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"The Split" is my all-time heaviest acid blues album. When I purchased the LP back in 1971 I amazed my friends with its incredible trio. Tony McPhee is nothing short of godlike in his wielding of the ax, and Cruickshank and Pustelnik stoutly back him up. The title cut is in four parts, each obtaining increasing levels of volume and dexterity. The lead into "Split-Part Two" is especially eye-opening. The four other tracks, including "Cherry Red" are loud and fast acid blues.A special bonus in this package is a live concert of parts one, two, and four of the "Split", plus "Cherry Red". It is the same length as the studio cuts but boy does it smoke! If you have never heard the Groundhogs play--this is the CD to start with. It is my #1 rated album.

Greatly improved sound quality!!!!

Great CD!! Highly recommended!! Great Service!! Great Seller!!!!

The Groundhogs are not for everybody from the get go. They are unusual. Not their worse album, but I certainly think it is weak as compared to "The Mighty Grounhogs" or songs like 3744 James Road, or I love Miss Ogney.

‘Split’ released in 1971 deservedly remains the Groundhogs’ best-selling and best-known album, which many rock music devotees consider to be the finest example of its genre. The album was essentially Tony McPhee’s creation, themed on his panic attacks the previous year.Musically inventive, ‘Split’ contains plenty of raunchy rock/blues playing by this excellent 1970s trio, plus some slower-tempo pieces anchored by the capable, energetic rhythm section endow the album with light-and-shade. The ‘Split’ suite has four parts of varying tempo, with the second part the most memorable. The album’s signature piece is probably ‘Cherry Red’, a perennial high-octane concert-performance favourite with McPhee playfully adopting a falsetto voice in imitation of a petulant teenage girl, topped off with a frenzied, high-speed electric guitar solo.A couple of the remaining songs are just so-so (‘A Year in the Life’, ‘Junkman’) which for me knocks back the album a star, but is partly redeemed by the glorious closer ‘Groundhog’, McPhee’s unabashed tribute to John Lee Hooker. McPhee plays raunchy electric guitar and sings over a simple metronome rhythm in imitation of John Lee’s distinctive style and is virtually indistinguishable from the great Mississippi Delta bluesman.The 2003 remaster has excellent sound which retains all the warmth of the original analog-recorded vinyl pressing, and features four extra tracks from a 1972 BBC ‘In Concert’ performance to promote the album.

The Groundhogs were a British Blues band in the early 1970s--one of the countless bands who were very good, but just never gathered more than a cult followingSplit may be their best known ablum, and it is well worth a listen every now and again. Those thundering riffs make this music gripping, and their are a lot of these in each track.Which is what keeps Split from being a classic. The Hogs were ambitous, and comming up during the progressive era--everything had to be progressive-their yen for longer pieces was fueled. But the band did not quite have the ability to putparts together to make really good songs. The tracks sound like a bunch of pretty good ideas that are never made into coheasive pieces.Still, the playing is great as is the singing, and while the riffs are juxtiposed in jarring ways, this makes Split interesting for period value. If not everything comes off, you have to agree the Groundhogs had their instincts in the right place.Funny aside: when I was far less musically informed, in 1999, I heard the title track to Split and went searching through my Black Sabbath albums. The singer sounds that much like Ozzy Osborn.

I originally had this album on vinyl when it was originally released.. At that time it sounded quirky and somewhat off-center to my adolescent ears, but I really loved it... I recently bought the remastered 2003 version and it sounds better than ever.. The music holds up better than many of the other rock bands of their era, and it sounds almost like a masterpiece to me.. McPhee's tone and vocals give their music a somewhat dark and dirgy feel, but the strong bass and overactive drums create a really interesting texture... I now regard this as a classic.

