Split (The Groundhogs album)

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Split
Studio album by The Groundhogs
Released	March 1971
Recorded	November 1970
Studio	De Lane Lea Studios, London
Genre	Blues rock, psychedelic rock, hard rock, heavy metal
Label	Liberty (original UK release) United Artists (original US release) BGO (1989 & 1997 UK reissues) Akarma (2003 Italian reissue) Fire (2020 UK reissue)
Producer	Tony (T.S.) McPhee
The Groundhogs chronology
Thank Christ for the Bomb (1970) Split (1971) Who Will Save the World? The Mighty Groundhogs (1972)

Split is a 1971 blues rock studio album recorded by The Groundhogs, originally released by Liberty Records in 1971 with catalogue number LBG 83401. It was reissued on CD reissue in 2003 by Liberty / EMI Records, with catalogue number 07243-584819-2-1. In September 2020 it was released on limited-edition red vinyl (as well as CD) from Fire Records,^[1] including a second disc containing a number of outtakes and new sleeve notes by Dave Henderson of Mojo Magazine.

According to Tony McPhee's sleeve notes for the 2003 CD reissue, the lyrics for Split were inspired by a panic attack experienced by him in May 1970, and the studio version of "Cherry Red" was recorded live in a single take.

Track listing[]

All tracks composed by Tony McPhee

1. "Split - Part One" - 4:25
2. "Split - Part Two" - 5:10
3. "Split - Part Three" - 4:25
4. "Split - Part Four" - 5:38
5. "Cherry Red" - 5:40
6. "A Year in the Life" - 3:07
7. "Junkman" - 4:52
8. "Groundhog" - 5:35

"Groundhog" is based on "Ground Hog Blues" by John Lee Hooker.

Bonus tracks on 2003 CD reissue[]

(recorded live in 1972 for a BBC In Concert programme)

1. "Split - Part One" - 9:42
2. "Split - Part Two" - 6:13
3. "Split - Part Four" - 4:27
4. "Cherry Red" - 4:06

Bonus tracks on 2020 red vinyl reissue[]

(Fire Records, FIRELP508)

1. "Split - Part One (instrumental)" - 5:14
2. "Split - Part Two (take three)" - 5:18
3. "Split - Part Three (unlisted take with overdubbed guitar)" - 6:52
4. "Cherry Red (take six)" - 6:07
5. "A Year in the Life (instrumental)" - 3:13
6. "Split - Part Three (no intro)" - 4:02
7. "Split - Part Four (instrumental)" - 6:54

Personnel[]

The Groundhogs

• Tony McPhee – guitars, vocals
• Peter Cruikshank – bass guitar
• Ken Pustelnik – drums

Technical

• Martin Birch - engineer
• Chris Richardson - sleeve design, photography

Split Up - An Exhumation by Andrew Liles[]

In 2015, Andrew Liles and Tony McPhee remixed the album, in a "reconstruction, reordering and rearrangement", using modern effects. McPhee said Liles had "done what I would have if I'd had the modern pedals. Andrew has done me a great service by bringing my recordings into the 21st Century."^[2]

References[]