Spirit of Place
Encyclopedia
Spirit of Place is the first full-length album by Australian folk-rock band Goanna
. It was originally released in November 1982, it peaked at No. 2 on the Australian Kent Music Report
Albums Chart and appeared on the US Billboard 200
.
Spirit of Place was the first charting rock record to feature the didgeridoo
. The didgeridoo is particularly prominent on "Solid Rock", which was a No. 3 hit on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart in October. The album was also heavy on social protest themes. "Solid Rock" deals with issues of land rights for Indigenous Australians
. "Razor's Edge" tackled rural despair and achieved a Top 40 spot in April 1983. "Let the Franklin Flow", was released under the pseudonym Gordon Franklin & the Wilderness Ensemble and peaked at No. 12 in May, was an anthem of protest over the proposed Franklin Dam
. The album was re-released in a remastered and expanded form in 2003.
(lead vocals, guitar) and Rod Hoe (drums). In 1979, the group was Howard with keyboardist and vocalist Rose Bygrave
, drummer Gary Crothall, lead guitarist and vocalist Warwick Harwood, vocalist and harmonica-player Ian Morrison and bass guitarist Carl Smith. They recorded the independent 12" EP
, Livin' on the Razor's Edge. By 1981 they had shortened the name to Goanna and with their increasing popularity they attracted the interest of major record companies.
In February 1982, they signed to WEA Australia
. They supported James Taylor
on the Australian leg of his tour. The band released its single, "Solid Rock" in October. According to Howard, the inspiration came on a ten day camping trip at Uluru
(also known as Ayers Rock) during 1980 where he had a "spiritual awakening" which brought "the fire in the belly" to the surface over injustices to Australia’s indigenous peoples.
WEA was reluctant to issue it as a single and, even other band members, claimed it had little commercial appeal. Howard insisted on its release to make a statement on the European invasion of Australia. "Solid Rock" peaked at No. 3 on the Australian Kent Music Report
Singles Chart, remaining in the Top 50 for 26 weeks. It reached No. 31 on the US Billboard
Mainstream Rock Chart and appeared on the Hot 100. Goanna released their debut album, Spirit of Place, in December. It was produced by Trevor Lucas
, a member of UK folk rock group Fairport Convention
, who had returned to Australia in 1979. Spirit of Place reached No. 2 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart, within two weeks of its release. It also reached No. 179 on the US Billboard 200
. For the album, Goanna were Bygrave, Peter Coughlan on bass guitar, Graham Davidge
(ex-Little River Band
) on guitar, Harwood, Howard, his sister Marcia Howard on backing vocals, Mick "The Reverend" O’Connor on keyboards and Robert Ross on drums. An ever-changing lineup saw Harwood leave the band and backing vocalist Suzie Dickinson join soon after its release.
On 13 February 1983, Gordon Franklin & the Wilderness Ensemble performed "Let the Franklin Flow" at the People for Nuclear Disarmament Concert in Sidney Myer Music Bowl
. The ensemble included members of Goanna and fellow folk rock group Redgum
, and Lucas. In May, "Let the Franklin Flow" was issued as a single with Lucas and Jeff Chapell as producers. Howard, the song's writer, was credited as F. River. The single reached No. 12 nationally. Proceeds supported the Tasmanian Wilderness Society's campaign against the proposed damming of Tasmania
's Gordon
and Franklin
Rivers for a hydroelectricity
project. Howard physically supported the protests by joining the picket lines. The B-side of the single, "Franklin River – World Heritage", was written and recorded by the Society's director, Bob Brown
who later became a senator and the leader of Australian Greens
.
On 19 April 1983, Goanna won three Countdown Music and Video Awards
for their work in 1982: Spirit of Place won 'Best Debut Album', "Solid Rock" won 'Best Debut Single' and the band itself won 'Best New Talent (Johnny O'Keefe Memorial Award)'. "Solid Rock" is the first charting rock record to feature extensive use of the didgeridoo
, one of the world's oldest wood instruments, played by Billy Inda (No Fixed Address
). The follow-up single, "Razor’s Edge" (a reworking of their 1979 EP's title track) was released in April 1983. The more acoustically based folk-rock track reached No. 36.
