Tea and Sympathy (album) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This article is about the album by Bernard Fanning. For the stage play, see Tea and Sympathy
Tea and Sympathy
Tea and Sympathy is a 1953 stage play in three acts by Robert Anderson.-Broadway premiere:It received its premiere on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on September 30, 1953 in a production by The Playwrights' Company, directed by Elia Kazan and designed by Jo Mielziner. The play starred...

.

Tea & Sympathy is the debut solo album

Studio album

A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

by Australian musician Bernard Fanning

Bernard Fanning

Bernard Joseph Fanning is a musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and frontman of Australian alternative rock band Powderfinger from its formation in 1989 to its dissolution in 2010....

. It was released on 31 October 2005 by Dew Process

Dew Process

Dew Process is an Australian independent record label based in Brisbane, Queensland founded by Paul Piticco. The label essentially develops talent from Australia as well as provide promotional, marketing and distribution services for foreign artists looking for a home for their music in Australia...

records while Powderfinger

Powderfinger

Powderfinger was an Australian rock band that formed in Brisbane in 1989. From 1992 until their breakup the band lineup consisted of vocalist Bernard Fanning, guitarists Darren Middleton and Ian Haug, bassist John Collins, and drummer Jon Coghill....

—Fanning's main band—were on hiatus. Contrary to Powderfinger's usual alternative style, the album blends alternative

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

and country

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

-folk music

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

. Most of the record was written after the cancer related death of his brother in 2002. His brother's death coincided with the end of Fanning's twelve-year relationship with his partner and both events were instrumental in his move away from his typically political and socially lyrical subject matter.

Fanning recorded four songs at his home studio in Brisbane and the rest at Real World Studios

Real World Studios

Real World Studios is a residential recording studio in Box, Wiltshire, England associated with the Real World Records Ltd. record label founded by rock musician Peter Gabriel...

near Bath, England. Fanning worked with producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

Tchad Blake

Tchad Blake is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixer and musician.He has worked with numerous artists and musicians, including State Radio, Apartment 26, Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel, Pearl Jam, Tom Waits, Richard Thompson, Brazilian Girls, Sheryl Crow, November 2nd, Travis, Marike...

in both sessions. To support the album's release Fanning toured Australia twice and performed across North America and the UK.

"Tea & Sympathy" topped the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA)

Australian Recording Industry Association

The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...

albums chart and won three awards at the 2006

ARIA Music Awards of 2006

The 20th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 29 October 2006 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex...

ARIA Awards, as well as an APRA Award and a J Award

J Award

The J Award is an award given by influential Australian youth radio station Triple J to Australian Album of the Year. It is judged by a panel of members of the music industry, led by Richard Kingsmill...

Background and production

After the 2004 release of Fingerprints: The Best of Powderfinger, 1994-2000, Powderfinger

Powderfinger

took a hiatus, and several members played in the side projects Drag

Drag (band)

Drag is an Australian rock band led by Darren Middleton, most known as the lead guitarist from highly successful Australian group Powderfinger.-History:...

and The Predators. Fanning decided to work independently and acted on direction he felt unable to explore as a member of Powderfinger. Some of his inspiration was derived from a will to see if he was capable of recording a solo album, considering what he viewed as his limited guitar playing abilities; compared to bandmates Darren Middleton

Darren Middleton

Darren Stuart Middleton is an Australian lead guitarist for alternative rock band Powderfinger. He is also the lead singer for Drag....

and Ian Haug

Ian Haug

Ian David Haug is a lead guitarist and backing vocalist in the Australian rock band Powderfinger. Mainstays Haug and bass guitarist John Collins formed the band in Brisbane in 1989. During a hiatus in Powderfinger's career, Haug worked on a side project, The Predators, with Collins and original...

. The distance from the band, coupled with the more relaxed writing process for Tea & Sympathy helped Fanning to unwind from the stress leftover from 10 years working recording and touring with Powderfinger.

