“A bit of advice from Jimmy M.: Maximum cycle characteristics and frequency response at high decibel level have been set according to standards suggested in the Guy Stevens Producer Manual, chart R‑357, in index, page 304. These recommended standards were compiled by the same authority having recently measured audible damage created by supersonic aircraft — if for any reason you do not agree with the standards, turn it up.” — Liner notes to The Rolling Stones’ “Sticky Fingers” (1971)
Even as a long-time adherent of Guy Stevens, I never agreed with the above mentioned standards and chose instead to turn it up on every possible occasion. A perfect example of said occasion is “Spooky Two”– especially since Jimmy Miller (the author of the advice dispensed above) produced the album and Guy Stevens (the group’s main mentor) had produced several of Spooky Tooth’s studio efforts years before the core group of musicians took on the name. But most of all, because Spooky Tooth tore it up all over “Spooky Two” in such a confident and consistent manner that it’s a blast and a half — Make that three blasts, at twice the volume.
Prior to Spooky Tooth, the quartet of Mike Harrison (vocals, keyboards), Luther Grosvenor (guitar), Greg Ridley (bass) and Mike Kellie (drums) comprised the final line-up of Cumbrian R&B group The VIPs, which then mutated into Art. This short-lived group would release only one LP as well as appearing as the uncredited backing band on the first Hapshash And The Coloured Coat album. But once American expatriate Gary Wright joined the quartet as keyboardist, vocalist and primary composer,[1]Spooky Tooth was born as a dual keyboard-driven group who played it simple, played it hard and hammered out every ounce of feeling with each vocalised expression, rhythmic phrase and well-placed riff. Ultimately, the primary underlining influence on “Spooky Two” was soul music — represented by the arrangements made around the strength of the two vocalists while flashes of gospel, country, distorted blues and assorted post-psychedelic elements wove around and combined together in a variety and consistency that was one of enduring Rock. It wasn’t just eclectic for eclecticism’s sake, but rather: an expansion outward from their previous R&B, soul, and psychedelic experiences into something else. During that Progressive Rock netherzone of 1969, the search was on for something new (whatever form that might take) but whatever it was, it definitely had keyboards and Spooky Two had two of ‘em: a Hammond organ manned by Gary Wright and a Baldwin electric harpsichord worked by Mike Harrison. Both of them had fantastic voices and with the backing of one brilliant guitarist and a solid rhythm section, you can feel the burning of their quest in their practical talents of musical creation while the visionary production of Jimmy M. ably captured its rampant dynamics in all its immediacy. From: https://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/the-book-of-seth/spooky-tooth-spooky-two
