Formation:
Tully formed in Sydney in late 1968 with the original lineup of Jon Blake (bass), Michael Carlos (keyboards), Richard Lockwood (flute) and Robert Taylor (drums). They built up a strong following on the Sydney "underground scene" and later on the Melbourne concert circuit. Tully's members were all highly accomplished multi-instrumentalists with years of experience behind them, and their musical breadth quickly earned them a reputation as one of the most adventurous and polished concert bands of the period.
The original Tully members were all seasoned veterans of the Sydney club scene. NZ-born John Blake had previously played in Johnny O'Keefe's backing band The Dee Jays (1959), The Chessmen (1961), the Jimmy Sloggett Five (1963–64) and Max Merritt & the Meteors (1965). Carlos and Blake had both been members of popular Sydney mid-60s club band Little Sammy And The In People (1966–67).
Carlos, Lockwood, Blake and Taylor met in the 1968 lineup of Levi Smith's Clefs, the Sydney R&B band led by veteran R&B singer Barrie "The Bear" McAskill.[4] Many prominent Australian performers played in the various incarnations of this seminal Sydney club band and former members of the Clefs subsequently several other major Australian bands including Tully and Fraternity.
Carlos, Lockwood, Blake and Taylor left Levi Smith's Clef at the end of 1968 to formed Tully. Like their Sydney contemporaries Tamam Shud Tully's music combined many disparate influences including pop, rhythm & blues, soul, modern jazz, classical music, folk/world music and psychedelic rock. Unusually for that period in Australia, Tully played mostly original compositions and improvisation was a key feature of their performances.
Like Tamam Shud, Tully had close associations with Sydney underground media collective UBU; their debut concert as Tully was at the final UBU Underground Dance at Paddington Town Hall on 4 January 1969 supported by The Id (after which the dances were banned from the Hall because of complaints about the noise and the "casual attire" of patrons), and they played at many subsequent UBU gigs.
Debut:
Shortly after their debut, they recruited singer/guitarist/flautist Terry Wilson and took up a residency at Caesar's Disco in Sydney, although they reportedly had to leave after only a month because patrons couldn't dance to their music. Tully played at the first relocated UBU Underground Dance at the AMP Pavilion at Sydney Showground (with Tamam Shud) on 7 February and again with Nutwood Rug Band on 21 Feb.. They also featured on the cover of that month's UBU News (which bore the headline "Life is the Blood of Tully") and in the accompanying underground music story. Tully was reviewed in Go-Set by David Elfick (19 Feb 1969) and although he was initially unimpressed, indicating a preference for somewhat heavier style of Tamam Shud, he was much more positive in a larger feature published in the subsequent 12 March issue. Go-Set and Elfick soon became strong supporters of the group.
Over the next twelve months, Tully's profile built steadily, and by mid-1970 they were one of Australia's foremost rock concert attractions. In February 1969 they became the resident band at the Adams Apple disco in Oxford St, Sydney, where they played for several months and on 11–12 April East Sydney Technical College was the venue for Alexander Nevsky's Homecoming, a happening devised by David Humphries for the National Art Students' Union, featuring experimental theatre troupe The Human Body, with music by Tully and the Art Students Pop Orchestra, and lighting by UBU.
Past members:
Colin Campbell (guitar) 1971-72
Michael Carlos (keyboards)
Graham Conlan (bass) 1969
Richard Lockwood (flute, sax, clarinet, piano) 1968-72
John Blake (bass) 1968-69
Ken Firth (bass) 1970-72
Shayna (Karlin) Stewart (vocals) 1971-72
Robert Taylor (drums) 1968-78
Murray Wilkins (bass) 1969
Terry Wilson (vocals, guitar, flute) 1968-70
Andrew "Frizby" Thursby-Pelham (guitar) 1976-78
John "Bass" Walton (bass) 1976-78
Bill Tahana (vocals) 1977
The first three song off their first album "Tully":
1. You Realize, You Realize
2. La Nave Bleu
3. Do You Ever Think of Nothing?
More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tully_(band)
No comments:
Post a Comment