The Larrikins "Navvy on the Line" LP 1977

John B of NSW has very kindly provided us with his rip of this album. Many thanks John - I had been wondering when I would be able to access this one.

This was one of the early Larrikin releases - LRP 9 in 1977. It was later re-released by the ABC on vinyl and it is one of the re-released LP that John has ripped.

The performers on this album were Warren Fahey, Liora "Lalita" Claff, Tony Suttor, Ned Alexander, Paddy McLaughlan and Jack Fallis with alternating vocal performers as specified on the rear of the LP slip (graphics included in the download).

It's an enjoyable album featuring music, as sub-titled, "from the Australian Railway Tradition".

Tracklist
01 The Brocklebank Engineers
02 I Came Over From Ireland
03 The Night Express
04 Cant-hook and Wedges
05 On The Queensland Railway Lines
06 The Sunshine Disaster
07 The Ten Penny Bit  - Frost is All Over
08 Billy Sheehan
09 Only One More Drink
10 The Dying Fettler
11 The Shooting of The Crow
12 The Trumpet - Ned's Favourite
13 The Sandy Hollow Line
14 Navvy on the Line
15 The Woy Woy Workers' Train.

Click here to download from MediaFire
It is a compressed file which will need to be decompressed after downloading. Tracks are MP3 192 CBR. File size is 52Mb.
If download becomes unavailable please let me know and I will re-up the file - mr.stockman@gmail.com

Lionel Long "Australia! Australia!" LP 1975 Stereo

Ian from Tasmania has very generously provided digital copies of several LP albums of Australian Folk Singers and Songs along with their graphics and some graphics to supplement previous postings - and all of a high quality too. Many thanks Ian.
I know very little about this album and you will notice that the liner notes are totally uninformative as to when and where these tracks were recorded and what other musicians and singers were involved. It is supposedly produced by a "Tweed Harris"??
I have not bothered to check but I guess that some of the tracks are re-issues from earlier albums possibly cashing in on his various television appearances in Australian series. I'd welcome any definite information than any of our readers can provide.
Still, this is a worthy album portraying the stronger RCA focus on Long's traditional folk side.

Tracklist
1. Cash & Co.
2. Click go the shears
3. 10,000 miles
4. The Wild Colonial Boy
5. The Banks of the Condamine (shearing version)
6. The Brisbane Ladies (Augathella Station)
7. Waltzing Matilda
8. Razorback (Moonlight Rider)
9. On the Banks of the Reedy Lagoon
10. Botany Bay
11. The Wild Rover
12. Wallaby Stew

Download here with graphics from MediaFire  (FLAC version) 139MB
The Download file must be decompressed before playing.
Link failed? Tell mr.stockman@gmail.com and I will put it up again.

The Larrikins "A Larrikin History of Australia" 2 LP set 1987

These 25 tracks of "Bush Music, Songs and Bulldust to stop the Chooks laying for a Week" were performed live in Sydney in 1987 by the Larrikins then consisting of Warren Fahey, Cathie O'Sullivan, Dave de Hugard, Cleis Pearce, and Michael Atherton.
This is a very nice mix of tracks including Aussie traditionals, modern folk compositions, dance tunes etc. Tracks include The Death of Ben Hall. The Morning of the Fray, Norfolk Whalers, The Rabbit Trapper, Jim Jones at Botany Bay, The Freehold on the Plain, Banks of the Condamine, My Name is Edward Kelly, and Wee Pot Stove.
This is a good rip MP3 at 192 CBR. The total size with graphics is 126Mb. It is not one of my rips but I would be proud to claim it. Many thanks to whoever did this one. This is a very enjoyable album.

Download with graphics
From MediaFire

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Martyn Wyndham Read and Danny Spooner "All Around Down Under" Stereo LP 1989

As previously advised in this Blog, Danny Spooner has been resident in Australia for many years. His companion on this LP, Martyn Wyndham Read, has, spent several years in Australia developing a very respectable repertoire of Australian folk and traditional songs.
Again, we owe thanks to Denis for copying these tracks from off his LP and for the cover scans. The cover is very faded and I have greyscaled it for a little additional clarity.
There are some very good performances on this LP - They might be Brits but they do have a very good feel for these Australian songs.

