Tully formed in Sydney in late 1968, and along with Tamam Shud they were the doyens of the Sydney underground/progressive scene in the late 60's and early '70s. Their lyrical and expansive music and their interest in mysticism and esoteric philosophy was at some remove from the earthy blues/boogie ethos of contemporaries like The Aztecs, but they built up a strong following on the Sydney underground scene and the Melbourne concert circuit. Tully's members were all highly accomplished multi-instrumentalists, with years of experience behind them, and this musical breadth quickly earned them a reputation as one of the most adventurous and polished concert bands of the period.
They originally signed with EMI and their excellent self-titled debut LP was released on the Columbia label in July 1970; it charted well, spending eight weeks in the Top 40 and peaking at #8. Around this time Michael Carlos became the proud owner of one of the first Moog synthesisers to be brought into Australia, and they became the first local band to use one in live performance. Such was the public profile of Dr Bob's new instrument (thanks to The Beatles, the Beach Boys and Walter Carlos) that Tully's concerts were co-billed as "Tully and The Moog".
In 1971 Tully moved to EMI's new progressive label Harvest, and released their only single, the spiritually inspired Krishna Came / Lord Baba which came out in May. This was followed in June by their second LP Sea Of Joy, the soundtrack to the surf film of the same name by Paul Witzig, who had also previously worked with Tamam Shud. The band had stockpiled enough material prior to the split for EMI to compile a third and final LP which was released in 1972 as the album Loving Is Hard.
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Colin Campbell (guitar) 1971-72
Michael Carlos (keyboards)
Graham Conlan (bass) 1969
Richard Lockwood (flute/sax/clarinet/piano) 1968-72
John Blake (bass) 1968-69
Ken Firth (bass) 1970-72
Shayna (Karlin) Stewart (vocals) 1971-72
Robert Taylor (drums) 1968-70
text courtesy of Milesago
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