Dave Edmunds – Subtle As A Flying Mallet(1975)

Biography
Edmunds was born in Cardiff. As a ten year old, he first played in 1954 with a band called the Edmunds Bros Duo with his older brother Geoff (born in 1940, Cardiff); this was a piano duo. A new band called Love Sculpture with Edmunds, Jones and Williams as a trio. Love Sculpture released their debut single “River to Another Day” in 1968. Their second single was a quasi-novelty Top 5, a reworking Khachaturian’s classical piece “Sabre Dance” as a speed-crazed rock number, inspired by Keith Emerson’s classical rearrangements. “Sabre Dance” became a hit after garnering the enthusiastic attention of British DJ John Peel, who was so impressed he played it twice in one programme on “Top Gear”. The band issued two albums. After Love Sculpture split, Edmunds had a UK Christmas Number 1 single in 1970 with “I Hear You Knocking”,a Smiley Lewis cover. This single also reached No. 4 in the US, making it Edmunds’ biggest hit by far on either side of the Pond. It sold over three million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Edmunds

Album & Cover
Subtle as a Flying Mallet was the second solo album by Dave Edmunds, principally focused on sound-alike remakes of late 1950s and early 1960s hits. All of the vocals (except on the live tracks) are by Edmunds, and many of the songs are true solo efforts in that Edmunds also plays all the instruments. The album produced two Top 10 singles in the UK, remakes of the Phil Spector hit “Baby, I Love You” and The Chordettes’ “Born to Be with You”. A 2006 reissue of the album includes two former B-sides as bonus tracks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subtle_as_a_Flying_Mallet

Cover Location: Hipgnosis Studio, London, UK
Who Did What: Photography – A. Powell. Bromoil Print Effects – B. Atkins. Graphics – R. Evans
Label: RCA Victor LPL1-5003(US), RCA Victor PL25129(UK)
Source: Vinyl. Album. Cover. Art, The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue: Aubrey Powell

Tracklist

Credits
Dave Edmunds – Engineer, Producer, Vocals
Nick Lowe – Bass
Pete Withers – Drums
Bob Andrews – Piano
Brinsley Schwartz – Backing band.