MP3rip@192-224VBR
One of the blog's kind supporters made and sent me .wav files for this very rare two LP set. I am informed that its 34 tracks (32 folk songs, 1 comedy song and one anthem) were recorded in a Sydney studio over three days in 1974 and released on the American "Dyna" label about two weeks later (Serial no. CD2019).
I know that this hasty approach sounds very "rough and ready" but it also captures the true essence of this type of music (along with the occasional cough and side remark). With a couple of exceptions, I have been thoroughly charmed by this double album set and I think many of you will feel exactly the same. Sadly, a couple of the tracks have not cleaned up as well as I would like
Singers appearing on this set are, John Currie, Anne Cochrane, Lee Williams, Kate Delaney, Maureen Cummuskey and Tony Suttor. Additional musical backing was provided by Don Hopkins on harmonica and piano accordion, Tony Suttor on button accordion, Chris Duffy on banjo and mandolin and George Cliff on bush bass. Cliff Atkinson was the producer.
John Currie with his strong Irish accent does a great job on those songs where an Irish connection is often suggested, accurately or otherwise, e.g. Wild Colonial Boy, Black Velvet Band, Denis O'Reilly and Shores of Botany Bay but the strong brogue is a bit off-putting in bush songs such as 1000 Miles Away and Click Go the Shears. However, he does a great job of The Old Bullock Dray where his brogue is nowhere so evident but I don't like his Flash Jack from Gundagai. Overall, I highly recommend this music, it has a 'folky' naturalness rarely achieved elsewhere. The songs, listed under their singers, are:-
John Currie - Click go the Shears, Wild Colonial Boy, Old Bullock Dray, Black Velvet Band, Shores of Botany Bay, Wild Rover, Flash Jack from Gundagai, Look Out Below, Denis O'Reilly, 1000 Miles Away, Canine Catastrophe (comedy), and All for Me Grog.
Anne Cochrane - Botany Bay, Wallaby Stew, Waltzing Matilda, Moreton Bay, Lime Juice Tub, Advance Australia Fair, Dying Stockman, Convict Maid, and Bold Jack Donahue.
Lee Williams - The Overlander, Ned Kelly, Traveling Down the Castlereagh, Cockies of Bungaree, The Catalpa, The Streets of Forbes, and The Ryebuck Shearer.
Kate Delaney - Banks of the Condamine (we need more from this lass)
Maureen Cummuskey and Tony Suttor - Lazy Harry's
Maureen Cummuskey - Euabalong Ball, Springtime It Brings on the Shearing, and Drover's Dream.
Tony Suttor - Bluey Brink
Download compressed file including the 34 tracks and graphics
Click here for MP3 version 192-224VBR - 128MB
Click here for FLAC (lossless) version - 475MB
File must be decompressed to extract music tracks and graphic files.
Link failed? Then please contact mr.stockman@gmail.com
Many thanks to all who contributed to this fine album. I also have this album but had not managed to rip it.
ReplyDeleteWow, I had this album as a kid. I don't know what ever happened to it, but I'd hazard a guess that my Mum chucked it out.
ReplyDeleteDamn.
My mate ripped this album for me but I downloaded your's because 3 of the songs had nasty skips so Iwas hoping yours were ok. So thanks for that.
ReplyDeleteHowever, you're missing some songs that I have,
Old Bark Hut,
Bound for South Australia
Bullockies Ball
Eumarella Shore,
Maggie May,
Jim Jones at Botany Bay
Nine Miles from Gundagi
Van Diemens Land
I can send you all of them except Eumarella Shore which has a nasty skip and I was hoping to get a clean copy from yours lol.
Are you interested and where should I send them to?
Regards
The Pirate
Hello to the Pirate and welcome to the blog. I'm somewhat intrigued by your message. The graphic of the total LP cover "Treasury of Australian Song cover" has a complete list of the tracks on both LPs - 34 in all which accords with the number of tracks I posted and with the notice on the front "34 Glorious Songs". Those tracks you mention do not appear on either of the two LPs and, as far as I know, this set was only issued once as an LP (there is also a two cassette set).
ReplyDeleteDid your mate slip in a few extras or was their an issue with bonus tracks?
