Patto- Monkey's Bum-1973-CD

Welcome to one of the most exciting yet underrated bands of the early 1970s.
Ollie Hallsall is a guitar genius. ALthough a multi instrumentalist, his fluid guitar work , which plays "saxophone solos" instead of your clichéd guitar licks will blow you away.

OK, this one was unreleased because they were breaking up and Island Records decided against releasing an LP with no band to promote it.

WARNING; THIS IS A WAY BETTER SOUNDING COPY THAN ANY "(UN)OFFICIAL" RELEASES FROM MONEY GRABBING COMPANIES LIKE ARKARNA-WHICH RELEASED THIS SOUNDING LIKE CRAP!!!

1. MY DAYS ARE NUMBERED
2. LAST NIGHT I HAD A DREAM
3. SUGAR CUBE 1967
4. I NEED YOU
5. GOOD FRIEND
6. GET UP AND DIG IT
7. SAUSAGES
8. HEDYOB
9. PICK UP THE PHONE
10. GENERAL CUSTER

From http://www.pattofan.com/Patto/bum.htm

"In the Spring of 1973, the band headed back to the studios to record their fourth album titled "Monkey's Bum". Muff wanted the band to take a different approach on this record and promoted the idea of emphasizing Mike's songs, which were more commercial and accessible than the material on their previous albums. Their previous albums had always focused on tracks written by Ollie or jointly by Ollie and Mike. The idea of shifting the focus to Mike's material created conflict between Ollie and the rest of the band. There was also frustration due to the lack of success after years of trying hard.

During the sessions, Ollie refused to put a lot of creative effort into some of the songs, particularly those written by Mike. Ollie decided to quit the band and left an incomplete album in his wake. Rather than throw in the towel, Patto decided to replace Ollie's less inspired bits with sax solos from Mel Collins and completed the album.

Island, however, was not interested in releasing an album without a band to tour and promote it.

John stated in a 1992 interview in the Ptolemaic Terrascope magazine that it was only Patto album he wasn't happy with. The band had lost the fun. "I liked some of it, but we were trying to write songs - Patto thought he was Randy Newman."

Check out the May 5, 1973 Melody Maker article to read Mike's thoughts about the album and the band breaking up.

"Monkey's Bum" still has never been officially released, which is a shame because there are some great songs on the album. Indeed, the music is simpler, hinting at the type of music that Mike and Ollie would play in Boxer a couple years later – not a lot of time signature changes or jazzy chord progressions. The band plays well, of course, and there are some brilliant guitar moments from Ollie, proving that he was there creatively for at least some of the the sessions. Mike plays a lot more electric piano on this album.

An unofficial copy is relatively easy to pick up on CD from the Audio Archives label. Surprisingly, they've even been seen on the racks in certain major music stores in London. The quality is listenable, but the source tapes used are rather poor – songs are significantly distorted and plagued with dropouts at times. You have been warned. By the way, the artwork for the earliest copies of the CD was green instead of black.

There has been talk for years of Muff Winwood putting together an official release. Maybe there is some legality of ownership issue holding things up (anybody know the scoop?). Hopefully it will happen eventually."

These are brought to you in lossy format because their sound does not lend itself to Hi Res and the source is not he optimal; it IS OOP but they can be gotten-but the artist don't make money on them anymore…

NO MIRRORS

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