2003 re-release includes:
Additional musicians
Production details
Goanna (band)
Goanna is an Australian folk rock group which formed in 1977 in Geelong as The Goanna Band with mainstay Shane Howard as singer-songwriter and guitarist...
. It was originally released in November 1982, it peaked at No. 2 on the Australian Kent Music Report
Kent Music Report
The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998...
Albums Chart and appeared on the US Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
.
Spirit of Place was the first charting rock record to feature the didgeridoo
Didgeridoo
The didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia around 1,500 years ago and still in widespread usage today both in Australia and around the world. It is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or "drone pipe"...
. The didgeridoo is particularly prominent on "Solid Rock", which was a No. 3 hit on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart in October. The album was also heavy on social protest themes. "Solid Rock" deals with issues of land rights for Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
. "Razor's Edge" tackled rural despair and achieved a Top 40 spot in April 1983. "Let the Franklin Flow", was released under the pseudonym Gordon Franklin & the Wilderness Ensemble and peaked at No. 12 in May, was an anthem of protest over the proposed Franklin Dam
Franklin Dam
The Franklin Dam or Gordon-below-Franklin Dam project was a proposed dam on the Gordon River in Tasmania, Australia, that was never constructed. The movement that eventually led to the project's cancellation became one of most significant environmental campaigns in Australian history.The dam was...
. The album was re-released in a remastered and expanded form in 2003.
Background
The Goanna Band was formed as an Australian folk rock group in 1977. The original line-up was Mike Biscan (guitar), Richard Griffiths (bass guitar), Shane HowardShane Howard
Shane Michael Howard is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist, he was the mainstay of folk rock group Goanna which had hits with "Solid Rock" and "Let the Franklin Flow". After their disbandment in 1985 he pursued a solo career....
(lead vocals, guitar) and Rod Hoe (drums). In 1979, the group was Howard with keyboardist and vocalist Rose Bygrave
Rose Bygrave
Rose Bygrave is an Australian singer/songwriter.-Biography:Roslyn 'Rose' Louise Bygrave grew up in Western Victoria and later attended art school in Ballarat and Melbourne. Her musical career began in 1979...
, drummer Gary Crothall, lead guitarist and vocalist Warwick Harwood, vocalist and harmonica-player Ian Morrison and bass guitarist Carl Smith. They recorded the independent 12" EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Livin' on the Razor's Edge. By 1981 they had shortened the name to Goanna and with their increasing popularity they attracted the interest of major record companies.
In February 1982, they signed to WEA Australia
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
. They supported James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
on the Australian leg of his tour. The band released its single, "Solid Rock" in October. According to Howard, the inspiration came on a ten day camping trip at Uluru
Uluru
Uluru , also known as Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. It lies south west of the nearest large town, Alice Springs; by road. Kata Tjuta and Uluru are the two major features of the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park....
(also known as Ayers Rock) during 1980 where he had a "spiritual awakening" which brought "the fire in the belly" to the surface over injustices to Australia’s indigenous peoples.
WEA was reluctant to issue it as a single and, even other band members, claimed it had little commercial appeal. Howard insisted on its release to make a statement on the European invasion of Australia. "Solid Rock" peaked at No. 3 on the Australian Kent Music Report
Kent Music Report
The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998...
Singles Chart, remaining in the Top 50 for 26 weeks. It reached No. 31 on the US Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Mainstream Rock Chart and appeared on the Hot 100. Goanna released their debut album, Spirit of Place, in December. It was produced by Trevor Lucas
Trevor Lucas
Trevor George Lucas was an influential folk artist, a member of Fairport Convention and one of the founders of Fotheringay...
, a member of UK folk rock group Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
, who had returned to Australia in 1979. Spirit of Place reached No. 2 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart, within two weeks of its release. It also reached No. 179 on the US Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
. For the album, Goanna were Bygrave, Peter Coughlan on bass guitar, Graham Davidge
Graham Davidge
Graham Davidge is an Australian musician. He has played with Little River Band, Goanna and numerous other Australian bands.Davidge was chosen as the original lead guitarist for Little River Band. He played on the band's first recording in 1975, a cover of the Everly Brothers song "When Will I Be...
(ex-Little River Band
Little River Band
Little River Band is an Australian rock band, formed in Melbourne in early 1975.The group chose the name after passing a road sign leading to the Victorian township of Little River, near Geelong, on the way to a performance. Little River Band enjoyed sustained commercial success in not only...
