Book review: HOGGIN’ THE PAGE – Groundhogs The Classic Years by Martyn Hanson

HOGGIN' THE PAGE - Groundhogs The Classic Years by Martyn Hanson

Sonicbond Publishing [Publication date 07.02.25]

Sonicbond have been well featured at GRTR! with their “On track…” and “Decades” imprints amongst a plethora of publications since 2018. The publisher has now taken to resurrecting books out of print or giving these older works a new lease of life with updated material.

Martyn Hanson’s book about Groundhogs came out originally in 2005 and is an exemplary model of a rock biography, properly researched and well annotated. He had the generous cooperation of mainman Tony McPhee and his partner Joanna Deacon who supplies a new foreword.

The book therefore provides great insight, grounded in the recollections of “T.S.” (initials suggested by producer Mike Vernon to add to the early blues credibility) whose band started out backing up bluesman John Lee Hooker in 1964 and then established a seminal early seventies heavy metal trio (although “T.S.” never saw it that way).

The story is a fascinating dive back into another grainy world and documents the Hooker gigs (and other blues artists they backed), their first recording deal and the early success with ‘Thank Christ For The Bomb’ and ‘Split’. Before that the first two albums had been released in the “Groundhog Series” which McPhee partly curated and played on.

With ‘Split’ selling well the guitarist wondered why the band was being rushed into a follow-up, the label evidently wanted to keep up the monetary momentum. The album ‘Who Will Save The World’ with its distinctive comic-book artwork was musically a further step on from blues rock and even featured a mellotron.

Management/label changes didn’t help promotion nor the band’s designs on the U.S. market – the first tour of which was stymied by racial turmoil, intense heat and an incident (McPhee broke his wrist falling off a horse) which curtailed the rest of the dates.

‘Hoggin’ The Page’ also chronicles when McPhee made solo albums, reconstituted the band a few times and latterly pursued a lower key musical path. The opportunity hasn’t been taken in this instance to bring the story up to date, with McPhee once again reconvening Groundhogs in 2007, his stroke in 2009, and retirement in 2014. He died in June 2023.

Some might consider this book the poor relation to Paul Freestone’s somewhat less objective account (1981/2012). However, with a bibliography, select discography, comprehensive gig listing and – not least – McPhee’s cooperation – Hanson’s take fully deserves a replay. ****

Review by David Randall

Original review (2005)

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