re-uploads: Avalanche, Carson, Chain, Matt Taylor, Group Therapy compilation

 

Avalanche...boogie-rock from Melbourne..self-titled album from 1976

Carson...On the Air and Blown....classic blues and boogie

Chain..Toward the Blues...Classic Album from 1971

Chain...Two of A Kind...1973 album

Matt Taylor...Straight As A Die...1973 album from Aussie blues legend

Group Therapy..All Aussie 70's Blues and Progressive Rock Compilation

Chris Wilson...Australian blues legend...1956-2019...tribute post

Melbourne Herald-Sun, January 17th 2019 - Beloved Melbourne musician Chris Wilson dies of cancer; Melbourne musician Chris Wilson has died at the age of 62. Hailed for his vocal and harmonica skills, he was known as the “gentleman of Australian blues”.

Christopher John Wilson (1956 – January 16, 2019) was an Australian blues musician who sang and played harmonica, saxophone and guitar. He performed as part of the Sole Twisters, Harem Scarem and Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls, and fronted his band Crown of Thorns. Wilson's solo albums are Landlocked (June 1992), The Long Weekend (March 1998), Spiderman (2000), King for a Day (July 2002), Flying Fish (2012) and the self titled Chris Wilson (2018).

In March 1996, Wilson collaborated with Johnny Diesel in a blues project, Wilson Diesel, which issued an album, Short Cool Ones, composed mostly of "soul and R&B standards". It peaked at No. 18 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Outside of his music career Wilson taught English at various secondary schools in Melbourne for about 20 years.

On July 24, 2018, Wilson's management announced that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was unlikely to perform again. A fund raising concert at the Corner Hotel was announced and quickly sold out. Fellow musician and friend Suzannah Espie set up a GoFundMe page which raised over AU$100,000 in just a few days before ceasing to accept further donations.

wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Wilson_(Australian_musician)

YouTube documentary: "Live At The Continental; 23 Years On"

https://youtu.be/_BnM3ASmjz8

That Red Head new single release "Gotta Be A Man"...punk infused anthem

After the warm reception of sultry debut single ‘Killer’, Sydney-based rockabilly and blues trio That Red Head are back with their new punk infused anthem ‘Gotta Be A Man’. Powered by Lozz Benson’s propulsive drums and fierce vocals, the relentless single is a musical manifestation of Benson’s frustration at how women are treated in the Aussie music scene - and by extension, in life.

Despite her young age, front woman Lozz Benson has been around the blocks in the Aussie music scene, collaborating with legends like Paul Kelly and playing drums for bands including Urthboy and buzzy all-female outfit Rackett. Despite countless positive experiences as she’s earned her stripes, Benson has also been on the receiving end of the lack of respect and recognition often extended to female muso's in an industry that is predominantly run by men.

"Gotta Be A Man" is an energetic anthem to empower and inspire. I'm shifting the bands sound from our last release and changing how I front the band - from a sassy laid back songstress to a badass rebel with an attitude.” - Lozz Benson

"Gotta be a Man" was recorded by Richie Belkner (Jack Ladder, PVT, Thirty Merc) at Free Energy Device Studios in Sydney and is available digitally on Spotify and iTunes.


PRAISE FOR THAT RED HEAD:
“Lozz is a real entertainer on stage. She is the centre of attention, driving the band from behind the drums with leadership and great panache, as well as singing flawlessly and entertaining the dancing crowd in her energetic and unique way.” - Jim Moginie, Midnight Oil

ABOUT LOZZ
Lozz Benson is a powerhouse drummer from Sydney and That Red Head is an extension of her love for the dirty blues and old school rock’n’roll. She has recorded with Paul Kelly, Jacob Stone (Bluejuice), Jeremy Davidson (The Snowdroppers), Steve Smyth, All Our Exes Live in Texas, Sandy Evans (OAM, The Catholics), Jim Moginie (Midnight Oil), Ryan Hazel (The Fumes) and Chris D’Rozario (Brian Setzer). She has toured with Urthboy, Pat Capocci, Hedgefund, and Sirens Big Band. She is the newest member of Rackett who have supported DZ Deathrays, Stonefield, Sticky Fingers, Abbe May, Bleached (US) and will soon support The Darkness on their upcoming tour of Australia. Lozz also recently received Drumteks AUDW Best Female Drummer Award.

see more on facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thatredheadsydney/

Gwyn Ashton, ex Adelaide (UK based) high-energy, blues performer, new album release

Gwyn Ashton, Chris Finnen and Peter Buelke's new album "Ragas, Jugs and Mojo Hands" is a beautifully crafted exotic blend of acoustic blues and world music, infused with an unmistakable Australian flavour.

