Spanky & Our Gang Live

Spanky & Our Gang Live is the fifth album by American 1960s folk-rock band Spanky and Our Gang.

Following the sudden death of co-founder Malcolm Hale in 1968, Spanky and Our Gang had stopped publishing albums after having completed three albums for Mercury Records and a “Greatest Hits” LP. However, such was the demand for further product from this popular act, that Mercury released “Spanky & Our Gang Live” in December 1970. Recorded in early 1967, the album represents the group performing to an enthusiastic audience at the Gaslight Club South in Coconut Grove, Florida. Prepared from a good quality amateur recording of one of the group's earliest shows after being signed in 1966, it showcased their early sound before they became recording artists.

Although the band members are not credited, the album cover features original members; Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane, Nigel Pickering, Paul "Oz" Bach and Malcolm Hale and was recorded prior to the addition of John "The Chief" Seiter, Kenny Hodges and Lefty Baker. The wide variety of musical tastes includes the bluegrass derived "Nagasaki," John Denver’s “Dirty Old Man”, Goffin and King’s “Wasn’t It You?” (introduced by the band as "Gypsy") plus Gordon Lightfoot’s "Steel Rail Blues" and "That's What You Get for Lovin' Me."

Track listing

1. "Nagasaki" (M Dixon, H Warren) - 1:13
2. "Amelia Earhart's Last Flight" (Dave McEnery) - 4:20
3. "Waltzing Matilda" (A B Patterson, M Cowan) - 3:50
4. "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime" (E. Y. Harburg, Jay Gorney) - 4:30
5. "Steel Rail Blues" (Gordon Lightfoot) - 3:05
6. "Oh Daddy" (Little Brother Montgomery, E McFarlane) - 3:22
7. "Dirty Old Man" (John Denver) - 2:07
8. "The Klan" (M Smith) - 4:40
9. "That's What You Get For Lovin' Me" (Gordon Lightfoot) - 2:20
10. "Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me" (C Morgan) - 2:21
11. "Wasn't It You?" (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) - 2:54
12. "You Got Trouble (from The Music Man)" (M Williams) - 4:50

References

• Album review at Allmusic
• Liner notes by Richard Barton Campbell, “The Complete Mercury Recordings”, p10.
• Liner notes, “Spanky & Our Gang Live”, Mercury 1970.
• Biography by Bruce Eder, “www.allmusic.com”.