View source for Gluggo

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox album
| name         = Gluggo
| type         = studio
| artist       = [[the Spencer Davis Group|Spencer Davis Group]]
| cover        = Gluggo.jpg
| alt          =
| released     = {{Start date|1973}}
| recorded     =
| venue        =
| studio       = [[Advision Studios]] (track one) and [[Morgan Sound Studios]] (all others)
| genre        = [[Rock and roll]]
| length       =
| label        = [[Vertigo Records|Vertigo]], [[Mercury Records|Mercury]], [[Phonogram Records|Phonogram]]
| producer     = Spencer Davis Group
| prev_title   = Funky
| prev_year    = 1970
| next_title   = Living in a Back Street
| next_year    = 1974
}}
'''''Gluggo''''' is an album by [[the Spencer Davis Group]], originally released in 1973 on [[Vertigo Records]].<ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Bubbling Under the Top LPs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AwkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA59 |magazine=Billboard |page=59 |date=September 1, 1973 }}</ref>
== Background ==
In 1969, the Spencer Davis Group recorded ''Funky'', an album that was ultimately not released due to contract issues with their record label, although some pressings were bootlegged in the US in 1971.<ref>{{cite web|last=Unterberger|first=Richie|author-link=Richie Unterberger|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/funky-mw0000024478|title=Funky – The Spencer Davis Group|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|accessdate=25 January 2020}}</ref>
''Gluggo'' was their first album to feature keyboardist/vocalist [[Eddie Hardin]], and original drummer [[Pete York]] since ''[[With Their New Face On]]'' in 1968. Hardin and York had released three albums as a duo in the interim while Hardin had cut the solo album. Bassist [[Charlie McCracken]], formerly of [[Taste (Irish band)|Taste]], who had played in a session capacity on ''[[With Their New Face On]]'' was now a full group member. Lead guitarist [[Ray Fenwick]] had played on individual tracks with this line-up before including the theme from the TV series [[Magpie (TV series)|''Magpie'']] but never on a full album before.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}} The personnel on this recording included two of the original four members.<ref name=sep22>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Billboard's Top Album Picks |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BwkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA52 |magazine=Billboard |page=52 |date=September 22, 1973}}</ref>
== Musical style ==
Although the Spencer Davis Group were known largely for jazz and blues inflected songs, this collection is much more rock oriented.<ref name="AMG">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/gluggo-mw0000056359 |title=Gluggo – The Spencer Davis Group &#124; Songs, Reviews, Credits |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |accessdate=2017-07-25}}</ref> Songs such as "Catch You on the Rebop", "Mr. Operator", and "Tumble Down Tenement Row" are characteristic of the group's 1960s sound, featuring precise drumbeats, loosely played organ, and hollered singing. Other songs include the instrumental "Today Gluggo, Tomorrow the World", a cover of the old [[blues]] "[[Trouble in Mind (song)|Trouble in Mind]]" (performed in the style of [[Nashville sound]] and [[twang]] vocals), and the [[country pop]] song "Legal Eagle Shuffle", which follows the genre's typical storyline of divorce and truck driving.<ref name="Vance"/>
== Title and packaging ==
While the album's title is never defined, the LP packaging was designed with [[Rapid transit|subway-style]] advertisements and marketing slogans promoting "gluggo" as a product along the lines of a [[detergent]] or an [[aphrodisiac]]; among the marketing tropes used are "unsolicited personal testimonials" and "9 out of 10 Doctors".<ref name="Vance"/>
== Release ==
The original vinyl album had nine tracks,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Spencer-Davis-Group-Gluggo/release/777783 |title=The Spencer Davis Group – Gluggo (Vinyl, LP, Album) |website=Discogs.com |date=2013-12-06 |accessdate=2017-07-25}}</ref> but the CD release has bonus tracks that include "Touching Cloth", the [[A-side and B-side|B-side]] to the single "Mr. Operator",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/6059082 |title=The Spencer Davis Group – Mr Operator / Touching Cloth – Vertigo – UK – 6059 082 |website=45cat.com |date=1973-06-15 |accessdate=2017-07-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/The-Spencer-Davis-Group-Mr-Operator/release/8140428 |title=The Spencer Davis Group – Mr Operator (Vinyl) |website=Discogs.com |date=18 August 1973 |accessdate=2017-07-25}}</ref> and these latter two songs as previously unreleased rough mixes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Spencer-Davis-Group-Gluggo/release/1629376 |title=The Spencer Davis Group – Gluggo (CD, Album) |website=Discogs.com |date=18 August 1997 |accessdate=2017-07-25}}</ref> "Don't You Let It Bring You Down" backed with "Today Gluggo, Tomorrow the World" was also released as a single.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.45cat.com/record/ve110 |title=The Spencer Davis Group – Don't You Let It Bring You Down / Today Gluggo, Tomorrow The World – Vertigo – USA – VE-110 |website=45cat.com |accessdate=2017-07-25}}</ref>