Recorded in Noarlunga, South Australia, this foot-stompin’, hand-clappin’ celebration of roots music will draw the listener in on a mesmerizing cross-continental sonic journey.

album sampler promo video

Ashton and Finnen, two kindred-spirit musicians, both inductees of the South Australian Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame and friends for 35 years, join together for the first time on record. With Melbourne musician Peter Beulke on upright bass, they form a formidable partnership, evoking a tapestry of varied cultural influences, weaving the sounds of Indian, Arabic and African in traditions into the album. Recorded live, first or second take, this spontaneous session involved no rehearsal or pre-production.

Ashton has spent the past 30 years touring Australia and Europe, recording with some of the biggest names in blues and rock including musicians from Deep Purple, Robert Plant’s and Rory Gallagher’s bands and touring with artists such as Buddy Guy, Mick Taylor, Peter Green and many more. His contribution to this album includes material written on the road through Poland, the Czech Republic and the UK.

Find out more on WEBSITE HERE 

jamming with Kevin Borich

download FREE 6 minute album sampler HERE

December tour dates:

11 - Vic, St Kilda, Elwood Blues Club (solo)

12 - Vic, Frankston, Bar 12 (solo)

15 - NSW, Sydney, Frankie's Pizza (solo)

17 - NSW, Wollongong, Beaches (solo)

18 - NSW, Sydney, Lazybones (solo)

22 - Vic, St Kilda, Dog's Bar (solo)

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Chain...Two of A Kind...1973 album

During May 1973, Chain toured the country as support to the Muddy Waters Band and soon after teamed with that band's James "Peewee" Madison (guitar, vocals) and George "Mojo" Beauford (vocals, harmonica) for recordings that would form part of Chain's next LP, Two Of A Kind.

Critics saw Two Of A Kind as a comparatively low-key affair by Chain's standards. Of the four cuts featuring Madison and Beauford from Muddy's band, only the title track (written by Madison) and Little Walter's "Blues With A Feeling" provide any real excitement, despite the typically robust backing that Chain supplies. Some observers also found "Elephant" tediously self-indulgent. The album sold in only moderate numbers and by the time of its release in December'73, Chain had undergone further personnel shifts.The album is still worth a listen, especially for die-hard Chain fans.


Tracks:
"Blues With A Feeling" (Little Walter Jacobs) 
"Everybody Has To Lose Sometime" (Traditional) 
"How To Set Fire To An Elephant" (Ian Clyne) 
"Reconsider Baby" (Lowell Fulsom) 
"Two Of A Kind" (James Madison)

Chain...Two of A Kind

Matt Taylor...Straight As A Die...1973 album from Aussie blues legend

Matt Taylor was born in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1948. Taylor began listening to blues records in high school, and taught himself the guitar and harmonica. In February 1966 he joined the Bay City Union, one of Australia’s first electric blues bands. They moved to Melbourne in December 1966 and achieved some success playing in dance halls and clubs. They recorded a single "Mo’reen" and "Mary Mary" released on the Festival label in 1968. Among the other members of this band was Glenn Wheatley, who was also their manager.

The Bay City Union broke up in May 1968. Taylor joined the Wild Cherries in October 1968, but left the following month. During 1969 and 1970, he played with progressive heavy rock / blues bands Horse and Genesis (not the UK prog band of the same name).

From September 1970 to October 1971, Taylor was the front-man for the blues band Chain, which had a hit single ("Black and Blue") and album ("Toward the Blues") during this period. He then quit the music industry and went to live on a commune led by Fred and Mary Robinson at Beechworth.

In 1973 he returned to the music scene as a solo artist, releasing three albums over the next three years, and scoring a major hit with the single "I Remember When I Was Young". He was one of the first artists to record for Mushroom Records, and was managed by Michael Gudinski.