Regardless, I'm quite happy to receive these tracks especially the "Bullockies Ball" as, although I know of it, I have never possessed a copy or even heard it sung.
The easiest way to do transfers is to bundle them into a zip file, upload to Rapidshare, Megaupload or similar, and then let me know where to get them. My email address is mr.stockman@gmail.com.
Many thanks for your interest.
Dear Paul the Stockman
ReplyDeleteI have the 2 cassette set and there seems to be a difference between the LP and the cassettes. I have been trying to find the artists names because they were not included on the covers for the cassettes. I am glad that there are others out there that enjoy the music as much as I do.
Those extras you mention appear only on the Cassette set and they were definitely not part of the original production. The performers remain unknown and the tracks are awful IMHO. My guess is that the producers of the cassette set hired a group of singers to do those extra tracks just to fill the set out to 20 songs a cassette.
ReplyDeleteI had the cassettes as well, Lost one when my player was stolen, lost the other loaning it to the music teacher... but if you had 34 songs and the other gentle has 8 that makes 42...:-)
DeleteThat's odd, I have the 2LP version that was purchased new by my parents back in 1974 and these songs are definitely on it!
DeleteOld Bark Hut,
Bound for South Australia
Bullockies Ball
Eumarella Shore,
Maggie May,
Jim Jones at Botany Bay
Nine Miles from Gundagi
Van Diemens Land
Wonderful to come across this blog. As the producer I can verify the three day recording session. I believe I have a mint copy will try to post it. Comments appreciated. As an aside it sold over 100,000 copies and I still have the platinum discs on my study wall. Presented to us by Al Grassby in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House.
ReplyDeleteCliff Atkinson
It was certainly a great job you did Cliff and many thanks for the supportive comments. I've actually obtained the LP set for myself but I have not checked it out yet but if you have a mint copy, that would be great. I can be contacted direct on mr.stockman@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteI adore John Currie's authentic brogue. It is a sound you would have heard a lot of in Australia back in the 19th century. There were definitely two pressings of this album, with some extra songs on the second pressing. I have both. Condition OK.
ReplyDeleteI have heard those six "extra songs" on the later re-release of the album by the same name. My opinion is that these tracks were used to fill the album out to 40 tracks for marketing purposes. They stand out from the original 34 tracks in that:-
ReplyDeleteThey have been recorded using better facilities;
No one of my association can identify the group or singers (they were certainly none of the original performers); and
Their music is competent but, in a folk sense, quite bland and definitely lacks the authentic sense of the original tracks.
So, can anyone tell me who the artists of these six extra tracks are?
Just to add that the additional eight are as listed by The Pirate. Two from the original Dyna pressing were deleted (Advance Australia Fair and Canine Catastrophe) from the later (late 70's?) J&B pressing.
ReplyDeleteI have the later version of these LPs and have downloaded the 34 tracks, so I can ejoy them in the car etc, as I no longer have a record player. Does anyone have the MP3 versions of the 6 tracks mention above or know from where I can download them.
ReplyDeleteOld Bark Hut,
Bound for South Australia
Bullockies Ball
Eumarella Shore,
Maggie May,
Jim Jones at Botany Bay
Nine Miles from Gundagi
Van Diemens Land.
email address alancuff@bigpond.com.
Thanks to Paul for the 34 MP3s - very much appreciated.
Regards
Alan
Paul the Stockman, I just want to say thanks for this. I own the cassettes and have done since I was a teenager in the 80's. My cassette has broken and I've tried to look for this on iTunes and other music programs but eventually gave up. However, tonight it was on my mind again and decided to google it. Your blog was the first on the list and I'm glad I came by. As I type I'm listening to the tracks and it brings back great memories. Thanks again for uploading this file and sharing with everyone, I have truly missed listening to this music. Great job.
ReplyDeleteHi
ReplyDeleteLee Williams here - yep, same one as sings on the record. I also played guitar on a lot of the tracks. Nice to hear from Cliff Atkinson after all these years. How ya going, Cliff? The album was indeed recorded quickly, at Col Joye's studio in Glebe as I remember. Now - I've played on hundreds of tracks and albums since, and Cliff's production style was unique in my experience. We would rehearse a song for about ten minutes, all mikes open of course, and when we felt roughly ready, we'd shout through to the control room to do a take. Then Cliff would say "We've got that one already. Next . . ." That probably accounts for the 'rough and ready 'folky naturalness'observed above. just about every track is a 'rehearsal'. Discerning ears may also be able to pick out which tunes were done early in the sessions, and which later, as refreshments were taken liberally, and somewhat more seriously than the actual recording process.
