Tony McPhee & The Groundhogs Official Website
Excellent Groundhogs Fan Site
Albums
as The Groundhogs:
Scratching the Surface (November 1968)
The Groundhogs with John Lee Hooker and John Mayall (1968)
Blues Obituary (September 1969)
Thank Christ for the Bomb (May 1970)
Split (March 1971)
Who Will Save the World? The Mighty Groundhogs (March 1972)
Hogwash (November 1972)
Solid (June 1974) -
Crosscut Saw (February 1976)
Black Diamond (October 1976)
Hoggin' the Stage (live album) (April 1984)
Razor's Edge (May 1985)
Moving Fast, Standing Still (May 1986)
Back Against the Wall (May 1987)
Extremely Live (July 1988)
Hogs on the Road (live) (June 1988)
Groundhog Night... Groundhog Live (July 1993)
Who Said Cherry Red (October 1996)
Live at Leeds 71 (live) (August 1998)
Hogs in Wolf's Clothing (January 1998)
The Muddy Waters Song Book (April 1999)
UK Tour '76 (1999)
Live at the Astoria (September 2001)
Live at the New York Club, Switzerland 1991 (2007)
as Tony McPhee and the Groundhogs:
No Surrender (live) (August 1989)
The Groundhogs were formed in London in 1963 by the brothers Pete(bass) and John Cruickshanks(vocals), Dave Boorman(drums), Bob Hall(piano) and guitarist Tony McPhee who took the band towards the blues and the band was named after a Johnny Lee Hooker song, "Groundhog's Blues."
The band backed up John Lee Hooker on his 1964 UK tour as John Mayall's Bluesbreakers had made previous commitments and they also supported Little Walter, Jimmy Reed, and Champion Jack Dupree.
1965 saw the Groundhogs back up John Lee Hooker for an album, Hooker And The Hogs.
The band released a few singles as well in 1965, "Shake It" b/w Rock Me", a blues and R&B sound though the single never amounted to much.
In 1966 the Groundhogs morphed into Herbal Mixture after some line up changes and the sound was more of a melodic mod/psychedelia/pop influences and released two singles. The band called it quits in late 1967.
Both of the fore mentioned songs are contained on the compilation, Herbal Mixture: Please Leave My Mind which contains the singles released from both the Groundhogs and Herbal Mixture with demo and unreleased tracks issued in 1996.
The Groundhogs reformed in 1968 with Tony McPhee on vocals and guitar, bassist Pete Cruickshanks, Ken Pustelnik on drums, and on harmonica, Steve Rye. Thier first album, Scratching The Surface was released in 1968 a raw, haunting blues rock in the traditional British blues Boom sound similar of Chicken Shack, Savoy Brown, and Fleetwood Mac. Most of the songs are original with the exception of two and one being Muddy Water's "Still A Fool", which became a staple favourite in concert for the band.
