Bobsy-Die "A Bob Each Way" LP 1988

Another offering from the Victorian Bush Folkie. Again many thanks.

"Kick up Bobsy-die" - I had to look it up. New one for me. Interesting, but I think I'll stick with "there'll be hell to pay". But I am familiar with "having two bob each way". Somewhat stretching the theme, the "A" side is "Heads" and the "B" side is "Tails". Perhaps the latter feature is why they did not release on CD!

As far as I know this Victorian-based band which, in 1988, comprised Graeme Akers, Michael Regan, Greg Hunt, and Russell McKenzie, only released this one album (contrary advice very welcome). The "Bobsy-Die Band" does feature on Facebook which identifies that the band was still active in 2014 but the only original member was Graeme Akers.

The album is a mixed offering featuring trad and modern folk and there is also a strong instrumental component. Tracks are of Australian or British Isles origin.

Tracklist
1. Dennis O'Reilly (Oz traditional)
2. Feather top (instrumental by Regan and Hunt)
3. Bonny Jess (Spencer / Shearston)
4. Barnyards of Delgaty (Scottish traditional)
5. The Overlanders / High Reel
6. Instrumental medley - Going broke saving money (Hunt), Market Slide (Hunt & Regan), Banish Misfortune (traditional)
7. 10,000 miles away / Timor the Tartar (traditional song and instrumental)
8. Hewlett (traditional instrumental)
 9. Ballarat (Regan)
10. Flash Jack (Oz trad) / Claire Jig (traditional instrumental)

Click here to download album and graphics in one compressed file MP3 @ 224-256 VBR. 43.5 Mb
Let me know if the download becomes unavailable and I will re-up the file,

Paradiddle "Eureka - Live at the Stockade" LP 1983

Another album ripped by the Victorian Bush Folkie and cleaned by me.

This is the third Paradiddle album to appear on this Blog. This album was recorded live at the Stockade Hotel in Carlton (an inner suburb of Melbourne) on 7 November 1983. They were a fine group of musicians comprising (alphabetically) Athalie Brooks, Rob Fairbairn, Mark Leehy, Helmut Lopaczuk, Judy Turner and John Zigmantas.

You will be impressed with the instrumental breadth and flexibility of this group. They draw upon a far greater range of music than other folk musicians and they pull it off brilliantly especially in the two tracks given a comedic treatment. "Home among the Gumtrees" is far from standard and there are sections reminiscent of klezmer and calypso. Their vocal performances are great too.

That this album comes from a single night's live performance in a pub is, in my view, astonishing.

Tracklist 
1. Lazy Harry (Trad)
2. Poor Ned Kelly
3. Billy of Tea (trad)
4. Aussie Beer (Rob Fairbairn)
5. Albert  (Fairbairn and Leehy) (Albert Namatjira memorial)
6. Ludwigs Lot (Instrumental medley of  old time trads)
7. The Ghan (Leehy, Fairbairn and Lopaczuk) (honouring the older Ghan)
8.  Home among the Gumtrees (actual song lyrics by Bob Brown - commentary by ??)
9. Dear Mr. President (Judy Turner (Aussie) poem set to music by Fairbairn)
10. Looking for a Job (Fairbairn's Australianised adaption of Scotsman Matt McGinn's famed song of the same name)
11. Put a Light in every Country Window (Don Henderson)

Context for Track 5 "Albert" Albert Namatjira, a famed aboriginal artist active from late 1930s to late 1950s, was jailed for 2 months for illegally supplying alcohol to a fellow aboriginal man who then went on to kill an aboriginal woman. Apparently, Albert believed that one of the woman's relatives "pointed the bone" at him (killing by witchcraft) which is believed to have an influence on him.

Click here to commence downloading the compressed album file and its graphics
File is 60Mb. Tracks are MP3 @224-256VBR
Please let me know if download is no longer available and I will re-up the file.

Various "The Traitors Gate Folk Club - Five Years On" LP Stereo 1982

Another offering from the kindly Victorian Bush Folkie. Thanks again. I have been asked for this a few times over the years.

The Traitors Gate Folk Club  was the folk venue to go to in Adelaide in the late '1970s and early 1980s. I attended  the club a couple of times when they were using the Leicester Hotel in Parkside as a venue.

This LP was released in 1982 featuring singers who performed at the club over the years but they are not live performances.  The record was released with an informative insert but we do not have it.

