The Mindbenders - Mindbenders\With Woman In Mind (1966-67)

Mp3 192\93 Mb

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Remaining together following the departure of frontman Wayne Fontana, the Mindbenders got off to one of the most promising starts any band could enjoy, when their debut single "A Groovy Kind of Love" soared to number two in the U.K. and topped the chart in America. And had the group only succeeded in locating a decent follow-up, they might well have developed into one of the finest British bands of the late '60s.
Instead, a series of disastrous choices of 45s condemned them to the ranks of rank also-rans, and it is only later that the sheer quality of their other work — material hitherto lost on two Mindbenders LPs — had been re-evaluated sufficiently to let listeners state that here was one of the greatest of all Britain's post-beat bands. A ... Read More...

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The Mindbenders - Mindbenders

Review
by Bruce Eder
The Mindbenders somehow failed to make an impression on record buyers in America — maybe it was the ubiquitousness of their earlier incarnation as Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders after their hit "The Game of Love" or the fact that other Manchester-based bands, including the Hollies and Herman's Hermits, scored more hits or got better press coverage in America. Whatever the reason, Ric Rothwell, Eric Stewart, and Bob Lang deserved a better fate than that. Their debut album as the Mindbendes sans Fontana shows future 10cc member Stewart in excellent voice as lead singer (in addition to playing guitar) on bracing renditions of repertory ranging from Willie Dixon's "Seventh Son" to Leiber & Stollr's "Tricky Dicky." "A Groovy Kind of Love" has always been an acquired taste that didn't "take" for this reviewer, but the intense, soulful renditions of "Little Nightingale," "The Way You Do the Things You Do," "Don't Cry No More," and Stewart's own "Love Is Good," plus the pounding finale "All Night Worker," are all keepers in any serious British Invasion listener's collection. There's also some filler here, but not much. These guys were interesting players, as

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The Mindbenders - With Woman In Mind

Review
by Bruce Eder
You have to sort of pity the Mindbenders — the group, which had seemed destined for success, had fared so poorly since "A Groovy Kind of Love" that their second LP, With Women in Mind, barely got heard, despite its being as strong as anything that the Kinks were putting out on LP in 1967. The album picks up where the group's first, self-titled album left off, comprised of generally bracing rock & roll with a soul edge and a sense of humor, as well as a solid layer of inventiveness. Ric Rothwell's highly ornamented drumming holds everything together, giving Eric Stewart and Bob Lang room to add their elegant flourishes and, in Stewart's case, moments of impressive flash, as well. They turn in a convincing R&B-laced rendition of the Goffin/King-composed "Honey and Wine," which is highlighted by killer vocals and a nicely understated guitar break, while "Schoolgirl," which got them banned by the BBC (over its allegedly lascivious tale of teen pregnancy), is an astonishingly catchy number that ought to have had enough hooks to get heard over here. And their cover of Donnie Elbert's "A Little Piece of Leather" is so beguiling with its jagged, angular, quasi-psychedelic guitar break around the catchy chorus that it's almost worth the price of the album by itself

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01 - The Way You Do The Things You Do02 - Just A Little Bit03 - Seventh Son04 - One Fine Day05 - Tricky Dicky06 - A Groovy Kind Of Love07 - Little Nightingale08 - Don't Cry No More09 - You Don't Know About Love10 - Love Is Good11 - Rockin' Jaybee12 - All Night Worker13 - To Be Or Not To Be14 - Honey And Wine15 - Schoolgirl16 - A Little Piece Of Leather17 - Shotgun18 - I Want Her, She Wants Me.mp319 - Mystery Train20 - The Morning After21 - Homework22 - Airport People23 - Cool Jerk24 - Ashes To Ashes

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