| Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Screaming Lord Sutch |
| Cover: | LordSutchAndHeavyFriendscover.jpg |
| Released: | February 1970 (U.S.) 25 May 1970 (UK) |
| Recorded: | May–September 1969 |
| Studio: | Mystic Studios, Hollywood, California; Olympic Studios, London |
| Genre: | Rock |
| Length: | 35:15 |
| Label: | Cotillion |
| Producer: | Jimmy Page, Lord Sutch |
| Next Title: | Hands of Jack the Ripper |
| Next Year: | 1972 |
Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends is the debut album of English rock singer Screaming Lord Sutch. Recording began in May 1969 at Mystic Studios in Hollywood and it was released on Cotillion Records in 1970. The album featured an all-star line-up with contributions from Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page (who also produced the album) and John Bonham, guitarist Jeff Beck, session keyboardist Nicky Hopkins, session guitarist Deniel Edwards and Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding. Rick Brown and Carlo Little were previously with the Savages.
This album has also been released under the name Smoke and Fire. A CD release under the latter name appeared on the Magnum Music Group label sometime in the 1980s, evidently mastered from a vinyl copy of the original album. The cover credits Page, Beck, Bonham, Redding, and Hopkins; Sutch's name appears only in the personnel list, as David Sutch.
| Chart (1970) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[2] | 16 | |
| US Billboard Top LPs | 84 |
Many of the musicians had grave misgivings upon its release. They were under the assumption these were demo-quality recordings. As a result, the artists disowned the project and the album sold poorly. It also seriously damaged Sutch's reputation with the musicians involved. "I just went down to have a laugh, playing some old rock 'n' roll, a bit of a send-up. The whole joke sort of reversed itself and became ugly," Jimmy Page said of the record.[3]
A reviewer in Rolling Stone called Sutch "absolutely terrible" and lamented that the celebrated musicians involved were made to sound "like a fouled parody of themselves".
Lord Sutch and Heavy Friends was named in a 1998 BBC poll as the worst album of all time, a status it also held in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).[4]
Catalogue: Atlantic 2400 008 (UK), Cotillion SD 9015 (US)