The LP had quite a few glitches - quite a high level of crackles and pops and the vocals had far too many moments of distortion.  I have managed to clean the recordings to a good standard so please ignore the occasional residual glitches. The album is quite enjoyable and has a little of something for everybody.

Tracklist
1. Heights of Alma - Lis and John Munro
2. She moved through the fair - John Francis
3. If wishes were fishes - Irene Petrie
4. Queen amang the heather - Bob Hardie
5. Long Shadows - Lynne Muir
6. Patriot Prejudice - Bryan Cullen
7. The legend of Kelly - Eric Bogle
8. Jigs: Denny Delaney's, Morrison's - Joe Manning and Warwick Nottage
9. Only our rivers (run free) - Margaret Monks
10. The Week before Easter (The False Bride, I once loved a lass) - Denis Tracey
11. The town I loved so well - Phil Cunneen
12. Down and out blues - Chris McGloin and Bryan Monaghan

Click here to commence downloading the compressed album file with slip graphics.
File is 61Mb. Tracks are MP3 @224-256VBR
Let me know if download is no longer available and I will re-up the file.

Denis Tracey "No man's land" LP 1979

I downloaded this particular album sometime ago from the web and I have kept putting off posting it on the blog. (The Victorian Bush Folkie has also provided a copy of this album but this one is an excellent rip likely done from a very clean copy so I have been saved a lot of work). I have no idea who did the work but thanks if you are reading this.

Oh, as far as I am aware the artist's given name is "Denis" as shown on the LP labels and "not Dennis" as consistently listed on the album slip. I know very little about this man even though he has been a constant Australian Folk presence for many years. He appears to have had a strong South Australian connection. I suspect that he stopped performing for a few years now. I could use some help here please!

This is an excellent album with great performances both vocally and instrumentally. Most tracks are British Isles traditionals with three Australian items one of which is traditional, and the album finishes with an hilarious ditty about funeral caskets, supposedly from an American advertising jingle - who knows. You do not need to be a folk fan to enjoy this album.

Tracklist
1. The dark-eyed sailor
2. The Coventry Carol
3. Instrumental Medley - The South wind, Rolling in the Rye Grass, Drowsey Maggie
4. She moved through the fair
5. No Man's Land (aka Green Fields of France) (Eric Bogle composition, of course)
6. Lowlands (male dying sailor version) (windlass and pump shanty)
7. Lassie wi' a yellow coatie
8. Arthur McBride
9. Wee pot stove (Harry Robertson composition - Scot immigrant with whaling background)
10. The banks of the Condamine (Australian traditional - shearing version)
11. Instrumental Medley - The Tenpenny bit, and the lark in the morning.
12. Lizzie Lindsay (Child 226)

Click here to proceed to download the compressed file with graphics. MP3 320CBR 94 Mb.
If download lapses - please let me know and I'll put it up again.

The Bushwhackers "Australian Bush Songs" EP 1957

Do not confuse this band "The Bushwhackers" with the substantially later "The Bushwackers Band". This group was one of the pioneer bush bands formed by a group of Sydneysiders in the mid 1950s. The group had a relatively short life but their music was popular for many years. This was a 7" vinyl playing at 33 and a third rpm. It was produced in 1957 by Wattle Records which focused on folk music. It was the first of this type.It was a follow up to their first five Bushwhackers 78s. A search for Wattle Records will locate further information about them at folkstream.com.

We know that the group broke up in about 1957 and three of its members, Alex Hood, Harry Kay and Chris Kay went off to form The Rambleers with other performers; also recording with Wattle starting in 1958. This band also focused on Australian folksongs and included old-time dance music. For those interested, the National Library of Australia, in 2002,  released a compilation CD "The Rambleers" featuring their original material. I have a copy of the CD but I do not know if it is still for sale at either the Library or the National Film and Sound people.

Our kind Victorian Bush Folkie provided digitised files from the EP. Did they call them EPs back then? I doubt it.
Not surprisingly, the vinyl has not aged gracefully and the roughed-up slip gives some indication that it has had a hard life. Still, I have managed to do acceptable cleans of the first four tracks. The fifth track has some bad distortion which I can do nothing about but it is still listenable. Incidentally, these recordings are far from complex and although I have encoded them at 224VBR, as a matter of principle, they could be reduced to a lower level without any noticeable loss. Compressing the total of 27Mb resulted in a .RAR file of only 12Mb. Of course, the recording is mono.