"Straight As A Die" was released in 1973 and features prominent Australian guitarist Phil Manning.

Matt Taylor...Straight As A Die

Renee Geyer...It's A Man's Man's World..1974 album

Renée Geyer is an Australian singer who has long been regarded as one of the finest exponents of jazz, soul and R'n'B idioms. She had commercial success as a solo artist in Australia, with "It's a Man's Man's World", "Heading in the Right Direction" and "Stares and Whispers" in the 1970s and "Say I Love You" in the 1980s. Geyer has also been an internationally respected and sought-after backing vocalist, whose session credits include work with Sting, Chaka Khan, Toni Childs and Joe Cocker.

Rock historian Ian McFarlane described her as having a "rich, soulful, passionate and husky vocal delivery". Geyer's iconic status in the Australian music industry was recognised when she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame on 14 July 2005, alongside The Easybeats, Hunters & Collectors, Smoky Dawson, Split Enz and Normie Rowe. 

"It's A Man's Man's World" was her second album, released in 1974 to critical acclaim.

See also previous post "first album"

click here for more information

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Isaiah B Brunt new album release "Just the Way It Goes" recorded in New Orleans

Isaiah B Brunt has been a top Aussie production guy, and former studio owner of Darling Harbor studios, who's worked along side some of Australia's top groups including solo projects by Rob Hirst, Midnight Oil, Steve Prestwich, Cold Chisel, Julio Iglesias and his Orchestra, American Idols Randy Jackson and Goo Goo Dolls have rehearsed there during Australian tours. Not only has Isaiah been behind the board for globally upper echelon bands he's been a go-to side man for bands touring down under like the time Keanu Reeves band Dog Star hit Sydney and Isaiah recorded them aiding them on their shows around Sydney.

All the while he was working with other peoples music, Isaiah always knew where his heart lay. The same place it first was when he heard his father strum the ukulele, blow harmonica and unleash the lap steel. Isaiah was the 2010 Sydney Blues Society's Performer of the Year and some of you may have caught him at the 2011 IBC, probably the best dressed cat in Memphis and good enough musically to be one of the very few to be reviewed in The Memphis Daily.

See more on his website HERE

Chain..Toward the Blues...Classic Album from 1971

Any student of Australian rock music would be hard-pressed to argue against the pure fact that, since its inception in the late sixties, Chain has remained our foremost blues-rock band. In keeping with its hallowed name, there are many links to the Chain story…throughout its six year heyday over the early seventies the band, in its many permutations, commanded an undisputed dominance in the blues idiom. Chain has seen many varied line-ups, no less than 40+ different musicians passing through its ranks. 

Over the years, Perth has provided the setting for a thriving blues-rock scene, spawning many future stalwarts of the idiom who have gone onto greater national success. The original Chain grew out of this hotbed, forming from the ashes of The Beaten Tracks, who won the Perth heat of the 1967 Hoadley's Battle Of The Sounds. The band at that time comprised Warren Morgan (keys), Dave Hole (guitar), Ace Follington (dr), Murray Wilkins (bs) and Ross Partington (vcls); they moved to Melbourne in early 1968 to avail themselves of their prize, ostensibly recording and touring opportunities in the eastern states.

While in Melbourne, Dave Hole (long recognised as one of Australia's top blues perfprmers) quit The Beaten Tracks, to be replaced by Tasmanian guitarist Phil Manning (formerly of Tony Worsley & the Blue Jays, The Laurie Allen Revue and Bay City Union, among others) and the band returned to Perth, where they lost the services of Partington.

A return to Melbourne in December 1968 saw the group recruit ex-James Taylor Move singer Wendy Saddington, and the first incarnation of (The) Chain was established. Saddington was a blues/soul 'belter' in the vein of Janis Joplin and Aretha Franklin, and it was she who came up with the band's name, derived from Aretha's classic hit, "Chain Of Fools". Sadly, this line-up of Chain never recorded, Saddington having departed by May 1969 to join Copperwine, and later to forge an erratic but compelling solo career.

