Description
5 Groundhogs albums and two bonus tracks on a 3 disc set
If you’re in a band, you can either go with the flow the music takes or plant your feet and refuse to be moved. The Groundhogs, under the leadership of Tony McPhee, one of England’s best guitarists, did the former. McPhee was a bluesman through and through, and the Groundhogs started life as a blues trio that backed John Lee Hooker in the mid 60s, but fairly quickly the music took a rock turn and suddenly the Groundhogs had a sizable following. After the cranked-out heavy blues-rock of Blues Obituary, they found their voice and came to notice with the very political Thank Christ for the Bomb, which show that while McPhee’s writing might have been blues-based, he’d moved well beyond the three-chord, 12-bar format into something that used the band well, leaving room for his guitar solos but offering real substance in the ambitious songs. So it was a surprise when he pulled back from that for the riff-o-rama of Split, although it became their most successful album by far with its tale of schizophrenia. However, they definitely lost the plot with Who Will Save The World?, which took them too far from their base and into the more cerebral world of prog rock and acid rock; listen to “Earth Is Not Room Enough” to get an idea of what was going on there. It simply doesn’t work for them, and they’d head back to blues — where they were decidedly more comfortable — in the future; in fact, the version of “Amazing Grace” seems to indicate they knew they’d gone too far from home. If you want to understand the minor phenomenon that was the Groundhogs in the U.K. then this is the perfect box set as the 2010 set Thank Christ For The Groundhogs: The Liberty Years (1968-1972) contains the band’s five albums for Liberty — Scratching The Surface, Blues Obituary, Thank Christ For The Bomb, Split, and Who Will Save The World? The Mighty Groundhogs — on a three-disc set.
Track list:
1. Rocking Chair-from Scratching The Surface 1968
2. Early In The Morning-from Scratching The Surface 1968
3. Walking Blues-from Scratching The Surface 1968
4. Married Men-from Scratching The Surface 1968
5. No More Doggin-from Scratching The Surface 1968
6. Man Trouble-from Scratching The Surface 1968
7. Come Back Baby-from Scratching The Surface 1968
8. You Dont Love Me-from Scratching The Surface 1968
9. Still A Fool-from Scratching The Surface 1968
10. Still A Fool-single edit
11. B.D.D. -from Blues Obituary 1969
12. Daze Of The Weak-from Blues Obituary 1969
13. Times-from Blues Obituary 1969
14. Mistreated-from Blues Obituary 1969
15. Express Man-from Blues Obituary 1969
16. Natchez Burning-from Blues Obituary 1969
17. Light Was The Day-from Blues Obituary 1969
18. BDD-mono mix
19. Strange Town-from Thank Christ For The Bomb 1970
20. Darkness Is No Friend-from Thank Christ For The Bomb 1970
21. Soldier-from Thank Christ For The Bomb 1970
22. Thank Christ For The Bomb-from Thank Christ For The Bomb 1970
23. Ship On The Ocean-from Thank Christ For The Bomb 1970
24. Garden-from Thank Christ For The Bomb 1970
25. Status People-from Thank Christ For The Bomb 1970
26. Rich Man, Poor Man-from Thank Christ For The Bomb 1970
27. Eccentric Man-from Thank Christ For The Bomb 1970
28. Split – Part One-from Split 1971
29. Split – Part Two-from Split 1971
30. Split – Part Three-from Split 1971
31. Split – Part Four-from Split 1971
32. Cherry Red-from Split 1971
33. A Year In The Life-from Split 1971
34. Junkman-from Split 1971
35. Groundhog-from Split 1971
36. Earth Is Not Room Enough-from Who Will Save The World? The Mighty Groundhogs 1972
37. Wages Of Peace-from Who Will Save The World? The Mighty Groundhogs 1972
38. Body In Mind-from Who Will Save The World? The Mighty Groundhogs 1972
39. Music Is The Food Of Thought-from Who Will Save The World? The Mighty Groundhogs 1972
40. Bog Roll Blues-from Who Will Save The World? The Mighty Groundhogs 1972
41. Death Of The Sun-from Who Will Save The World? The Mighty Groundhogs 1972
42. Amazing Grace-from Who Will Save The World? The Mighty Groundhogs 1972
43. The Grey Maze-from Who Will Save The World? The Mighty Groundhogs 1972