Toe Fat Two Rare Earth RS 525 Stereo NM- 1971 Rare Prog
$
50
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Description
The Mad Platter presents:
A minty fresh collection recently purchased, and listed for your buying pleasure.
Check my other listings for more stone cold rarities.
Vinyl: NM-, looks like it was never played.
Cover: EX, just 1 small punch hole bottom right,
and a bit of color missing from top right edge.
Labels: NM-, minor glue bubbling, nothing major.
1st US Pressing on Rare Earth Records
A very nice collectors copy!
Not a super rare record by any means, but most definitely hard to find in such top condition.
No splits and completely legible spine.
This LP rips!
As always, it will be professionally cleaned, and packaged in new anti static inner sleeve, and quality outer sleeve.
I ship media mail, but I am flexible, just let me know what you want.
USA buyers only.
A little history on this release:
At the end of 1969, Cliff Bennett had seemingly run out his string as a British Invasion-era star. Seeking a new sound and image, he hooked up with keyboard player/singer Ken Hensley, bassist John Glascock, and drummer Lee Kerslake, all of whom had previously played with a group called the Gods (who later became known for having Greg Lake, in his pre-King Crimson days, as a member). For unknown reasons, they christened themselves Toe Fat and managed to get signed to Parlophone and then to Regal Zonophone in England, with their albums appearing in America on the Rare Earth label. Their mix of blues and progressive rock wasn't the most commercial of sounds in any case, and the grotesque cover art on the group's two LPs seemed to repel potential purchasers. By 1970, Hensley had left to hook up with David Byron and Mick Box in what would become Uriah Heep, and Kerslake followed his lead out of Toe Fat. Brian Glascock came in on drums and Alan Kendall joined on guitar for one U.S. tour, but the group finally split up in 1972. Kerslake subsequently re-teamed with Hensley and joined Uriah Heep, while John Glascock later joined Jethro Tull and Alan Kendall joined the Bee Gees, initially as a session guitarist and later as a permanent bandmember, where he remained until the early '80s. Toe Fat's two LPs were reissued on a single CD in the mid-'90s by the Beat Goes On label.
Having represented the first half of their curious moniker on the cover of album number one, Toe Fat proceeded to address the second on album number two, the imaginatively named Toe Fat II, with what appears to be a battle scene, pitting some species of alien lard against assorted roast chicken parts and a helpless bunch of grapes. Oh, and if you think that makes no sense, little else about the group's sophomore slump, which was released by Motown's rock imprint Rare Earth (Parlophone in the U.K.) does, either. For starters: recent lineup changes had seen founding members Ken Hensley and drummer Lee Kerslake depart for greater riches with a nascent Uriah Heep, and be replaced by Alan Kendall and Brian Glascock, respectively; bassist John Glascock was still being credited under the surname of Konas, for some mysterious reason; and aging frontman Cliff Bennett -- a pre-British Invasion relic, famous for having fronted the Rebel Rousers -- still seemed a bit unsure about this newfangled, heavy rock thing. As a result, confusion had also set in on the musical front, even though bluesy hard rock still predominated, thanks to the forceful riffs, hot licks, and weeping wah-wah provided by new six-stringer Kendall, which fueled engaging foot-stompers like "Since You've Been Gone" and "Midnight Sun," as well as ominous post-psych maulers such as "Idol" and "Three Tie Loser." The band was decidedly less focused on the album's remaining material, though, beginning with opener "Stick Heat" -- a sprawling heavy rocker showing tentative doom tendencies, which, for some unfathomable reason, was prefaced by lonely banjo strums; proceeding with "There'll Be Changes" -- a straight-up blues number, featuring an uncredited Peter Green cameo, and rather fitting harmonica work from band associate Moxy; and culminating in tentative flirtations with prog rock eclecticism on the atmospheric interlude "Indian Summer," and the half dainty/half rocking flower power anthem, "A New Way." In sum, Toe Fat's shtick was starting to smell a bit gamey, and there was little cause for surprise when it was revealed that the group had decided to cash in their chips even before the album's release in early 1971. Along with its superior predecessor, Toe Fat II would go on to collect dust in cut-out bins throughout the '70s before gaining newfound respect -- as such albums do -- when reappraised by hard rock enthusiasts decades later.
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