Chain relocated to Sydney in August and recruited bass player Tim Piper (ex-Chants R&B, Electric Heap, Wild Cherries) and legendary blind keyboardist Claude Papesch (who was also from Electric Heap, and who had been a member of Johnny Devlin & The Devils in New Zealand in the early '60s). This line-up stayed together long enough to record Chain's first single for Festival with house producer Pat Aulton -- "Show Me Home" b/w Morgan's "Mr Time", which was released in September. The single, while not a strong charter, convincingly displayed the group's abilities, and showed the strong and unmistakable influence of The Band -- who profoundly affected so many Aussie acts at the time -- as well as particularly showcasing Manning's fluid guitar style. The single is regarded by many as the earliest example of the "progressive" stance developing rapidly on the OzRock scene around this period.

Follington, Piper and Papesch left Chain late in '69, to form Savage Rose, and each went on to reputable careers in a number of other prominent bands. Chain moved back yet again to Melbourne, where its core hooked up with the ex-Wild Cherries rhythm section of Barry Sullivan (bass) and Barry Harvey (drums). Nick-named, respectively, "Big Goose" and "Little Goose", the two Barrys injected a 'fish-arse-tight' cohesion into the band's sound, and helped unveil what was to become the classic, and best-remembered Chain configuration, gaining considerable notice in the southern capital's burgeoning blues-rock performing circuit in the process. (text courtesy of Milesago)

Chain..Toward the Blues

                                        

Sid Rumpo....Rhythm and Blues band from Perth...First Offense album from 1974

Sid Rumpo were an Australian R'n'B group which formed in Perth in November 1971. They issued their debut album, First Offense, in April 1974 on Mushroom Records/Festival Records but disbanded by the end of that year. The band were formed by John Hood on lead guitar and harmonica (ex-Jelly Roll Bakers, Juke); Noel Herridge on drums (Adderley Smith Blues Band); Owen Hughes on bass guitar (Jelly Roll Bakers); Robert Searls on lead guitar and vocals; and Ken Wallace on piano. In 1972 they won the Western Australian state final in the Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds. 

They appeared at both the 1973 and 1974 Sunbury Pop Festivals. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, "one of the unique features of the band's sound was the use of dual, harmony guitar lines which had the effect of enhancing the natural spaciousness of the music. To top it off, Searls was one of the great gravel-throated blues wailers of the day".

click here for more information

                                        

Wendy Saddington and Copperwine Live 1971..rare release from sensual blues and soul vocalist

Wendy June Saddington also known as Gandharvika Dasi (26 September 1949 – 21 June 2013) was an Australian blues, soul and jazz singer, and was in the bands Chain, Copperwine and the Wendy Saddington Band. She wrote for teen pop newspaper Go-Set from September 1969 to September 1970 as an agony aunt in her weekly "Takes Care of Business" column, and as a feature writer. Saddington had Top 30 chart success with her 1972 solo single "Looking Through a Window", which was written and produced by Billy Thorpe and Warren Morgan of the Aztecs. After adopting Krishna Consciousness in the 1970s she took the name, Gandharvika Dasi. In March 2013 she was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer and died on 21 June 2013, aged 63. An underrated talent and very sad loss.

Wendy Saddington's musical influences included the likes of Bessie Smith, Etta James, Mahalia Jackson, Odetta, Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Janis Joplin, and the raw blues from the Mississippi delta, along with the swanky soul coming from the American Stax, Atlantic and Motown labels. There was also something of the vulnerability of Edith Piaf in Wendy's pleading, bleeding vocal entreaties.

Saddington first came to notice in Melbourne psych-soul outfit The Revolution, before swiftly joining Adelaide's psychedelic/classically flavoured James Taylor Move around late 1967. When Wendy joined the emerging blues-rock ensemble Beaten Tracks, which she named (The) Chain, after the song by one of her heroines, Aretha Franklin's soul classic, "Chain Of Fools". Wendy spent around 18 months touring with Chain, and it was during this time that her passionate, earth-mother Joplin/Franklin vocal style came to prominent notice among promoters and punters alike. Also, her 'outlandish' appearance attracted magazines like Go-Set: a sad waif-like face, heavily mascara-ed around the eyes, framed by the hugest of afro 'do' this side of Jimi's Experience! Wendy favoured simple Levi's, with a basic shirt or cheesecloth kaftan top, copiously accessorised with love-beads and bangles.