) on guitar, Harwood, Howard, his sister Marcia Howard on backing vocals, Mick "The Reverend" O’Connor on keyboards and Robert Ross on drums. An ever-changing lineup saw Harwood leave the band and backing vocalist Suzie Dickinson join soon after its release.
On 13 February 1983, Gordon Franklin & the Wilderness Ensemble performed "Let the Franklin Flow" at the People for Nuclear Disarmament Concert in Sidney Myer Music Bowl
Sidney Myer Music Bowl
The Sidney Myer Music Bowl is an outdoor performance venue in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located in the lawns and gardens of Kings Domain, close to the Arts Centre and the Southbank entertainment precinct...
. The ensemble included members of Goanna and fellow folk rock group Redgum
Redgum
Redgum were an Australian folk and political music group formed in Adelaide in 1975 by singer-songwriter John Schumann, Michael Atkinson on guitars/vocals and Verity Truman on flute/vocals; they were soon joined by Chris Timms on violin. All four had been students at Flinders University and...
, and Lucas. In May, "Let the Franklin Flow" was issued as a single with Lucas and Jeff Chapell as producers. Howard, the song's writer, was credited as F. River. The single reached No. 12 nationally. Proceeds supported the Tasmanian Wilderness Society's campaign against the proposed damming of Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
's Gordon
Gordon River
The Gordon River is one of the major rivers of Tasmania, Australia. It rises in the centre of the island at Lake Richmond and flows westward for about 193km where it empties into Macquarie Harbour on the West Coast of Tasmania. Major tributaries include the Serpentine River and the Franklin...
and Franklin
Franklin River
The Franklin River lies in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park at the mid northern area of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Its source is situated at the western edge of the Central Highlands and it continues west towards the West Coast of Tasmania...
Rivers for a hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
project. Howard physically supported the protests by joining the picket lines. The B-side of the single, "Franklin River – World Heritage", was written and recorded by the Society's director, Bob Brown
Bob Brown
Robert James Brown is an Australian senator, the inaugural Parliamentary Leader of the Australian Greens and was the first openly gay member of the Parliament of Australia...
who later became a senator and the leader of Australian Greens
Australian Greens
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...
.
On 19 April 1983, Goanna won three Countdown Music and Video Awards
Australian pop music awards
Australian pop music awards are a series of inter-related national awards that gave recognition to popular musical artists and have included the Go-Set pop poll ; TV Week King of Pop Awards ; TV Week and Countdown Music Awards ; and Countdown Music and Video Awards...
for their work in 1982: Spirit of Place won 'Best Debut Album', "Solid Rock" won 'Best Debut Single' and the band itself won 'Best New Talent (Johnny O'Keefe Memorial Award)'. "Solid Rock" is the first charting rock record to feature extensive use of the didgeridoo
Didgeridoo
The didgeridoo is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia around 1,500 years ago and still in widespread usage today both in Australia and around the world. It is sometimes described as a natural wooden trumpet or "drone pipe"...
, one of the world's oldest wood instruments, played by Billy Inda (No Fixed Address
No Fixed Address
No Fixed Address is an Australian Aboriginal reggae group formed in 1978. Led by Bart Willoughby, the band supported Peter Tosh on his 1982 Australian tour...
). The follow-up single, "Razor’s Edge" (a reworking of their 1979 EP's title track) was released in April 1983. The more acoustically based folk-rock track reached No. 36.
Track listing
- "Cheatin' Man" (Shane HowardShane HowardShane Michael Howard is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist, he was the mainstay of folk rock group Goanna which had hits with "Solid Rock" and "Let the Franklin Flow". After their disbandment in 1985 he pursued a solo career....
) – 4:51 - "Solid Rock" (Howard) – 4:32
- "Razor's Edge" (Howard, Ian Morrison) – 5:12
- "Scenes (from an occasional window)" (Howard) – 4:32
- "Stand Your Ground" (Howard) – 3:56
- "Borderline" (Howard) – 4:45
- "On the Platform" (Rose BygraveRose BygraveRose Bygrave is an Australian singer/songwriter.-Biography:Roslyn 'Rose' Louise Bygrave grew up in Western Victoria and later attended art school in Ballarat and Melbourne. Her musical career began in 1979...
