''Gluggo'' is an album by

the Spencer Davis Group The Spencer Davis Group were a British blues and R&B influenced rock band formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis (guitar), brothers Steve Winwood (vocals, keyboards, and guitar) and Muff Winwood (bass guitar), and Pete York (drums). ...

, originally released in 1973 on

Vertigo Records Vertigo Records is a British record company. It was a subsidiary of the Philips/Phonogram record label, launched in 1969 to specialise in progressive rock and other non-mainstream musical styles. Today, it is operated by Universal Music Group#B ...

Background

In 1969, the Spencer Davis Group recorded ''Funky'', an album that was ultimately not released due to contract issues with their record label, although some pressings were bootlegged in the US in 1971. ''Gluggo'' was their first album to feature keyboardist/vocalist

Eddie Hardin Eddie Hardin (19 February 1949 – 22 July 2015) was an English rock pianist and singer-songwriter. Born Edward Harding, he was best known for his associations with the Spencer Davis Group, Axis Point, and Hardin & York. Hardin, along with the ...

, and original drummer

Pete York Peter York (born 15 August 1942 in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England) is an English rock drummer who has been performing since the 1960s. Biography Born in Middlesbrough but growing up in Redcar, York attended the Nottingham High School an ...

since ''

With Their New Face On ''With Their New Face On'' is the fourth studio album by the Spencer Davis Group, the first to be released after the departure of Steve Winwood (to form the group Traffic), and his brother Muff Winwood. The album was released in 1968 in both the ...

'' in 1968. Hardin and York had released three albums as a duo in the interim while Hardin had cut the solo album. Bassist

Charlie McCracken Richard 'Charlie' McCracken, credited as both Richard and Charlie McCracken, (born 26 June 1948) is a Northern Irish bassist who was a member of Irish blues rock power trio Taste, featuring Rory Gallagher. He also played with The Spencer Davis ...

, formerly of

Taste The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste. Taste is the perception stimulated when a substance in the mouth biochemistry, reacts chemically with taste receptor cells l ...

, who had played in a session capacity on ''

'' was now a full group member. Lead guitarist

Ray Fenwick Raymond John Fenwick (18 July 1946 – 30 April 2022) was an English guitarist and session musician, best known for his work in The Syndicats and in The Spencer Davis Group in the 1960s, and as the lead guitarist of Ian Gillan's post-Deep Purp ...

had played on individual tracks with this line-up before including the theme from the TV series ''Magpie'' but never on a full album before. The personnel on this recording included two of the original four members.

Musical style

Although the Spencer Davis Group were known largely for jazz and blues inflected songs, this collection is much more rock oriented. Songs such as "Catch You on the Rebop", "Mr. Operator", and "Tumble Down Tenement Row" are characteristic of the group's 1960s sound, featuring precise drumbeats, loosely played organ, and hollered singing. Other songs include the instrumental "Today Gluggo, Tomorrow the World", a cover of the old

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

" Trouble in Mind" (performed in the style of Nashville sound and

twang Twang is an onomatopoeia originally used to describe the sound of a vibrating bow string after the arrow is released.Hensleigh Wedgwood, ''A Dictionary of English Etymology: Q - Z'' (1865), p. 433. By extension, it applies to the similar vibrat ...

vocals), and the

country pop Country pop (also known as urban cowboy or even urban country) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends g ...

song "Legal Eagle Shuffle", which follows the genre's typical storyline of divorce and truck driving.

Title and packaging

While the album's title is never defined, the LP packaging was designed with subway-style advertisements and marketing slogans promoting "gluggo" as a product along the lines of a

detergent A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with Cleanliness, cleansing properties when in Concentration, dilute Solution (chemistry), solutions. There are a large variety of detergents. A common family is the alkylbenzene sulfonate ...

or an

aphrodisiac An aphrodisiac is a substance that increases libido, sexual desire, sexual attraction, sexual pleasure, or sexual behavior. These substances range from a variety of plants, spices, and foods to synthetic chemicals. Natural aphrodisiacs, such as ...

; among the marketing tropes used are "unsolicited personal testimonials" and "9 out of 10 Doctors".

Release

The original vinyl album had nine tracks, but the CD release has bonus tracks that include "Touching Cloth", the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to the single "Mr. Operator", and these latter two songs as previously unreleased rough mixes. "Don't You Let It Bring You Down" backed with "Today Gluggo, Tomorrow the World" was also released as a single. In some territories, including Germany, the song "Alone" was substituted with "Living in a Backstreet", which also became the title track of the group's next album. CD reissues reflect this discrepancy with Alone included instead among the bonus tracks.

