Track Listing
- The World Is Waiting
- Black And White
- Pilgrimage
- Gertrude Street Blues
Bonus Tracks:
Recorded at the same session that yielded Live Chain (July 1970)
- On The Road Again
Single 1969
- Show Me Home
- Mr. Time
Description
For years, Chain's debut album and single have been almost impossible to find. Sure, some tracks have surfaced on compilations, but here, for the very first time on CD is Live Chain in its entirety (with some great extras).
With the line-up of Phil Manning (guitar, vocals), Warren Morgan (electric piano), Glyn Mason (guitar, vocals), Barry 'Big Goose' Sullivan (bass) and Barry 'Little Goose' Harvey (drums), Live Chain is a terrific document of this short-lived version of the band (the press release that came with the LP states that both Morgan and Mason had already left!). The album was recorded live to two-track at Caesar's Palace, Sydney on July 1970 - for $32.00 - which was reputedly half the marijuana budget!
For those who are only familiar with Chain via their 1971 breakthrough album Toward The Blues, they may be surprised at how progressive this album is - a sound not too dissimilar to Blind Faith - with an added twin guitar attack. It is still rooted in the blues, mind, with some awesome extended soloing, but some of Morgan's piano is decidedly funky! ('Black And White'), whilst the riff-tastic 'Pilgrimage' would not sound out of place on Kahvas Jute's 1971 progressive rock classic Wide Open.
Added to our deluxe reissue is a track left off the original (probably due to time constraints, as the first two tracks take up almost 25 minutes alone): 'On The Road Again' and their very first single, from 1969; 'Show Me Home' / ' Mr. Time ‘. The line-up who recorded the single was Manning, Morgan and Harvey with Claude Papesch (organ) and Tim Piper (bass). Morgan and Papesch's piano/organ interplay was reminiscent of The Band and a very early example of progressive rock in Australia , and 'Mr. Time' is positively psychedelic!
Package Contents
Live Chain has been remastered from the original tapes by Gil Matthews, packaged in a deluxe 6 panel digi-pak, 24 page booklet with many rare photos and recent interviews from Phil Manning, Warren Morgan and 'Little Goose'. Liner notes by noted Australian music writer Ian MacFarlane.