Groundhogs

A Groundhogs (Mormoták) John Lee Hooker egyik szerzeménye (Ground Hog Blues) után választotta a nevét. Az első formáció 1963-ban jött létre, miután McPhee kivált a Dollabills elnevezésű formációból, mivel bluest akart játszani miután látta Cyril Davis zenekarát a Marquee klubban. A zenekar tagjai: Tony McPhee (gitár, ének), Bob Hall (zongora), Dave Boorman (dob), valamint az indiai születésű Cruickshank testvérpár: John (szájharmonika) és Pete (basszusgitár) voltak
A csoport szakmai körökben jó nevet vívott ki magának. Ők kísérték angliai turnéján a korszak több híres fekete blueselőadóját, így Little Waltert, Eddie Boydot és Jimmy Reedet. 1964 júliusában pedig megtörtént a nagy találkozás: a Groundhogs - Bob Hall helyén Alan Parker zongoristával - John Lee Hookerrel koncertezett a szigetországban.

The indubitable Groundhogs from 1971 and the last track "Split Part 2" on a live recording that has recently surfaced. There are not many live recordings, let alone visuals from the '70 to '72 period of Groundhogs. This tour or performance is showcasing the "Split" album which must stand as one of the best albums released in the seventies. This is supposedly one of the London gigs. Could it be one of the Greyhound venues? Would love to know as I could of been there.

The band began as a blues/R&B unit in the mid-1960s when guitarist/singer Tony McPhee co-founded the group and named it after the song by John Lee Hooker. They actually backed the blues legend during this time as well as another prominent blues figure, Champion Jack Dupree. In 1966 the band became Herbal Mixture and took on a more psychedelic sound. A couple years later Herbal Mixture broke up and McPhee revived The Groundhogs. AMG picks up the story.

Initially a quartet (bassist Pete Cruickshank also remained from the original Groundhogs lineup), they'd stripped down to a trio by the time of their commercial breakthrough, Thank Christ for the Bomb, which made the U.K. Top Ten in 1970.

The Groundhogs' power-trio setup, as well as McPhee's vaguely Jack Bruce-like vocals, bore a passing resemblance to the sound pioneered by Cream. They were blunter and less inventive than Cream, but often strained against the limitations of conventional 12-bar blues with twisting riffs and unexpected grinding chord changes. McPhee's lyrics, particularly on Thank Christ for the Bomb, were murky, sullen anti-establishment statements that were often difficult to decipher, both in meaning and actual content. They played it straighter on the less sophisticated follow-up, Split, which succumbed to some of the period's blues-hard-rock indulgences, putting riffs and flash over substance.


Tony McPhee - guitar, vocals
Ken Pastelnik - drums
Pete Cruickshank - bass