And a small reminder - one of our visitors, Garry Gillard features Danny Spooner details on his website (click here)

Track List
1. Look out below (Danny)
2. Brisbane Ladies (both)
3. Our Jack (came home today) (both)
4. Four Little Johnny Cakes (Danny)
5. Put a Light in every Country Window (both)
6. When the Brumbies come to water (Martyn)
7. Lachlan Tigers (both)
8. New Life (Martyn)
9. Shearing in a Bar (Danny)
10. I don't go Shearing now (Martyn with Danny joining chorus)
11. The Pommy's Lament (Danny)

Download with graphics MP3 192-224 VBR
From MediaFire
Danny Spooner's widow has advised that plans are currently underway to expand the www.dannyspooner.com website to re-release Danny's music to raise funds for a memorial statue. Accordingly, the album is no longer available for download.

"While The Billy Boils - A Panorama of Australian Folklore" 1981 2LP set

Featuring various artists, this is a Larrikin 1981 two LP compilation (LRD 9012) containing 30 tracks of traditional and contemporary Australian Folk songs and two instrumentals.
I presume this album was marketed to benefit from the Warren Fahey scripted ABC radio series "While the Billy Boils" as it also carries the ABC Logo on the rear of the LP slip.
It is a great compilation unfortunately marred to some degree by varying sound levels, not only between tracks, but also within individual tracks.  I have improved the problem with the different album sound levels but some downloaders might prefer to "normalise' some of the tracks (I am definitely not a fan of "normalising" but I could understand its use in a couple of these tracks).

The artists and their tracks are:
Dave de Hugard - 10,000 miles away, Then give me a hut in my own native land, Ballad of the Kelly gang, The tent poles are rotten.
Declan Affley - I've been to Australia-O, Mulga Maxims, The Cutters Lament, The whip and the spurs, The meat pie song
Warren Fahey - Colonial Experience, Freehold on the plain, Cain killed Abel, Two professional hums, Tumba-bloody-rumba
Trevor Shearston -  Moreton Bay, The Bullockies Ball
Cathie O'Sullivan - Castle Hill, Kanaka Love Song (poor quality track), Banks of the Condamine (horsebreaker version), Bluey Brink, The Ham Fat Man (delightful)
Mike Jackson - Coming down the flat
Jacko Kevans - Sign-on Day, The limejuice tub, The overlanders
The Larrikins - (instrumentals) Mudgee Scottische, Manchester Gallop
Andy Saunders - Five and a Zack, Woolloomooloo (Lair)
John Dengate - The Randwick Races, My Name's Bill

Full cover grapics provided including inner graphics, notes and comments.
All tracks stereo MP3 encoded at 192-224 VBR

Download from MediaFire 

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The Bushwackers Band "Beneath the Southern Cross" LP 1981

The Bushwackers have had over 60 different members over the decades. With this LP the members were Eddy van Roosendael, Louis McManus, Michael Harris, Dobe Newton and Roger Corbett assisted by Broderick Smith, Rodger Montgomery, Rosemary Hallo, Mick Conway, and Steve Groves.
My copy of this album had some damaged tracks but I managed to obtain good rips of tracks from elsewhere.  Unfortunately, I have had to use a rip of  "And the Band played Waltzing Matilda" that was somewhat rough but I did manage to clear out a lot of the defects and it is acceptable provided that you do not listen too hard.  (If anyone has a better copy of this track, I'd love to receive it.) Incidentally, it is a different version to the one done earlier by the "Bushwackers".  The tracks are:-
1. St. Annes Reel (instrumental)
2. Waltzing Matilda (original version)
3. And the Band played Waltzing Matilda
4. The Catalpa (not the traditional version)
5. Lazy Harry's
6. South Australia
7. Beneath the Southern Cross
8. The Plate Glass Window (trad instrumental medley)
9. Battlers Ballad
10. Spider by the Gwydir (poem - poor original recording)
11. Lachlan Tigers
12. Fishing Reels (instrumental)

I have yet to do the graphics for the LP - I'll need to use photography to get the liner notes entirely and I will post the results soon.

