Mike and Michelle Jackson "Patchwork" 1980 LP

Track List
1. Dirranbandi~Bunyip in the Watertank~Frozen Feet (Polkas)
2. Merrigan's Jig~Herb's Jig
3. Peeler Creek (Waltz)
4. To the Mountain Farms & The Joy of Summer (Walking Tune)
5. Sir John Fenwick's The Flower among them all~Bach's Minuet in G
6. Free Selector's Daughter (song)
7. Charlie over the Water (Jig)
8. Primrose Polka
9. Jamie Allen~Duke of Perth~Jamie Allen (Polkas)
10. Sir David Davidson of Cantry (Hornpipe)
11. A Leitrim Polka~Dalaigh's Polka~Bill O'Sullivan's Polka
12. Girls of Ivory~Manchester Gallop (Polka/Mazurkas)
13. Bluebells (Song Tune)
14. A Fine Toast to Hewlett (Tune)
15. Early in the Morning~Turkey in the Straw~Redwings (Polkas)
16. Waltzing Matilda (Tune - whimsical).

Here is the other adult folk album from Mike and Michelle Jackson released in 1980. Most tracks are purely instrumental which gives them and their fellow backing musicians ample opportunity to demonstrate their superior talents. It's a brilliant album; certainly one of the best instrumental folk music albums to come out of Australia. This is one that really should be re-issued on CD - I'd certainly buy one in a flash.

Paul from Brisbane has provided this excellent rip and the artwork which gives great detail on all the tracks, the performers and their instruments.

Download with graphics - MP3 @ 192-224 VBR
From MediaFire

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Denis Gibbons "Trads and Anons" LP 1960

Tracklist
1. Blue Tail Fly
2. Jan Hinnerk
3. The Old Bark Hut
4. Skye Boat Song
5. Dying Stockman
6. Bold Tommy Payne
7. The Drover's Dream
8. The Riddle Song
9. The Spinning Wheel
10. Early One Morning
11. Foggy Foggy Dew
12. Wild Colonial Boy

We've met Denis before on this blog. Here is some of his earlier work on a 1960 LP; a mix of Australian and international folk songs. He was one of Australia's earliest "successful" folk singers combining a singing and a broadcasting career. He was viewed somewhat askance by some of his contemporaries because of his success and his apolitical approach to his music. He was never the greatest of singers but he always treated folksongs with the respect and simplicity which they rightly deserved and the general public appreciated that even when the purists didn't. Perhaps the latter believed that folk songs should not be popularised?
The rear of the cover contains a lot of information including a long passage by Gibbons detailing his introduction to folk singing. A lovely LP where the lyrics take centre stage sedately backed by beautiful instrumentation. The Clarinet backing is very effective. Ripped at 192-224 VBR but the tracks are short and in mono so the total download file is only about 24Mb.

Download with graphics
From MediaFire

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Mike and Michelle Jackson "The Roaring Days of Henry Lawson" LP 1982

Tracklist
1. The Teams
2. Jackson Stomp
3. I'm a Prouder Man than You
4. Andy's Gone with Cattle
5. The Ballad of the Drover (recitation)
6. The Waterfall Waltz
7. Sycamore Cottage
8. The Song of the Bullock Driver
9. When the Children come Home
10. The Free Selector's Daughter
11. The Hastings Waltz
12. The Fire at Ross's Farm (recitation)
13. The Belltrees Polka
14. Australian Bards & Bush Reviewers

Mike and Michelle Jackson were together from 1979 to 1986. My kids adored them because they featured in the ABC TV Playmates; a young children's show. They were a very talented couple and each could play a large range of musical instruments as evidenced by the excellent instrumental tracks on this LP. Most of their output was aimed at children but they produced two folk albums. This LP, as the name indicates, also features the poetry of the noted Australian poet and short story writer, Henry Lawson, put to music other than the two recited poems noted above.

This is another great rip from Ian of Adelaide of a great LP. All graphics included.