) – 5:16 - "Four Weeks Gone" (Howard) – 5:47
- "Factory Man" (Howard) – 3:41
- "Children of the Southern Land" (Howard) – 5:04
2003 re-release includes:
- "On the Platform" [Reprise - Instrumental] (Bygrave) – 1:24
- "How Far Down" (Howard) – 4:34
- "Shadow of Your Love" (Howard) – 1:42
- "Undertow" (Howard) – 4:35
- "Let the Franklin Flow" [live] (Howard) – 3:38
- "Underfoot, Underground" [live] (Kerryn TolhurstKerryn TolhurstKerryn Tolhurst is a noted Australian musician and songwriter who was based in the USA in the late 1970s and 1980s.His musical career began in Melbourne with the Adderly Smith Blues Band. He subsequently joined Sundown, led by Keith Glass, which was one of Australia's first country-rock groups...
) – 4:24 - "Solid Rock" [live] (Howard) – 7:59
Personnel
Goanna members- Roslyn BygraveRose BygraveRose Bygrave is an Australian singer/songwriter.-Biography:Roslyn 'Rose' Louise Bygrave grew up in Western Victoria and later attended art school in Ballarat and Melbourne. Her musical career began in 1979...
– synthesiser (tracks 2, 4, 10), electric piano (tracks 1, 3, 10), acoustic piano (tracks 1, 4, 7), keyboards (track 8), lead vocals (track 5), backing vocals (tracks 2, 3, 4, 6, 8) - Peter Coughlan – acoustic guitar (track 5), bass guitar (tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 10)
- Graham DavidgeGraham DavidgeGraham Davidge is an Australian musician. He has played with Little River Band, Goanna and numerous other Australian bands.Davidge was chosen as the original lead guitarist for Little River Band. He played on the band's first recording in 1975, a cover of the Everly Brothers song "When Will I Be...
– guitar, electric guitar (tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) - Ross HannafordRoss HannafordRoss Andrew Hannaford is an Australian musician. He is often referred to by his nickname "Hanna". Widely regarded as one of the country's finest rock guitarists, he is best known for his long collaboration with singer-songwriter Ross Wilson, which began as teenagers, and with whom he formed the...
– electric guitar (track 3) - Warrick Harwood – electric guitar (tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10)
- Marcia Howard – lead vocals (track 1), backing vocals (tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8)
- Shane HowardShane HowardShane Michael Howard is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist, he was the mainstay of folk rock group Goanna which had hits with "Solid Rock" and "Let the Franklin Flow". After their disbandment in 1985 he pursued a solo career....
– acoustic guitar (3, 4, 8, 9, 10), electric guitar, lead vocals (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10) - Ian Morrison – backing vocals (tracks 3, 4, 7, 9)
- Mick O'Connor – organ (Hammond) (tracks 5, 6, 10)
- Robert Ross – percussion, drums (tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10)
Additional musicians
- Joe CamilleriJoe CamilleriJoseph Vincent "Joe" Camilleri, aka Jo Jo Zep or Joey Vincent, is an Australian vocalist, songwriter and saxophonist. Camilleri has recorded as a solo artist and as a member of Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons and The Black Sorrows...
– saxophone (track 5) - Billy Inda – didgeridoo (track 2)
- Judi Kenneally – vocals
- Trevor LucasTrevor LucasTrevor George Lucas was an influential folk artist, a member of Fairport Convention and one of the founders of Fotheringay...
– acoustic guitar (tracks 3, 6, 9) - Shadow Wilson – vocals
Production details
- Tony Buettel – engineer, mixing
- Manning ClarkManning ClarkCharles Manning Hope Clark, AC , an Australian historian, was the author of the best-known general history of Australia, his six-volume A History of Australia, published between 1962 and 1987...
– liner notes - Peter Jones – arranger (strings) (track 2)
- Trevor LucasTrevor LucasTrevor George Lucas was an influential folk artist, a member of Fairport Convention and one of the founders of Fotheringay...
– producer - studios – Rhinoceros Studios (Sydney); Allan Eaton Sound, Platinum Productions and AAV Australia (Melbourne)