Saddington's next musical outing was with Jeff St John's highly acclaimed and well-established group, Copperwine, and it's here that we finally have an officially-released recording of her sublime vocal performances! Wendy joined the band in March 1970, just after the release of Copperwine's superb Joint Effort album, and she sang live as co-lead with St John for a concentrated touring regime through to February 1971. In January of that year, with St John temporarily away from the band, Saddington fronted Copperwine for their acclaimed performance at the Wallacia Festival on the central-coast of New South Wales.

A live recording of the event was released on Festival's new progressive subsidiary Infinity during '71, which showcased Copperwine's sympathetic backing sensibilities for Wendy's distinctive vocals. On such cuts as the funky opener, Nina Simone's "Backlash Blues", and her heartfelt reading of Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", Saddington continually astonishes with her sensual soul power. Another notable inclusion is Wendy's introspective and idiosyncratic reading of John Lennon's "Tomorrow Never Knows" (which Wendy introduces as a George Harrison composition!) Other highlights include "Five People Said I Was Crazy " (which, with its wild Ross East guitar solo, Barry Kelly's electric piano flourishes and Wendy's monumental banshee wail, certainly lives up to its title). The closing tour-de-force "Blues In A" completely satisfies the listener as a consummate combination of the music of one of Australia's premier all-purpose prog-blues bands of the time, with definitely one of our most unique and mesmerising blues-soul vocalists.

click here for more information

Introducing Sydney Blues Artist Gareth Jay

Gareth Jay is an independent Blues/Alternative musician based in Sydney, Australia. You can often find him performing across Sydney with his astonishing live looping, intricate guitar skills, complex vocals and funky harmonica skills known to keep his audiences at the edge of their seat.

Gareth has an intimate passion for blues and acoustic music, which is seen with his latest tracks “Blue, Blue Sky” and “FuhFuhFuh” featuring James Gillard. He derives influences from Albert King, Elliott Smith, Donovan, Carole King, The Beatles, and Dr John.

Previous career highlights include performing in Japan for 4 months, composing and performing for the Adelaide Fringe Festival, featuring on Tall Ships in Sydney Harbour, supporting Deisel at Lizotte's with his trio JayMayJane and travelling along the East Coast of Australia to play shows at various venues including the Tamworth Country Music Festival.

Website: http://www.reverbnation.com/garethjay

Soundcloud: www.soundcloud.com/garethjaymusic
YouTube: www.youtube.com/MrGarethJay

The La De Da's...first 3 albums 1966 - 1969.. New Zealand band who made success across the Tasman

Talented, sexy, sophisticated, adventurous, dynamic, innovative -- just some of the many tags that have been been attached to The La De Das' name. But one word was always associated with them more than any other - the La De Das were cool. 

Their career spans the entire '64-'75 period. Formed in New Zealand at the very start of the beat boom, they were already major stars at home when they relocated across the Tasman a couple of years later. They're practically the only major group (on either shore) to emerge from the beat boom of 1964-65 who managed to ride out the massive musical changes of the Sixties and adapt to the new scene in the Seventies, emerging as one of Australia's most popular hard rock groups during the first half of the Seventies. 

There are a lot of similarities to their Aussie contemporaries The Masters Apprentices. Both were touted as their country's answer to The Rolling Stones. Both survived for so long in that mercurial era because they had tons of talent, determination and the ability to adapt their sound and look to align with prevailing trends. Both groups went through major personnel changes -- by the time the Masters split, singer Jim Keays was the only remaining original member, and by the time of their final 1973-74 'power trio' incarnation, only guitarist and singer Kevin Borich remained from the original La De Das lineup. 