This is definitely an item of historical interest.

Tracklist
1. The Hut that's upside down
2. Australia's on the wallaby
3. Click go the shears
4. Black velvet band
5. Drover's Dream

Download compressed file VBR 224 MP3 12.28Mb Mono

Additional: This album did come with an insert/s and Sandra from the Bush Music Club (see comments) has posted images of the insert. The insert also provides lyrics for each of the songs. Click here to see the posting.

Any problems with downloading - let me know.

Twankydillo - Untitled cassette album 1990

"Twankydillo" was a Victorian-based grouping featuring the singers Lis Johnston, Meg MacDonald and Annie McGlade resulting in very beautiful singing. The album was released in February for sale at the 1990 folk festivals. Tragically, Lis Johnston died towards the end of 1990 but Annie McGlade with others set up the annual Lis Johnston Memorial Award for vocal excellence which , since 1992, has been bestowed at the National Folk Festival in Canberra.

The name "Twankydillo" is from a traditional English folk song but it is not included in this album. The tracks are a mixture of old (2, 6, 9) and modern including the old pop standard "Sugartime". A very enjoyable album with great voices and lots of instrumental backing. Their first track is "The Fields of Athenry" written by Pete St John in the 1970s. It made three successful appearances in the Irish hit lists. Since about 1990, it has become the Irish defacto sporting anthem. It's a great song in the folk style about a fictitious man who, during the Irish famine (1845-1850), steals corn to feed his family and is sentenced to transportation to "Botany Bay". Go to a sporting event in Ireland and you are very likely to hear everyone singing this song; very impressive.

Oh! It is another welcome offering from the Victorian Bush Folkie.

Tracklist
1. Fields of Athenry
2. False Knight (Traditional - Child 3 -  The False Knight is Satan)
3. Don't get married.
4. Let her go down
5. Shadow Dreaming (has a modern Irish feel - any information welcome)
6. Dumbarton's Drums (Scottish traditional)
7. The Bramble and the Rose
8. Dittisham Lad (song of South Devon supposedly - could be a fairly recent traditional?)
9. Reynardine (traditional)
10. Sugartime

Download just False Knight with album graphic here 3.57Mb

Click here to download entire album (compressed) MP3 224-256 VBR 45Mb

Any problems - email me or best to do a comment on this posting.

The Flyte "Tern" Cassette 1989

Another one gratefully received from the Victorian Bush Folkie. The Flyte were composed of Penny Davies, her life partner Roger Ilott, Jim Gregory, Byrd Fairport and Kim Brown. The music was recorded 1988/1989. I have not found any references to this album which was produced by Restless Recordings owned by Davies and Ilott. I recommend that you click here to peruse their website "Restless Music". It is well worth a visit and they have several CDs for sale at reasonable prices and some free downloads.. Davies and Ilott are still very active at folk festivals and folk venues and catch them if you can. They do a great job on the late Bill Scott's poems and songs.

This particular album is "out-of-print" and quite clean. The major task for me was the simple one of removing the usual tape and player noise. The tracklist is shown on the above graphic.

Click here to proceed to download the compressed album. Needs to be decompressed before playing. 48Mb of 10 MP3 files @224-256 VBR.

If the download link fails make a comment on this posting or email me mr.stockman@gmail.com

Ants Bush Band "The bush has friends to greet us..." LP 1986

And another vinyl rip provided by the Victorian Bush Folkie. Thanks mate! I never knew about this album despite a fair degree of research on the band. It was recorded in August and September 1986 according to its jacket produced by Nicholls N Dimes Records. The Band members at that time were Paul Duncan, Ron Salter, Michael Roberts, Barry Wiggs, Mary McDonald, and Dominic Dickson.

Cleaning the LP did present some difficulties especially on the B side (tracks 7 to 12) but all tracks are at an acceptable level - just don't listen too critically please.

Most of the tracks are of relatively modern authorship; the exceptions being the medley at track 1 and "The Leaving of Liverpool" (track 10). However, three tracks, as noted in the track list, have traditional dance interludes. I think I can identify two of the dance tunes but, rather than make a fool of myself, perhaps some kind soul can confidently identify them (perhaps Mr. Kind Appo?) Yes he has identified them (see his comment).

