"Beneath the Smoke - A Gathering of Nations" c1984 LP

Beth and Kevin Baker (Currency Folk) of the Australian industrial city of Wollongong (hence "Beneath the Smoke") put together this LP with a view to featuring the songs of different ethnicities within the area.  The result includes Australian artists singing traditional and modern folk songs (The Billabongers and the Bakers); Chileans Fernando and Sonia Aranciba with friends performing songs and instrumentals of rebellion; An Italian immigrant, Gerardo De Liseo, performing traditional songs of his original homeland; Vince Brophy, an Irish immigrant, singing two British Isles traditionals and also one of his compositions "Tug Boat"; and an English immigrant, Val Whittaker, also performing British Isles traditionals.

Track List
1. The Sandy Maranoa (Billabongers)
2. Seeds of Tomorrow (Beth Baker)
3. Amici, Amici (De Liseo)
4. Tug Boat (Brophy)
5. Goriza (De Liseo)
6. Elegia a los Caidos (Elegy for Freedom Fighters) (Fernando Arancibia)
7. La Palummeddha Janca (De Liseo)
8. The Rabbiters (Billabongers)
9. El Calameno (Arancibia's)
10. If I was a Blackbird (Whittaker)
11. Bogies Bonnie Bell (Brophy)
12. Will You go Laddie go (Whittaker)
13. Men of Kemira (Kevin Baker)
14. Geordie (Brophy)
15. Black is the Colour (Whittaker)
16. Gracias a la Vida (Arancibia's).

It was a well-packed LP with almost an hour's music.  The recording quality is variable but I found myself really enjoying the Italian and Latin American tracks.  Other than for  El Calameno, the download includes the lyrics of the Italian and Chilean songs with English translations.

Download with Graphics and Lyrics  MP3 192-224 VBR
Download from MediaFire

Link failed? Then please leave a comment or contact mr.stockman@gmail.com

Tina Lawton (Untitled Album) LP 1965

The very popular Tina Lawton, folk singer and artist, was 21 years old when this, her first album was released in December 1965.  On it she featured traditional songs of the British Isles, accompanied, amongst others by the harpist Huw Jones and Andy Sundstrom on guitar.

She went on to appear in the ABC film "The Restless Years" in 1966 and to release a further two albums "The Singing Bird" and "Fair and Tender" and also toured in Vietnam and other locations entertaining troops.  In 1968, she took up full-time art studies in Edinburgh but still performed intermittently in the UK.

In December 1968, she visited a friend in Kenya where on the 22nd December, she died in a small plane crash.  Truly a great loss to the world of music.

Sadly, I do not have access to her other two LPs which show a greater professional maturity.  Can anyone help?  This LP was very "dirty" but it has "cleaned" to a sort of listenable level.

Track List

1. Marie's Wedding

2. Spinning Wheel

3. One Morning, One Morning

4. Bonnet trimmed with Blue

5. The Lowlands of Holland

6. Mr. McQuire

7. Castle of Dramore

8. Spanish Lady

9. Trotting to the Fair

10. Lord Gregory

11. The Bird's Courting Song

12. Welsh Lament

13. Blacksmith Song

14. She moved through the Fair

15 Cuckoo Song

MP3 mono 192 VBR with Graphics

Download from MediaFire

Link failed? Then please leave a comment or contact mr.stockman@gmail.com 

 

Mike Jackson comments on Mike and Michelle Jackson postings

Mike Jackson (click here for his website) previously of Mike and Michelle Jackson has commented on the postings of their two folk albums on this blog, namely "Patchwork" and "The Roaring Days of Henry Lawson", from rips supplied by Ian of Adelaide and Paul fom Brisbane.  Mike's comment is:-

Thanks for the kind words chaps and chappesses,
So nice to see this bit of my past still freely available. No, we didn't make it with money in mind! Long live music. :)
And while I'm at it, bless Warren Fahey Larrikin Records/Folkways for making this and dozens of other projects preserving and promoting Australian Folk Music possible.

Lionel Long "The Bold Bushrangers" 1963 (2 LP Set)

The Bold Bushrangers was a two LP set issued in 1963.  All but two of the tracks were specifically penned for this project by the Australian author Kenneth Cook (best known for "Wake in Fright").  Somewhat paradoxically, whereas Long previously recorded traditional material with modern-style musical backing, this contemporary material has a very folky backing often with just Long accompanying himself on guitar.  Some tracks also feature that superb five-string banjo player, Dave Guard, an original member of the Kingston Trio who migrated to Australia in 1962 and backed several Australia performers (sometimes under other names e.g with Tina Date as Dynamite Finkelstein).

