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“Only once in a
blue moon would
I try doing a
solo show in the
old days, and
that was with an
electric guitar.
I thought this
would be easy
but it wasn’t.
You have to
reappraise the
whole thing,
play
differently,
change your solo
style. You have
to go back to
the song, look
at what the
lyrics are
about, find a
new way to
express them.
It’s a real
challenge, but a
rewarding one.”
Six Strings, Ian
Moss’s first
album in eight
years, is an
instant classic
from one of
Australia’s true
rock legends,
recorded at
Sydney’s
Sandringham
Hotel with a
Maton 808
acoustic guitar,
three pick-ups,
three
microphones, and
some of the
greatest throat
strings this
country has ever
heard.
Cold Chisel
greats, platinum
solo singles,
new songs and
relics from
Hendrix and
Creedence are
rendered with an
impossibly warm
timbre and
bluesy lilt that
are instantly
recognisable,
but with a
thrilling sense
of immediacy. No
wonder the crowd
sounds like it’s
holding its
breath.
“It’s nice,
particularly
with some of the
more melancholy
ballads, to be
able to hear a
pin drop,” Ian
says. “At the
end of some
songs there’d be
this long pause
where people are
still lost in
the song, which
is a strange
moment as a
performer where
you’re wondering
‘Did you like
that?’”
The very
question is a
sign of the
relentless quest
for perfection
that has
contributed to
Ian’s long
absence from the
new release
racks. “Shall
I?” he asks the
audience after
an offhand
snatch of Purple
Haze has them
practically
hypnotised.
Thankfully, yes,
he does.
Six Strings is
the freewheeling
sound of a
master craftsman
in full command,
from the elegant
‘30s jazz
standard Angel
Eyes to the
first Chisel
song he ever
sang in ‘74, The
Party’s Over, to
Message From
Baghdad, a
topical and
incredibly
poignant new
song by his
brother, Peter
Moss.
Other Chisel
essentials
include Bow
River, My Baby,
Never Before and
a surprising
version of
Saturday Night.
“My policy with
Chisel is I only
do stuff I sang
or wrote,” Ian
says, “so this
is one of the
first times I’ve
ever encroached
on something Jim
(Barnes) is
better known
for.”
This version of
ARIA’s Song of
the Year 1989,
Tucker
Daughter’s,
arrived by a
more gradual
process of
mutation: “I
adapted the
original,
possibly
over-orchestrated,
over-engineered,
over-produced
recording to a
three-piece
blues band years
ago,” Ian says.
“This version is
an extension of
that.
“Doing these
shows reminded
me again that
it’s all about
how you play.
I’m amazed at
how much colour
and variation
and emotion I’ve
been able to get
with just voice,
guitar and a
foot tapping on
the floor. Less
is more.”
Ian Moss
Timeline
1973
1973 Moss
founds Orange in
Adelaide with
songwriter Don
Walker
1974
Orange becomes
Cold Chisel
1978
Ian sings lead
on One Long Day,
B-side of debut
single Khe Sanh
Cold Chisel
album goes gold
Ian’s version of
Georgia On My
Mind is a
highlight of
Chisel shows
1979
Breakfast at
Sweethearts LP
hits #4, sells
double platinum
1980
East album
features three
of Ian’s lead
vocals,
including single
My Baby and
self-penned
Never Before
Ian plays on
debut Icehouse
LP
1981
My Baby is
Chisel’s first
US single
Swingshift live
album hits #2,
sells triple
platinum
1982
#1 album Circus
Animals features
Ian’s signature
tune, Bow River
Ian plays on
Richard Clapton
LP, The Great
Escape
1983 Chisel
play
record-breaking
Last Stand tour
1984
Posthumous
Twentieth
Century LP is
another double
platinum #1
1986
The Ian Moss
Band hits the
pubs
Sessions with
Marc Hunter,
Jenny Morris
1989
Debut solo
single Tucker’s
Daughter hits #1
Matchbook album
is instant
classic: #1,
triple platinum,
four singles and
five ARIA
Awards: Best
Male Artist,
Best Album, Best
Debut Album,
Best Debut
Single and Song
of the Year
1991
Worlds Away
album, Ian’s
last for five
years
Plays on Don
Walker’s Catfish
LP, Ruby
1992
Worlds Away
released
Germany,
Austria,
Switzerland,
Scandinavia
Ian plays on
Black Sorrows LP
1993
Plays on Jimmy
Barnes’s Heat;
Richard
Clapton’s
Distant Thunder
1995 Plays on
Don Walker’s
We’re All Gunna
Die
1996
Hard-edged
Petrolhead album
critically
acclaimed
1997
Ian Moss Live
album issued
1998
Chisel reunite
for Last Wave of
Summer tour &
LP, a hugely
successful
project that
occupies best
part of three
years
2001 A Night
Out Live at the
Basement DVD
features Ian
singing Georgia
2003
Second Chisel
reformation for
Ringside DVD and
album
2004
Ian plays on
Richard
Clapton’s
Diamond Mine LP
2005 Appears
on Jimmy
Barnes’s Double
Happiness duets
album
Chisel play
Tsunami Benefit
in Melbourne
Ian Moss
releases Six
Strings through
Liberation Blue
Acoustic label
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Track Title
|
1 |
Telephone Booth |
|
2 |
Saturday Night |
|
3 |
Tucker's Daughter |
|
4 |
Love Will Carry Us Along |
|
5 |
Never Before |
|
6 |
Green River |
|
7 |
Two Seconds Too Long |
|
8 |
Angel Eyes |
|
9 |
The Party's Over |
|
10 |
All Alone On A Rock |
|
11 |
Bow River |
|
12 |
Catfish Blues |
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13 |
My Baby |
|
14 |
Purple Haze |
|
15 |
Message From Baghdad |
|
16 |
Song For Julian |
|
 |
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