Saturday, April 30, 2016

Ned Kelly's Cousins "Songs from the Land Down Under" Cassette 1997

I found this cassette at a book fair and I cannot find out anything about it other than what appears on the cassette information and that the National Library of Australia has a disc copy of the album. It looks like an album aimed primarily at an overseas market and/or as a souvenir for overseas visitors.

According to the cassette information, the album was recorded and mixed in Sydney and thanks are also offered to personnel at Cooneys Tavern in Wollongong. The band members are identified as:-
1. John Baxter - vocals and accordian (sounds Irish presumably related to next person)
2. Peter Baxter - producer, vocals, guitar and bouzouki and writer of one song on the album (Ned Kelly) - extremely likely to be the Irish performer at this link.
3. Alan Morrison - vocals , bass and guitar
4. Johnny Spillane - backing vocals, whistles. lager phone (sic), harmonica and bodhran. Now identified as an Irish expat from County Cork still resident in Wollongong. (see two visitors' comments below)
5. Gregg Stevens - vocals, guitar, mandolin and bouzouki (Australian?)

Can anyone help with further information on this group, its members and the circumstances surrounding the creation of this album? There is a strong Irish influence overall.

The tracks are traditional except where authors identified below.

Tracklist
1. The Overlander
2. Ryebuck shearers
3. Waltzing Matilda (Qld version)
4. The Wild Colonial Boy
5. Ned Kelly (P. Baxter)
6. Across the Western Plains
7. The Wild Rover
8. Black Velvet Band
9. Click go the Shears
10. Since Then (Henry Lawson)
11. Lachlan Tigers
12. South Australia
13. The Pub with no Beer (Gordon Parsons)
14. Botany Bay
15. Moreton Bay

If the below download link fails contact me by comment below or, preferably, email me at mr.stockman@gmail.com. download file needs to be decompressed.

Click here to download compressed album file containing graphics. MP3 @224-256VBR 66Mb.

2 comments:

  1. A different Johnny Spillane, I'm afraid. The one on this album is from Cork, though Wollongong based for many years. See https://www.facebook.com/john.spillane.904

    ReplyDelete
  2. Johnny Spillane from Wollongong has been involved over many years with musical and Celtic heritage projects, most recently as a member of the band Riogh and, at this year's National Folk Festival, with the well-received 1916 Uprising presentation. Definitely him on this album. I'm sure he would be happy to fill you in on the circumstances of this recording...

    Thanks for posting, Paul.

    ReplyDelete