Download tracks MP3 CBR and VBR  192 minimum
From MediaFire


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The Sundowners "Colonial Classics" 1981

The Sundowners were founded in 1977, its members being Tony Hunt, Peter Keown, Bob Hugo, Dave Isom and Mick Slocum.  "Colonial Classics", released by Hammard in 1981, was their first album release. The LP was subsequently re-released on CD and most of the tracks have appeared in bush ballad compilations all of which have been unavailable for some time now.  The LP has been faithfully re-constructed using 12 track re-issues and 5 rips from the original LP.  Lively performances from five competent performers, three of whom were previously part of The Bushwackers.
Tracks are Waltzing Matilda, 1000 Miles Away, Cash & Co (instrumental), Drovers Dream, The Overlanders, Botany Bay, a medley of Black Velvet Band and Wild Rover, With me Swag all on me Shoulder, South Australia, Click go the Shears, Ryebuck Shearer, Flash Jack from Gundagai, Wild Colonial Boy, Travellin' down the Castlereagh, a medley of Along the Road to Gundagai; Where the Dog sits on the Tuckerbox and Yarrawonga, and Lachlan Tigers.

Download with Graphics
Download has now been cancelled because Mick Slocum has advised that he still has copies of the album for sale. He can be contacted at michaelslocum49@gmail.com. Full details available from http://australianfolk.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/the-sundowners-colonial-classics-1981.html

Denis Gibbons "Folk Songs of Australia Vol 1 ~ Convicts and Early Settlers" LP 1974

This was the first LP in Denis Gibbons three-part "Folk Songs of Australia" series (Volume 3 has recently been posted on this blog).  This particular LP is a stereo version copied by Brendan of Tasmania and subsequently 'cleaned' by me  Many thanks Brendan.
Most of the tracks are the regular standards but there are also two rarer songs, namely, The Last Farewell to Stirling and The Catalpa. Other tracks are Botany Bay, Jim Jones, Bold Jack Donohue, Black Velvet Band, Old Bullock Dray, Wild Rover, Drover's Dream, Andy's Gone with Cattle, Old Bark Hut, and Wallaby Stew.
An interesting point that I perhaps should have raised far earlier is that of so many of our folk songs referring to convicts traveling to, and suffering at, Botany Bay.  The fact is that, although Botany Bay was selected as the intended first site of Australian settlement, on arrival a quick survey identified that it was unsuitable for settlement.  A search of the nearby coast discovered Sydney Harbour and the first fleet quickly moved to the site of modern Sydney and set up camp there. Nowadays, Botany Bay is part of southern suburban Sydney.
Another issue is that some of the convict-related songs make much of the cruelty and deprivation suffered by convicts e.g regular routine beatings, slavery and brutality.  There are exceptions but the far greater majority of convicts were better-off in Australia and many prospered while still "serving" their sentences.  Then, the lower classes in Great Britain suffered considerable hardship and very limited opportunity which is why the crime rate was so high anyway.  Initially, convicts were terrified of transportation to Australia because the Government went to great lengths to portray transportation as a deterrent to crime.  By the early 1800s, sufficient convicts had returned to British Isles and their portrayal of the conditions in the colony markedly lessened the fear of transportation and many convicts would formally request transportation.  Contrary to common belief, convicts of British citizenship were allowed to return to Great Britain after serving their time.  Some did but most opted to remain in Australia settling down to often hard, but far more satisfactory lives compared to their peers in the homeland.

Download with graphics 45Mb File Factory
From MediaFire


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Seona McDowell "Australian Ballads - The Early Years" LP 1981

Seona McDowell was Irish born, New Zealand educated, took up Australian folk Music when residing in Australia, and now lives and works in the USA.
After winning the 1979 and 1980 Oz Music Awards, Folkways Records hired her to produce this album in the USA.
Seona has a great voice and does a very credible performance on this LP but the musical backing was obviously primarily provided by American performers based in the country and bluegrass genres and is, in my view, slightly discordant even though I am a big bluegrass fan.  Obviously this was a lot more palatable for an American audience even though I suspect that this was not really in strict accord with the Folkways philosophy.  Still, one must not quibble too much as these folk songs never had any real restrictions as to the type of musical backing and the very essence of folk music is its adaption to the instrumentation at hand and we've had enough Australian LPs with some quite off-putting musical backing at times.
"Lady Franklin's Lament" is somewhat of a questionable inclusion.  As far as I know, the only Australian connection is that the very famous Lord Franklin was Governor of Tasmania from about 1828 before perishing on the search for the North West Passage - still it's a great song.
I don't mean to put anyone off as this is well worth the download effort.  It's a good clean rip.  PDF graphics and lyrics from Folkways are part of the download.
Tracks are:- Black Velvet Band, Convict Maid, Botany Bay, Moreton Bay, Lady Franklin's Lament, With My Swag all on my Shoulder, Cross of the South, The Old Palmer Song, Wild Colonial Boy, Matt Brady, Click Go the Shears, Springtime it brings on the Shearing, Bold Tommy Payne, and, of course, Waltzing Matilda.

