Come Back Again... with Chris Spencer

It's not that often in Australia that experienced individual musicians get together to record. They might occasionally jam together at gigs or for special occasions at re-union concerts. If they do, rarely do any recordings surface from these sessions. The Party Boys were probably an exception to my conjecture, recording several albums and involving some of the highest profiled musicians at the time. This month I'm reviewing a new CD by four of the most accomplished musicians in the country. Three Aztecs and a Chain consist of Warren Morgan (keyboards and vocals), Paul Wheeler (bass, backing vocals), Gill Matthews (drums and backing vocals) and Phil Manning on guitars. The first three are from (Billy Thorpe's) Aztecs while Manning has been one of the consistent members of Australia¹s premier blues band, Chain.

Of the four, Manning has been the only member to constantly record and release albums over the past decade. Morgan's output has been limited to a CD of a few songs to raise money for a charity. Wheeler and Matthews are not prolific songwriters either, with Matthews releasing only 2 singles during the seventies, and one of those was in collaboration with Warren Morgan! Morgan aside of his writing with Billy Thorpe in the Aztecs, released an album with Thorpe as a duo - Titled Puffin Billy and Thumpin' Pig, and has had songs covered by other artists such as Shirley Strachan of Skyhooks, John Paul Young, Daryl Braithwaite and Wendy Saddington. It would be interesting for someone to compile all his songs covered by other artists! The Puffin' Billy album is not all that common and has not to my knowledge been re-issued onto cd. Perhaps it¹s low value of around $10-12 is an indication that it isn¹t a much sought after album by collectors.

Essentially this is Morgan's project; he gets to select the songs to record and he writes the liner notes to each song, explaining their origin and why he chose to record it. The songs vary in age from his first band in Beaten Tracks during the 60s (Boogie Tonight), Time to Live (recorded several times by the Aztecs during the 70s) to Ghost Town which he wrote while touring with Slim Dusty¹s backing band during 1995. Morgan's notes add interest to each song, as does an overview of the project by Full Moon's mentor, Simon Carey, who writes the liner notes. There are two covers, Blue Monday and an interesting version of Down Among the Dead Men, originally recorded by Vanda and Young. Morgan says that he played on the original session, and when you hear his piano work on this version, you can pick the similarities in the arrangement and distinctive piano work.

Musically, the album ranges from the boogie of track one (with it¹s delightful organ solo), through to rockers (Lookin' Back is one of the stronger numbers), rollicking piano blues (Ghost Town, Blue Monday) while the subdued final track, Hear With You, shows a different side of Morgan¹s writing and singing. Initially Morgan's vocals don't seem strong enough to carry the show, but soon the musicianship overshadows any concerns I may have had, and by the end of the CD, particularly on the aforementioned Hear With You, his voice is an asset,and at times reminds me of JJ Francis and Brian Cadd. Each musician seems to get a turn to work out: Manning on Cobba Digga Blues and Matthews on Time to Live. If you¹ve any interest in the Australian seventies' music, this is a must for your collection.

Further info: Full Moon Records; PO Box 1324, Castle Hill 2154.

This is the first of a regular series of monthly columns, looking at retro Oz music, either checking out where those old rockers are these days, or discovering that a lot of them have never faded away - just ignored by record companies.

Chris Spencer is author of the "Who's Who of Australian Rock'. He can be contacted through Moonlight Publishing.