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Mott the Hoople albums:
All the Young Dudes

Sweet Jane (Lou Reed)
Mommas Little Jewel (Ian Hunter/Overend Watts)
All the Young Dudes (David Bowie)
Sucker (Ian Hunter/Mick Ralphs/Overend Watts)
Jerkin' Crocus (Ian Hunter)
One of the Boys (Mick Ralphs/Ian Hunter)
Soft Ground (Verden Allen)
Ready for Love/After Lights (Mick Ralphs)
Sea Divers (Ian Hunter)

CBS 65184 released in UK 8th September 1972

Recorded by Line-up 1

Produced by David Bowie for Mainman
Arranged by Mott the Hoople and David Bowie
Strings on "Sea Diver" arranged Mick Ronson
Recorded at Olympic Studios and Trident Studios
Engineers Ted Sharp with Kieth Harwood and Dave Hentshcel

Sleeve Concept/Art Direction by Mick Rock
Saxes by David Bowie

Half Moon Bay says...

The music... I got this album at the same time as I got 'Mott' and it impressed me greatly at first. There are some great tracks here: 'Jerkin' Crocus', 'Mommas Little Jewel', 'One of the Boys' and 'Ready for Love/After Lights'. But, after a while and having discovered the bands early catalogue, I came to the conclusion that saviour he may be, but Bowie did not improve on the bands sound. It is just a little too sanitised and even contrived in places - the 'mistake' at the beginning of 'Momma's Little Jewel' for example. And he slowed them down by 20mph at least. Its still good, though and Mick Ralphs' guitar really shines though poor Phally seems to have been shoved to one side by the Thin White Dukes saxaphones in some places…

footnote: Basically, I am frustrated by this record because its a case of what could have, or should have, been in terms of the music and performance. And I blame Bowie for that. Interestingly, Griffin reveals in the Campbell Devine Biography that during compilation of the Box Set, he wanted to go back to the master tapes and re-produce the record the way it should have been done. Imagine his horror and desperation on finding that those multi-track masters had been lost.

The artwork... Having been up into the loft to get my old vinyl copies (see the header on the Albums page), the difference in artwork from the originals to their modern day CD counter parts is, in some cases, considerable; the record company seems to have photographed the original sleeves rather than go back to original artwork, (I suppose I should remember that today artwork is created for the 5 inch and not a 12 inch disc). The layout on the cover of this record is different in that the track listing didn't appear on the front on the original (or UK release, anyway), the colour balance is different and on the back cover, different band shots have been used. I personally prefer the original as the shots used then prompted my father to comment that they all needed a wash! But maybe the shots on the CD are from the, or a, US release?

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