Mr Mick was the fifth album from UK’s Stackridge. Released in 1976 it found the band offering up a  mix of light prog rock,  70's pop rock, mellow jazz-rock, and whimsical/ spoken words soundtracking elements.  Just under half of it took in standalone songs, and the other just over half is a concept album regarding a retired man. And it’s fair to say it’s a classic example of a decidedly mixed affair, though there is worth/ promise here- but you can certainly see why the band wound up in its original form shortly after its release. As part of the Esoteric Records series of reissues of the band's back catalogue- here we have a two-CD release of the album- bringing together a remastered version of the album, and an unreleased version of the album.

The two CDs come presented in a foldout six-panel dull matt digipak with light yellow, black & white colouring. On the front cover, we have the artwork picture of an elderly, bald and tank top-wearing old man next to a young nurse. The set also features a sixteen-page inlay booklet- taking in full album credits, a new page write-up about it, lyrics, and a few band pictures/album-related artwork.

Stackridge were formed in the year 1969 in Bristol/ Bath by Andy Cresswell-Davis(lead guitars, keyboards, vocals) and Jim "Crun" Walter(Bass)- with Crun later becoming an on/off member. With the band had a fairly shifting lineup over their career- their first run was between 69 & 1976- when they released five albums- Stackridge (1971), Friendliness (1972), The Man In The Bowler Hat (1974), Extravaganza (1975), and Mr Mick (1976). The band regrouped between 1999 & 2015- putting out another three albums- Something For The Weekend (1999), The Original Mr Mick (2001), and A Victory For Common Sense (2009).

Mr Mick was released in March 1976- put out by The Rocket Record Company-  which was founded in 1973 by Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Gus Dudgeon, Steve Brown and a few others.  It’s a nine-track album, and as mentioned in my introduction it neatly splits itself in two- with the first half of the original side one featuring stand-alone tracks, and the remainder of this side/ side two focused in on the story of Mr Mick who goes on somewhat of a lightly fantastic trip- taking in a general wonder around, and back to his past.

The album opens with the sound of a radio tuning in before we drop into a cod reggae & sax edged cover version of  The Beatles' "Hold Me Tight"- it’s a great buoyant ‘n’ bright start to the album, rather put the listener in a good mood. Next, the tone is completely switched as we have the steadily lumbering-if-grand instrumental track “Breakfast With Werner Von Braun” which brings together ethnic pipe blowing, tolling piano keys, and a steady if slight world music-tinged beat.  Next, we switch tone/ pace again for “The Steam Radio Song” which is a vocal track,  in a light blues touched light prog rock/ pop setting. Here the concept of Mr Mick starts to kick in with the lyrics.

Moving onto the second side we have “The Slater’s Waltz” which features a warbling & wavering female lead over a background of steady piano notation & synth orchestration. Though we also get spoken word elements, and a sudden/ jarring switch into a sort of mix of trad jazz & waltz music.  We have the strutting cod reggae meets prog-pop of “Hey! Good Looking”. With the album playing out with the bounding barroom keys, prog bound synth & guitar, and sassy jazz rock swing of “ Fish In A Glass” which later adds in later day Beatles pop rock lead vocals/harmonies.

As an album, Mr Mick certainly features some interesting ideas- both musically, lyrically, and concept-wise. But over all it just feels too tonally mixed, often not quite sure what it is or wants to be. It needed a good/ strong producer to cut the wheat from the chuff, and focus the band- but alas what we’re left with is rather a hodge podge of an album.

The second disc takes in the ‘Unreleased version’ of the album- this largely shifts around the tracks running order, as well as adding in three other tracks- which don’t make a huge difference to proceedings. It’s interesting to hear, but ultimately it still sounds as unbalanced/ unfocused as the original release.

In finishing Mr Mick certainly isn’t the most consistent/ wholly rewarding Stackridge album. But I think if you’ve been picking up, and enjoying the other reissues in this series you’ll certainly enjoy elements of what’s on offer- though of course, it does make you wonder what the album could have been like