Download MP3 @192-224 VBR Mono  28Mb

Sorry folks, no more downloads following this courteous email from the Smithsonian Institute

Thanks for your interest and support of this Smithsonian Folkways recording. I came across your recent post regarding Seona McDowell’s “Australian Ballads”.

Smithsonian Folkways is the non-profit record label of the national museum of the United States. Our mission is to document the music of the world and distribute it while respecting the artists that make the music. As such, we collect revenue from music sales and distribute money back to artists as well as fund new recording projects. Please help our artists and help support our mission by removing the links to full-length downloads of this album and instead link to one of the many websites that distributes music legally. The Smithsonian Folkways website (www.folkways.si.edu), Amazon.com, eMusic, Rhapsody, Napster, iTunes, Pandora, and All Music are all good places to link.

You are welcome to post a link to the .PDF of the liner notes/lyrics.

Smithsonian Download Link US$9.99 for download album  (also link on that page to PDF Download)

Denis Gibbons "Folk Songs of Australia Vol. 3" LP c.1970s

The tracks and graphics for this LP were kindly recorded and forwarded by Brendan of Tasmania who previously provided the New England album "A long way from home".  He has also provided other albums which I hope to get up here sooner or later.  Many thanks Brendan. Blokes like you make the continuation of this blog so much easier.
The theme of this LP is "squatters, selectors, shearers and drovers". I have no idea when this was released but my guess and that of the Australian National Library is sometime in the 1970s.  (volume 2 was released in 1966).  In terms of presentation and singing style, there is a marked difference from earlier records and he has tried some different arrangements for some of the tracks.  I have no problems with that.  Folks songs are meant to be re-interpreted after all.
I do apologise because there is some distortion on a couple of the tracks - well-loved and well-played LPs often have that problem.  "Reedy River" has Denis Gibbons sounding a bit like Harry Belafonte.
It's a stereo LP encoded as MP3 at 192-224 VBR and 42Mb all up.
The tracks are:-
Lazy Harry's, New England Cocky, Another Fall of Rain, Humping Old Bluey, Bush Girl, Bullocky Song, Cockies of Bungaree, One of the Has Beens, Eumeralla Shore, Reedy River, Shearer's Dream, The Overlander.  Bush Girl and Reedy River are, if I recall correctly, Henry Lawson poems put to music.

Download with graphics
From MediaFire

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Paradiddle "Sorry to Keep You Waiting" LP 1980

This is the second (and as far as I know the final) album release by the Victorian based Paradiddle Folk Band.  It's quite an eclectic mix of traditional and modern folk from the British Isles and Australia.  There are some very good tracks on this one in the a capella style and also a couple of enthusuiastic instrumentals.And, just in case someone has never heard it, they have included their rendition of Bogle's great song ".... Waltzing Matilda". It has been a pleasure to work on these two Paradiddle albums  - nice clean vinyl!
MP3s encoded at 192-224 VBR - 70 Mb file
Tracks are:
1. I am a Tolerant Man
2. The Jolly Tinker
3. Norman Brown
4. Auld Wullie
5. Snakes
6. Oh, Bedad then, Says I
7. The Hole in the Boat (instrumental)
8. Bullockies Ball (a rarely performed Australian traditional collected by John Meredith)
9. The Kelly's Turning
10. The Miner
11. The Landlord's Fool (Landlord fill the flowing bowl)
12. Maranoa Drovers
13. Merry Clare
14. The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

Download with Graphics
From MediaFire

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Paradiddle "Wait Till The Word Gets Around" Mono LP 1978

