Wombats Bush Band "The Bush Dance Album" 1988 Cassette

Again, we owe a vote of thanks to the Victorian Bush Folkie for this rip. This cassette tape was obviously in very good condition and my contribution was to simply remove tape and equipment noise and to encode the tracks.

There are about 48 separate dance tunes in this album in 11 tracks with each track representing a particular dance style. Many of the tracks also include vocal renditions. The tunes are mainly a mix of British and Australian standards e.g. Waves of Tory, Maire's Wedding, Starry Night for a Ramble, Back again to Yarrawonga. I have included details of the tunes for each track in the "comment" tag and they are also listed in the included graphics.

I have no idea who the performers were and, if you know, please let us know. The quality of the music is very good. It is a well produced album.

Tracklist (medleys)
1. Oxo Reel
2. Pride of Erin
3. Seige of Ennis
4. Evening Three Step
5. Heel and Toe Polka
6. Barn Dance
7. Wombat Polka
8. Irish Trot
9. Waltz Country Dance
10. Gay Gordons
11. Gallopede

Downloads are compressed files including the cassette graphics.
Click here to download MP3 224-256VBR version  64MB
Click here to download FLAC (lossless) version  309MB
Either file needs to be decompressed before playing.
Link no longer available? Then tell mr.stockman@gmail.com and I will re-up the file.

Liz and John Munro "Family Favourites" LP 1985

I have received two rips of this album. I have mainly used the one from Michael as it was slightly cleaner and he had already did some good work on it. I used a part of the other rip from the Victorian Bush Folkie to patch in a missing section (track jump) on one track. Thanks fellows, you make a life a bit easier.

There are some very good tracks on this album but the stand-out is Liz Munro's treatment of Eric Bogle's "Safe in the Harbour" which is a tribute to the famed Canadian singer/songwriter Stan Rogers. Incidentally, if you like the more contemporary folk singers like Bogle, I highly recommend the music of Stan Rogers. He's very good.

Liz and John are Scottish expats with a long association with the Aussie folk scene. John regularly accompanies Eric Bogle.

Tracklist
1. Safe in the Harbour
2. Celtic Medley (instrumental)
3. Laundromat Lover
4. Open your Heart
5. The Rose
6. Heights of Alma
7. Coilsfield House (instrumental)
8, Lord Franklin
9. The Bonnie Maid of Fife
10. Snowball (instrumental)
11. Mary Parker's Lament

Sorry - no FLAC available.
Click here to download compressed file MP3 192-224VBR.  58MB
Will need to be decompressed. Downloads not available - then tell me mr.stockman@gmail.com and I will put it up again,

Captain Crabbe and the Gnomes "All abound for Sydney Town!" LP 1976

This is another album provided by the Victorian Bush Folkie. Thanks again.

What a strange name for a folk group. It is also intriguing that the album graphics do not include any details of the individual performers. Surely some of our blog visitors will be able to provide some details on the who, what and why of this group.

February 2017 - Tony Suttor has come to our rescue with some details. These three were the original team of "minstrels"at "Old Sydney Town" but only the two "garden gnomes", Eric Thompson (pictured with guitar) and David Hodgson Hogston (see comments), were still there when Tony Suttor joined Old Sydney Town in 1976. The dog Patch belonged to Eric. "Captain Crabbe" and the horse remain unidentified. David composed the last three listed instrumentals. In the 1980s the duo perfromed at the Argyle Tavern in The Rocks, Sydney. Many thanks Tony.

April 2017 "Captain Crabbe" has been identified as Vernon McGrath (see comments)

This album was definitely recorded and produced in Australia but I notice that, with two exceptions, the tracks are as much at home in the British Isles as in Australia. The major exception, Little Fishy a.k.a. Little Fish, is strongly Australian but this is the first time that I have heard anyone sing it other than as a lullaby. The second exception is Sydney Town and I have no idea as to its origin.

Anyway, that is of little concern because the group performs very well both instrumentally and vocally. The vinyl was obviously in good condition and the tracks required very little editing. There is a good mix of songs and instrumentals.

Please note that the track Lusty Young Blacksmith has extensive sexual innuendo and the track Ho Boy Hey Boy is sexually explicit and very politically improper in respect of the female gender. You have been warned - in no way do I endorse the content..

Tracklist
1. Bonnie Dundee - instrumental
2. 10,000 miles
3. Sydney Town
4. Maggie May
5. Botany Bay
6. Drunken sailor
7. Little fishy
8. Molly Malone
9. Foggy foggy dew (English traditional - not Irish rebellion)
10. Molly McInstry – instrumental
11. Billy O'Donnell O'Day
12. The keel row – instrumental
13. Wild Rover
14. Lusty young blacksmith
15. Black velvet band
16. Four Mary's
17. Patsy Fagan
18. Ho boy hey boy
19. Flying pie man – instrumental
20. Sam Hall
21. Home boys home – instrumental
22. Thoughts by a stream – instrumental
23. Waterfall – instrumental
24. March of the gnomes – instrumental

Click here to begin downloading the MP3 version 59 MB 224 – 256 VBR

Click here is you prefer to download the FLAC version from MediaFire (206MB).

In all cases, you need to decompress the files in order to get the individual folders and tracks for playing.
Download fails? - contact mr.stockman@gmail.com and I will re-up the files.

Shearers Nightmare "Burning Sleepers" LP 1984

This is another rip from the Victorian Bush Folkie. Thanks again.

