"One of the few comprehensive various-artists documents of the mid-'60s Australian rock scene."(AllMusic)
"Without doubt an essential purchase for anyone with a serious interest in Australian music of the '60s." (Milesago)
This is album review number one hundred and thirty five in the series of retro-reviews of both vinyl and CD albums from my collection.
The series is called Cream of The Crate and each review represents an album that I believe represents significant musical value, either because of its rarity, because it represents the best of a style or styles of a music or because there is something unique about the music, the group or the particular production.
The first fifty reviews were based on vinyl albums from my collection, with the following fifty on CD albums from my collection. Links to all these reviews can be found at the bottom of the page. I check out a very interesting double album from my collection this week, featuring an amazing range of Australian Artists from the years 1964 to 1966.
The album has the title So You Wanna Be A Rock and Roll Star Volume 1 - The Scream Years Of Australian Rock 1964 - 1966. It is a compilation album put out on the Festival label in 1975 and has the code L-45587. It is a double vinyl LP in a gatefold cover and was according to the cover notes, "conceived, researched & compiled by Glenn A.Baker. The album has 32 tracks, eight per side and covers some of the absolutely best known artists that recorded on the Festival label during the years 1964 - 1966, as well as some rare and unheard of groups.
I would have preferred the sub-title to have been "The Beat Years" rather than "The Scream Years", but that was Bakers prerogative! What is very interesting about this set is not just the inclusion of some most excellent bands from this period, generally featured playing one of the tracks they are best known for, but the fact that the second album in this double album set, features eight groups that generally went under the radar but their music, or their lineup is memorable for one reason or another. Of course what it does do now it is 40 years since the albums release and for all intents and purposes 50 years since the tracks were recorded, is to provide a fascinating and well deserved historical record of what was a crucial period in the development of Australian music.
The gatefold nature of the album provides us with the opportunity of being provided a reasonable summation of the group and the track and some historical context. It may or may not have been seen at the time as being an important historical record of the music of this time, and I can only conclude this because it really deserved, no it really demanded a decent full sized booklet. While the inside covers do provide reasonable information, more info and certainly pictures of the artists and groups could have accompanied the album if a booklet had been produced. As it is, we have to be happy with a collage of pictures as presented on the rear of the cover.
Track Listing
SIDE ONE
BILLY THORPE & AZTECS - Poison Ivy
RAY BROWN & WHISPERS - Pride
NORMIE ROWE & THE PLAYBOYS - Tell him I'm not home
TONY WORSLEY & BLUEJAYS - Just a little bit
MIKE FURBER & THE BOWERY BOYS- You stole my love
JOHNNY YOUNG & KOMPANY - Step back
JEFF ST. JOHN & THE ID - Lindy Lou
RAY HOFF & THE OFFBEATS - Let's go, let's go, let's go
SIDE TWO
CHRIS HALL & THE TORQUAYS - Don't ask me why
MARTY RHONE & THE SOUL AGENTS - Thirteen women
GLEN INGRAM & THE HI-FIVE - Skye boat song
VINCE MALONEY SECT - She's a yum yum
STEVE & THE BOARD - The giggle eyed goo
PURPLE HEARTS - Early in the morning
DELLTONES - Hey girl, don't bother me
EXECUTIVES - Wander boy
SIDE THREE
AMAZONS - Ain't that lovin' you baby
SUNSETS - When I found you
RAJAHS - Kiss me now
BLACK DIAMONDS - See the way
BLUE BEATS - She's coming home
POGS - The Pog's theme
MORLOCH - Every night
MYSTRYS - Witch girl
SIDE FOUR
SHOWMEN - Don't deceive
LIBRETTOS - Kicks
LOST SOULS - This life of mine
THE FIVE - Bright lights, big city
THE A SOUND - Tomorrow I met you
KEVIN BIBLE & THE BOOK - Rockin' pneumonia & the boogie woogie flu
JIMMY CROCKETT & THE SHANES - Lovin' touch
BLUES RAGS 'N' HOLLERS - I just want to make love to you
As is usually the case when reviewing compilations that have history attached, choosing tracks from what is usually strong line-ups is very difficult. Side one of album one is a prime example of this, with six artists that back in that period, that not only audiences myself and the young muso's I hung around had great respect for. Two other artists on this album "we" knew were popular but didn't grab us at the time and it really has taken a period of time and reflection to understand that while their music and presentation did not "grab" us, they certainly were marketed very well, but had a most definite and large audience. Those two are Johnny Young and Mike Furber. So that helps me a little and I took the easy way out and simply decided to focus on tracks 1 and 2.
Track number one kicks off with one of Australia's most revered rockers, if not power rockers, Billy Thorpe, or "Thorpie" as he became affectionately known in later years. But we need to understand that in 1964/65 Billy was marketed in the image of the British style of presentation, with suits, ties, long hair, but very neat, and a "beat" style rather than the "rock" style that we were trying pretty hard to move away from.
The choice of Poison Ivy was an interesting one as the track had already been made famous by the Coasters in 1959, in fact reaching number 1 in the R&B charts and number 7 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was already covered by a number of British groups including the well known version by the Rolling Stones, a slightly lesser known version by the Dave Clark V and in fact even the Hollies had released a version - all before Billy Thorpe. So while there is no doubt that the version released by Billy and the Aztecs was immensely popular, there certainly was an element of risk with so many versions already on the market. Incidentally, it would be copied no less than twenty two times over subsequent years.
The Aztecs, consisting of of drummer Col Baigent, bassist John "Bluey" Watson and guitarists Valentine Jones and Vince Maloney formed early in 1963 in Sydney as predominantly a surf instrumental group. With the sudden surge of everything British, they quickly approached local singer Billy Thorpe who joined them, and shortly after Jones left the group to be replaced by Tony Barber. By mid 1964 they had recorded and released Poison Ivy and it quickly shot to the top of the charts giving the group instantaneous national popularity. So big was the track that it famously kept The Beatles from the No. 1 spot on the Sydney charts which was a major accomplishment, only magnified by the fact that the Beatles were actually touring Australia at the time. So impressed ere the Beatles that they invited Thorpe to meet them at their hotel. It was indeed a massive hit! #1 in Sydney, #1 in Melbourne, #1 in Brisbane, #2 in Adelaide and #1 in Perth.
Baigent, Barber, Thorpe, Maloney & Watson
There is no underestimating the importance of Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs to the development of the music scene in Australia, and it is somewhat of an indication that Thorpe left the group in 1965, he would return in 1969 not only as lead singer but as lead guitarist and would front the Aztecs though their most brilliant musical period of 1969 to the group disbanded in 1973. But all that success and adulation really started with this Leiber & Stoller composition - Poison Ivy!