The Paradiddle Folk Band was comprised of Greg Rough, Mark Leehy, Rob Fairbairn, Kev O'Mara and Marilyn Hodgson when they put out this album in 1978.  It's quite a lively album with a mix of traditional and contemporary tracks in the folk style. The tracklist is:-
1. Strike the Bell
2. Sally Brown (shanty)
3. Faithful Johnny
4. S.P. Polkas (Dennis Murphy's and The £42 Cheque)
5. The Cross of the South
6. Ryebuck Shearer and 'Ard Rain
7. Bail Up!
8. Warrandyte Morning
9. Shores of Botany Bay
10. An Gaoth Andheas (South Wind)
11. Dogs' Concert and Paddy in the Peas
12. The Shearing Song


61Mb file MP3 @192-224 VBR and includes graphics.
From MediaFire

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Various Artists "Game as Ned Kelly" Larrikin Record LRF50 1980

For our international visitors, it is probably sensible to give a quick postage-stamp view of Ned Kelly and the Kelly Gang.  Edward ("Ned") Kelly was born in the state of Victoria. His father was a transported convict.  Starting out as a horse thief, he went on to lead a bushranging gang in the 1870s.  This gang mainly operated in Victoria with one significant incursion to Jerilderie in New South Wales.  His final robbery involved the capture of the Victorian town of Glenrowan.  He became aware that a trainload of troopers (mounted police commonly known as "traps") were travelling by train to capture him.  He then removed train tracks to derail the train but the troopers were informed, left the train, and walked to Glenrowan where the gang was beseiged.  Most of the gang were killed in a shoot-out.  Ned Kelly, wearing heavy metal armour then confronted the police firing as he came.  He was brought down by bullet wounds to his exposed legs, captured, tried, and hung at the old Melbourne Gaol.
He is regarded by some romantics as a bit of a folk hero fighting against the villainy of authority.  In the Jerilderie Letter, he presents himself as continuing the Irish Catholic fight against the Saxon hordes - a view somewhat spoilt by the fact that he had no hesitation ambushing and killing a group of Irish-born troopers.
As with all romantic figures, he features in several songs over the decades including some written and sung during his bushranging days.  Warren Fahey, on this LP, includes a good range of those songs.

Track List
My Name is Edward Kelly (Declan Affley)
The Ballad of Ned Kelly (in three parts) (Andy Saunders) Tune of "Wearing of the Green"
Stringybark Creek (Andy Saunders)
Farewell to my Home in Greta (Declan Affley)
The Jerilderie Letter (part) (recitation by Declan Affley) backed by Ian McKenzie on Uilleann pipes playing "Moreton Bay"
Kelly was their Captain (Dave de Hugard)
Ye Sons of Australia (Phyl Lobl)
Farewell Dan and Edward Kelly (Jacko Evans) Tune of 1865 US Civil War song "Just before the Battle, Mother"
Ned Kelly was born in a Ramshackle Hut (Graham Seal singing a Tex Morton composition of the Depression Years)
Ned Kelly was a Gentleman (Warren Fahey recitation of WWII poem) (Not the Slim Dusty song of the same name)
Poor Ned Kelly (Graham Seal and Andy Saunders singing another Depression years song this time written by Billy Blinkhorn)

MP3 Mono at 192 VBR

Apparently there has been a DCMA complaint about this particular album - my very first.  The supposed email with the details of the complaint has apparently been sent by Blogger but I have not received it.  I'm quite surprised that someone took such action over this LP but so be it.  No more downloads folks! Obviously there are some people who would rather that this music remains lost in oblivion.   If its been republished, I'd love to receive some details so I can post them.

Various Artists "Still a Long Way from Home" CD 1998

This CD was released on the Auvidis label in France in 1998 as part of the UNESCO Traditional Music of the World Series subtitled as "Australia: Music from the New England Tableland of New South Wales".  The Album contains a mix of folk dance tunes and folk songs of both Australian and British Isles origin.  As far as I can identify, this CD is no longer available for purchase.  This rip was very kindly provided by one of our very kind Tasmanian contributors and is in MPEG-4 format at about the 250 kbps level.  It is quite a delightful album.
The track list and performing artists are:

