classic and rare Australian popular music from the 1950's, 1960's. 1970's and beyond..including rock and roll, pop, beat, rock, surf and progressive, plus contemporary artists, new releases, reviews and other fun stuff
Morning of the Earth is arguably the first surf movie that went beyond waves and into something of a (wordless) meditation on life based on surfing. The film is a product of it's time (very early '70's - first years of shortboard transition) and is full of back-to-the-country hippy vibes as well as some beautifully filmed surfing on Australian, Hawaian and Bali waves. The soundtrack is therefore a mixed bag of Australasian country folk (G.Wayne Thomas, Brian Cadd) and psychedelic prog-rock (Taman Shud). Like the film the soundtrack is a bit of a time machine back to a by-gone era. It is for the nostalgic or those wanting a good compilation of early 70's Australasian psych-folk stuff. The film is still one of the all-time classic surf movies too so check it out. (Amazon review) Very few soundtrack recordings give themselves to anything more than a passing link to the film as a movie soundtrack should. Morning Of The Earth defies that definition! it cleverly assembles (in that era) Australia's finest musicians and makes a group statement through the music of a land that existed once where you could grab a change of shorts a board and a couple of cassettes in the panel van and head on up the coast! (discogs review)
Tracklist: –G. Wayne ThomasMorning Of The Earth5:09 –Terry HanniganI'll Be Alright4:05 –Taman ShudFirst Things First4:09 –Brian CaddSure Feels Good3:44 –G. Wayne ThomasOpen Up Your Heart3:41 –John J. FrancisSimple Ben7:41 –Taman ShudBali Waters6:13 –Brian CaddMaking It On Your Own6:00 –G. Wayne ThomasDay Comes2:55 –Taman ShudSea The Swells6:13 –Peter Howe I'm Alive3:41 –Brian CaddCome With Me4:56
Formed in Melbourne in 1969 by Brian Cadd and Don Mudie, both former members of leading Melbourne popsters The Groop, Axiom were arguably Australia's first true supergroup. Besides his success with The Groop, Brian Cadd wrote hits for other acts, including "Elevator Driver" for the Master's Apprentices and "When I Was Only Six Years Old" for Ronnie Burns and both he and Mudie worked as session players on a number of important recordings including the Russell Morris' classics "The Real Thing" and "Part III into Paper Walls". After linking up in The Groop, Mudie and Cadd formed a successful songwriting partnership that carried on through Axiom and beyond. Glenn Shorrock was the former lead singer of The Twilights; Lavery was from Perth's (in)famous The Valentines; Stockley was from leading Melbourne group Cam-Pact. Axiom signed to Ron Tudor's Fable Records. Their first single "Arkansas Grass" (co-written by Cadd and Mudie) was an immediate hit, reaching #7 in December 1969. Cadd, like many other Aussie musicians, had been deeply influenced by the trend towards a fusion of country and folk elements with rock. Songs like "Arkansas Grass" show how well and how quickly Axiom mastered the idiom. Their second single "Little Ray of Sunshine" shot to #5 in April 1970 and has since become a standard. Their first two Axiom singles are rightly considered classics, and the latter, a perennial favourite, has become one of Glenn Shorrock's trademark songs. It was followed by Axiom's brilliant debut LP Fools Gold, which was both widely praised and a significant commercial success, reaching #18 on the album chart in June. Fool's Gold unquestionably ranks as one of the best and most original Aussie albums of the period. It was also a significant step forward in creative control, being one of the very first Australian rock albums released on a major label that was produced by the artists themselves. Axiom deserve to be recognised as an important musical bridge between Sixties pop and Seventies rock in Australia, as one of the first serious attempts to make Australian rock with international appeal, and as one of the finest bands of their time. "Arkansas Grass" "Baby Bear" "Ford's Bridge" "Samantha" "Take It Or Leave It" "A Little Ray Of Sunshine" "Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow" "Mansfield Hotel" "Can't Let Go Of This Feeling" "Country Pickin' " "Once A Month Country Race Day" "Fool's Gold" "Who Am I Gonna See?" (All songs by Mudie-Cadd) Produced by Axiom Recorded at Armstrong's Studios, Melbourne Brian Cadd (keyboards, vocals) Doug Lavery (drums) 1969 Don Lebler (drums) 1969-71 Don Mudie (bass) Glenn Shorrock (vocals) Chris Stockley (guitar) click here for more information
Before the Little River Band there was Mississippi. They evolved from Adelaide folk-rock band called Alison Gros, a trio consisting of Graeham Goble, Russ Johnson and John Mower. Alison Gros recorded one independent single ("Naturally" / "Would You Really Have To Go?") on the Gamba label in 1970. The band then moved to Melbourne and signed to Ron Tudor's Fable Records, for whom they cut two more singles in 1971, "If I Ask You" / "So Good" (July) and "All The Days" / "Weaver Of Life" (December).