Not only this band's finest effort, but a masterpiece by any hard-rock standard!! And, as a bonus (which is why you want to buy the CD, rather than download it from Amazon), you get live performances (the band's forte) of four of the tracks. For some reason, the two Groundhogs albums that charted best, when originally released ("Thank Christ for the Bomb" and "Who Will Save the World"), are hailed as classics by many reviewers, but don't waste your time on them. They really sound dated , and the lyrics are pedestrian, compared to the psychological wisdom displayed on all but the last two studio tracks of "Split": "Junkman" is a throwaway tune, while "Groundhog" is a marvelously-done old blues number. Speaking of which, any of their live albums that contain "Mistreated" are worth the price of the CD, just for that song. After you give "Split" a few thorough plays, move on to their live stuff, which is the essence of the Groundhog experience: which is Tony (T.S.) McPhee, and whatever sidemen he enlists for the gig. (The best overall live performance, I've located, is "No Surrender": the one issued by Magnum of America).

‘Split’ released in 1971 deservedly remains the Groundhogs’ best-selling and best-known album, which many rock music devotees consider to be the finest example of its genre. The album was essentially Tony McPhee’s creation, themed on his panic attacks the previous year.Musically inventive, ‘Split’ contains plenty of raunchy rock/blues playing by this excellent 1970s trio, plus some slower-tempo pieces anchored by the capable, energetic rhythm section endow the album with light-and-shade. The ‘Split’ suite has four parts of varying tempo, with the second part the most memorable. The album’s signature piece is probably ‘Cherry Red’, a perennial high-octane concert-performance favourite with McPhee playfully adopting a falsetto voice in imitation of a petulant teenage girl, topped off with a frenzied, high-speed electric guitar solo.A couple of the remaining songs are just so-so (‘A Year in the Life’, ‘Junkman’) which for me knocks back the album a star, but is partly redeemed by the glorious closer ‘Groundhog’, McPhee’s unabashed tribute to John Lee Hooker. McPhee plays raunchy electric guitar and sings over a simple metronome rhythm in imitation of John Lee’s distinctive style and is virtually indistinguishable from the great Mississippi Delta bluesman.The 2003 remaster has excellent sound which retains all the warmth of the original analog-recorded vinyl pressing, and features four extra tracks from a 1972 BBC ‘In Concert’ performance to promote the album.

Firstly I would say that the recording quality is very good for a lesser known band on probably a fairly tight budget but it's not about the recording, it's about the performance and composition. There are not many blues rock albums I have gone back to revisit that have stood the test of time as well as Split. I count among them Deep Purple's Machine Head and In Rock and Zep's One, two, four and five. There are others of course but this is about Split. The vocals sound great, the guitar work, bass included, is inventive, the songs are well penned. It has the feeling of a band who played to each other's qualities. There is nothing that hasn't stood the test of time well with Split imo. This is authentic 70's blues rock. Well done to the whole band. Not just McPhee.

Thanks Tony for the music and your excellent playing. Like a musician I am pleased to declare Tony as one of the very unique people,with great imagination and so natural feel in his playing. This album(I have all Groundhogs albums) is living proof and very fine surprise. His excellent backing band ,songs ,expression in playing put them on the first class bands and remains as hidden treasure in world high class playing bands for all times ahead. This man simply said already then knew everything about Strat and other guitars he owned. So let there be music from mighty Groundhogs.

I heard cherry red on the radio one sunday morning on Planet Rock and on the strength of that track purchased the Split album. Was never really a fan of the Groundhogs back in the 70's (Ten Years After was my great love) but this album has grown on me with repeated plays. The bonus tracks of "live" versions of the album songs illustrates how tricky it is to recereate the production values of the studio recorded versions and ultimately I think the live versions suffer as a result. Overall, if you're rediscovering the bands of the 70's as I am tending to do these days, this is worth a purchase.

Alas the words iconic and seminal are now clichés, but they are the ones to describe this recording from the tail-end of the British blues boom. I cannot think of better slide guitar playing than Tony McPhee's self-accompaniment in his version of John Lee Hooker's Groundhog Blues, and there is more of the same with the rest of the band in Split #3. With a driving rhythm section, which can also be sleazy when required in slower items, the Groundhogs are a powerful trio, and McPhee's voice is one of the very best from the boom.