1. Bruce Smith's Set Tune - Mark Rummery
2. Mazurkas: Ben Cherry's/Alice Doran's/Mick Pitkin's - Barry McDonald, Cathy Ovenden, Mark Rummery, Chris Sullivan
3. Lad from Erin's Isle - Barry McDonald, Cathy Ovenden, Mark Rummery, Chris Sullivan
4. Polkas: Pop Holland's/Bruce Smith's/Jim Lowe's Heel and Toe - Rob Beasley, Barry McDonald, Mark Rummery
5. Dingo Flat - Barry McDonald, Cathy Ovenden, Mark Rummery, Chris Sullivan
6. Set Tunes: Ben Cherry's/Wait Till the Clouds Roll by, Jenny Dear - Barry McDonald, Cathy Ovenden, Mark Rummery
7. Georgie Sands - Barry McDonald, Cathy Ovenden, Mark Rummery, Chris Sullivan
8. Ben Cherry's Schottisches - Barry McDonald, Mark Rummery
9. Johnny Lad - Barry McDonald
10. Jigs: Chase Me Charley/Richard Ferris'/Jim Lowe's - Barry McDonald, Mark Rummery, Chris Sullivan
11. Thunderbolt's Dream - Barry McDonald, Mark Rummery
12. Step Tunes: Arnie Berger's/Have You Ever Seen the Devil?/Victor Cherry' - Barry McDonald, Cathy Ovenden, Mark Rummery, Chris Sullivan
13. Barbara Allen - Barry McDonald
14. Waltzes: Watson's Creek Waltz/Pearl Browning's - Barry McDonald, Theresa Nano, Mark Rummery
15. William Grimes the Drover - Cathy Ovenden, Mark Rummery
16. Step Tunes: Mick McGarryís Jigs/The Bullshit Over the Calf Pen - Barry McDonald, Cathy Ovenden, Mark Rummery, Chris Sullivan
17. My Name Is Alma Chandler/Merry-Go-Round Waltz - Barry McDonald, Theresa Nano, Cathy Ovenden, Mark Rummery
18. Schottisches: Jim Lowe's/Steve Harte's/Sam Looker's - Barry McDonald, Cathy Ovenden, Mark Rummery, Chris Sullivan
19. Mouth-Organ Medley: Why Did My Master Sell Me?/Starry Night for a Ramble - Jim Lowe, Barry McDonald, Mark Rummery
20. O God of Love (Reprise) - Graeme "Fritz" Kreusler, Jim Lowe, Barry McDonald


At the request of Chris Sullivan as per the below email, the Download link is now removed

Paul,

I have just come across your site. This CD was not release in Australia for copyright reasons. McDonald does not have copyright or clearance for the arrangement of the music, all of the music. He has done a lot of damage this cove, and he should not profit, even indirectly. If you continue to allow this to be downloaded you will be in breach of copyright. Consider yourself formally notified.

Chris Sullivan

I wonder what happened here?

The Overlanders "songs of the Great Australian Balladists" 2LP set 1978

We have met this South Australian group The Overlanders before with their LP Tribute to Western Australia 150 (1979). This two LP set of 36 songs was released in 1978 and, instead of offering the usual top 30 of Australian folk songs, refreshingly contains many bush songs often neglected by others.

Graham Jenkin, school teacher, folklorist and author, was the moving force behind this project which also included the publication of an identically-named companion book (second edition 1983). He had previously been the co-author with Lionel Long of Favourite Australian Bush Songs in 1964.

The singing is sometimes a little ordinary but we need to be grateful that this group put together such a great collection of the more obscure Australian folk songs.

I have now fully rebuilt my home network (insurers came to the rescue albeit slowly) after the lightning strike in mid-January so the blog has become a little neglected.  I hope to soon rectify that so I am very grateful to Ian of Adelaide for kindly ripping and providing this entertaining album.  Many thanks Ian for a great rip @256kps!  Contributions are always welcome.

Download from MediaFire

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William Clauson "Click go the Shears" LP Mono c1960

I know some of you are going to shudder when you see this one on the blog.

William Clauson was born to Swedish parents in the USA an awfully long time ago and is known to have made his home in the USA, Sweden and currently Mexico. He has over 40 albums to his credit and has performed virtually everywhere and I notice that he had gigs in Sweden earlier this year.

He has always had a strong interest in folk songs as reflected in many of his albums but he is certainly not what many of us would term a "folk singer". His delivery is usually quite formal tending toward classical. I think the proper term is "Lieder voice". However, do not be put off too much by that as some of the songs on this album do benefit from this treatment, especially "Moreton Bay".

