MAMMOTH- 1972- War Pigs

**Heisenberg** · 02.23.21, 02:08 AM

MAMMOTH- 1972- War Pigs

Recently uploaded on the amazing "Jon Silence " YouTube channel. He has posted numerous gems throughout the years. He recorded several himself back in the '70's.

I know many VH fans are frequently suspicious regarding the legitimacy of certain recordings. I suspect many will doubt this is Ed, Al, & Mark Stone.

But based upon the Youtube uploaders history I believe what he says is what it is. I've never heard Edward sing before back then so have nothing to compare it to. Also his guitar style, playing, & tone would be different.

Listen to the drums. Very impressive drummer to my ears.

I noticed this on Saturday & assumed VH Rising Twitter, or the VHND, or someone else would post it & would be quite a big deal being the first old tape of the Mammoth 3 piece band with Ed on vocals but only has 334 views as of tonight.

I'm assuming it is in fact a legit recording as labelled based upon the history of " Jon Silence" Youtube channel.

If true & this is indeed Mammoth in 1972 its definetly quite an extraordinary slice of VH history. Big thanks to the uploader.

**Brett** · 02.23.21, 02:21 AM

Obviously if it’s really them it’s very cool. I don’t know. I just don’t know. The playing doesn’t really sound a lot like Ed but it’s actually pretty good especially for a 17-year-old. I wouldn’t expect him to sound like he would three or four years later. The drums could definitely be Al.

**PassingBy** · 02.23.21, 02:49 AM

I would wager, it's a fake, because the sound quality is too good.

**edwardv** · 02.23.21, 05:25 AM

Sounds like Ed to me. Not 1978 Ed. But just does

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**ziggysmalls** · 02.23.21, 05:49 AM

I would hope so but just don't think it is. Too clean of a 50 year recording

**Dave's Dreidel** · 02.23.21, 05:57 AM

That sounds better than most of their early bootlegs, doubtful that is early pre DLR VH.

**MF5150** · 02.23.21, 06:10 AM

Recording in a garage would make for a better recording than a bootleg recorded in a club, I imagine.

The only thing that is making me lean towards it not being Ed/Mammoth is that we've heard boots of them in 76' (4 years later) and you can obviously tell it's Ed. Would there be such a huge difference in four years? Impossible to tell unless more recordings from 72' come out.

That being said the bends and vibrato during the main and outro solos sound like Ed's. 4:37 and 4:50 makes me believe this is a young EVH, but honestly if it wasn't I wouldn't be shocked.

There is nothing in this playing that jumps out and screams EVH to me. Just little inflections and nuances.

**Van Hampshire** · 02.23.21, 06:38 AM

Boy this is a tough call. The playing is top notch for sure. The singing is flat in spots which could leave me to believe it was Ed. In all the things I have seen written about Ed, I understand that while they were doing Mammoth, people would rave about how he could play other peoples parts note for note. I know eddie used to say that the guys would get mad at him because he could never sound like the records. I don't think that is entirely true. There is that clip from an interview with Lisa Robinson where he does the Crossroads solo note for note. Clearly Eddie could play like some of his favorite records. I'm thinking that his abilities grew leaps and bounds from 1970-1976 and by 1976 was a completely different guitar player. Would love to know for sure if this really is them.

**Jedi McFly** · 02.23.21, 07:20 AM

This could go either way. I hear nothing that jumps out as distinctly Ed or Al.

I hate to be a downer, but if it's truly Ed, Al and Mark then it's crazy that only Alex might be able to verify it. Last man standing.

**Van Hampshire** · 02.23.21, 07:31 AM

So i just listened to this thing again with headphones and around the 2:30 mark, I swear someone says "yeah Alex". There is a triplet fill that the drummer does around 2:30 and you can hear someone say "yeah...something" right after the fill. it sounds like Alex to me but I could be hearing things.

**James in New York** · 02.23.21, 08:29 AM

I heard it, too, but can't tell if they say Alex..!

**vaijuju** · 02.23.21, 08:52 AM

Originally Posted by PassingBy

I would wager, it's a fake, because the sound quality is too good.

I'm thinking the same , usually we are bad recording for earlier VH

**Little Dreamer** · 02.23.21, 01:13 PM

Tough call. Ed's rhythm playing is very restrained, if it's him, but maybe it's due to his youth?

**Ashe** · 02.23.21, 01:47 PM

I guess it could be them, but the guitar sounds very grounded and very close to the original version. When Eddie did a cover, he was known for not sounding like the original at all. His interpretations were wildly different. Even when he played Clapton note for note, it still somehow sounded like Eddie. This here just sounds too "by the book" to me. But maybe when he was a teenager, he was a much different player. Hell, what do I know?

**dropped-d** · 02.23.21, 03:12 PM

Originally Posted by Ashe

I guess it could be them, but the guitar sounds very grounded and very close to the original version. When Eddie did a cover, he was known for not sounding like the original at all. His interpretations were wildly different. Even when he played Clapton note for note, it still somehow sounded like Eddie. This here just sounds too "by the book" to me. But maybe when he was a teenager, he was a much different player. Hell, what do I know?

Feasible.

The playing is really good to great for that time period. There were no tabs, no books, no videos for Zeppelin or Clapton let alone Sabbath. I can’t remember anyone playing Sabbath that well in the seventies.

Those of us who are OGs had to sit through a lot of horrible cover bands trying to ape George Harrison, Keith, Tony, Jimmy with some really horrible results.

Again, this is a superlative cover for the time in question.