Tracklist
1. Instrumental medley - Irish Washerwoman, Haste to the Wedding, and Merry Old Maid.
2. Clancy of the Overflow
3. No Man's Land (aka Green Fields of France)
4. The Gamble
5. The Pioneers
6. A Tale of Crooked Jack (with unacknowledged instrumental interlude "Waves of Tory")
7. The Ryebuck Shearer (with unacknowledged instrumental interlude "The Rattling Bog")
8. And the Band played Waltzing Matilda
9. The Man from Snow River
10. Leaving of Liverpool
11. Poor Ned
12. The Whale (with unacknowledged instrumental interlude "The Keel Row"and fade out of "The Sailor's Hornpipe")

Proceed to download compressed album file with graphics MP3 224-256 VBR 71 Mb by clicking here.
You will need decompression software or capability to extract album and its files.
Leave a comment on this post or send email to mr.stockman@gmail.com if file no longer available for download and I will re-upload it.

Tim O'Brien & Joe Paolacci "Torn Apart/People & War" LP 1982

This is another LP from the Victorian Bush Folkie. The album appears to be a bit of a joint effort with the rear of the album slip advising the performers as "Joe Paolacci & Tim O'Brien with Tony Lavin, Richard Leitch, Peter Dwyer & Hugh McDonald". It was a Melbourne based production.

This album features many of the anti-war or Irish Rebellion classics, mostly popular in the 'sixties and early 'seventies with a couple of traditionals and three spoken items so it's quite an eclectic offering with leading performances from Paolacci, O'Brien, Lavin and Richard Leitch.

Despite the admirable sentiments, the overall theme was probably even a little outdated in 1982 and doing copy covers of songs previously brilliantly performed by others is always risky.  This album does not translate that well to 2015 but that's just a personal opinion and contrary opinions are welcome.

Tracklist
1. Joe Paolacci performs Buffy Saint-Marie's 1964 classic "The Universal Soldier". It was deservedly a big hit for Donovan.
2. Tim O'Brien performs Dominic Behan's "The Patriot Game". - an IRA favourite.
3. The traditional "Newry Town" by Tony Lavin. A song about a highwayman whose nationality is somewhat vague. No conncetion to war or rebellion.
4. Phil Coulter's "The town I loved so well" An Irish "troubles" lament.
5. Tim O'Brien recites Dame Mary Gilmore's poem "War"
6. Joe and Tim combine in the traditional "Eileen Aroon" (it has nothing to do with war or rebellion)
7. Tim O'Brien sings his own composition "Davy Fields". It is a very interesting composition which I have never heard before. IMHO it is the outstanding item in the album.
8. "I.W.W." - Tim O'Brien reads from an Australian poster issued in 1915. Short, sharp and pointed!
9. The ancient Scottish lament "The Flowers of the Forest" - Joe Paolacci. Best known in Australia because of Eric Bogle's phrase "did the pipes play the Floo'rs of the Forest". Commonly known as "The Lament" and public pipe performances are usually restricted to funerals and remembrances for the dead.
10. A recitation of Henry Lawson's "Scots of the Riverina" by Richard Leitch in a strong Scottish brogue.
11. "The Button Pusher". Tony Lavin sing this comedy/ironic song of unknown authorship about a person who has the job of pushing the button for all-out atomic war.
12. "The Sun is Burning" performed by Tim O'Brien. Composed by the famed Scottish born, Birmingham resident Ian Campbell, a prominent figure in the UK folk revival. The song became very popular with many Irish folksingers. The "Sun" in this case is the blast of atomic bombs.
13. "Einstein" is a recitation by Joe Paolacci of a very disparaging opinion that Einstein wrote about the intellect of soldiers.

Click here to begin downloading the album and its graphics as one compressed file. MP3@224-256 VBR. 55Mb. Decompression capability required to expand file.

Link fails? - tell me mr.stockman@gmail.com or make comment on this posting and I will re-up the file.

Death of Marian Henderson 21 May 2015

What a sad time! According to reports, Marian Henderson passed away yesterday. She had been retired for many years living near Nyngan, NSW. She remained an active piano player for friends. She was a brilliant singer and it is a great pity that her musical output was so limited. Still, we can continue to cherish what is available and to remember her fondly.
Farewell Marian!