Compilation producer David Wells' liner notes to Fat Mattress' How Can I Live? Complete Recordings on Cherry Red's Grapefruit imprint kick off with two provocative quotes.  Guitarist/singer Noel Redding, best known as bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience: "We had to play his songs, and he'd never consider listening to any of mine."  Fat Mattress' manager and Jimi Hendrix producer/mentor Chas Chandler: "It was one of the most confusing times of my life.  The first Mattress album knocked me out - they produced it, they wrote it, and it seemed inevitable to me that they would be huge.  But it fell apart around everyone's ears.  No matter how much time and effort was put into the group, nothing seemed to go right."

The 3-CD clamshell box brings together Fat Mattress (1969) in both its U.K. and U.S. mixes as well as Fat Mattress II (1970), plus live and studio bonus tracks for each album.  The seeds of the group were planted as Redding, one-third of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, became increasingly dissatisfied with Hendrix's rejections of his material.  He reached back to old friends.  Redding had played in Neil Landon and The Burnettes with singer Landon and bassist Jim Leverton; when that group dissolved, Redding and Leverton went on to form The Loving Kind with fellow Burnette Pete Kircher.  After that group released a handful of singles on Pye, Kircher went on to join Honeybus while Leverton parlayed session work into a spot in Engelbert Humperdinck's band.  Redding, of course, teamed up with Jimi Hendrix.  Neil Landon would join up with the Carter-Lewis production team and such outfits as The Ivy League and The Flower Pot Men.  Landon visited his old friend Redding during The Experience's 1968 trip to Spain and was sufficiently inspired to begin work on a solo album while still fulfilling his obligations to Hendrix.  He enlisted Landon and Leverton.  As Pete Kircher was still busy with Honeybus, Leverton invited his Engelbert colleague Eric Dillon to play drums.  The quartet's initial sessions were so successful that the decision was made to form a new group.  Leverton remembers christening the band Fat Mattress.

Before their first album was released, Fat Mattress had already debuted at Royal Albert Hall as opening act for the Experience's February 24, 1969 concert.  In April, they toured the U.S. in that capacity.  Chas Chandler snagged the group what was said to be the biggest advance ever offered a new British band to that point - £75,000.00.  Redding left the Experience in June 1969, and Fat Mattress (heard on CD 1 here in its U.K. mix and on CD 2 in its unique U.S. mix) arrived in the U.K. in August, with its writing credits split between Redding, Landon, and Leverton.  The U.S. mix followed in November with a number of changes including reversing the stereo channels and some unique parts.

Fat Mattress didn't sound much like Hendrix, swapping out the Experience's heavy blues-rock for a lighter blend of psychedelia and California rock, both northern (Love, Moby Grape) and southern (Buffalo Springfield, The Byrds).  The album also touched on the U.K. psych scene, with Traffic's Chris Wood lending his flute to album opener "All Night Drinker" (which also featured Redding's Experience bandmate Mitch Mitchell on percussion).  The Traffic influence was felt, too, on the hypnotic single "Iridescent Butterfly."  (Hendrix reportedly added percussion to the shimmering, harmony-laden "How Can I Live.")  Though the presentation here reveals Fat Mattress to be a pleasant listen, it was far-removed from the visceral Experience sound which fans at the time were expecting.

An ill-fated U.S. tour saw Redding quit the band; his bandmates subsequently regrouped with the addition of new members Mick Weaver, a.k.a. Wynder K. Frog, on keyboards; and Steve Hammond on guitar.  Redding is credited with co-writing a handful of tracks and playing on the driving "Naturally," a leftover from their earlier days, on Fat Mattress II.  Even without Redding's active participation, Fat Mattress II musically resembled its predecessor, with a slightly heavier, proto-prog feel along with the harmony rock and breezy, light psychedelia.  The band coaxed Redding to return, but only five tracks were completed for a potential third album before Fat Mattress called it a day.  Those six songs are among the bonus material on CDs 2 and 3 here.

The bonus tracks are plentiful, also including outtakes from both albums, alternative mixes, non-LP sides, and live performances from German television and BBC Radio.  All audio has been mastered for this release by Simon Murphy, and a 24-page booklet with detailed notes by David Wells (drawing on an interview with Jim Leverton) tells the whole story of the group that burned brightly for a moment before ultimately landing in the shadows of Noel Redding's other band.  With this set, Fat Mattress can be appreciated for its not-insubstantial charms; fans of Traffic, The Small Faces, and Buffalo Springfield will likely find much to enjoy on this comprehensive set.  It's available now at the links below from Cherry Red's Grapefruit Records.  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Fat Mattress, How Can I Live? Complete Recordings (Cherry Red/Grapefruit CRSEG3BOX155, 2025) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: Fat Mattress (Polydor U.K. 583 056, 1969)

1. All Night Drinker
2. I Don't Mind
3. Bright New Way
4. Petrol Pump Assistant
5. Moonshine
6. Magic Forest
7. She Came in the Morning
8. Everything's Blue
9. Walking Through a Garden
10. How Can I Live

Bonus Tracks

11. Little Girl in White (Outtake)
12. Eric the Red (Outtake)
13. Naturally (Stereo) (Polydor single 56352, 1969)
14. Iridescent Butterfly (Stereo) (Polydor single 56352, 1969)
15. Magic Forest (Stereo) (Mono) (Polydor single 56367, 1969)

Tracks 11-12 from Black Sheep of the Family, Castle CMAR625, 2000

CD 2: Fat Mattress (Atco SD 33-309, 1969)

1. All Night Drinker
2. I Don't Mind
3. Bright New Way
4. Petrol Pump Assistant
5. Moonshine
6. Magic Forest
7. She Came in the Morning
8. Everything's Blue
9. Walking Through a Garden
10. How Can I Live

Bonus Tracks

11. Naturally (*)
12. Moonshine (*)
13. Magic Forest (*)
14. Happy My Love
15. Moonshine
16. Naturally
17. The River

(*) previously unreleased

Tracks 11-13 from Beat Club, German TV, September 27, 1969
Tracks 14-16 from Top Gear, BBC Radio 1, rec. October 6, 1969/broadcast October 25, 1969
Track 17 intended for third album, from Black Sheep of the Family, Castle CMAR625, 2000

CD 3: Fat Mattress II (Polydor 2383 025, 1970)

1. The Storm
2. Anyway You Want
3. Leafy Lanes
4. Naturally
5. Roamin'
6. Happy My Love
7. Childhood Dream
8. She
9. Highway
10. At the Ball
11. People

Bonus Tracks

12. Hall of Kings (Outtake) (from Black Sheep of the Family, Castle CMAR625, 2000)
13. Black Sheep of the Family (Polydor single 2058 023, 1970)
14. Margarita
15. Cold Wall of Stone
16. Long Red
17. Words
18. Future Days
19. Which Way to Go (unreleased Jim Leverton single)

Tracks 14-18 intended for third album
Tracks 14-19 from Black Sheep of the Family, Castle CMAR625, 2000