SPOOKY TOOTH / PIERRE HENRY – CEREMONY LP – EXC+ A1/B1 UK ORIG ISLAND

Spooky Tooth / Pierre Henry – Ceremony
(Island Records  1969  ILPS9107)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Pressing

Sleeve in Very Good+ condition
– wear to edges/corners (title not legible on spine) and some ringwear/rubbing

Vinyl in Excellent+ condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality apart from some light pops/crackles)

Spooky Tooth were an English rock band. Principally active between 1967 and 1974 the band re-formed several times in later years.

Prior to Spooky Tooth, four of the band’s five founding members had performed in the band Art (formerly known as The V.I.P.s). Following the dissolution of Art, the members’ of that band’s final line-up (guitarist Luther Grosvenor, vocalist Mike Harrison, drummer Mike Kellie, and bassist Greg Ridley) joined forces with American keyboardist/vocalist Gary Wright in October 1967 and formed Spooky Tooth. Wright was introduced to the members of Art by Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records.

The album Spooky Two (1969) was the last album release by the original lineup. It included the song “Better by You, Better than Me”, which was covered by Judas Priest on their release Stained Class (1978).

Ridley joined Humble Pie in 1969 and was replaced by Andy Leigh for the album Ceremony (1969). The experimental nature of Ceremony received mixed reviews and following its release Wright left the band. Harrison, Grosvenor and Kellie remained and recorded the album The Last Puff, with members of Joe Cocker’s Grease Band.

In the autumn of 1970 the band embarked on a European tour that was undertaken with line-up of Harrison, Grosvenor, Kellie, keyboardist John Hawken (ex-Nashville Teens) and bassist Steve Thompson. Harrison and Wright reformed Spooky Tooth in September 1972 with a different line-up. The best known member of these line-ups was guitarist and vocalist Mick Jones. Mike Patto replaced Harrison when they recorded The Mirror (1974). They disbanded in November 1974.

Grosvenor later played with Stealers Wheel and joined Mott the Hoople in the 1970s (replacing Mick Ralphs who left to form Bad Company), adopting the name Ariel Bender. In 2005, he founded The Ariel Bender Band, with which he still occasionally performs.

Kellie later joined The Only Ones in the late 1970s also performing with them in 1980’s. The band reformed in 2007.

Ridley became a member of Humble Pie. He died in 2003.

Wright began to develop an international solo career in the 1970s and had a hit with the radio-friendly “Dream Weaver”.

Harrison played and recorded with The Hamburg Blues Band and appeared on their CD Touch (2002).

Harrison, Grosvenor, Ridley and Kellie reunited at points in 1997 and 1998, which resulted in an album, Cross Purpose, released in 1999.

In 2004, Harrison, Wright and Kellie were re-united as Spooky Tooth for two concerts in Germany, resulting in a DVD Nomad Poets (2007).

In 2006, Harrison released his first solo album in over thirty years, Late Starter.

In February 2008, the latest incarnation of Spooky Tooth, featuring Harrison, Wright and Kellie along with guitarist Steve Farris from Mr. Mister and Shem von Schroeck (bass), played a series of European dates. On 29 May 2009, this same lineup (with drummer Tom Brechtlein replacing Kellie) played at Island Records’ 50th Anniversary at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, before touring Germany.

In 2012, Mike Kellie started work on a solo album.

Mike Kellie died on 18 January 2017 after a short illness, and Mike Harrison died on 25 March 2018.

Pierre Georges Henry (9 December 1927 – 5 July 2017) was a French composer, considered a pioneer in the musique concrète genre of electronic music.

Ceremony is a 1969 album by progressive UK rock band Spooky Tooth in collaboration with French electronic and “found-object” composer Pierre Henry.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Pierre Henry and Gary Wright

1. “Have Mercy” – 7:51
2. “Jubilation” – 8:25
3. “Confession” – 6:53
4. “Prayer” – 10:50
5. “Offering” – 3:26
6. “Hosanna” – 7:33

Personnel

• Pierre Henry – musique concrete, electronics

Spooky Tooth

• Mike Harrison – vocals, keyboards
• Luther Grosvenor – guitars
• Gary Wright – vocals, electronic organ, keyboards
• Andy Leigh – bass
• Mike Kellie – drums, percussion

Production

• Produced by Pierre Henry and Spooky Tooth
• Recorded and engineered by Andy Johns