In early 1972, Alison Gros changed their name to Mississippi. They recorded their excellent self-titled debut LP with the addition of session players Peter Jones (piano), Geoff Cox (drums), Barry Sullivan (bass, ex-Chain) and Graham Lyall (flute). It was released in September that year on Fable's new Bootleg imprint, a subsidiary label recently set by Tudor and musician Brian Cadd. The Mississippi album showcased the band's considerable vocal abilities and Goble and Johnson's strong writing skills. The material and the tight harmonizing showed the influence of groups like The Hollies, The Bee Gees, Crosby and Stills, Nash & Young. Their debut single "Kings of the World" (released in July) became a Top 10 hit in October.
There were several more lineup changes, beginning in February 1973 when Russ Johnson left to join Country Radio; he was replaced for a month by Kerryn Tolhurst (who had himself just left Country Radio). When Tolhurst left to form The Dingoes he was replaced by Harvey James. Their next single, "Early Morning" / "Sweet World" was released in July '73, and in October they supported The Jackson Five on their Australian tour. When the tour ended, Deleuca and Mower both left the band. Deluca was replaced first by bassist Andre Santos, then by Charlie Tumahai (ex- Healing Force, Chain, Friends) in December.
In January 1975 they put together a new lineup, adding classically-trained guitarist and arranger Rick Formosa and bassist Roger McLachlan and began gigging. For the first few months they performed as Mississippi, but on the way to a gig in Geelong, Victoria, they decided to change the name to The Little River Band, which they took from a signpost along the road. The rest is History - under the guidance of Glenn Wheatley, LRB were the first Australian band to successfully break through into the American market, and became one of the greatest international successes in Australian music history.
Founding member Russ Johnson died in Adelaide on 15 September 2007 after suffering a stroke.
The Groop, Mark I, 1964-66 Peter Bruce (guitar) Peter McKeddie (vocals) Max Ross (bass) Richard Wright (drums, vocals) One of many "two-phase" groups that featured in the Aussie rock scene of the 60s, the first incarnation of The Groop emerged from Melbourne's thriving performing circuit in 1966, with a unique sound which hinged around a mixed repertoire of soul classics, big beat numbers and whimsical originals from all four members. The Groop originated as The Wesley Three, a folk trio formed by school friends from Melbourne's exclusive Wesley College, Peter McKeddie, Max Ross and Richard Wright.The Wesley Three signed with CBS Australia label in 1964 and released a single, an EP and an album. The Wesley Three evolved into The Groop in 1965 with the addition of English-born guitarist Peter Bruce, who was recruited through a 'musicians wanted' ad in a music shop window. The Groop drew on a range of diverse musical influences including jug-band and Cab Calloway-style "jump" music, as well as zany vaudeville/cabaret material. After signing to CBS in 1965 they released their first two singles, "Ol' Hound Dog" and the double-entendre laden "The Best In Africa". Although considered by some as frivolous novelty records, they proved very popular both with radio programmers and the buying public, and both made the Top 20 in Melbourne. Their self-titled debut album (CBS 1965) featured several witty originals, together with covers of staples like Them's "Gloria"; it sold in respectable numbers, particularly in their hometown, where they were feted as a top-drawer live attraction, strongly supported by regular airplay on Melbourne radio stations 3UZ and 3AK, TV appearances and consistently favourable and prominent coverage from the fledgling Go-Set magazine.
The new lineup made its recording debut in late '66 with a storming rendition of Solomon Burke's "Sorry" (b/w Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love"), scoring a national Top 10 hit. Both live and on record, Ronnie Charles' gritty, soulful voice was the undoubted focus (not to mention his dark, sultry looks that appealed to a growing contingent of young lady followers) but the new Groop proved to be an extremely tight, musically dextrous and creative pop band, each of whose members contributed to the songwriting.
In May 1967 saw the release of the soul-inflected, reverb-drenched "Woman You're Breaking Me" (b/w "Mad Over You", which was written by, and heavily featured drummer Richard Wright, with organist Brian Cadd. This was a major hit -- #6 in Melbourne, #12 in Sydney -- and even charting in some key American centres when it was put out by Columbia Records there. The single was followed by an album of the same name. It was a strong collection of originals and well-chosen covers that were mostly drawn from the band's current popular performing repertoire. It's also notable as one of the first Australian pop LPs to be recorded in stereo.
The peak of The Groop's career came in July, when they took out the grand prize in the Hoadleys' Battle of the Sounds, competition, ahead of other worthy finalists like The Questions, James Taylor Move and Gus & the Nomads. After their tenth single, a fine soul-inflected groover called "You Gotta Live Love" / "Sally's Mine", was ignored, The Groop abruptly broke up mid-year. In late 1969, Don Mudie and Brian Cadd teamed with former Twilight Glenn Shorrock to create one of Australia's first supergroups, Axiom, who achieved considerable success with a batch of strong singles and two superb LPs.