Thanks very much for that additional information Lee.
ReplyDeleteWhere are you Lee? The SOH want us to revive the History of Australia Concert shows.
ReplyDeletecliffatkinson@phoenixgreencorp.com
HI Lee,
ReplyDeletelets get the Band back together,all I need is a new string for the Bass,ILL get the Bass out of the Old Tea Chest Bass Museum.
John Currie is still alive and singing and our Producer is still producing.
Regards
George Cliff.
cliffy46@optusnet.com.au
Found this blog entry last night after my last tape player died and I was left with no way to play my Australian Treasury tapes. It was great to be able to download the LP version - but was/is anyone able to provide the 6 extra tracks found on the tapes?
ReplyDeletePeter West
I'm from the Netherlands. In 1974 I visited my sister in Little River. She gave my the album. This was the kick off for my love for the Australian song. Now I have many Australian cd's. Recently I reactivated my turntable and listened many times to the album.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from the Netherlands,
Roald Groeneveld
Little River - a lovely little township, the sign to which inspired a famous pop group to name themselves "The Little River Band" although they had never visited it before then and, perhaps, never visited it afterwards either. In my case, there were quite a few times that I had a few refreshing ales in the town pub a little over 40 years ago. Good memories!
DeleteI absolutely loved this a kid, I can remember my dad playing it almost every Saturday night. I just purchased it on Cassette and hope to obtain a good rip including the 6 missing tracks. Will update soon.
ReplyDeleteMy dad had this album when I was a kid and it fostered my love for Australian bush music. He lent it to someone and never got it back! I was, and still am, devestated. Loved the cockies from Bungaree! (I am distantly related to them!) Great to see others with the same great memories and love of the music
ReplyDeleteUsed to have this album as a kid along with a bunch of others, probably still do somewhere in storage though I no longer have a turntable to play them on.
ReplyDeleteI have this record, number 1 on my play list when the wife and kids are out. Great record, wish I had more of the folk music to listen too.
ReplyDeleteHi, I Would just like to Add my Congratulations Cliff & Lee, this is a great LP, the Cassette has as has been suggested here another 8 different songs on it, can you confirm that these weren't extra takes for the record and left off?
ReplyDeleteClem Viney - Preserving Old Aussie Music.
clem22@bigpond.com
Just found an Old John Currie Lp in the second Hand shop and did a google and ended up here
ReplyDeleteso keen to have a listen thanks for this one
Just came across this. Certainly brings back memories. If I remember rightly it was recorded on the Anzac Day weekend.
ReplyDeleteWelcome aboard Maureen. Thanks for the additional information.
ReplyDeleteAnne Cochrane track the "Dying Stockman" has just about the same tune as Ann Breen's song "If Those Lips Could Only Speak" Any comments?
ReplyDeleteI have discovered there were two different releases of this LP. The version with the cover shown in your photo above stated 34 tracks, but there was another version with a different cover which boasted 40 songs. Surprisingly, there also seems to have been a few variations within those two versions, with some having bonus tracks and others not, and on some versions different songs were left out or added. I suspect they were selling these by way of TV advertising and to different countries, so can only guess they were chopping and changing the concept and content to try to capture the tastes of specific audiences. Or this could have happened rather more randomly. Perhaps more songs were added as sales increased, or there were cheaper and more "up market" versions released. It's interesting that there were actually 42 (perhaps more) songs released as part of this collection, just not all at the same time, and perhaps there were other songs recorded that were left out, which are still gathering dust in studio vaults somewhere. Could the owner of this blog site please add the additional songs to the existing set?
ReplyDeleteI am from Japan, and I am 68 year old. When I was a university student, my father took me to Australia on one of his business trips. I don't remember exactly when, but he gave me these two cassettes.
ReplyDeleteI really like these songs!!