Rocking Down Under: Kallaj’s Guide To Aussie Rock [PART TWO]

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Awesome, then let's get back into it!

1. “Live At Sunbury 1972”: Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs

Ok, this is an album, but bear with me.

Thorpe & The Aztecs started out sounding like the British bands of the era, very beat oriented. They were the best band in all the land until the Easybeats showed up. By the late 60’s, Thorpe was trying to change his image; growing his hair out, playing louder rock music, attempting to try LSD live on TV, the usual moves. Come 1972, the Aztecs reformed, Thorpe started belting the blues and they appeared at Sunbury. What is Sunbury? Why it’s Australia’s equivalent to Woodstock! After a day of great Aussie rock, The Aztecs came out and blew the audience away. Don’t believe me? Well lucky for us they recorded their set.  The only word I can find to describe this is; explosive. Think about it, a long day of music, drinking beer, getting kinda tired from sitting in the hot sun all day, and then the Aztecs walk out, start playing "CC Rider" and poof, you’re along for the ride. The only downside to this, is that some of the songs drag on for way too long, kinda jam band like, but not even close. Regardless, once you get hooked in, you’re good to go!

     2. “Black Eyed Bruiser”: Stevie Wright

Long after the Easybeats, George Young and Harry Vanda became very successful songwriters and producers. Setting up shop in Albert Studios, the duo wrote and produced hits John Paul Young, "Love Is In The Air", and produced the first albums for George’s brothers band, AC/DC. At the same time that AC/DC was working on their first albums, former Easybeat vocalist Stevie Wright was working on a solo career for himself. After releasing the album Hard Road in 1974 to great success, Wright was getting deeper into a drug addiction that proved to be bothersome to the production of the next album. The outcome, Black Eyed Bruiser, would be Wright’s last album for nearly 15 years, and destroy any hope for a truly prosperous solo career. Although not as successful as previous singles such as “Evie” or "Hard Road", this song was one of my first exposures into deeper tracks in Aussie Rock. If you’re an AC/DC fan, this song is for you. That opening riff is very Malcom Young esc, and Wright sounds like Bon Scott for a couple moments.  It’s just a great record to pump you up for a barroom brawl!

       3. "Khe Sanh": Cold Chisel 

Once again, I give you an artist that you probably have never heard off, but this one always strikes me funny. Cold Chisel is one of Australia’s most famous bands and many consider one of the best alongside AC/DC. And why shouldn’t they be?  Their song, ”Khe Sanh”, a song about a returning Vietnam vet, troubled by the war, and his struggles to adjust back into society, has been called one of the best Australian songs by the Australasian Performing Right Association. Cold Chisel combines a lot of different elements into their work; from Hard Rock blasters ("Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye)") to more new wave-ish pop songs ("Cheap Wine").  Their sound reminds me of bands like Boston & Bad Company, mixed in part with the new wave feel of The Police. So if you're a fan of the very familiar 70’s/80’s hard rock (you know the songs/bands I mean), I strongly suggest you check these guys out. 

Look out for part 3, coming soon!

Tubby Hayes - Tubbs (1961)

Tubby Hayes
Tubbs
Fontana, 1961

For the last couple months,  I’ve been diving into the mysterious world of British Jazz, particularly of the 1950’s & 60’s. Why is it mysterious? Because we as Americans have never felt the full blown power of jazz from across the pond. During this period, England’s Jazz scene was split by two contrasting sounds. On one side, musicians such as Chris Barber, Ken Coyler, and Humphrey Lyttleton played in the style of the Polyphonic New Orleans tradition, known as Trad Jazz. 

On the other side, musicians were looking toward the modern sounds of Charlie Parker and Horace Silver, inspiring the likes of Ronnie Scott, Joe Harriott, and Tubby Hayes. 

While there is nothing wrong with the Trad Jazz boom, I’ve found the the Modern Jazz scene and sound to be extremely interesting. When I picked up the Tubby Hayes album “Tubbs”, I was gobsmacked. 

This album is somewhat split, some of the tracks feature Hayes playing with a big band, while the other tracks feature him with a quartet. I was shocked to hear a Saxophonist who could easily hold his own and, dare I say, outplay these masters.  Hayes was 26 at the time of this recording, and to put it into perspective, Coltrane was 34, and Rollins was 30. Put on Hayes’s take on "Cherokee" to get the best taste. Even then, on two of the tracks, “S’posin” and “The Folks Who Live On The Hill”, Hayes puts the sax down and shreds on vibes!  

Hayes’s playing has a high level of technical proficiency as heard in the blowing, but also, he gives off a strong proficiency in the blues and shows the appropriate vocab, like in the track “Tubbsville”. All these things mentioned can be seen in each of the other tracks on this album. Even his vibe playing shows great skill, I can’t name another sax player who goes and plays both these instruments very well. 

After hearing this album, I’m left with two questions, Why does nobody talk about Tubby Hayes and why does nobody in America know anything about Jazz in England? Even though Hayes came to America on a few occasions to play, he went practically unnoticed (except for recording an album with Clark Terry, and being the first British musician to play at the Half Note).  I’m always impressed with how music is able to travel, for example, many of these British musicians got their hands on American jazz records somehow. Using Blue Trane as an example, that album was only released in the United States when first released in 1957. The UK’s first official release of that album wasn’t until 1977, twenty years later. So somehow, these British players got American records, but vice versa, American players never got hold of these British records. It’s a shame that most musicians of the time never got to hear these records, but today, thanks to the internet, we can appreciate these breathtaking recordings.