank Christ For The Bomb and Who Will Save . . . are my two picks just because they seem to be the most substantive lyrically - they're kind of deep, really. I love Split - that along with the Live at Leeds thing is probably their heaviest - "Cherry Red" is a monster !!! -- Hogwash & Solid are along the same lines (I wish I had these on vinyl - UK only). Blues Obituary is a very accomplished album - in a psychedelic blues vein that I very much enjoy, but not really the thing I like most about this band. The debut is ok -- not really my cuppa.

TCFTB is a masterpiece, IMO, and the album that got me into them (only about a year or so ago) -- heady, nostalgic, anti-war imagery married to heavy, bluesy guitar, a punishing rhythm section and some nice, moody acoustic guitar to boot. WWS is awesome, too -- more soloing and stretching out here, which I like.

 

Live At Leeds is VISCERAL!!!

 

Friends, there is a plethora of live releases- recommendations? [I bought the EMI Live At Leeds '71 which is so good I couldn't breathe for ten minutes after it finished ) ]

 

Here is another box set of their complete United Artist recordings 1972-1976 w/some great live BBC tracks as a bonus. http://www.allmusic.com/album/united-artists-years-1972-1976-mw0002530676 This set included all of their United Artists recordings along with great live BBC recordings.

 

My interest in the `Hogs only runs up to Hogwash, so with that in mind:

Are you sitting down? If you have hair, can you a don a cap? If not, don't blame me if you start yanking your locks out by the handful!

I have FOUR BBC radio/live in concert CDs. Frustratingly, there is overlap between them, so you need them all to get all the unique recordings!! They also overlap the UA `72-`76 boxset which John Fell mentioned above!! (Is your temperature starting to rise? )

Disc 1: http://www.discogs.com/Groundhogs-BBC-Radio-One-Live-In-Concert/release/2941433

Tracks 1 to 6 recorded at BBC Radio One "Live In Concert", 24.2.72

1 Split Part 1 - 10:09
2 Cherry Red - 3:59
3 Split Part 2 - 5:39
4 Groundhog Blues - 8:51
5 Still A Fool - 17:06
6 Ship On The Ocean - 3:58

Tracks 7 to 10 recorded at BBC Radio One "Live In Concert", 23.5.74

7 Free From All Alarm - 6:17
8 Dog Me Bitch - 3:42
9 Light My Light - 6:04
10 Sins Of The Father - 10:20


Disc 2: http://www.discogs.com/Groundhogs-Groundhogs-On-Air-1970-72/release/2941378

Track 1 recorded for In Session, 21/7/70

1 Garden - 3:34

Tracks 2 & 3 recorded for In Session, 29/3/71

2 Eccentric Man - 5:02
3 Split Part 1 - 6:18

Tracks 4 & 5 recorded for In Session 26/7/71

4 Split Part 2 - 4:54
5 Mistreated 4:29

Tracks 6 to 12 recorded for In Concert, 7/12/72, Paris Theatre, London

6 I Love You Miss Ogyny - 7:00
7 You Had A Lesson - 7:36
8 Earth Shanty - 13:20
9 3744 James Road - 5:56
10 Sad Is The Hunter - 4:50
11 Split Part 4 - 4:48
12 Cherry Red - 5:42


Disc 3: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000069HHB

Track 1 recorded 21/7/70

1 Garden

Tracks 2 & 3 recorded 17/2/71

2 Still A Fool
3 Cherry Red

Tracks 4 & 5 recorded 29/3/71

4 Eccentric Man
5 Split Part 1

Tracks 6 & 7 recorded 26/7/71

6 Split Part 2
7 Mistreated


Disc 4: http://www.discogs.com/Groundhogs-BBC-Live-In-Concert/release/3300539

Tracks 1 & 2 recorded 24/2/72 for 'John Peel's Sunday Concert'

1 Cherry Red
2 Split Part 1

Tracks 3 - 7 recorded 7/12/72 at Paris Theatre, London

3 You Had A Lesson
4 3-7-4-4 James Road
5 Sad Is The Hunter
6 Split Part 2
7 Split Part 4

Tracks 8 - 9 recorded 23/5/74 at Playhouse Theatre, London

8 Ship On The Ocean
9 Soldier


As you can see, Disc 3 contains only 2 unique tracks from a 17/2/71 session. So, you can consider it the least essential title!

If you plan to pick up the UA box John recommended (http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00C1Q38FK), you will get:

BBC In Concert (7/12/1972) Part 1
1.9 Split Part 1
1.10 I Love Miss Ogyny
1.11 You Had A Lesson
1.12 Earth Shanty
1.13 3744 James Road

BBC In Concert (7/12/1972) Continued
2.1 Sad Is The Hunter
2.2 Split Part 2
2.3 Split Part 4
2.4 Cherry Red


BBC In Concert (23/5/1974)
2.5 Ship On The Ocean
2.6 I Love Miss Ogyny
2.7 Split Part 1
2.8 Soldier
2.9 Split Part 2


If you have the remastered Thank Christ... you will already have:

10 Garden (BBC Radio 1 Session 21/7/70)
11 Eccentric Man (BBC Radio 1 Session 29/3/71)
12 Soldier (BBC In Concert 23/5/74)


and if you have the remastered Split, you will already have:

9 Split - Part 1 9:46 - (24/2/72)
10 Split - Part 2 6:17 - (7/12/72)
11 Split - Part 4 4:31- (7/12/72)
12 Cherry Red 4:10 - (24/2/72)


So, as you can see, the same tracks get re-used over and over.

The live stuff on the box is NOT by the legendary McPhee/Pustelnik/Cruickshank line-up, Clive Brooks had replaced Pustelnik by that time. So, if that is important to you, you will want the `70, `71 and Feb. `72 material.

I think Disc 1 is pretty essential, but, sadly, it is OOP. The `72 stuff is scorching, and the `74 stuff is not available on any of the other releases! Disc 2 is also very good and is on Amazon UK for 10 quid:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0000084BP

Obviously, it has a lot of overlap with the box (which is about 16 quid), but the box does not have the `70 and `71 material. The other two are only essential if (a) you are a completist, or (b) do not get the box.

Clear enough??????

No idea what the later live recordings are like.


Found this on YouTube (it's Disc 1):

 

Nice job taking the time to figure all of that out!

It is interesting that they did not include the earlier BBC tracks on the box set of their earlier Liberty recordings.

 

Fortunately, the information is available online, so I could cut and paste. Of course, I did not have all this data to hand each time I bought one of these discs in a store. Then I'd get home to find out I already had some of the tracks!!

Indeed, I am not sure what the method in their madness is. Much of the material is from Split, but (a) it is not in the box with Split, and (b) they are not recordings with Pustelnik.

As the above shows, there is clearly enough material to qualify for a nice, comprehensive BBC box. I doubt we will ever see it, though, so we are forced to buy it all piecemeal.

 

I did the same thing. I have the other BBC releases you mentioned as well. I guess that is why they have cdrs.