''Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends'' is the debut album of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

rock singer Screaming Lord Sutch. Recording began in May 1969 at Mystic Studios in Hollywood and it was released on

Cotillion Records Cotillion Records was a subsidiary of Atlantic Records (from 1971 part of WEA) and was active from 1968 through 1985. The label was formed as an outlet for pop, R&B, and jazz. Its first single, Otis Clay's version of "She's About a Mover", re ...

in 1970. The album featured an all-star line-up with contributions from

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

's Jimmy Page (who also produced the album) and

John Bonham John Henry Bonham (31 May 1948 – 25 September 1980) was an English musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Led Zeppelin. Esteemed for his speed, power, fast single-footed kick drumming, distinctive sound, and feel for groove ...

, guitarist Jeff Beck, session keyboardist

Nicky Hopkins Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. Hopkins performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, most notably ...

, session guitarist Deniel Edwards and

Jimi Hendrix Experience James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

bassist

Noel Redding David Noel Redding (25 December 1945 – 11 May 2003) was an English rock musician, best known as the bass player for the Jimi Hendrix Experience and guitarist/singer for Fat Mattress. Following his departure from the Experience in 1969 ...

. Rick Brown and

Carlo Little Carl O'Neil Little (17 December 1938 – 6 August 2005), better known by his stage name Carlo Little, was a rock and roll drummer, based in the London nightclub scene in the 1960s. He played in an early version of the Rolling Stones. Little ...

were previously with the Savages. This album has also been released under the name ''Smoke and Fire''. A CD release under the latter name appeared on the Magnum Music Group label sometime in the 1980s, evidently mastered from a vinyl copy of the original album. The cover credits Page, Beck, Bonham, Redding, and Hopkins; Sutch's name appears only in the personnel list, as David Sutch.

Track listing

Side one

#"Wailing Sounds" ( Jimmy Page, Sutch) – 2:38 #"'Cause I Love You" (

, Deniel Edwards, Jimmy Page, Sutch) – 2:46 #"Flashing Lights" (Jimmy Page, Sutch) – 3:14 #"Gutty Guitar" (Sutch) – 2:33 #"Would You Believe" (Jay Cee) – 3:20 #"Smoke and Fire" (Sutch) – 2:38

Side two

#"Thumping Beat" (Jimmy Page, Sutch) – 3:07 #"Union Jack Car" (Jimmy Page, Sutch) – 3:03 #"One for You, Baby" (Sutch) – 2:44 #"L-O-N-D-O-N" (Sutch) – 2:56 #"Brightest Light" (Jay Cee, Sutch) – 3:57 #"Baby, Come Back" (Jimmy Page, Sutch) – 2:31

Personnel

* Screaming Lord Sutch – lead vocals * Jimmy Page – acoustic and electric

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

(on tracks 1–3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12), backing vocals, producer * Jeff Beck – electric guitar (on tracks 4, 5, 11) *

– drums (on tracks 1–3, 7, 8, 11, 12), percussion, backing vocals *

– piano, keyboards (on tracks 4, 5, 11) * Kent Henry – guitar (on tracks 5, 6, 9–11) *

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(on tracks 7, 9–11) *Rick Brown – bass guitar (on tracks 4, 5, 11) *Deniel Edwards – lead guitar and bass guitar (1–3, 5, 6, 8, 11, 12) *Martin Kohl – bass guitar (on tracks 5, 6, 9–11) *

– drums (on tracks 4–6) *Bob Metke – drums (on tracks 6, 9, 10) ;Technical *Tommy Caccetta – engineer *Edgar Blackeney, Lord Sutch - album design *Baron Robbins - cover photography

Charts

Reception

Many of the musicians had grave misgivings upon its release. They were under the assumption these were demo-quality recordings. As a result, the artists disowned the project and the album sold poorly. It also seriously damaged Sutch's reputation with the musicians involved. "I just went down to have a laugh, playing some old rock 'n' roll, a bit of a send-up. The whole joke sort of reversed itself and became ugly," Jimmy Page said of the record. A reviewer in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' called Sutch "absolutely terrible" and lamented that the celebrated musicians involved were made to sound "like a fouled parody of themselves". ''Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends'' was named in a 1998 BBC poll as the worst album of all time, a status it also held in

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along wit ...

's ''

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by th ...

'' 3rd Edition (2000).

Additional information

Catalogue: Atlantic 2400 008 (UK), Cotillion SD 9015 (US)

References

External links

* Lord Sutch & Heavy Friends Sessio
Lord Sutch & Heavy Friends Session (Page / Bonham) , [title]
{{Authority control 1970 debut albums Cotillion Records albums Screaming Lord Sutch albums Albums produced by Jimmy Page Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by Screaming Lord Sutch albums recorded at Olympic Sound Studios