DESCRIPTION:
"Pin A Rose On Me" was released on Widowmaker's debut album in February 1976. The album reached #196 in US and featured an eclectic mix of blues, country, folk and hard rock. (This band was a UK supergroup that recorded in the mid-late seventies, not the later Dee Snider fronted band.)

I was a freshman in high school when I bought this record in San Antonio, Texas a week or two after it was released (at The Record Hole in North Star Mall for those who may remember....It WAS North Star I believe, may have been Central Park....always got them confused). I bought it after hearing only one song, when they were playing it in the store...not sure which, but it must have been one of 3 songs, because they were all were (and remain to this day) among some of my all time favorite rock songs. Each of these songs was among the ones I most wanted to make a video for when I first started the hobby. This is the 2nd video I've made for these Widowmaker songs, the first being "Straight Faced Fighter"...and hopefully I'll get around to the last one soon.

The band was formed by former Mott the Hoople and Spooky Tooth guitarist Luther Grosvenor, also known as Ariel Bender. The original line-up featured vocalist Steve Ellis from Love Affair, guitarist Huw Lloyd-Langton from Hawkwind, Australian bassist Bob Daisley of Chicken Shack and drummer Paul Nicholls who had played with Lindisfarne.
A few months after they had begun rehearsing at Emerson, Lake & Palmer's Manticore Studios in London the quintet were signed to Jet Records owned by Don Arden. A single release "On the Road" followed, in February 1976 and their debut album Widowmaker was released in the same year. The line-up for the "Widowmaker" album was augmented in the studio by vocalist and guitarist Bobby Tench from Streetwalkers and hammond player Zoot Money. Widowmaker reached #196 in US and featured an eclectic mix of blues, country, folk and hard rock.

Widowmaker toured the UK with Nazareth and in June 1976 they took part in a series of nationwide stadium all-day concerts under the name of The Who Put The Boot In alongside leading rock acts such as, Little Feat, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Streetwalkers and The Who, who were the headline act.

Ellis left the band after a tour of North America with Electric Light Orchestra and was replaced by vocalist John Butler[disambiguation needed] and the band recorded their second album Too Late to Cry. Daisley joined Rainbow and Widowmaker broke up only months after the release of Too Late to Cry (1977).

If you enjoy this song, you really should check out some more by this band. This remastered version came from the double CD "Straight Faced Fighters" that I was luck to have picked up about 10 years ago...it's now out of print as well. It's available on mp3 from Amazon for about $10.

I find this tune more enjoyable if you're snapping your finger, nodding yer head and grooving like an old jazzman.....but maybe that's just me? ;-)

[Lyrics]
When I wake up every morning
Wipe the sleep from my eyes
Dawn's crept in I had it warning
I suggest it brings another suprise

Hey mama pin a rose on me
Hey mama pin a rose on me
I got my best girl on my arm
And a fistful of loaded dice
Hey mama pin a rose on me

Everybody some sort of reputation
Everyoen alive is born to sin
But fools rush in where angels fear to tread
And only you know the shape im in...so step right up and sing

Hey mama pin a rose on me
Hey mama pin a rose on me
I got my best girl on my arm
and a fistful of loaded dice
Hey mama pin a rose on me

Hey mama pin a rose on me
Hey mama pin a rose on me
I got my best girl on my arm
With a fistful of loaded dice
Hey mama pin a rose on me

I don't fear tomorrow
I'm not afraid of what the future might bring'
Nothing to hide, beg, steal, or borrow
All I need to do is sing, now

Hey mama pin a rose on me
Hey mama pin a rose on me
I got my best girl on my arm
And a fistful of loaded dice
Hey mama pin a rose on me

Hey mama pin a rose on me
Hey mama pin a rose on me
I got my best girl on my arm
And a fistful of loaded dice
Hey mama pin a rose on me

Hey mama pin a rose on me
Hey mama pin a rose on me
I got my best girl on my arm
And a fistful of loaded dice
Hey mama pin a rose on me