In some territories, including Germany, the song "Alone" was substituted with "Living in a Backstreet", which also became the title track of the group's next album. CD reissues reflect this discrepancy with Alone included instead among the bonus tracks.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}
==Reception==
{{Album ratings
|rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
|rev1Score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}<ref name="am">{{cite web|last=Sendra|first=Tim|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/gluggo-mw0000056359|title=Gluggo – The Spencer Davis Group|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=25 January 2020}}</ref>
|rev2 = ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|Christgau's Record Guide]]''
|rev2Score = B<ref>{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]|publisher=[[Ticknor & Fields]]|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: D|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=D&bk=70|accessdate=February 24, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}</ref>
}}
Reviewing ''Gluggo'' in December 1973 for ''[[Creem]]'', [[Robert Christgau]] said "Davis has been putting out moderately enjoyable records for as long as I've kept track. This is a little less folky, worth investigating for non-charismatic, professional rock and roll."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Christgau|first=Robert|date=December 1973|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/crm7312.php|title=The Christgau Consumer Guide|magazine=[[Creem]]|accessdate=25 January 2020}}</ref> Joel Vance from ''[[Stereo Review]]'' called it "happy, loose, thoroughly professional", and "great fun", concluding that "it's good to have Spencer Davis back, undiluted and unbowed."<ref name="Vance">{{cite magazine|last=Vance|first=Joel|title=Gluggo|magazine=[[Stereo Review]]|page=96|date=March 1974}}</ref> ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' also recommended the album for its mix of rock, blues, and folk.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Billboard's Top Album Picks |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LQkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54 |magazine=Billboard |page=54 |date=August 18, 1973}}</ref> Commercially, ''Gluggo'' was unsuccessful,<ref name="am"/> peaking at number 206 on ''Billboard''{{'}}s "Bubbling Under the Top LPs" chart.<ref name=sep22 />
==Track listing==
===Original vinyl edition===
All tracks composed by [[Eddie Hardin]] and [[Ray Fenwick]]; except where indicated
===Released on Vertigo Cat.nr 6360 088===
#"Catch You on the Rebop" – (3:15)
#"Don't You Let it Bring You Down" – (3:55)
#"Alone" – (4:18)
#"Today Gluggo, Tomorrow the World" ([[Pete York]], Lionel Rubin) (3:43)
#"Feeling Rude" – (3:17)
#"Legal Eagle Shuffle" ([[Spencer Davis]]) (2:17)
#"[[Trouble in Mind (song)|Trouble in Mind]]" ([[Richard M. Jones]]) (4:33)
#"The Screw" - (3:45)
#"Tumble Down Tenement Row" (Spencer Davis) (3:09)
===German vinyl edition===
#"Catch You on the Rebop" – (3:15)
#"Don't You Let it Bring You Down" – (3:55)
#"Alone" – (4:18)
#"Today Gluggo, Tomorrow the World" (Pete York, Lionel Rubin) (3:43)
#"Feeling Rude" – (3:17)
#"Mr. Operator" – (3:37)
#"The Edge" – (2:21)
#"The Screw" – (3:45)
#"Tumble Down Tenement Row" (Spencer Davis) (3:09)
===CD reissue===
#"Catch You on the Rebop" ([[Eddie Hardin|E. Hardin]] / [[Ray Fenwick|R. Fenwick]]) (3:15)
#"Don't You Let it Bring You Down" (E. Hardin / R. Fenwick) (3:55)
#"Living in a Backstreet" (R. Fenwick / E. Hardin) (3:24)
#"Today Gluggo, Tomorrow the World" ([[Pete York|P. York]] / L. Rubin) (3:43)
#"Feeling Rude" (E. Hardin / R. Fenwick) (3:17)
#"Mr. Operator" (E. Hardin / R. Fenwick) (3:37)
#"The Edge" (E. Hardin / R. Fenwick) (2:21)
#"The Screw" (E. Hardin / R. Fenwick) (3:45)
#"Tumble Down Tenement Row" ([[Spencer Davis|S. Davis]]) (3:09)
#"Alone" (E. Hardin / R. Fenwick) (4:18)
#"Legal Eagle Shuffle" (S. Davis) (2:17)
#"[[Trouble in Mind (song)|Trouble in Mind]]" ([[Richard M. Jones]]) (4:33)
#"Touching Cloth" (P. York) (2:53) (B-side)
#"Mr. Operator" (E. Hardin / R. Fenwick) (3:35)
#"Touching Cloth" (P. York) (2:53)<ref name="AMG"/>
* CD track listings vary by country.
==Personnel==
'''Spencer Davis Group'''
*[[Spencer Davis]] – rhythm guitar, vocals
*[[Eddie Hardin]] – keyboards, vocals
*[[Ray Fenwick]] – lead guitar, vocals
*[[Charlie McCracken]] – bass, vocals
*[[Pete York]] – drums
'''Additional credits'''
*Dan Armstrong – programming
*Mike Butcher – engineering
*Gary Cooper – Steel Guitar
*Gilbert Kong – master recording
*Spencer Davis Group – production
==References==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{Discogs master|type=album|86373}}
{{Spencer Davis Group}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1973 albums]]
[[Category:The Spencer Davis Group albums]]
[[Category:Albums recorded at Morgan Sound Studios]]