Reception

Reviewing ''Gluggo'' in December 1973 for ''

Creem ''Creem'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American rock music magazine and entertainment company, founded in Detroit, whose initial print run lasted from 1969 to 1989. It was first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor ...

'',

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

said "Davis has been putting out moderately enjoyable records for as long as I've kept track. This is a little less folky, worth investigating for non-charismatic, professional rock and roll." Joel Vance from ''

Stereo Review ''Sound & Vision'' was an American magazine, purchased by AVTech Media Ltd. (UK) in March 2018, covering home theater, audio, video and multimedia consumer products. Before 2000, it had been published for most of its history as ''Stereo Review' ...

'' called it "happy, loose, thoroughly professional", and "great fun", concluding that "it's good to have Spencer Davis back, undiluted and unbowed." ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' also recommended the album for its mix of rock, blues, and folk. Commercially, ''Gluggo'' was unsuccessful, peaking at number 206 on ''Billboard''s "Bubbling Under the Top LPs" chart.

Track listing

Original vinyl edition

All tracks composed by

and

; except where indicated

Released on Vertigo Cat.nr 6360 088

#"Catch You on the Rebop" – (3:15) #"Don't You Let it Bring You Down" – (3:55) #"Alone" – (4:18) #"Today Gluggo, Tomorrow the World" (

, Lionel Rubin) (3:43) #"Feeling Rude" – (3:17) #"Legal Eagle Shuffle" (

Spencer Davis Spencer Davis (born Spencer David Nelson Davies; 17 July 193919 October 2020) was a Welsh musician. He founded the Spencer Davis Group, a band that had several hits in the 1960s including "Keep On Running", " Somebody Help Me", "Gimme Some Lov ...

) (2:17) #" Trouble in Mind" (

Richard M. Jones Richard M. Jones, born Richard Marigny Jones (sometimes written Richard Mariney Jones), (June 13, 1892 – December 8, 1945) was an American jazz pianist, composer, band leader, and record producer. Numerous songs bear his name as author, includ ...

) (4:33) #"The Screw" - (3:45) #"Tumble Down Tenement Row" (Spencer Davis) (3:09)

German vinyl edition

#"Catch You on the Rebop" – (3:15) #"Don't You Let it Bring You Down" – (3:55) #"Alone" – (4:18) #"Today Gluggo, Tomorrow the World" (Pete York, Lionel Rubin) (3:43) #"Feeling Rude" – (3:17) #"Mr. Operator" – (3:37) #"The Edge" – (2:21) #"The Screw" – (3:45) #"Tumble Down Tenement Row" (Spencer Davis) (3:09)

CD reissue

#"Catch You on the Rebop" ( E. Hardin / R. Fenwick) (3:15) #"Don't You Let it Bring You Down" (E. Hardin / R. Fenwick) (3:55) #"Living in a Backstreet" (R. Fenwick / E. Hardin) (3:24) #"Today Gluggo, Tomorrow the World" ( P. York / L. Rubin) (3:43) #"Feeling Rude" (E. Hardin / R. Fenwick) (3:17) #"Mr. Operator" (E. Hardin / R. Fenwick) (3:37) #"The Edge" (E. Hardin / R. Fenwick) (2:21) #"The Screw" (E. Hardin / R. Fenwick) (3:45) #"Tumble Down Tenement Row" (

S. Davis Davis (surname), Davis is a common English-language surname. People A *Aaron Davis (disambiguation) *Aasha Davis (born 1973), American actress *Abel Davis (1874–1937), American officer *Abraham Hopkins Davis (1796–1866), Australian businessma ...

) (3:09) #"Alone" (E. Hardin / R. Fenwick) (4:18) #"Legal Eagle Shuffle" (S. Davis) (2:17) #" Trouble in Mind" (

) (4:33) #"Touching Cloth" (P. York) (2:53) (B-side) #"Mr. Operator" (E. Hardin / R. Fenwick) (3:35) #"Touching Cloth" (P. York) (2:53) * CD track listings vary by country.

Personnel

Spencer Davis Group *

– rhythm guitar, vocals *

– keyboards, vocals *

– lead guitar, vocals *

– bass, vocals *

– drums Additional credits *Dan Armstrong – programming *Mike Butcher – engineering *Gary Cooper – Steel Guitar *Gilbert Kong – master recording *Spencer Davis Group – production

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1973 albums The Spencer Davis Group albums Albums recorded at Morgan Sound Studios