Download MP3 @ 256 CBR
From MediaFire

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Mucky Duck "From the Bush" 1984 LP

Track List
1. The Swagless Swaggie
2. The Chant of Jimmy Governor
3. Whiskey is the Life of Man
4. Limejuice Tub
5. The Wreck of the Dandenong
6. The Musical Priest
7. When I'm Sixty-Four
8. The Four Horsemen (The Bushrangers)
9. Three Reels (Miss McLeod, Drowsy Maggie, Sleepy Maggie)
10. Jim Jones
11. The Shearer's Dream
12. From the Bush

You might reckon that the inclusion of the Beetles song "When I'm 64" is a bit of a clue that this "bush band" is not strictly traditional and you'd be mostly right. They bring some new perspectives to the performances of some of these songs, sometimes a touch of country, a touch of folk rock and occasionally a sense of barbershop quartet occasionally heavily backed by electrics and then they confuse you by being largely traditional. It all makes for a refreshing change.
This is a Western Australian band composed of Roy Abbott, Davy Browne, Andy Copeman, and Erik Kowarski.
Ian of Adelaide has generously provided this rip and the cover graphics for our enjoyment. Many thanks again Ian.

Download MP3 256 CBR
From MediaFire

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Cobbers Website

As at 15 April 2013 - The intermittent Cobbers website has again apparently disappeared. The band has a facebook identity but with no data or entries but 10 likes - go figure!

Warren Fahey and others "Man of the Earth ~ Songs and Ballads of the Australian Mining Industry" 1974 LP

Tracklist
1. Navvy on the Line (all male singers)
2. Castles in the Air (Phyl Lobl)
3. Pint Pot and Billy (Dave de Hugard)
4. Mines of Australia (Andy Saunders)
5. Sixteen Thousand Miles from Home (Warren Fahey)
6. Song of the Thrush (de Hugard)
7. Man of the Earth (Lobl, Tony Suttor)
8. Norman Brown (Suttor, Saunders)
9. When We get our Twopence back (Fahey, Suttor)
10. The Eldorado Mining Disaster (Lobl, Suttor, Saunders)
11. The Miner (Fahey, Suttor)
12. The Diamond Drill (Saunders)

This is first of Warren Fahey's Larrikin Label LPs. I understand that it was actually recorded in 1973, pressed in 1974 and released in 1975. It was also the first of a number of theme LPs; this one to do with mining. As usual, the LP cover artwork includes details of each of the songs (included in the download). This LP has seen some hard times but, overall, it has cleaned up fairly well.

Download with Graphics
From MediaFile

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Danny Spooner Discography

One of our visitors, Garry Gillard is constructing an on-line discography for Danny Spooner with Danny's blessing. You can check out his site at Danny Spooner.
He is looking for further information. If you are able to contribute, Garry can be contacted garrygillard[at]gmail.com (substitute "@" for "[at]"). Sorry, Garry, but I don't have any more rips of his LPs but perhaps someone out there can help.

Original Bushwhackers and Bullockies Band -"The Shearer's Dream" LP 1980

Track List
South Australia
Red hot woodstove
Maranoa drovers
Ned Kelly was born in a ramshackle hut
Swagless swaggie
Drops of brandy
Rye buck shearer
Woolloomooloo lair
Holy Dan
Bullocky, oh
Jim Jones at Botany Bay
Bush girl
Denis O'Reilly
Shearers dream.

There is a lot of confusion about the various "Bushwhacker" and "Bushwacker" configurations so perhaps a little explanation is needed.
In 1952, John Meredith, the renowned Australian folksong collector, formed the "Heathcote Bushwhackers" shortly after becoming just "The Bushwhackers". This band was really the first to bring genuine bush music, backed by the common instruments of the bush, to the general public. They had a few changes of members and broke up in 1957 with some members going on to "The Rambleers". They recorded one very successful LP "The Drover's Dream" (anyone got a good copy?).

The idea of being a "Bushwhacker" caught on and there were other bands using "bushwhacker" in their names to signify that they were "bush bands". This caused a lot of humour in the real bush where the term was usually deliberately spelt as "bushwacker" (meaning the "common" people living and working in the bush - not towns or cities) and they reserved the American based spelling "bushwhacker" for "ambushers", that is, a bushwacker might be bushwhacked by a bushranger.

We move on a few years to 1971 to the formation of a new band entitled "The Bushwhackers and Bullockies Band". As I understand it, in 1974, under that name they released their first LP "The Shearer's Dream" on the Picture Records label; the members of the band then being Dave Isom, Mick Slocum, Tony Hunt, Jan Wositzky and Dobe Newton. In 1980, the LP was re-released on Larrikin Records (LRF019) with the word "Original" inserted as a description, as by then, the band had more appropriately become "The Bushwackers" and its membership had changed but "The Original Bushwackers and Bullockies Band" is now almost universally used as the performers of the LP. The band later became just "The Bushwackers". A 3CD compilation of some of their earlier albums was put out in the '90s under the name "The Great Bushwackers". That compilation is shared on this blog.

