Spooky Tooth - You Broke My Heart So I Busted Your Jaw (1973)

"You Broke My Heart So... I Busted Your Jaw" is an album by Spooky Tooth, first released in 1973 on Island Records. It was the first album to be released after the band reformed, following its 1970 breakup. Founding guitarist Luther Grosvenor did not rejoin the band, as he had joined Mott The Hoople as a guitarist, adopting the stage name of Ariel Bender. Grosvenor was replaced by Mick Jones, who later co-founded Foreigner. The album was remastered and re-released with a bonus track on compact disc (CD) in 2005 by Repertoire.

Sadly, the most distinctive thing about Spooky Tooth's sixth album is its title. While the band became a well-oiled ensemble of talented musicians (especially with the addition of future Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones), it wasn't especially groundbreaking or original, relying too much on generic early-'70s blues-rock, with pedestrian, humorless lyrics. The gospel choir in "Holy Water" and the funky guitars in "Wildfire" are ties to the older, less heavy Spooky Tooth, but the rest, even the ballad "Self Seeking Man," are standard-issue Led Zeppelin/Bad Company-style hard rock. The playing is impressive (especially Jones' guitar leads and Gary Wright's keyboards), but without much in the way of memorable songs, it's mostly wasted. The lyrics aren't any more notable, consisting of either simple love songs or odes to self-pity. The one exception, "Cotton Growing Man," is a bizarre diatribe against Southern slave owners that sounds about 100 years out of date. Fans of the genre should probably find You Broke My Heart enjoyable, but others need not bother.

Track listing

01.  "Cotton Growing Man" – 4:39

02.  "Old as I Was Born" – 4:40

03.  "This Time Around" (Bryson Graham) – 4:08

04.  "Holy Water" – 3:27

05.  "Wildfire" – 4:04

06.  "Self Seeking Man" – 3:47

07.  "Times Have Changed" (Mick Jones, Wright) – 3:53

08.  "Moriah" – 6:20

2005 CD Bonus Track

09.  "Nobody There at All" – 3:44 (Post, Martin) (Alternate Mix)

Released:  May 1973

Genre:  Rock, Pop, Psychedelia

Length:  34:50

Label:  Island / Repertoire

Producer:  Spooky Tooth

All songs written by:  Gary Wright, except where noted.

Personnel

Bryson Graham - Percussion, Drums

Mike Harrison - Harmonica, Piano, Keyboards, Vocals

Mick Jones - Guitar, Percussion, Vocals, Backgroun Vocals

Chris Stewart - Bass

Gary Wright - Organ, Synthesizer, Piano, Keyboards, Vocals, Background Vocals

Val Burke - Bass, Vocals, Background Vocals