People today remember the rock-with-horns fad mostly for the first few albums by Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears, but lots of imitators sprang up in their wake in the early ’70s. Mom’s Apple Pie was one that came and went pretty quickly, and even in its day was better known for the cover of its 1972 debut LP than its music.
It might not show too clearly on your screen, but that apple pie Mom is holding contains a quite detailed depiction of female genitalia, an IRL “Smell the Glove” situation that gained the band notoriety but hurt sales when stores refused to stock the LP. The artist redrew it to depict a brick wall in the pie, a tear on Mom’s cheek, and cops peering in the window behind her. Both versions became collector’s items.
The music inside didn’t make as big an impression. The 10-piece band from Warren, Ohio, featured two lead singers and the Hammond organ of pre-synth rock. At their best they sound a lot like Pacific Gas & Electric, though too many cuts date themselves by meandering into religious territory, relics of the Jesus Freak fad that blossomed around the same time horn bands did. This cover of the old Willie Dixon tune shows them at their best.
If the originals had been better Mom’s Apple Pie might have lasted longer than two albums (a third was left unreleased when the band broke up in 1974), but they were great at arranging covers for their horns. Here’s their take on the Spirit classic “Mr. Skin.”
