Monkey's Bum

AMG Review of Monkey's Bum

Skip Jansen
All Music Guide

This '70s British group produced four albums in the early '70s while under the name of vocalist Mike Patto (of the psychedelic rock groups Bow Street Runners, Timebox, and Spooky Tooth). The show really belongs to guitarist Ollie Halsall, whose playing is an outstanding mix of ock and jazz techniques. After the reissue of the famed Hold Your Fire LP, the Italian Akarma label uncovered this unreleased album, which would have followed the Island release Roll 'Em, Smoke 'Em Put Another Line Out from 1972. With the group splitting up before its release, the album never saw the light of day, and is available here for the first time. Now issued 30 years later, this will be a great surprise for fans of Patto, completing the history of an outstanding British progressive rock unit.