Fat Mattress had a high-profile leader in Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding. He was joined by a seasoned rhythm section that had backed Engelbert Humperdinck and singer Neil Landon who claimed brief fame with The Flowerpot Men. With a bass player on board in Jim Leverton, Redding stuck to his instrument of choice, the guitar, having stepped out of the shadows of Hendrix. He did not appear on “Fat Mattress II” after a fallout with the band in their U.S. tour, but returned to record some tracks for a third LP that was never completely realised or released.
“How Can I Live” is a complete anthology of their two albums and proposed third album, non-album singles, out-takes, radio and TV sessions and the first ever reissue of their U.S. only mix of their eponymous debut LP. Highlights of the first album were the psychedelic ballad ‘I Don’t Mind’, the jazzy ‘Mr Moonshine’ and the reflective Beatle-ish title track; ‘Magic Forest’, sounding better in the mono single mix than on the album. The out-takes are all good enough to have been included on the album proper, although the Nice influenced instrumental ‘Eric the Red’ may have sounded out of place, and the single ‘Naturally’ is probably the pick of the crop: imagine a cross between Cream and The Byrds with some fine drumming from Eric Dillon. Even without Noel Redding, I have always preferred the second album to the first: when I wrote about it in Acid Dragon in 2009 my reasoning referred to Mick Weaver’s keyboards which “extend the palette of sound amidst a more balanced mix of hard and country rock and psych, making for a more varied and engaging listen.” It also happened to contain what I consider their best song in ‘Naturally’, a psych classic to my ears. ‘Highway’ is another notable track on “Fat Mattress II”. It is a pity that the third album didn’t come to fruition as songs like ‘Long Red’ was right up there with Rare Bird, a band I am inordinately fond of.
Overall, I would say that, if astutely programmed some gems will appear, and the impressive presentation we have become accustomed to with Cherry Red/ Esoteric releases is tempting, but perhaps three CDs may be a bit much, excepting serious collectors of course.
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