walking upstream…
Mott the Hoople
photo: wonker · cc by 2.0 ↗Mott the Hoople
sourcesWikipedia2 · Ultimate Classic Rock · writewyattuk
Mott the Hoople formed in Herefordshire in 1969, when Island Records scout Guy Stevens plucked Ian Hunter from a pile of audition tapes to front Mick Ralphs, Pete 'Overend' Watts, Verden Allen, and Dale 'Buffin' Griffin, naming the group after a little-read Willard Manus novel. Stevens wanted a band that sounded like Bob Dylan singing with the Rolling Stones, and Hunter — nasal, wordy, prone to shades and self-mythology — delivered exactly that across records that sold poorly until the band nearly split in 1972. David Bowie talked them out of quitting and handed them 'All the Young Dudes,' turning Mott the Hoople into glam-rock underdogs whose ragged, working-class bombast on 'Mott' and 'The Hoople' outlasted the hit single that saved them, before the original lineup disbanded in 1980.
the sound in question
1972
All the Young DudesMott the Hoople
walk the tributaries ↓
Bob Dylan1960s · Folk / Folk rock / Rock
Ian Hunter won his spot fronting the group by performing Dylan's 'Like a Rolling Stone' at his audition, and producer Guy Stevens — who had already set out to build a band that meshed Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones — knew instantly he'd found his singer. Hunter's talk-sung, nasal phrasing and his taste for wordy, character-driven verses over a straightforward rock backing trace directly back to that Dylan template.
listen: upstream & here
1965
Like a Rolling StoneBob Dylan
1973
Ballad of Mott the HoopleMott the Hoople
listen forPlay 'Like a Rolling Stone' against 'Ballad of Mott the Hoople' — both let a reedy, conversational voice narrate a long, plainspoken story over a band that mostly just keeps time, saving the payoff for a title-phrase hook repeated like a moral.
Jerry Lee Lewis1950s · Rock and roll / Rockabilly / Country
Asked directly about his roots, Ian Hunter pointed past the British Invasion to 1950s rock and roll: 'It was Little Richard, Jerry Lee, Chuck Berry, the Everly Brothers, The Platters... Elvis was a bit too poppy,' adding that Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Jerry Lee Lewis were what 'turned me on' as a piano-playing frontman. That pumping, pounding rock and roll piano is Hunter's own instrument, and it drives Mott the Hoople's rowdiest material.
listen: upstream & here
1957
Great Balls of FireJerry Lee Lewis
1973
All the Way from MemphisMott the Hoople
listen forSet 'Great Balls of Fire' next to 'All the Way from Memphis' — both are built around a relentless, hard-struck piano pushed to the front of the mix, doing the work a lead guitar usually would.
The Rolling Stones1960s-70s · Rock / Blues rock / Hard rock
The other half of Guy Stevens' founding blueprint for the band was 'the sheer power of the Stones' rhythm section,' and it shows in how Mick Ralphs and Pete Watts play: a dirty, riff-first rock and roll swagger built for strutting rather than subtlety, with Hunter's sneering delivery riding on top like a Jagger impression filtered through a Dylan songbook.
listen: upstream & here
1968
Jumpin' Jack FlashThe Rolling Stones
1969
Rock and Roll QueenMott the Hoople
listen forCompare 'Jumpin' Jack Flash' with 'Rock and Roll Queen' — both ride a single dirty, repeating guitar riff played with more attitude than precision, topped by a vocal that treats the song as a boast.