Kenneth Cook's wife, Patricia Cook is the soloist on three of the tracks and performs a duet with Long on one other. I know nothing about this lady but she gives a strong performance with a distinct Irish style highly reminiscent of the legendary Delia Murphy, the "Queen of Connemara" who was very well-known in Australia as she had accompanied her husband Tom Kiernan when he was appointed as the first Irish Ambassador to Australia in the post WWII years and often performed especially on ABC radio.

There have been some difficulties in getting reasonable LPs of this set.  Finally, Ian of WA, has provided me with copies of both volumes (thanks Ian),  Volume 1 is mono whereas volume 2 is stereo and in far better condition than 1 which had three fairly worn tracks on side two (the first three) causing some minor distortion which I can't correct.

Ian has also kindly provided text of the rears of the LPs. and these are included in the download.

The two traditional tracks are "The Wild Colonial Boy" and "Moreton Bay" and Kenneth Cook has written some really great songs for this set. My favourites are "The Drifting Smoke of the Mountain" and "Sir Frederick Pottinger" but others are also enjoyable.

MP3 @ 192-224

Download from MediaFire

Link failed? Then please leave a comment or contact mr.stockman@gmail.com 

Trevor Lucas "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" LP 1964

Graphics provided thanks to Luke R Davies (see later posting)

Album cover

We have previously met Trevor Lucas in this blog featuring his album "Overlander" which he did in his early days in England.  This LP was his first and was done in the year before he left Australia.

It is somewhat of an eclectic mix as you will observe from the below tracklist.  This rip was performed and provided by our first Victorian contributor so many thanks for this album.  (Notes about the album are included in the download)

Tracks (all traditional except as noted)

   1. Hey Nellie Nellie (Silverstein and Friedman)
   2. Bluey Brink
   3. John Hardy
   4. One Kind Favour
   5. World War III Talking Blues (Bob Dylan)
   6. Casey Jones
   7. The Voyager (Gary Shearston)
   8. John Henry
   9. Cocaine Blues (Gary Davis)
  10. The Flash Stockman
  11. Follow You Down

MP3s @ 160CBR
Download from MediaFire

Link failed? Then please leave a comment or contact mr.stockman@gmail.com

"15 Australian Christmas Carols" LP 1960s

I have had a few requests here and elsewhere to post some genuine Australian Carols.  I'm not really into carols (my favourite Christmas song is Eric Bogle's "Santa Bloody Claus").  However, a friend had previously asked me to get him a rip of this album so I've finished it off for him and I'm posting it here as well for anyone interested.

We "down under" tend to occasionally have problems with northern hemisphere carols especially when they talk about cold and snow.  You feel pretty silly singing them in the middle of a heat wave with the sweat streaming off your brow. The one exception I recall was the one about Santa Claus riding a strawberry roan when he goes to Texas because they don't have snow but I have not heard that one since the late 1950s.  Many have attempted to rectify the problem usually with little success - "Six White Boomers" still does well though.

In terms of a serious effort, this LP is probably the best known and even then it is fairly obscure although you will often encounter some of the carols sung by choirs at Xmas.  It covers the Australian Christmas time environment while maintaining a dignified respect for the religious aspects.

The pedigree of these tracks is excellent.  Words by John Wheeler, music by William G James, Sir Bernard Heinze conducting the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the New South Wales Conservatorium Choir.  I tend to find it a bit too stuffy but I'm sure it will delight those who are into carols and there are really a couple of worthy carols here.  But do listen to Bogle's "Santa Bloody Claus" as well.

I have included the lyrics for all the tracks as well as there is little point in carols if you can't sing along.

Song List (as per request in December 2011)

1. Merry Christmas

2. The Three Drovers

3. Christmas Night - Cradle Song

4. Christmas Day

5. Carol of the Birds (aka Orana)

6. Our Lady of December

7. The Little Town where Christ was born

8. Noel Time

9. Christmas Bush for his Adorning

10. The Silver Stars are in the Sky

11. The Christmas Tree

12. The Day that Christ was Born on

13, Country Carol - The Oxen

14. Golden Day

15. Sing Gloria

Download with graphics -  MP3 @192-224VBR Mono

From MediaFire

Link failed? Then please leave a comment or contact mr.stockman@gmail.com

1967 Film - "The Restless Years" and Best Wishes

For those interested in a video version of the original award-winning 1967 TV show "The Restless Years", The blogsite Folk for All has a copy available for download.

Make sure you all have a great holiday (or that work is not too hard).  Many thanks to all those who kindly contributed during the year.  We all hope that we have done a little to preserve some of this great music and that you enjoy listening to our offerings.

