The utter failure of Gary Wright's solo career precipitated the formation of Spooky Tooth Mk. 2, which, as it turned out, people cared for even less than Spooky Tooth Mk. 1, if you go by sheer record sales (or lack thereof). This version of the group released three albums in the space of a year, with three moderately different lineups, and then exited with a whimper. And yet, I find that these three albums are among the most intriguing the group released, and in some cases, more so than anything the classic lineup put out. First, matching Wright and Harrison together in the same band never failed to bring Wright's material some much needed life which Gary couldn't provide on his own. Second, and maybe more important, there was a method to the Spooky Tooth chaotic madness - was it that same predilection for adventure, non-commercialism, and overall craziness, that provided an extra edge to their music? Whatever the case, for this album, the lineup was essentially Wright, a couple of his cronies from "Wonderwheel" (Bryson Graham and future Foreigner leader Mick Jones - who assisted Wright immensely during his two solo albums), Chris Stewart, and of course, good ol' Mike Harrison. A major chunk of the original lineup would never return to the fold - Ridley was far gone in Humble Pie's mess (where they actually had money to squander), Grosvenor would hit the big time with Mott the Hoople - and even normal stalwart Mike Kellie would wait an album before returning to his customary seat behind the drum kit. So, Spooky Tooth Mk. 2, Version 1 started off things appropriately enough, by giving their new album a title which would scare any normal warm-blooded woman into buying an Alice Cooper album, even though the boys in the band must have thought it was funny, or something. Or maybe they had nothing to do with it, and it was the record company's idea. The aural contents within are another story, though. They basically take Wright's material from his two solo albums and put a ton more oomph behind it. Like, a big thick rhythm section, and Jones throwing in a bunch of powerful licks when he needs to, although, he is nowhere near as subtle and gifted as Grosvenor was. But who cares - the main thing is that they give Gary's material more angry power. And, well…he also has Mike Harrison to bounce his anger and spirituality off of, which is always a good thing. They sound like twin hurricanes on the dripping-with-sarcasm opener "Cotton Growing Man", which has really banal lyrics, but with Gary and Mike wailing combined with the power of the musicians, it's a tour de force and then some. But this combination works even better on the slower, ballad excursions. "Old As I Was Born" is a great song! The sentiment of the song is utterly depressing - to equate birth with death might be the ultimate conundrum, and this is coming from Gary Wright's brain? Somewhat astounding. And to somehow fit it in a dramatic musical framework containing these gorgeous harmonies and buildups and whatnot, might be even more so. Furthermore, the feat is duplicated, on "Self-Seeking Man", except this time Gary is smart enough to take a back seat and let Harrison be the star of this show, because he is definitely more suited to stand out on lines like "I tried so win/sometimes I'd gamble my own life/and anyone who'd cross my path/would never cross it twice". At times, they go overboard with this stuff - the piano-only accompaniments "Holy Water" and "Times Have Changed" are either too sentimental or too mushy to take at face value. Or, "Moriah", which is highly reminiscent of "Lost in a Dream" from the Spooky Two album, but with a vaguely positive tone and all these cheesy wind sound effects at the end of it. Under the circumstances, this is a better record that anyone should have expected, and it certainly reflects the flagging spirits of the times, that is for sure. And the next album would do it even one or two rungs better.

It's difficult not to compare this to Mike Harrison's solo debut from the same year, even though it is quite different in tone. Whereas Mike stuck with the tried-and-true 'Tooth formula and put his own idiosyncratic spin on it, Gary went the other way - probably because he met all sorts of famous people of the era, like George Harrison - and got all pop and inspirational with his solo stuff. And this would be the pattern he followed for the rest of his career. Extraction is energetic, has some OK hooks, a full cast of background singers, Wright bopping away on the keys constantly with lots of generic proclamations, but not one moment of it feels anywhere near as memorable as his entire career with Spooky Tooth thus far. He brought in a mid-level celebrity session cast to help him record this one (Mick Abrahams, Trevor Burton, and Mike Kellie from Spooky Tooth), but it was the next album which really endeared him to George Harrison and the Beatles' circle of friends in the early 70's.

Subtitled "featuring Mike Harrison", it is kind of admirable they stuck around and released this, but at the same time it does smack of a cash-in, too. They had to rope in two guys from Joe Cocker's Grease Band to help out and write material, which is weird, because it's mainly cover tunes, so what the hell? At least one song is worth hearing, though - a slow-burning, massive cover of "I Am the Walrus" which showcases the power of Mike Harrison's vocals - as if to say, did you guys really need that dumb bloke Cocker around, when I still exist? But the rest of the album is pretty much a cure for sleep deprivation. With only seven tracks total, they needed a songwriting donation from Gary Wright just to make it a full LP ("The Wrong Time"), and their version is pretty lackluster. Check out any of Mike Harrison's 1970's solo works over this lame-o product.

The band's defining album - a wide-ranging effort which blends the communal soul of the previous album with country-rock and heavy rock of the epic variety - and epic might be an understatement. Everything I said about the previous album, multiply that by ten-fold and apply it to this one. Two future genres directly affected by it were Goth and Metal - the overall dark mood applies to the former and Metal, well, there is the matter of a track which Judas Priest later covered called "Better By You, Better than Me". What is even more attractive is the overall group dynamic, which a hundred other writers could describe better than I can. It is simply astounding how each player in the band pushes the limit and beyond, yet never really blows outside of their role in the band. The first few songs are a Woodstock wet dream come to life, filled with gospel harmonies, aching vocals from Wright and Harrison, pastoral piano playing, echoing drum patterns, to the point where you expect the weed smoke to ooze out of your speakers at any moment. But then things take a dramatic left turn with "Evil Woman", one of the most stunning rock recordings ever cut, in terms of a) being able to pull off extreme histrionics without shriveling from complete embarrassment, and b) making it sound completely amazing instead. "Evil Woman" is what I remember Gary Wright for, not ridiculous sap like "Dream Weaver" and "My Love is Alive", although, he wouldn't have been able to pull it off without massive contributions from the rest of the band, either. The Grosvenor guitar solo, about half way through, is a work of insane majesty, which really sets the tone for Wright and Harrison to finish the thing off in major, hair-raising style, and they do just that. The drama really does not let up from there, although, the listener might look up with a suspicious eye now and then. "Lost In My Dream" really attempts to push the fantasy envelope, for example, and therefore, is harder to take at face value upon initial listens. But the musicianship and craft displayed on "That Was Only Yesterday" and "Better By You, Better Than Me" is hard to argue, especially on the latter tune, which had to be the most progressive thing the group had even put out to that point and time, chock full of studio tricks-a-plenty. Finally, "Hangman Hang my Shell on a Tree" brings us back full circle to the start of the album, to communal soul and gospel, but with a dirty, depressing, and suicidal-obsessed twist. I'm not sure if this happened during or right after the album was recorded, but Greg Ridley exited the band for Humble Pie which was a big loss, and then another big mistake was made which would compound it. For now, this is Spooky Tooth's unquestioned peak, bar none.

Before there was such a thing as Spooky Tooth, there was Art, which grew out of a British Mod-era group called The V.I.P’s (who, once upon a time, counted among their members a keyboard player named Keith Emerson), who were at the crossroads of some important happenings but never seemed to get anywhere in particular. The few things that set Art apart from Spooky Tooth are as follows – 1) no Gary Wright, 2) a pronounced garage-rock vibe, and 3) a noticeable lack of direction. The collected players have loads of individual talent, and parts of this can be entertaining, but ultimately their off-the-cuff take on psychedelia can only take them so far.