Like the Masters, they started off as blues/R'n'B purists, and their original style leaned heavily on British R'n'B practitioners - The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers - and on the American originals like John Lee Hooker, Elmore James and Muddy Waters. They moved into their 'mod' period - with covers of Ray Charles, Motown and Northern Soul favourites, replete with tartan trousers, satin shirts and buckle shoes. Then they plunged headlong into psychedelia (the obligatory concept album, covers of songs from West Coast outfits like Blues Magoos, paisley shirts, sitars, long hair and moustaches). They almost came unstuck after the inevitable -- and ultimately futile -- attempt to "make it in England". But it's here that the stories diverge -- the Masters fell apart in England in 1972, but the Las De Das survived (just) limped back to Australia, regrouped, and bounced back with a mature and reinvigorated take on their R'n'B roots. Their final incarnation as a hard-rockin', no-frills, blues & boogie band carried them very successfully through to the mid-70s.

Here are there first 3 albums which were all originally released in the sixties.

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1964 (formed as The Mergers) 

Phil Key (guitar, vocals) 

Trevor Wilson (bass) 

Kevin Borich (guitar, vocals) 

Brett Neilsen (drums, vocals) 

1965-67 

Phil Key (guitar, vocals) 

Trevor Wilson (bass) 

Kevin Borich (guitar, vocals) 

Brett Neilson (drums, vocals) 

Bruce Howard (keyboards) 

1968 

Phil Key (guitar, vocals) 

Trevor Wilson (bass) 

Kevin Borich (guitar, vocals) 

Bryan Harris (drums) 

Bruce Howard (keyboards) 

1968-70 

Phil Key (guitar, vocals) 

Trevor Wilson (bs) 

Kevin Borich (guitar, vocals) 

Keith Barber (drums) 

Bruce Howard (organ)

Renee Geyer..self-titled first album..1973..a hidden gem of blues and soul standards

Renée Rebecca Geyer (born 11 September 1953) has long been regarded as one of the finest exponents of jazz, soul and R'n'B idioms. She had commercial success as a solo artist in Australia, with "It's a Man's Man's World", "Heading in the Right Direction" and "Stares and Whispers" in the 1970's and "Say I Love You" in the 1980s. Geyer has also been an internationally respected and sought-after backing vocalist, whose session credits include work with Sting, Chaka Khan, Toni Childs and Joe Cocker.

In 2000, her autobiography, Confessions of a Difficult Woman, co-written with music journalist Ed Nimmervoll, was published. In her candid book, Geyer detailed her drug addictions, sex life and career in music. She described herself as "a white Hungarian Jew from Australia sounding like a 65-year-old black man from Alabama". She spent more than ten years based in the United States but had little chart success there. Geyer returned to Australia in the mid-1990s and her career has continued into the 21st century with her 2003 album, Tenderland, which peaked at #11 on the ARIA albums charts.

Rock historian Ian McFarlane described her as having a "rich, soulful, passionate and husky vocal delivery". Geyer's iconic status in the Australian music industry was recognised when she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame on 14 July 2005, alongside The Easybeats, Hunters & Collectors, Smoky Dawson, Split Enz and Normie Rowe. Geyer and fellow 1970's singer, Marcia Hines, are the subjects of Australian academic, Jon Stratton's 2008 Cultural Studies article, "A Jew Singing Like a Black Woman in Australia: Race, Renée Geyer, and Marcia Hines".

Her first album released in 1973 is a collection of blues and soul standards with tracks that were originally done by Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Joe Cocker, Bill Withers and Van Morrison. 

click here for more information

Great John Himself...roots rock from Melbourne..combining blues, ska and reggae

Great John Himself are a roots rock band, combining blues, ska, reggae and rock styles to develop a sound dedicated entirely to getting a crowd dancing and having a good time. 2013 has seen Great John Himself perform extensively at venues such as The Esplanade Hotel Front Bar and The Brunswick Hotel, develop a live show that has won them the Melbourne University Battle of the Bands and a position in the grand final of the FReeZA Push Start Battle Of The Bands at the Sydney Myer Music Bowl for Pushover 2014 and most recently, produce and record their debut EP which was launched at The Cornish Arms on December 7th 2013.

It has never been established who 'John' is, or what it is that makes him so particularly great. All that is for certain is that an ensemble of five males have emerged from Melbourne, Australia in his legacy to preach his message of good times and partying down, whilst refusing to conform to even the slightest of trends or expectations.