John Greenway "Australian Folksongs and Ballads" LP 1959

John Greenway was born in England in 1919.  As a young man, he went to the USA where after serving in the US Army in the Second World War, he furthered his tertiary education eventually becoming an English teacher and subsequently an anthropologist. Early on, he was strongly leftist with an interest in songs of protest and labour songs reflected in his records and publications.  In 1956, he was awarded a Fulbright scholarshop to study Australian labour movement songs.  He also undertook field work with traditional aboriginals.  He viewed the aboriginal research very positively but he "became so disgusted with the abuses and power of the Australian labor movement" that he became a "rightist" which well accounts for why, when he put out this album of Australian folksongs in 1959, not one union or protest song was included.
He has a fairly easygoing singing style and the American accent and the occasional mispronounciation of "Gundagai" gets a bit in the way but at least he had the dog sitting in the tucker box rather than on it but then in 1959 he'd have had his LP banned if he'd have sung "shat in the tucker box".
Unsurprisingly, most of the songs are in the usual top thirty of Australian folksongs. The tracks are:-
Botany Bay, Old Bullock Dray, Dying Stockman, One of the Has-Beens, Brisbane Ladies, Castlereagh River, Click go the Shears, Bold Jack Donahue, Wild Colonial Boy, Waltzing Matilda (original), The Dog sat on the Tuckerbox, Lazy Harry's, Ben Hall, Wallaby Stew, Les Darcy, Stockman's Last Bed, Peter Clarke, Cockies of Bungaree, and Wild Rover No More.

Download MP3 160-192 VBR
From MediaFire

Link failed? Then please leave a comment or contact mr.stockman@gmail.com

By courtesy of the combined efforts of Donnatv and cianfulli (see comments) a PDF of the original LP graphics can be obtained here.  Thanks very much.

Various Artists "Great Australian Legend" LP 1971

This LP was lovingly ripped by my associate Gonzo several years ago (please see his detailed comment).  It was retailed in the UK by Topic Records and in Australia by Score Records.  The three singers performing on the LP were:

A.L. Lloyd, commonly known as "Bert" Lloyd, was one of the recently popularised "forgotten generation" sent out to Australia at the age of 15 and he worked on stations in the Lachlan River area of New South Wales for six years before returning to England.  He is said to have collected folk songs from the locals.  He certainly was a fervent folk music performer with a significant role in promoting traditional English language folk music especially of the British Isles.

We have met Martyn Wyndham-Read before on this blog.  He too, is English, and spent most of the "sixties" in Australia and has often visited since including this year.  He also, has produced several English language folk albums.

Trevor Lucas, the third artist, was Australian born but he spent considerable time in the UK.  One of his LPs has been previously posted on this blog.

Tracks are:

1. Waltzing Matilda (original version)  - Lloyd and Chorus

2. Jim Jones at Botany Bay - Lloyd and Chorus

3. The Wild Colonial Boy - Lloyd and Chorus

4. The Streets of Forbes - Trevor Lucas

5. The Hold-Up at Eugowra Rocks - Lloyd and Chorus
6. The Flash Stockman - Martyn Wyndham-Read
7. Five Miles from Gundagai - Trevor Lucas
8. The Lime-Juice Tub - Lloyd, Wyndham-Read and Chorus
9. Euabalong Ball - "Bert" Lloyd
10. Banks of the Condamine - Trevor Lucas
11. Click Go the Shears - Martyn Wyndham-Read
12. Flash Jack from Gundagai - Martyn Wyndham-Read
13. Hard Tack - Martyn Wyndham-Read
14. On the Road with Liddy - "Bert" Lloyd

Download  MP3 VBR 192-224 - tracks and LP Front

From MediaFire
 Link failed? Then please leave a comment or contact mr.stockman@gmail.com

NEW

Peter, a NSW country visitor, has passed through and provided some additional material for the blog. This included another copy of the above UK issue of the LP, i.e. on the UK Topic label. Included was the original fold-out insert featuring notes and lyrics for all tracks and I took the opportunity to scan the rear of the LP also. The fold-out print was fairly small and indistinct so I have scanned at 300dpi which makes for large files - all up 14.07mb.

Download insert and LP rear graphics from MediaFire
Link failed? Then please leave a comment or contact mr.stockman@gmail.com

New Folk Blogsite

Sorry for the lack of postings but I have been very busy lately and I hope to rectify my absence soon. In the meantime, there is a rip of the 1982 Larrikin LP "Bushwackers and City Slickers" available from Folk For All Blog.