Greg Quill and Country Radio

Greg Quill's Country Radio were part of a major shift in Australian music.

The end of the sixties into 1970 proved to be one of the great turning points of rock and roll, as significant as the arrival of Elvis Presley and then the Beatles, but the important difference now was that instead of the music chasing to emulate one icon, this is the point where "rock" shattered, and went into all kinds of directions - Led Zeppelin etc taking the rock side into new adventures, the arrival of Crosby Stills Nash and Young taking the music on another course - just two of the paths taken at that time. That was also a defining time for Australian rock, going into some of those directions, not being able to go the way of some, and finding a few paths characteristically Australian.

During the mid to latter sixties the folk music which had preceded the Beatles-led groupquake had been forced into the background, although its inspiration Bob Dylan managed to weather the storm. But the end of the Sixties that side of music again became one of the options open, and in the Sydney northern beachside suburb of Narrabeen singer/songwriter Greg Quill opening his own folk venue, the Shack, where he and likeminded artists could sit on stools in front of audiences crosslegged on the floor.

By 1970 Greg had added journalism to his talents, writing for the national music weekly Go-Set. He was still performing and writing his own music, and building up an impressive set of songs, eventually leading to Greg being signed to the 'progressive' Harvest label. A solo single 'Fleetwood Plain' was followed by an album of the same name, the making of which became such a collaborative effort, between Greg and his musician friends the album was put out under a group name, Greg Quill and Country Radio - Greg, and additional guitarist and a harmonica player. Already Greg the former folk singer was on the verge of becoming something else.

The group was quickly evolving around him - musicians coming in, musicians coming out - the music evolving at the same time. Greg's life was changing dramatically, professionally and personally. The whole of that change was summed in the August 1972 single 'Gypsy Queen', Country Radio having by now switched to Festival's 'progressive' label. The important inclusion to the Country Radio line-up on the way to 'Gypsy Queen' was guitarist/mandolin player Kerryn Tolhurst. Before now, apart from Greg's voice the characteristic of Country Radio's sound was Chris Blanchflower's harmonica playing. Now Country radio added Kerryn's mandolin playing to its "sound". Kerryn was also collaborating with Greg Quill on some of the songwriting, including 'Gypsy Queen' and its follow-up, 'Wintersong'.

'Gypsy Queen' gave Country Radio a huge hit record, and sent the band on an endless touring schedule. Literally endless. The band was so busy performing they were not "allowed" to come off the road long enough to record an album. They had the songs, but weren't given the time to really explore those songs or what might have happened as a consequence of going into the studio with them. On October 4, 1972, Country Radio's next album was recorded live in a recording studio at the back of Channel 9 in Melbourne, in front of an invited audience. Then Country Radio went back on the road.

That moment is one of the great tragedies of Australian rock. Who knows what they might have created had they recorded a 'real' album. Instead, the band was driven into the ground to the point where disintegration was inevitable. Before that, at the end of 1972, they travelled to Canada for the first time, and returned in time to appear at the second Sunbury festival in January 1973. Then, one by one, starting with Kerryn Tolhurst, the rest of that Country Radio left and the band's line-up became a fluid affair again. Kerryn left to form the Dingoes. Country Radio's bass player John Du Bois would join later.

Greg Quill in the meantime struggled on, but by 1974 decided against any pretence that there was such a thing as Country Radio any more and recorded a solo album. On 'The Outlaw's Reply' Greg was again surrounded in the studio by an array of fine musicians, including Kerryn Tolhurst. By the time the album came out Greg was working in Canada on a travel grant from the Australian Arts Council. For a while Greg balanced his career between the two countries, forming a new Australian group, Southern Cross. Eventually he gave up music, settled in Toronto and became one of that city's top entertainment journalists.

In 1999, during a brief trip back "home" Greg Quill caught up with some of his old friends, and after dinner and a few drinks, the inevitable guitars came out. As a direct result Greg and Kerryl Tolhurst started writing songs together again Greg back in Toronto, Kerryn in New York. In 2003 they released their reunion album 'So Rudely Interrupted' and Quill Tolhurst.(www.quilltolhurst.com).

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Dingoes
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