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Mott The Hoople and Ian Hunter

Mott The Hoople unofficial CD: "Rarities"

Sleeve and track listing

Handmade For Fans #1. (3 stars!)

  1. Downtown (UK single)
  2. The Debt (UK b-side to Midnight Lady)
  3. You Really Got Me (vocal) (TMFH)
  4. Thunderbuck Ram (TMFH)
  5. Keep A Knockin' (TMFH)
  6. Movin' On (UK promo)
  7. One Of The Boys (TMFH)
  8. Till I'm Gone (TMFH)
  9. Ride On The Sun (TMFH)
  10. Surfin' UK (TMFH)
  11. Ill Wind Blowin' (TMFH)
  12. One Of The Boys (US single)
  13. Sweet Jane (US single)
  14. All The Way From Memphis (US single)
  15. Born Late 58 (live)
  16. Marionette (live)
  17. Walkin' With a Mountain (live)
  18. Jerkin' Crocus/Sucker/Violence (live medley) (UK b-side to Saturday Gigs)

Review

A continuing source of frustration for fans is the amount of rare material which has yet to be released on CD. Hence this welcome release, which is number 1 in the "Home-made for Fans" series.

It includes the Two Miles From Heaven tracks not included on the Walkin' With A Mountain and Backsliding Fearlessly compilations, as well as Movin' On (scheduled for TMFH but left off at the last minute). We also have Born Late 58 and Marionette from Uris, and Walkin' With A Mountain from Santa Monica.

Marionette is the Shades Of... mix rather than the KBFH mix (the easiest way to tell them apart is to listen to the intro - "this is a song about a dummy" (Shades Of) compared with "this is a song about Green Acres" (KBFH)).

Sound quality is mostly very good. This CD was mastered mostly from vinyl sources, and in a couple of cases (The Debt and Walkin' With A Mountain) the age of the vinyl shows. This is a shame, as this material is available in better quality with little effort. This reviewer would also have preferred the b-side version of One Of The Boys to the US single version. I would also have preferred the "unlocked cars" version of Dudes to, say, the US single version of Sweet Jane. Or maybe a Rarities 2 is planned?!

It is recorded onto CD-R, with the title hand-written on the label side. Don't let that put you off - if you're looking for this material on CD then consider tracking this CD down.