Mud were formed in London in 1966 by Ray Stiles (bass/lead vocals), Les Gray (lead vocals/keys), Rob Davis (guitar/vocals), and Dave Mount (drums/percussion), despite releasing their first single ‘Flower Power’ in 1967, it would take the intervention of record producer Mickie Most and his RAK record label before the bands potential was finally realised. This collection is made up of the two album that they created for RAK, Mud Rock (1974) and Mud Rock Vol. II (1975) on the first disc and Mud RAK! A compilation of non-album singles and b-sides released within the same period on the second.

“Hello my names Geoffrey. I’d like to introduce you to a group of young boys called Mud… I think they’re very good” is the introduction to Mud Rock! Which sets things up as a mock house party with fake crowd noise adding to enhance the effect. The first of the bands four top 10 singles to appear on Volume 1 is ‘Rocket’, which opens this set of mainly Presley tinged pop covers and continues the pattern laid down by previous Chinn/Chapman hits ‘Dyna-mite’, ‘Cat Crept In’, and ‘Tiger Feet’ which also all appear within, as a party piece medley. As stated the rest of the album is made up rock ‘n’ roll/pop covers, leading off with ‘Do You Love Me / Sha La La La Lee‘ The Contours/Small Faces mash up, pointing the way to a major 1960’s influence which is also represented by ‘Running Bear’, ‘The Hippy Hippy Shake’ and a second medley of ‘Shake Rattle And Roll / See You Later Alligator’. The pace drops for Skeeter Davis’s ‘The End Of The World’ which obviously inspired their later hits ‘Show Me You’re A Woman’ and ‘Lonely This Christmas’. The acapella ‘Blue Moon’ shows off the bands vocal harmonies before, flop single (probably due to it being released under the band name “Dum”) ‘In The Mood’ and a lightweight take of ‘Bye Bye Johnny’ which wouldn’t trouble Quo’s rocking version, brings this introductory rock ‘n’ roll party to a close… “Hello, it’s Geoffrey back again. I do, do sincerely hope that you enjoyed this stereophonic long playing record and I want to thank everyone for their help. See you on the next one (chaos ensues)”. There is nothing to challenging here and I’m not sure Mud Rock! shows off a side of the band that the single buying public were expecting, but it sold well and there was more of the same to come on Mud Rock! Volume II. Following his presumed demise at the conclusion of the first album, Geoffrey is back, as are the covers. This time around the band open with another Chinn/Chap composition ‘The Secrets That You Keep’ which reached #3 in the UK hot 100 to become their first hit of 1975 before Gray and Co. suck the life out of Cliff’s ‘Living Doll’. The rock ‘n’ roll/rockabilly is still in evidence as they bop their way through a straight Elvis rip-off of ‘One Night’, ‘Tallahassee Lassie’, and Wanda Jackson’s ‘Let’s Have A Party’. It’s not all quite so “average” however and they make a good fist of glamming up The Nashville Teens 1964 hit ‘Tobacco Road’ and do what they do best by creating a sure fire hit in the form of a popped up version of Buddy Holly & The Crickets, ‘Oh Boy’ which became the bands third #1 and sold over a million copies worldwide. The plodding ‘I Love How You Love Me’ and Paul Anka’s ‘Diana’ are only saved by the Hawaiian guitar strains of ‘Hula Love’ which they bookend to close out Mud Rock! Volume II. The house party vibe may have seemed a good choice at the time, but for most bands today these kinds of albums would come much later in a long career or would be used as stop-gap releases or contract fillers, however back in the 1970’s they sold like the proverbial hotcakes… why? The answer comes on the second disc of this set. Contained within Mud RAK! are all of the mega selling non album singles, which drove the first two albums sales, alongside their accompanying b-sides, and it includes a further seven top 20 hits from between 1973 and the end of their association with RAK in June 1975. Where Mud Rock! 1 and 2 showed why covers bands are still so popular in the 21st century, Mud RAK! Takes on the big hitters of the then burgeoning glam rock revolution. Despite the first couple of singles featuring session musicians including Chas Hodges (yes, the Chas from “Chas & Dave”) and future Status Quo and Uriah Heep producer Pip Williams, ‘Crazy’ (#12) and ‘Hypnosis’ (#16) and there respective b-sides, show all the power and POP! of Sweet, and when said band rejected ‘Dyna-Mite’, Mud were waiting in the wings to give it a Slade style stomp and make it their very first top ten hit, charting in the UK at number 4. ‘Tiger Feet’ (#1) and ‘The Cat Crept’ (#2) took the band to the very top reaches of the charts, taking on The Glitter Band at their own game and setting the group up nicely for their 1974 festive chart smash ‘Lonely This Christmas’ (#1), a position they would only achieve once more in their career with afore mentioned ‘Oh Boy’ from Mud Rock Vol. II. Mud would bow out of their relationship with RAK with yet another Chinn/Chap tune, ‘Moonshine Sally’ (#10) which was paired with ‘Bye Bye Johnny’ and their final single with the label, the previously mentioned remake of Elvis’s, ‘One Night’ (#32), from Mud Rock Vol. II. The a-sides may have you bouncing around your living room but the real eye opener from this subsequent disc is the diversity and calibre of the b-sides. All original composition proving the band had a life beyond the Chinn/Chap writing machine. Here we are treated to honky tonk piano on ‘Do You Love Me’, Santana light on ‘I Can’t Stand It’, as well as the faux Latin rhythms of ‘Last Tango In London’ and Quo boogie on ‘Watching The Clock’ and its close cousin and b-side to ‘Secrets That You Keep’, ‘Still Watching The Clock’. Sure ‘Mr. Bagatelle’ and soppy ballad ‘Morning’ may be a little throwaway by comparison but the overall quality on display shows exactly why in 1975 Mud had more top 10 singles than any other artist. The collection closes with the appropriately Presley-ish single ‘Hula Love’ which was put out with ‘By Bye Johnny’ in Europe only.