Here is their website. The band is still active at music festivals as far as I know.

However, there is no confusion as to the quality of this band in its various configurations - consistently great performances both vocally and instrumentally with an excellent Australian "bushwacker" flavour as even this first of their albums readily demonstrates. Ian from Adelaide has provided this excellent rip of the LP so give him some encouragement and I'm sure he will offer more. So, thanks from me Ian.

Jan Wositzky, an ex-Bushwacker, has now obtained the rights to this album and intends to bring it out on CD in the near future and there may even be a bit of a reunion of some of the past members.  Accordingly, downloads of this album are no longer being offered.  Hopefully, we will be posting details when the CD is out.

Canterbury Fair - "Canterbury Fair" - 1978 LP

Track List
1. Bartholomew Fair
2. Fhir a' Bhata
3. Hey, John Barleycorn
4. The Weary Whaling Ground
5. The Bell Ringing
6. Jolly Old Hawk
7. The Bells of Rhymney
8. The Tunnel Tigers
9. The Eynsham Poaching Song
10.The Lancashire Lads
11. The Agincourt Carol
12. Jolly Good Ale and Old
13. False Young Man
14. The Trooper and the Maid
15. Dona Nobis Pacem

Canterbury Fair, an Australian group which specialised in British Isles folksongs, is another line-up of great singers including DannySpooner. In reality, it is effectively the first of two LPs and the follow up LP was the previously posted "Danny Spooner and Friends" LP which has been very popular with visitors to here and Time has Told Me. This one is even better relying more on vocal technique and harmony to produce beautiful songs mostly in a capella style. They do use some very subdued musical backing occasionally.
This is another rip kindly provided by Paul from Brisbane. The download package includes the album artwork giving details of all the songs and the performers.

Download LP Rip MP3 @192-224 VBR 
From MediaFire

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Burl Ives "Australian Folk Songs" 1958 LP

LP MP3 Rip 192-224VBR
Track List
1. Wild Rover No More
2. Click Go the Shears
3. The Wild Colonial Boy
4. A Nautical Yarn
5. Across the Western Plains I Must Wander
6. Waltzing Matilda
7. Oh! The Springtime, It Brings on the Shearing
8. The Station Cook
9. The Dying Stockman
10. Botany Bay
11. The Old Bullock Dray
12. The Stockman's Last Bed

Burl Ives (1909-1995) was brought up in America in a family with strong British Isles and US folk traditions. He was a professional performer by the mid 1930s and had his own radio show by 1940. Although he was also a good actor even achieving an Oscar as Best Supporting Male Actor (1958), folk music appears to have been his primary passion. His visits to England and Australia in the 1950s were very influential to the local folk movements.
He visited Australia in 1952 following an invitation from the Australian Broadcasting Commission where, with music professor Dr Percy Jones, he compiled a book of Australian Folk Songs, some of which he recorded and which were released on a Decca LP entitled "Australian Folk Songs" in the USA in 1958. His earlier performances of Australian folk songs in Australia combined with the release of the LP made it clear that Australian folk songs were something that all Australians could generally be proud of.
His basic style of performance was also highly refreshing with the accompaniment for most songs being just Ives on his guitar and even one without any accompaniment. The glaring exception is that revamped "semi-official" Waltzing Matilda version (which I so heartily despise - give me the original any day!) and it is given a full "anthem" treatment.
There has been a rip of the original album floating around for several years but it has been of a fairly poor quality. Incidentally, the cover of the original LP is hilarious. In a desperate hunt to get an Australian looking cover, Ives is pictured against the background of an Australian tourism poster communing with a toy koala bear stuck in an American birch tree whilst looking ever so elegant with some sort of stick - perhaps a vague reference to Denis O'Reilly's blackthorne stick? I've included a copy of the original LP graphics along with the Australian ones. This rip was taken from a "cheapie' Australian re-release of the original LP under licence and, very sensibly, with a generic type cover (Australian artwork also included). The LP ripped nicely considering the age of the original material.
It is greatly to Burl Ives credit that not once does he attempt any form of accent other than his own. His American accent can be a little disconcerting with these Australian songs but this is far preferable to faking it. It's also much better than born and bred Australians trying to sing some Australian songs with Irish accents (a variation of Bogle's 'plastic Paddy' syndrome). Get this one even if you only do so out of a sense of folk history.

Click here to download

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