Marty's review: GJH have a unique sound that combines many elements of blues and roots music, with a few original features added in that make them stand out on their own. Soaring harmonica, tight and funky bass lines,chucka-wucka guitar licks, cool saxophone, sonic and spacey keyboards, quirky and sometimes amusing lyrics, a rollocking drum beat and vocals by all members that round out their combined talents. One thing these guys sound like they're doing is having lots of fun! Take some time out and listen to and/or download their debut EP.

listen to their 5 track EP here: http://greatjohnhimself.bandcamp.com/album/great-john-himself
...and find out more on Facebook: www.facebook.com/greatjohnhimself

Great John Himself  are:

Edward Williams - Vocals, Saxophone 
Francis Tait - Harmonica, Guitar, Vocals 
Damon Perillo - Bass Guitar, Guitar, Vocals 
William Fleming - Keys, Vocals 
Benjamin Borrelli - Drum Kit, Vocals

Cash Savage and The Last Drinks...The Hypnotiser...dark, country blues that cuts deep

Acclaimed jewel of dark country blues Cash Savage, and her band The Last Drinks, released their second LP The Hypnotiser on Friday 2 August. This stunning recording balances the soulful confessions of Cash’s compelling tales with evocative strings, triumphant horns, a 45-voice choir and the band leader’s impassioned cries of love, loss and despair.

The suite of songs on The Hypnotiser is at once beautiful, rugged, reckless, despairing, gentle, desperate, loving and raw. The cohesiveness of the words and music is a more collaborative effort than on the band’s debut album, Wolf [2011]. Having spent the gulf between albums on the road — in country theatres, urban venues, the Famous Speigeltent, Meredith Music Festival, Port Fairy Folk Festival and the willow-shrouded Riverboats Music Festival alongside Pete Murray, Clare Bowditch and James Reyne — the once fluid Last Drinks lineup has solidified. Together this group of musicians has created a work that alludes to an undercurrent of drunken kinship polished with hard yards, while still retaining the soul for which Cash is known.

Engineered by Melbourne-based Japanese-born Nao Anzai and produced by Nick Finch from Graveyard Train, Cash commenced recording with none of the preconceptions that framed Wolf. The result is a searingly honest, powerful release of uncompromising heartbreak and unbound love that becomes more alive and personal with each listen.

listen to the album here: https://soundcloud.com/savage-drinks/sets/the-hypnotiser/s-hV8uP
see also: http://cashsavage.com.au/

                                           

                               

Kahvas Jute...Wide Open..progressive rock from 70's Sydney band

Kahvas Jute were a progressive/hard rock group, based in Sydney, and were active initially between 1970-74. Their album "Wide Open" is renowned for the stunning guitar playing and the strength of the songwriting. The band went on to become one of the finest acts of the era, but they never recorded again until mid 2005 when they decided to reform and try out a few new songs , much in the vein of their original album.

Musically, the album fits somewhere between the likes of Cream and Blodwyn Pig, with nods in the direction of Led Zeppelin, the Jeff Beck Group etc. It's a very English sound, but far from being a slavish copy of the overseas role-model the album bears a uniquely Australian flavour. The tightly structured songs and the superb guitar work of Dennis Wilson and Tim Gaze combine to place the record head-high in the progressive stakes. Furthermore the whole shebang is held together by the restlessly exploratory bass style of the great Bob Daisley and the muscular, yet agile drum patterns of Dannie Davidson.

There was no hype to the band, just an unpretentious bunch of musicians capable of producing inventive and enduring music. Not only did the band earn a reputation as one of the best live bands of the period, they also released one of the great Aussie progressive albums in Wide Open. As the title suggests, Wide Open is a free-flowing, expansive blending of rock, jazz and blues, with a touch of folk thrown in for good measure, a hard-as-nails progressive blues rock extravaganza strong on rhythm and melody, and bristling with exceptional guitar interplay.

After their demise in 1974, Wilson joined Chariot, Davidson went on to session work and Daisley moved to England and became bassist with outfits like Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow ,Gary Moore Band, Widowmaker  and Ozzy Osbourne 's Blizzard Of Ozz. There is much discussion that Bob Daisley is the highest record selling Australian artist of all time...
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CREDITS
Dannie Davidson - Drums
Dennis Wilson - Guitar
Tim Gaze - Guitar, Vocals
Bob Daisley - Bass

WIDE OPEN