Spooky Tooth are an English rock band principally active, with intermittent breakups, between 1967 to 1974. In recent years, the band has been reconstituted at various points, and continues to perform occasionally.
Crucial to their sound was their instrumentation; they were one of the relatively few rock acts of the time to adopt the twin keyboard approach (both an organ and a piano player).
They formed in October 1967, when Gary Wright joined the band Art. The band name Art only existed from April to October 1967. Art was renamed from The V.I.P.'s, as the name fitted better to the new musical direction taken on the album Supernatural Fairy Tales. Gary Wright held a significant role from the start. He wrote the majority of the first Spooky Tooth album, some even with record producer Jimmy Miller instead of band members.
Their 1969 album Spooky Two is arguably their best release but over the years they enjoyed varying support as their sound evolved and changed. There is a strong link with another band around this time called Humble Pie as members joined this group also as line ups changed.
The line-up changed several times, but typically was -
Mike Harrison (born Michael Harrison, 3 September 1945, Carlisle, Cumbria) (keyboards/vocals)
Greg Ridley (born Alfred Gregory Ridley, 23 October 1947, Aspatria, Cumbria — died 19 November 2003, in Alicante, Spain) (bass guitar/vocals)
Luther (Luke) Grosvenor (born Luther James Grosvenor, 23 December 1946, Evesham, Worcestershire) (guitar/vocals)
Mike Kellie, (born Michael Alexander Kellie, 24 March 1947, Birmingham, Warwickshire) (drums)
Gary Wright, (born Gary Malcolm Wright, 26 April 1943, Cresskill, New Jersey, U.S.) (organ/vocals)
01 Something To Say
02 I Am The Walrus
03 The Wrong Time
04 I Wanna Be Free
05 Son Of Your Father
06 Better By You Better Than Me
07 Along
08 Souful Lady
09 Love Really Changed
10 Pretty Woman
11 Feelin' Bad
12 I Can't Quit Her
13 Evil Woman
Tracks 1-8 Berlin, Germany 1970
Tracks 9-13 BBC Broadcast 1968-69
Part of the early-'70s British hard rock scene, Spooky Tooth grew out of the bluesy VIPs and prog rock group Art and consisted of vocalist Mike Harrison, keyboardist/vocalist Gary Wright, guitarist Luther Grosvenor, bassist Greg Ridley, and drummer Mike Kellie. The group built a following through countless gigs and recorded its debut album, It's All About, in 1968. Spooky Two became their most successful album in the U.S.; afterwards, Ridley left to join Humble Pie and was replaced by Andy Leigh. Following 1970's Ceremony, Wright left to form Wonderwheel, while Grosvenor took the name Ariel Bender and joined Stealers Wheel and later Mott the Hoople. The addition of three members of Joe Cocker's Grease Band -- Henry McCullough, Chris Stainton, and Alan Spenner -- was not enough to keep the band afloat, and Spooky Tooth broke up after The Last Puff in 1970. A reunion in 1973 with Wright, Harrison, and future Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones produced several LPs, including the moderately successful You Broke My Heart So I Busted Your Jaw, but personnel shifts ended the project in 1974. Wright went on to a successful solo career, scoring pop hits like "Dream Weaver," and Mike Kellie later joined the punk-pop Only Ones.
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