| | Of Hopes And Dreams And Tombstones CD - Import (2 Customer Reviews)
All 31 of the tracks on this anthology of mid-'60s Australian rock were licensed from Festival, the most active independent label in recording Australian rock of the era. Although its limitation to one source inevitably means it can't serve as a best-of (or one of the best-ofs) for the Australian scene as a whole, it's a good collection of material from a vibrant corner of '60s rock that's been fairly neglected by listeners not from down under. There's not a single name on here that might be known even to most reasonably knowledgeable '60s collectors, but hardcore internationalists will be familiar with some of these from Australian '60s compilations on Raven and Festival itself. Among them are some very fine artists, even if they usually didn't record much, like the Purple Hearts, Steve and the Board, the Sunsets, and Ray Brown & the Whispers. It's not easy to characterize the Australian sound of the period as a whole, but generally it would be fair to say that it blended some of the better aspects of American garage and British Invasion Mersey, mod, and R&B with some echoes of surf, novelty, Bo Diddley, and American soul thrown in. Some of this material's ordinary (if always energetic), but there are at least a dozen standouts, though some of this has already appeared on other Australian reissues. The Sunsets' "When I Found You" is certainly an irresistible blend of British Invasion and surf sounds, while Chris Hall & the Torquays' "Don't Ask Me Why," the Five's "There's Time," and Jimmy Crockett & the Shanes' "That Lovin' Touch" (with the typically un-PC garage lyric "you've got that sweet lovin' touch, but you keep talkin' too much") is certainly as good as much of the garage rock compiled on the Nuggets box sets. The production, melodies, and variety are frankly better than they are on the average American garage comp, though the energy is of an equal level. It also helps that some of this is more quality pop/rock than it is simple garage, like Ray Brown & the Whispers' melodramatic and brooding "Too Late to Come Home," the downbeat R&B of Tony Worsley & the Blue Jays' "If You See My Baby," and Mike Furber's downright sorrowful "You're Back Again," which sounds like a particularly gloomy spin on the Merseybeats. ~ Richie Unterberger
Hot on the heels of "Board Boogie" (BBT #211), this is Big Beat's second look at the incredible Australian 1960s scene. Once again drawing on the vaults of Festival Records, this CD contains both undeniably classic and stupefyingly rare examples of Austr
Personnel: Lindsay Bjerre, Tony Hamilton (vocals, guitar); Normie Rowe, Barry Shepherd, Chris Hall, Mike Hadley, Ray Brown , Steve Kipner (vocals); Lobby Loyde, Barry Lee Pearson, Greg Walker , Rick Harrison, Bill Billings, Bob Jones , Alex Hill & His Sepians , Rod Stone , Peter Best, Tony Barber , John Cartwright, Brian Burns (guitar); Laurie Allen (organ); Geoff Bridgeford, Craig Collinge, Geoff Smith, Peter Thompson, Greg Martin, Steve Hopgood, Pete Sutherland (drums).
Liner Note Author: Alec Palao.
Of Hopes And Dreams And Tombstones Music Of Hopes And Dreams And Tombstones Songs | 1. | Of Hopes and Dreams and Tombstones - Purple Hearts |
| 2. | Oh! |
| 3. | Ready Steady Let's Go |
| 4. | Blue Day |
| 5. | Don't Ask Me Why - Chris Hall & The Torquays |
| 6. | She Used to Be Mine - Normie Rowe & the Playboys |
| 7. | That Lovin' Touch - Jimmy Crockett & The Shanes |
| 8. | That's When Happiness Began |
| 9. | So Far Away - The Showmen |
| 10. | When I Found You - Sunsets |
| 11. | My Baby |
| 12. | So Why Pretend - Steve & the Board |
| 13. | I've Got to Let You Go |
| 14. | Well, That Ain't Nice - Russ Kruger |
| 15. | Too Late to Come Home |
| 16. | It's Awright - The Playboys |
| 17. | Every Night |
| 18. | Slowly But Surely - The Pacifics |
| 19. | Complicated Riddle |
| 20. | If You See My Baby |
| 21. | There's Time |
| 22. | I Want Her To - Tony Barber |
| 23. | No Cheatin' - Donnie Sutherland & The Titans |
| 24. | Dancing Girl |
| 25. | Baby Let Your Hair Down |
| 26. | Witch Girl |
| 27. | Lost My Baby - The Pacifics |
| 28. | I'll Never Love Again - E.O. Pogson |
| 29. | She's a Go Go |
| 30. | House on Soul Hill |
| 31. | You're Back Again - Mike Furber & the Bowery Boys |
| Of Hopes And Dreams And Tombstones Music Review Average Rating: (5 out of 5 stars)   Brilliant And Fascinating This is a wonderful compilation of 1960's Australian bands, and every '60s
freak will thoroughly enjoy adding this cd to their collections. The quality of
the tunes is very high, and consistent
from start to finish. Many of these groups could have made it big had they been located in the USA or UK. Hardcore collectors who have never delved into the Aussie '60s scene will find this collection fascinating. Please, please, please '60s garage-heads! Do NOT allow this compilation to slip through the cracks! You will be very happy to
own and enjoy it! Submitted by a reviewer (Las Vegas, USA)  Was This Review Helpful? Yes No
Rocking in the Sixties Having grown up in Australia in the 50's/60's,I experienced first hand the emerging rock bands in Oz.My brother was lead singer in the Courtmen(I've got to let you go),and I saw or heard a lot of the groups on the cd.Highly recomended if you want to recapture those days.A lot of the groups there were on a par with their overseas counterparts,and the music was vibrant,pure, rock and roll,not like the bland,manufactured music of today.Get this cd today! Submitted by a reviewer (Anderson,Indiana,USA)  Was This Review Helpful? Yes No
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