Blue Mink

Blue Mink - Our World - 1970 - Philips

The Morgan Studios session team's sophomore album is a classic example of (very) early-'70s British pop, an exquisitely performed, flawlessly arranged collection of lightly rocking originals that are not quite soft enough to be as cloying as similar efforts by contemporaries Harmony Grass and the Brotherhood of Man, but only occasionally memorable enough to actually stick in the mind. The title track, Blue Mink's third U.K. hit, was the original album's main selling point — subsequently, of course, the group's prototype rendition of "Gasoline Alley Bred" attracted the most attention, courtesy of the Hollies' hit version, and it must be said that there is little to choose between either version. Impressive, too, is "You Walked Away," a Madeline Bell showcase that layers her vocals over sultry percussion and percolating guitar, while the closing "Jubilation" is a "Get Back"-style rocker that illustrates just what a powerful bunch of musicians Blue Mink was, once the band dropped the pop posture. Alan Parker's guitar sizzles, and it's not for nothing that Bell is frequently ranked among the greatest R&B singers Britain has ever produced. (Roger Cook released an alternate version of the song as a solo single, later in the year.) Unfortunately, little else on the album even threatens to touch the same highs as these, but overall it's a sterling effort and a proud successor to their Melting Pot debut. An abridged version of Our World would be released in the U.S. as Real Mink. Dave Thompson © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kzfrxq95ldte

When four top UK session men, a leading songwriting duo, Roger Cook, and Roger Greenaway and the in-demand girl singer, Madeline Bell got together in 1969 to form Blue Mink, the group had huge success between 1969 and 1973 with brilliant pop songs like the catchy, anti-racist plea "Melting Pot", 'Good Morning Freedom', 'Our World', 'Banner Man', 'Stay With Me', 'By The Devil' and 'Randy'. With so much talent and experience in the group it was inevitable that they would eventually go their separate ways, and when the hits dried up, they enjoyed continued success as session musicians, writers and soloists. "Our World" is an example of some of Blue Mink's best songs. This vinyl issue is 40 years old, so please make allowances for SQ, and plenty of "snap, crackle, & pop". An abridged version of "Our World" was released in the U.S. in 1970, entitled "Real Mink". "Our World" is available on CD with four bonus tracks, "Silk What?", "Sweet & Sour", "Time for Winning", and "Banner Man". See if you can find Blue Mink's "Live at the Talk of the Town" album

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. Our World - Herbie Flowers/Pickett
2. Cat House - Guy Fletcher, Doug Flett
3. World (You're Closing On Me) - John Bonham, Willie Dixon, John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant
4. We Have All Been Saved - Roger Cook, Herbie Flowers, Greenaway
5. The Gap - unknown
6. Mind Your Business - Bell/Parker
7. Gasoline Alley Bred - Roger Cook/Roger Greenaway/Tony Macaulay
8. You Walked Away - unknown
9. Bang Bang Johnny's Gang Is After Me - Roger Cook, Doctors, Greenaway, Jameson
10. Is It You Who Has The Power - unknown
11. Pastures New - Herbie Flowers, Pickett
12. Jubilation - Cook, Greenaway

BAND

Madeline Bell, Roger Cook - Vocals
Alan Parker - Guitar
Herbie Flowers - Bass
Roger Coulam - Keyboards
Barry Morgan - Drums

BIO

One of the giants of British pop in the early 1970s, Blue Mink was formed in fall 1969 by keyboard player Roger Coulam, around a nucleus of musicians based at London's Morgan Studios - bassist Herbie Flowers, guitarist Allan Parker and drummer Barry Morgan were also involved. Having already recorded a number of backing tracks, Coulam then approached soul singer Madeleine Bell and former David & Jonathan star Roger Greenaway as vocalists; Bell accepted, Greenaway declined but recommended his songwriting partner (and fellow David & Jonathan-er) Roger Cook in his stead. With this line-up, Cook and Greenaway's "Melting Pot" was released as Blue Mink's debut single, a plea for multi-racial harmony that reached #3 in the UK that November. An album of the same title was released in the new year, alongside the single "Good Morning Freedom" - for reasons unknown, the single did not originally appear on the LP. However, its swift rise into the UK Top 10 prompted a rethink and subsequent pressings packed it on board. Throughout Blue Mink's career, the members maintained their high profile session careers - in March 1970, Cook and Bell appeared on Elton John's eponymous album; John reciprocated by covering "Good Morning Freedom" on the compilation album Pick Of The Pops (while waiting for his own career to take off, the pianist made ends meet by recording anonymous covers of top hits for the budget Deacon label). The following month, Cook rejoined Greenaway briefly in a new band, Currant Kraze, while the pair maintained their songwriting career with such anthems as "You've Got Your Troubles", "I've Got You On My Mind" and "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing". Other extra-curricular activities over the next few years included Alan Parker's the Congregation, and Herbie Flowers' pivotal involvement with Lou Reed's Transformer album. Titled for the group's third hit single, Blue Mink's second album, Our World (US title Real Mink) was released in September 1970. The group then faded from view for some six months, before resurfacing with The Banner Man" in spring 1971. Their first release for the Regal Zonophone label (earlier records were issued by Philips), "Banner Man" reached #3. However, close to another year elapsed before Blue Mink reconvened for a two week long engagement at London's Talk Of The Town nightspot in January 1972, to be immortalized on the Live at the Talk Of The Town album two months later. Oddly, Blue Mink's next studio album, A Time Of Change, was released simultaneously with the live record (the set was originally to be titled Harvest, but was changed to avoid confusion with Neil Young's latest release). With the band now featuring percussionist Ray Cooper and keyboardist Ann Odell, November 1972 brought another #3 hit, "Stay With Me", their last for Regal Zonophone before parent company EMI merged the historic label into a new imprint, also named EMI. Blue Mink's fourth album, Only When I Laugh then followed in March 1973. However, the group's appeal was clearly slipping, as Glam Rock elbowed Blue Mink's brand of light-hearted pop out of the way - their latest single, "By The Devil (I Was Tempted)", struggled to break into the Top 30 and, while June 1973's "Randy" would return Blue Mink to the Top 10, it was to prove their final hit. Blue Mink released one further album, January 1974's Fruity, together with the single, "Quackers". Neither did anything and the band broke up that fall, following one final American tour. Elton John was among the celebrities present to say goodbye, introducing the band onstage at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. Blue Mink's final single, "Get Up", was released in July 1974 - it passed by completely unnoticed, but would resurface two years later, retitled "7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (Blow Your Whistle)" and scoring a massive disco hit for the Rimshots. Since the band's demise, each of the members maintained a loud presence in the world of sessions and songwriting. Blue Mink, meanwhile, have been immortalised on a string of compilations, each recounting the string of effervescent hits that established them among Britain's best-loved pop groups of the early decade. © Dave Thompson © 2010 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:39fexqr5ldte~T1

