Mott
The Gooseberry Sessions & Rarities

Mott: The Goosberry Demos
All lead vocals and guitars: Overend Watts
With Morgan Fisher and Dale Griffin

Love Now (Watts)
Love Me Always (Watts)
Hey! There Annie (Collision Course) (Watts)
The Bright Days (Watts)
!GYP! (instrumental) (Watts)
Shout it All Out (Watts)
Leave my Woman Alone (Ray Charles) Performed by the Overly Brothers — Ove and Rend Overly

Mott: The Goosberry Auditions
With Overend Watts, Morgan Fisher, Dale Griffin plus...

I'll Tell You Somthing (Fisher/Watts) Brian Parrish vocal
Did I Dream Last Night? (Watts) Ray Major guitar
She Does It (Watts) Nigel Benjamin vocal
Shout It All Out (Watts) Nigel Benjamin vocal
!GYP! (instrumental) (Watts)
I'll Tell You Somthing (Fisher/Watts) Nigel Benjamin vocal

The Paper Bags : Kristmas Kollection (inst) - 1976
With Morgan, Overend, Ray and Dale
Arranged by Morgan Fisher
Recorded/Mixed by Mick Glossop

Krazy Kristmas Krackers (Fisher)
Pass The Port, Gramps (Fisher)
The Million Ton Snowflake (Fisher)
Golders Green (Stomp) (Fisher) Vocal: Morgan
The Spook Meets The Kook (Fisher)

The Paper Bags : At Pipe - The Solo Years
Featuring Morgan Fisher

Massacre (Fisher)
Let's Rat (Fisher)
'ave a Maria (Fisher)
Broadstairs Beach (Fisher)
Holmes On The Range (Fisher)

SJPCD054 Available in all good record stores, or by mail order from Angel Air Records

Mastered by Nick Watson at SRT, St. Ives, Cambridge, UK May 2000.

Half Moon Bay says... Well, I have had and enjoyed this CD for some time now. I suppose it really is one just for the hard core as it is demos for new material and auditions for band members with The Paper Bags stuff added for good measure.

However, for those merry extras alone this is well worth it if you really don't know what to do with that spare £12.00 rattling around in your piggy bank. And I would go further and suggest that the Kristmas Kollection alone would be worth it. All very Fisher-esque, don't you know.

But what about the rest?

Well, as I have said elsewhere, I am inclined to be quite moved by stuff done by the post-MTH outfits, to boot, Mott and British Lions. And, as such, this is a real gem for me.

It really is good to hear the songs in demo form performed by Morgan, Pete and Dale alone. And then there are the auditions... again, all very interesting and quite entertaining. For example, just what does '!GYP!' remind us of?

I enjoy it and play it as a record in its own right, not just to compare all the different versions of 'I'll Tell You Something'. Well, actually, I never compare all the different versions of that or any other song these days. But, if you want to, you go ahead. Don't let me put you off and if you are going to do that then you will need this CD.

So, Mott, Watts, Buff, Morgan, Majors, Lions fans will find this a good buy as Buff continues to tell his story of the event, lives and times of our heroes. But if you are new to this combo then you would be better starting with 'Drive On'.

Review Date: May 2001

Drive On | Shouting and Pointing | Live - Over Here and Over There 75/76 | Gooseberry Sessions