As keyboardist/vocalist with Mental as Anything, Greedy Smith was one of the most enjoyable entertainers in Australia. Sharing the stage with Martin Plaza (guitar/vocals), Reg Mombassa (guitar/vocals), Peter O'Doherty (bass/vocals), and David Bird Twohill (drums) is not an easy task, but Smith pulls it off with style and wit. His songs with the Mentals have been some of their most popular ever (including "Too Many Times," "Spirit Got Lost," "You're So Strong," and the hugely successful "Live It Up"), yet it took him until 1997 to release a solo album (his previous side-project, Greedy's on the Loose, never released any recordings due to the master tapes being destroyed in a fire). Smith's first solo album, Love Harmonica on TRW Records, was an extremely low-key affair. Smith played most of it himself, concentrating on plenty of harmonica solos. It's mellow, elegant style was down to the fact that he'd written plenty of material that didn't quite fit the Mentals style, so he saved them for a solo album. Smith then put together a touring band called them Greedy's People, and hit the road. After realizing that his new songs sounded better with the band, he went back into the studio and re-recorded all of Love Harmonica's songs, added two cover versions ("Close to You" and "Everybody's Talkin'") and released the album late in 1997. After touring for that album, Smith rejoined his Mentals mates and recorded the Garage album, released in August 1998. ~ Steve Schnee, Rovi