Mud went on to release there first album of mainly original material, Use Your Imagination for the Private Stock label later in 1975, which included both ‘Show Me You’re A Woman’ (# 8) and their version of ‘Under The Moon Of Love’ which went on to be a #1 for Showaddywaddy in 1976. By this point the Mud star was already starting to dim and following Les Gray’s exit in 1978, Mud became a dirty word. The original line, now with a female vocalist, broke up in 1980 at which point Gray formed Les Gray’s Mud and with various line-ups he kept the band on the road until his death in 2004. Mud II were then formed by previous members before founder members Rob Davis and Ray Stiles established a “new” Mud in 2015. Both bands continue to perform to this day. Mud may not have the glam kudos of Slade, Sweet, T. Rex and Bowie but this set shows what an important side bar to the scene they were.

• Reviewed By Peter Brockwell.
• Mud: The RAK Years 1973-1975 (2 CD Set) is released via Cherry Red Records on 14th February 2025.
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• MUD tribute pages

Track List:

DISC 1 – Mud Rock!

1. Rocket

2. Do You Love Me / Sha La La La Lee

3. Running Bear

4. The Hippy Hippy Shake

5. Shake Rattle And Roll / See You Later Alligator

6. Dyna-Mite / The Cat Crept In / Tiger Feet (Medley)

7. The End Of The World

8. Blue Moon

9. In The Mood

10. Bye Bye Johnny

Mud Rock Vol II

11. The Secrets That You Keep

12. Living Doll

13. One Night

14. Tallahassee Lassie

15. Let’s Have A Party

16. Tobacco Road

17. Oh Boy

18. I Love How You Love Me

19. Hula Love

20. Diana

Disc 2 – Mud RAK!

1. Crazy

2. Do You Love Me

3. Hypnosis

4. Last Tango In London

5. Dyna-Mite

6. Do It All Over Again

7. Tiger Feet

8. Mr. Bagatelle

9. The Cat Crept In

10. Morning

11. The Ladies

12. Watching The Clock

13. Lonely This Christmas

14. I Can’t Stand It

15. Still Watching The Clock

16. Moonshine Sally

17. Hula Love