The members of Shearers Nightmare were Marsh Robinson, Barbara Bowman, Rob Brock, Paul Keating and Mick McGinty. The band appears to have been based in Rockhampton, Queensland. They brought a lot of enthusiasm to this very eclectic album both vocally and instrumentally. There are only two Australian traditionals, namely, Goorianawa, and The Sandy Maranoa both done at a gallop and with some frantic spoon playing. Crossing the Razorback is about the trek to the gold rush to Mount Morgan. Yeppoon Song is a protest about the Japanese tourist resort at Yeppoon. Draglines protests about the mechanisation of coal mining causing unemployment for miners in Central Queensland. There are three obvious comedy tracks and two more having a love life angle. Agnes Waters Dreamin' is well done, easy listening, and also protesting about wrecking of scenic wilderness. Burning Sleepers is an unaccompanied  monologue. In the midst of this array, they have included a performance of the Celtic standard Arthur McBride. The album content is all a bit shambolic.

This was a Larrikin release in 1984. The LP was obviously in good condition and the tracks required only minimal editing - mostly for the removal of vinyl and equipment noise.

Tracklist
1.  Goorianawa
2. I like pies
3. Crossin' the Razorback
4. Arthur McBride
5. Agnes Waters Dreamin'
6. Yeppoon Song
7. Kate
8. South Wind Neon Lighs
9. Draglines
10. I don't think drinkin' beer agrees with me.
11. Wot makes ya bad makes ya better
12. Burning Sleepers
13. Sandy Maranoa

Download with graphics
Click here for MP3 224-256 VBR version 60MB
Click here for FLAC (lossless) version 183MB
The file you download will need to be decompressed (unzipped)
File no longer available? Contact mr.stockman@gmail.com and I will re-up it.

Various Artists "Newcastle Folk Festival 1974"

Tony Suttor - festival performer 1974

Some time ago, I had a .wav rip of the "Newcastle Folk Festival 1974" passed on to me by a friend. (Just to alert our international visitors -  this Newcastle is in New South Wales)

The album suffers from all the usual problems with folk festival recordings back in the sixties and seventies - limited recording facilities and editing facilities. It appears that the vinyl did not have all that many problems itself. I only had to do minimal editing of the rip but the overall sound quality is very ordinary in parts. One very annoying feature was that there was a lot of applause included on the album after each number and it was not only "canned applause" but it was the same for each performance and on "fade" it sounded like a gurgling drain. I have severely reduced the amount of applause just to keep within the "live" performance spirit.

There are some good performances on this album despite the recording and production problems and some songs and talented performers that we have not heard elsewhere.
I do not have any graphics for the album so I have included a far more modern photo of Tony Suttor who was one of the performers on the day.

Additional February 2017
Coincidentally, Tony Suttor has rectified the absence of any album graphics by providing a photo of his cover - it is an 8" square plain paper sheet glued to the front. It does provide some additional information. Two of the listed "officials, promoters, organisers etc" are still active in the folk world. Norm Merrigan runs The Turning Wave folk festival in Yass. Pam Merrigan is the current "boss cocky" and long-time Artist Director at the National Folk Festival.

Please note: You can save this graphic by right-clicking on it and then choosing to save it. This graphic is not included in the download package.

Tracklist
Side One
    01. Lady Chatterly's Lover - Chris Cady
    02. Love Song to a Stranger - Fay Davis
    03. Hal 'n' Tow - Jolly Rumbylowe
    04. Right of the Line - Maureen Cummuskey (great poem/song by the late Dermott Ryder)
    05. Rise Up Jock - Tony Suttor & Andy Saunders
    06. Rovin' Gambler - Tim Glover
    07. Motor Car Song - Peter Mitchell
Side Two
    01. Shake That Thing - Chris Cady
    02. Starry Night for a Ramble - Sydney Ducks Push Band
    03. Broom of Cowdenknowes - Jolly Rumbylowe
    04. Dark Eyed Rovers (Child 200)- Colin Dryden
    05. The Tailor and the Mouse - Libby & Micky
    06. Calton Weaver - Tom Rummery
    07. My Faithful Johnny - Tony Suttor & Andy Saunders
    08. Polly Put the Kettle On - Tom, Kate, Jacko & Colin
    09. Wild Mountain Thyme - All lead by Tom Rummery

Click here to download compressed file MP3 224-256 VBR 49MB
The file will need to be decompressed before playing.
Link fails: Please tell me at mr.stockman@gmail.com

Martyn Wyndham-Read "Harry the Hawker is Dead" LP 1973

This rip has been provided by one of regular visitors to the blog. Many thanks from all of us.

This 1973 LP has been kept in good condition and the tracks are very enjoyable. It contained a mix of British and Australian folk songs as follows:-

01. Jones's Ale
02. Perry Merry Winkle Dominie
03. The Sailor Home from the Sea
04. Harry the Hawker is dead
05. Bluey Brink
06. The Female Rambling Sailor
07. Lachlan Tigers
08. Ginny on the Moor
09. Cane Cutter's Lament
10. The The Bullockie's Ball
11. The Shearer's Lament
12. Christ was born in Bethlehem.

Download with Graphics mediafire  MP3 128 VBR. 47MB

It is a compressed file which need decompressing before playing,
If the download link fails please contact mr.stockman@gmail.com so I can re-up the file.