YOU ARE so right on all counts. Personally , I never got it with Spencer. Liked him in The Gibson Bros. , but , he was part of a band , not the focal point.... I can't fault him for striking while the iron was hot. I thought his first , pre - godlike status , LP sounded like Gibson's retreads.....Then , he basically took Jeff Evans' thing and made it profitable....
A friend thanked me, about 20 years after the fact , for dragging him out with me to see Pussy Galore , and how it was one of the best shows he'd ever seen. That's funny , because I never SAW that band....