Spooky Tooth

Walking a stylistic line that blended progressive rock, hard rock, and blues, the British outfit Spooky Tooth built a devoted audience across the United States and Europe while never attaining widespread fame in their homeland, even though their recordings maintained a steady level of quality and several alumni later enjoyed bigger success elsewhere. The group stood out for its pair of commanding frontmen and its distinctive dual-keyboard setup, issuing its first record in 1967 before gaining traction in North America via the 1969 release Spooky Two, which gave freer rein to blues-rooted material. Known for repeated cycles of dissolution and return, the band effectively ended its run following the 1974 album The Mirror, issued after several founding figures had already departed, yet resurfaced briefly for followers with the 1999 effort Cross Purpose.

The group’s roots stretched back to the V.I.P.’s, a Carlisle, Cumberland, England R&B unit launched in 1963 during the beat era. Its original members included vocalist Mike Harrison, guitarists Jimmy Henshaw and Frank Kenyon, bassist Greg Ridley, and drummer Walter Johnstone; the combo scored a European success with the 1966 single “I Wanna Be Free” and drew crowds in France and Germany, though it remained largely unnoticed at home. By 1967 Henshaw had exited and Luther Grosvenor stepped in on guitar, Johnstone was replaced by Mike Kellie, and keyboardist Keith Emerson joined the lineup. Emerson soon moved on to the Nice and later Emerson, Lake & Palmer, after which Harrison, Ridley, Grosvenor, and Kellie met Island Records A&R executive Guy Stevens, who proposed a new name. Rechristened Art, they recorded the 1967 album Supernatural Fairy Tales, which attracted strong notices but little commercial response. Art also backed the design collective Hapshash & the Coloured Coat on its 1967 LP Featuring the Human Host & the Heavy Metal Kids.

Following modest results with Art, producer Jimmy Miller recommended adding American keyboardist and songwriter Gary Wright. With Wright on organ and vocals and Harrison now handling both vocals and electric harpsichord, the band adopted the name Spooky Tooth and, under Miller’s guidance, cut its debut album, 1968’s It’s All About. The record performed solidly in Europe and earned support from BBC disc jockey John Peel. Their follow-up, 1969’s Spooky Two, reached listeners in the United States and Canada, climbing into the Top 50 on the sales charts and establishing the group as a strong live draw; the set also included the track “Better by You, Better Than Me,” which Judas Priest later covered. That same year Ridley departed for Humble Pie and Andy Leigh assumed bass duties. Island founder Chris Blackwell then arranged for Spooky Tooth to accompany French experimental composer Pierre Henry on a religious concept album; although the band had been assured it would not appear under the Spooky Tooth name, Ceremony: An Electronic Mass surfaced in 1969 credited on the cover to “Performed by Spooky Tooth/Pierre Henry,” its heavy electronic processing alienating portions of the audience.

After Ceremony, Wright and Leigh exited. For the 1970 album The Last Puff, billed as “Spooky Tooth featuring Mike Harrison,” three members of Joe Cocker’s Grease Band—guitarist Henry McCullough, keyboardist Chris Stainton, and bassist Alan Spenner—were brought in. The record received favorable reviews yet failed to replicate Spooky Two’s North American numbers and went largely unnoticed in the United Kingdom. On the subsequent tour, Harrison, Grosvenor, and Kellie were joined by bassist Steve Thompson and keyboardist John Hawken; the shows met only modest success, and before year’s end the band had split. Two years later Harrison and Wright revived Spooky Tooth, enlisting guitarist Mick Jones, bassist Ian Herbert, and drummer Bryson Graham. Grosvenor declined the offer, having joined Mott the Hoople under the alias Ariel Bender. The refreshed lineup released the 1973 album You Broke My Heart So … I Busted Your Jaw, followed later that year by Witness, which restored Kellie on drums and introduced bassist Chris Stewart. In 1974 Harrison left; Mike Patto, formerly of Patto, was added on lead vocals and keyboards, Val Burke replaced Stewart on bass, and Graham returned to the drum stool. Kellie would eventually join the Only Ones. This configuration recorded The Mirror in 1974, later reissued in 2000 with altered artwork and sequencing as Comic Violence. Although Patto integrated well, listeners regretted Harrison’s absence, and by 1975 Spooky Tooth had disbanded once more. Jones would achieve greater prominence a few years afterward in Foreigner.

In 1998 Harrison and Grosvenor organized another comeback, bringing back Ridley and Kellie to record the 1999 album Cross Purpose and mount an international tour. The reunion concluded that year, though Harrison later assembled a brief German tour that also featured Wright, Kellie, guitarist Joey Albrecht, and bassist Michael Becker; selections from two concerts appeared on the 2007 release Nomad Poets Live in Germany 2004. Harrison, Wright, and Kellie returned to Europe in 2008 under the Spooky Tooth banner, with Steve Farris, ex-Mr. Mister, on guitar and Shem von Schroeck on bass. Island Records marked its fiftieth anniversary with a 2009 concert that included Spooky Tooth; Kellie could not participate, so Tom Brechtlein sat in on drums. A short European tour followed, marking the group’s final performances. Kellie died on January 18, 2017, at age 69; Harrison passed on March 25, 2018, at age 75; and Wright died on September 4, 2023, at age 80, closing the Spooky Tooth chapter.