|
"I haven’t been
off the road for
11 years and
it's still going
strong. I
probably do 110
gigs a year with
Darryl Cotton
and Jim Keays,
the rest I do by
myself, so I
know how much
people
appreciate my
old songs live.
But I also have
about 120 new
ones in a
drawer. That was
one of the
reasons I did
this."
It's hard to
think of an
Australian
performer whose
towering profile
and slim
recorded output
are so out of
kilter. Roughly
one in three
nights a year,
crowds queue to
hear Russell
Morris sing The
Real Thing,
Wings of an
Eagle, Sweet
Sweet Love, The
Girl That I
Love, Mr
America, and
more of the most
evocative songs
this country has
ever produced.
They've also had
privileged
access, from
time to time, to
his secret stash
of unrecorded
material –
barbed stories
of tarnished
love such as
Keeping My
Distance and
Over You;
universal songs
of hope and
yearning like As
Long As It Takes
and As Far As I
Remember.
All of them find
common ground in
these new,
fundamental
acoustic
arrangements,
with Peter
Robinson on
guitar, bass,
keys and harmony
vocals and Kevin
Murphy on drums,
with Jim Keays
on occasional
harmonica.
Even in the
best-known
tunes, the band
stays true to
the spirit of
imagination that
first gave these
songs flight.
The melodic
magic of Sweet
Sweet Love
anchors a lush
new arrangement,
while Wings of
an Eagle feels
somehow more
fundamental than
ever: "almost an
ode to Neil
Young," says
Russell.
Covers he's made
his own over 40
years of
performance are
also re-spun.
There's his
third
interpretation
of Joe South's
Hush, and a
version of Bob
Dylan's It's All
Over Now Baby
Blue that owes
more to Graham
Bonnet's hit of
'77 than
Russell's Chris
Farlowe-inspired
B-side of '67.
First up is an
original
classic, the
title track of
Russell's 1000
Suns album of
'91. "I figured
people who heard
it maybe didn't
really
understand what
it was about,"
he says. "I
wrote it after I
read One Crowded
Hour about the
war
photographer,
Neil Davis. I
always liked the
pictures the
lyrics painted."
Speaking of
which, the
closing trio of
psychedelic
milestones is a
trip in every
sense of the
word: epic new
versions of The
Real Thing and
its sister
single of '69,
Part 3 Into
Paper Walls, are
preceded by the
song that
inspired them.
"I Am the Walrus
is one of my
favourite songs
of all time,"
says Russell.
"The chord
progression, the
melody, what
Lennon did with
it was awesome.
It has a magic
about it, almost
like an
incantation. It
doesn't seem to
have any meaning
whatsoever but
it seems to
touch people,
which is very
odd."
Only as odd,
perhaps, as any
pop song that
stands up to
150-odd requests
a year.
Fundamentalist
is made of them.
Timeline
1966 Russell
joins Somebody's
Image in
Melbourne
1967 Hush/
It's All Over
Now Baby Blue is
a top 15 hit.
1968 Russell
goes solo.
1969 The Real
Thing is an
era-defining #1
in Australia and
parts of USA.
Part
3 Into Paper
Walls/ The Girl
That I Love is 2nd
#1
Russell leaves
for UK
1971 Mr
America hits #9
on his return,
wins TV Week
Composer of the
Year
The classic
Bloodstone album
reaches #12
Sweet Sweet Love
is fourth top 10
hit
1972 Wings of
an Eagle goes to
#13
Russell moves to
UK, then US
1975
Self-titled
second album
made in USA
1976 Turn It
On LP, also
American made.
1978 Russell
Morris Band hits
Australian pubs
1979 Foot in
the Door album
released on
Mushroom.
1981 Russell
Morris & the
Rubes release
Almost Frantic
Rock'n'roll
remake of Hush
makes Top 40
1983 Russell
goes solo again.
1990 The Real
Thing remixed
and issued by
Ollie Olsen's
Third Eye
1991 A
Thousand Suns is
his first album
in 10 years
1992 1992
Joins Farnham,
Ceberano, Jon
Stevens in Jesus
Christ Superstar
1996 Starts
touring with
fellow '60s
legends Ronnie
Burns and Darryl
Cotton
2000 Kylie
Minogue covers
The Real Thing
for Sample
People
2001 Jim Keays
replaces Burns
as the
never-ending
show rolls on
The Real Thing
and Wings of an
Eagle feature in
The Dish
Midnight Oil
cover The Real
Thing
2002 New
album, Off The
Shelf
2007
Fundamentalist:
Liberation Blue
acoustic album
|
Track Title
|
1 |
1000 Suns |
|
2 |
Wings Of An Eagle |
|
3 |
Sweet Sweet Love |
|
4 |
Mr America |
|
5 |
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue |
|
6 |
Keeping My Distance |
|
7 |
As Long As It Takes |
|
8 |
The Girl That I Love |
|
9 |
Over You |
|
10 |
Hush |
|
11 |
As Far As I Remember |
|
12 |
I Am The Walrus |
|
13 |
The Real Thing |
|
14 |
Part 3 Into Paper Walls |
|
15 |
(Hidden Track) Morning Song |
|
 |
|
