Thursday, May 15, 2008

The Rats- The Fall And Rise-A Rat's Tail


Mick Ronson's the one down front and center on this album by The Rats.
And this is his earliest recordings when he was barely 17 years old!
15 tracks compiled /recorded between 1964-1969.
And the rest tracks 13-15 (bonus tracks) were later additions from 1998.
-mojo repair shop
Guitarist, arranger, songwriter, producer and perennial sideman,
Mick Ronson made his mark during glam-rock's early '70s heyday
but worked consistently with frequent collaborators David Bowie and
Ian Hunter till his death in 1993. From 1967-68 he played with a hometown
garage rock group, The Rats, in Hull. In 1969, he was discovered by
fledgling folksinger and producer, Mike Chapman, who asked him to
join his recording band. From there he was on to a collaboration with
Bowie beginning with "Space Oddity" in 1969 and lasting through
1973's Pin-Ups. He arranged "Changes" among others on Hunky Dory (1972)
and was Bowie's flamboyant guitarist in the Spiders from Mars
during the Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust (1972) album and tours.
It has remained a mystery as to how much of Bowie's material Ronson
wrote in exchange for "arrangement" credits, but his stamp is on some
important records of the era: He co-produced Lou Reed's Transformer
(RCA, 1972) with Bowie and briefly joined Mott the Hoople after
working as an arranger on All the Young Dudes (1972).

As glam rock faded, Ronson continued to work with Hunter in the
Hunter/Ronson band and as a songwriter, guitarist and producer
on Hunter's solo work. He recorded two solo albums for MainMan,
Slaughter on 10th Avenue (1974) and Play Don't Worry (1975).
His identifiable wah-wah sound straddled genres outside his beloved
glam and hard rock: From Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue to
Morrissey's Your Arsenal(1992). In 1990, Ronson was diagnosed
with cancer. He was reunited with Bowie for Black Tie White Noise(1993)
and that same year appeared at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
with Hunter and Bowie. He made one final record with some help from
his friends Hunter, Bowie, Chrissie Hynde and Mellencamp,
Heaven 'n Hull, (Epic) which was released posthumously in 1994.
~ Denise Sullivan, All Music Guide
Get it here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/111374847/The_Rats-_The_Fall_And_Rise-A_Rat_s_Tale.rar.html

4 comments:

frumious bandersnatch said...

Oh this must be the unfindable Tenth Planet reissue ! thanks a lot !

garage 66 & mojo repair shop said...

Hi Frumious;
no it's on Angel Air Records,and it says "Where The Artists Has A Voice" which for me,being a smart ass, means they really don't.
This version was also the unfindable kind as I was searching for this,and always wanted to hear early Mick Ronson.He was great,perhaps not as hyped as he should have been in my book.

Robert Charbonnier said...

Thank you for this record. Good songs, specially at the beginning. The long tunes at the end are a bit boring, for thank you for having me let discover this group :)

Clovis said...

Thanks very much for this!