I believe this album was produced somewhere between 1958 and 1962 (perhaps someone know precisely when). Due to the style of singing, it was originally very popular with the Australian Broadcasting Commission (as it was then named) and also at schools. I understand that he followed in the footsteps of Burl Ives, and as the album notes strongly indicate, Dr. Percy Jones had a strong influence on Clauson as well.

I am aware that there are a couple of rips of this album doing the rounds but they are of low quality due to record damage. I have taken this rip from an LP I found at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago. At $1, I reckoned that I could afford to be disappointed with the quality. It turns out that this is a World Record Club re-issue which has probably had little, if any, play so it has ripped as well as could be expected for an LP of this vintage.

Incidentally, he also visited, and recorded songs of and in, New Zealand. Has anyone got the LP/s? I have desperately been seeking his version of Peter Cape's "Black Matai" aka "The Deer Culler's Lament" (gone to the station, gone to the town) or anyone else's version for that matter.

Track List
1. Click go the Shears
2. Waltzing Matilda (Cowan version)
3. The Overlander
4. On the Banks of the Condamine
5. The Old Bark Hut
6. Bold Jack Donahue
7. Botany Bay
8. The Lime Juice Tub
9. Moreton Bay
10. The Wild Colonial Boy
11. My old black Billy
12. Bold Tommy Payne
13. Wild Rover No More
14. The Dying Stockman

MP3 mono 192-224VBR with graphics
Download from MediaFire with both sets of covers


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Alex Hood "The Second Hundred Years" LP 1970

I recently stated that I was working on this album but, thankfully, Alan from Sydney has now provided a very good rip of the album; a task I was finding very difficult because of a close-to-death LP. Many thanks Alan.
This album was a follow-up the his "First Hundred Years" LP. Alex did not actually wait out the 200 years (1988) and this LP was released on the 200th anniversary of the discovery of eastern Australia and the claiming of Australia for Britain by Captain James Cook in 1970.
Alex Hood might not be the best of the Australian Folk singers but he is surely one of the most dedicated and prolific. I have always admired his work and enthusiasm. He is still a regular performer today.
This is definitely one of my favourite Australian folk albums which accounts for why my copy was so worn out (I actually bought it in 1970). The songs, of course, supposedly come from the period 1888 to 1970 and are a mix of traditional, oldies and some modern compositions written specifically for the album. Actually, the album notes advise that the song "Just before the Battle, Mother" was collected in Australia near Canberra and was thought to be about the Boer War. Of course, it is the very well-travelled song written during the American Civil War. The notes on Waltzing Matilda completely overlooks that "Banjo" Paterson penned this song in 1895 and it was published as sheet music in 1903. This track is close to the original. Thankfully, our folk singers avoid the later Marie Cowan version which is the one most Australians know.
The track "Dinki Di" is practically identical to the version my grandfather, a First World War veteran of the Western Front, used to sing but Australian Army personnel have continued to adapt this song to subsequent wars and actions.
"Lord Gort" and "How'd Yer Be?" are two well-known recitations (at least to we older ones) very well performed by Alex. Additionally, there are four tracks written by Larry King with some involvement by Alex.
A very enjoyable album.

Download link removed at the request of the copyright holder J. Albert & Son Pty Ltd
see comments

The Bushwackers Band "Murrumbidgee" LP 1977

Another great rip from Ian of Adelaide
MP3 @ 192 CBR
Track List
1. Augathella Station
2. Lachlan Tigers
3. Billy of Tea
4. Cold Feet
5. Rain Tumbles Down
6. Streets of Forbes
7. The Cameo (instrumental)
8. Tomahawkin' Fred (The Ladies Man)
9. Murrumbidgee River (instrumental)
10. Flash Jack from Gundagai

Ian has graciously provided another rip of a Bushwackers LP together with its cover graphics. I suggest that the music already posted speaks for the fine talent of this band.

I do have one reservation. "Augathella Station" is more usually known as "Brisbane Ladies" or similar. It was penned by one Saul Mendelsohn, a stockman, in the 1880s but minor variations have been collected. It is firmly based on the British sea song "Spanish Ladies" about British sailors returning to England from Spain.

Numerous artists performed versions of this song before the Bushwackers, for example, A.L. (Bert) Lloyd, The Rambleers, Denis Gibbons, John Greenway and others. The lyrics at the Contemplator are a fair representation of their versions (and they make sense).

Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, someone with little or no idea decided the song could benefit from some tinkering. Now I'm not opposed to a bit of sensible tinkering - it is a folk song after all. I could live with the elimination of most of the place names although I can't see the point of it. The really absurd bit though is that this version has the drovers still in possession of the herd of cattle on the trip back to Augathella Station (Ranch) after having sold them in Brisbane?? No, they would not have driven any stock back home! Further, this version also has the drovers spending all their "money on the shanty town women" in some country town on the way home. This raises two points - firstly, it was very unlikely that any drovers that way inclined would have any money left after the "Brisbane Ladies" and the "girls of Toowong" (Toowong is an inner suburb of Brisbane) but more tellingly, Australia may have had "shantys" (inns), but not "shanty towns" in that sense and "shanty town women" appears to someone's crude attempt at evoking the concept of USA wild west saloon girls. Altogether, it is very disappointing that the Bushwackers had anything to do with such unauthentic garbage. "Quintessence" has also performed this version.

"Rain Tumbles Down" was one of the legendary Slim Dusty's earliest songs; the classic "When the Rain Tumbles down in July". He wrote it in 1945 and it was first released in 1947 on the old Regal Zonophone label as a 78rpm. The initial release was definitely of the Australian "hillbilly" style but Slim thankfully released continuously improved performances of the song over the years and they appeared on several of his 103 albums. The Bushwackers remain fairly true to the song and it retains a country and western feel.

Great versions of "The Lachlan Tigers" and "Flash Jack from Gundagai".

For those who may be wondering, the LP cover is of a "lagerphone" in frantic motion. A very popular instrument in any respectable "Bush Band". It's often thought to be purely an Australian invention but it's an import from England but given the now very common name "lagerphone" in Australia (because of all the crown beer bottletops used in its construction).

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The Wild Colonial Boys "Glenrowan to the Gulf" CD release of 1970 LP

Track List
1. All for Me Grog
2. Lime Juice Tub
3. The Ryebuck Shearer
4. The Wild Colonial Boy
5. Shores of Botany Bay
6. Poor Ned Kelly
7. Soldiers Joy - Mason's Apron
8. South Australia
9. Nine Miles from Gundagai
10. Ballad of the Kelly Gang
11. Flash Stockman
12. The Death of Ben Hall
13. The Cuckoo's Nest
14. The Canine Catastrophe
15. A Thousand Miles Away

This album was originally released as an LP in 1970, re-released on Larrikin (or so I think) in the 1980s and then in 1996 on CD. This rip and the provided covers come from that CD. MP3 ripped at 196-224 VBR.
Although performing some of the usual Australian traditional songs, they too have usually opted for lesser-known versions in both lyrical and instrumental terms. Like many bands, they tend to substitute as to what that "bloody dog" did in the tuckerbox (food container) five or nine miles from Gundagai. Some may be wondering as to why "sitting" in the tuckerbox was such a bad thing. It makes more sense if you put the 'h' back into "sat". "Poor Ned Kelly" is not traditional - it started as a tongue-in-cheek Australian "hillbilly" song in the 1930s giving an outline of Ned Kelly's criminal activity and execution but also deriving the moral that modern day "bushrangers" use taxes and high prices to rob everyone with impunity - a great song picked up by many Australian folk singers. A very enjoyable album.

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The Bushwackers Band "Bushfire" 1979 LP

Track List
Stringybark Creek (a Ballad of Ned Kelly)
Annie
Van Dieman's Land
Lime Juice Tub
The Flying Pieman
Bushfire
Past Carin'
Hard Luck Stories
Wild Horses
Fannie Bay

This album is one of my favourites - a lovely mix of traditional and more contemporary Australian folk songs performed by a very talented band with a keen feel for Australian bush music.
"The Flying Pieman" and "Bushfire" are both instrumentals. "Past Carin' " is from the poet Henry Lawson detailing the despair suffered by many of the pioneer women of Australian. "Fannie Bay" (a reference to Darwin's main jail) is in the vein of "Take a Message to Mary" (but don't tell her what I've done) and don't miss "Hard Luck Stories".
Again, Ian of Adelaide provided this great rip for all our enjoyment. Graphics include artist information and the lyrics for all songs. Ripped at 192 CBR.
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