BIO (WIKI)

Blue Mink was a British five-piece pop group, that existed from 1969 to 1974. Over that period they had six Top 20 hit singles in the UK Singles Chart, and released five studio based albums. According to Allmusic; "they have been immortalised on a string of compilation albums, each recounting the string of effervescent hits that established them among Britain's best-loved pop groups of the early 1970s." Roger Coulam (organ) (born 26 April 1944) formed the band in the autumn of 1969, with Madeline Bell (vocalist), Roger Cook (vocalist), Herbie Flowers (bassist), and Barry Morgan (drummer). Most of the songs were written by Cook and Roger Greenaway. Flowers, Morgan and the guitarist Alan Parker all worked with Coulam at London's Morgan Studios. The four of them recorded several backing tracks, with which Coulam approached soul singer Bell and Greenaway (who had been half of David and Jonathan) as vocalists. Greenaway declined, but put forward Cook (the other half of David and Jonathan). The band's debut single, "Melting Pot" (written by Cook and Greenaway) was recorded with this line-up, and released on 31 October 1969, Philips (BF1818), with the b-side "Blue Mink" (penned by Alan Parker); it charted at #3 in the UK Singles Chart. An album of that title was released early in 1970, at the same time as the second single, "Good Morning Freedom". This track was not on the first release of the LP; but it was added to subsequent pressings. The members continued with their session work despite the success of the band. In March 1970, Cook and Bell appeared on Elton John's eponymous first solo album; Elton John covered "Good Morning Freedom" (written by Albert Hammond) anonymously on the Deacon Records budget compilation album Pick Of The Pops. In April, Cook and Greenaway played briefly in Currant Kraze, and together they continued to write songs like "You've Got Your Troubles", "I've Got You On My Mind" and "I'd Like To Teach the World To Sing". Other side projects included involvement with Alan Parker's band The Congregation; Herbie Flowers' contributions to Lou Reed's Transformer album; and the involvement of Flowers, Morgan and Parker in sessions with Pete Atkin in March 1971, that later appeared on his Driving Through Mythical America album. The band's second album and their third single released on Philips in September 1970 were entitled Our World (the album was released as Real Mink in the U.S.). The band's next single release was "The Banner Man" on Regal Zonophone in the spring of 1971. It reached #3 in the UK chart. The members' other projects now took priority until January 1972 when Blue Mink played two weeks at The Talk Of The Town club in London. Recordings from this engagement were released that March as the album Live at the Talk Of The Town simultaneously with the studio album A Time Of Change (renamed from Harvest to avoid confusion with Neil Young's new LP). Ray Cooper (drums) and Anne Odell (keyboards) joined the band that summer and played on the single "Stay With Me" which charted at #11 in November 1972. By the time of Blue Mink's fourth album, Only When I Laugh, glam rock was supplanting the lighter pop sound of the last few years. The associated single, "By The Devil (I Was Tempted)", written by Guy Fletcher and Doug Flett, only reached #26 and the Top 10 single "Randy" in June 1973 was their last success. Their final album, Fruity, (January 1974) and the singles "Quackers" (January 1974) and "Get Up" (July 1974) failed, and the band split up that autumn after a farewell tour of the United States. Elton John was among the celebrities present to say goodbye, introducing the band onstage at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, California. As a footnote, it is worth recording that when Capital Radio, one of the UK's first two independent local radio stations took to the air in London in 1973, the station identity jingles were written by Cook and Greenaway, performed by Blue Mink and orchestrated by George Martin. Appropriately, Madeline Bell had also sung the original jingles for Radio Caroline, the offshore pirate station that first went on-air in 1964, in the end successfully challenging the BBC's monopoly of British radio broadcasting. Since the band's demise, each of the members maintained a loud presence in the world of session musicianship and songwriting. The Rimshots covered Blue Mink's "Get Up", retitled as the disco single "7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (Blow Your Whistle)" in 1976, and had a hit single.