Fanning wanted to create a politically-oriented album with which he could attack then Prime Minister of Australia

Prime Minister of Australia

The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...

John Howard

John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....

, following Howard's 2004 election victory over Mark Latham

Mark Latham

Mark William Latham , an author and former Australian politician, was leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from December 2003 to January 2005....

. However, the death of Fanning's brother from cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

in 2002, coupled with the end of a twelve-year relationship saw him steer the album in a different direction. Fanning explained that after going through "a pretty weird time in the past twelve months", he did not intend to talk about his experiences, but to express them through music. The motivation for some songs came from the 2005 Big Day Out

Big Day Out

The Big Day Out is an annual music festival held in several cities in Australia and New Zealand in late January. It started in Sydney in 1992, spread to Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth by 1993, with the Gold Coast and Auckland joining in 1994...

; disappointment with the antisocial nature of the event and the heavy metal music

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

played spurred him to "make music that was the opposite of that".

Fanning worked with producer Tchad Blake

Tchad Blake

and was funded by record label Dew Process

Dew Process

. Sessions for the album began in February 2005 when Fanning and several other musicians recorded tracks at Blake's Brisbane studio. Four of these—"Not Finished Just Yet", "Believe", "Wash Me Clean", and "Hope & Validation"—appeared on the album after being mixed by Blake. The other tracks were recorded and mixed at Real World Studios

Real World Studios

Real World Studios is a residential recording studio in Box, Wiltshire, England associated with the Real World Records Ltd. record label founded by rock musician Peter Gabriel...

near Bath, England. In Bath, Fanning worked with musicians including Jerry Marotta

Jerry Marotta

Jerry Marotta is a drummer currently residing in Woodstock, New York. He is the brother of Rick Marotta, who is also a well-known drummer and composer....

, Keith Duffy

Keith Duffy (bassist)

Keith Duffy is an Irish bass guitarist, best known for his long-standing support role in the folk-pop band The Corrs. He was born Keith Arnold Jacques Duffy on 2 June 1966, in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland....

, and John Bedggood. While writing Fanning listened to music of guitarists Lightning Hopkins, Tom Petty

Tom Petty

Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...

, and singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

Gillian Welch

Gillian Welch is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and Americana, is described by The New Yorker as "at once innovative and obliquely...

, who all influenced his work. "I'd love to play guitar like that, but I simply don't have the skill to do it", said Fanning of Hopkins' work.

The album's title comes from a saying

Saying

A saying is something that is said, notable in one respect or another, to be "a pithy expression of wisdom or truth."There are a number of specific types of saying:...

which Fanning explained to The Age as "you offer someone tea and sympathy, you sit down with them, have a cup of tea and you just talk." He noted that there is a credit on an album by The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

for the provision of "tea and sympathy". The album cover photography and album inlay photography is by Ami Barwell

Touring and promotion

Fanning toured much of Australia to support Tea & Sympathy. Prior to the launch of two major tours, Fanning held a number of low-key album launch shows. These drew praise from critics—Time Off
Time Off
Time Off is a free weekly tabloid-sized music magazine that is released in Brisbane, QLD, Australia. Time Off is the oldest free music/entertainment weekly in Australia. Time Off began on campus at the University of Queensland, and was originally printed on A4 glossy stock. In the late 70s, Time...

's Ben Preece reported, "The chemistry between the Powderfinger frontman and his band (nicknamed The Gap Jazz School Choir) is excellent and their constant in-between song banter is hilarious. Then, of course, there’s the music." He commended the multiple genre changes during the 90-minute performance, as well as Fanning's vocal showcase.

The Which Way Home? tour, named after the album's sixth track, was announced on 2 December 2005, and lasted from through February to March 2006. Fanning performed in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, Canberra

Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...

, Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

, Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Hobart

Hobart

Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...

, Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

and Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

. He was joined on tour by Perth band The Panics

The Panics

The Panics are an ARIA Award–winning indie rock band originally from Perth, Western Australia, and currently based in Melbourne, Victoria.-History:...

and Brisbane singer Andrew Morris. On 11 August, Fanning announced that tours across the United States and Canada would follow the album's 8 August North American release. An 11 September UK release was also announced with Dew Process revealing that numerous London shows had already been sold out.

Performances in London attracted much expatriate

Expatriate

An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...

support; Fanning joked, "I think I have about 14 English fans". The performances were received positively; musicOMH's Barnaby Smith rated his 4 September showing at London's Arts Theatre

Arts Theatre

The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. It now operates as the West End's smallest commercial receiving house.-History:...

four stars, commenting on Powderfinger-esque "loud, anthemic, guitar-driven rock in a '70s vein", and praising Fanning's utilisation of the piano and guitar as part of his performance, as well as his dedicating the song "Give It All Up" to the recently deceased Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin

Stephen Robert "Steve" Irwin , nicknamed "The Crocodile Hunter", was an Australian television personality, wildlife expert, and conservationist. Irwin achieved worldwide fame from the television series The Crocodile Hunter, an internationally broadcast wildlife documentary series which he co-hosted...

Album and single releases

Tea & Sympathy was released in Australia on 31 October 2005, in North America on 11 August 2006, and in the United Kingdom on 18 September 2006. The album peaked at number one on Australia's ARIA Albums Chart and number 11 on New Zealand's RIANZ Albums Chart. The Australian Record Industry Association has since certified Tea & Sympathy platinum five times over for sales in excess of 350,000 units.

"Wish You Well

Wish You Well

"Wish You Well" is the first single from Bernard Fanning's solo debut album Tea and Sympathy, released in 2005 and was voted number 1 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2005.-Music video:...

" was the first single released from the album. Although it did not chart in Australia, it peaked at number 24 in New Zealand, and topped the Triple J

Triple J

triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...

Hottest 100

Triple J Hottest 100

The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music poll, based on the votes of national Australian radio station Triple J listeners, in order to determine their favourite song of the year. Voting is conducted by the internet and begins roughly two weeks prior to the new year for the previous year's songs...

, 2005

Triple J Hottest 100, 2005

The 2005 Triple J Hottest 100 was announced on 26 January 2006. It was the thirteenth such countdown of the most popular songs of the year, according to listeners of the Australian radio station Triple J....

. The inspiration for the song came to Fanning when he woke one morning, "and 'Wish You Well' just arrived in a splurge. There were swallows flying around. I was in an unusually positive frame of mind." musicOMH's Barnaby Smith described "Wish You Well" as reminiscent of Daryl Braithwaite

Daryl Braithwaite

Daryl Braithwaite is an Australian pop singer. Best known as the lead vocalist of Sherbet, Braithwaite has also sustained a successful solo career, placing 15 singles in the Australian top 40, including the No...

and a "basic song with [a] catchy chorus you might sing round a campfire". The online release "Songbird

Songbird (Bernard Fanning song)

"Songbird" is the second single from Bernard Fanning's solo debut album Tea & Sympathy, released in 2005. It reached #11 on National Airplay Charts in January 2006, and was #14 on Triple J Hottest 100 in 2005...

" was the album's second single. The song was broadly popular, and contributed to Fanning's winning "Songwriter of the Year" at the 2006 APRA Awards

APRA Awards

The APRA Music Awards are several award ceremonies run in Australia and New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually....

. "Songbird" won "Most Performed Blues and Roots Work" at the 2007 ceremony and was nominated for "Most Performed Australian Work". The single did not appear on the ARIA Singles Chart, but peaked at number 11 on the Australian national airplay charts. It also reached number 14 on the Triple J Hottest 100, 2005.

"Watch Over Me

Watch Over Me (song)

"Watch Over Me" is the third single from Bernard Fanning's solo debut album Tea and Sympathy, released in 2006. Fanning has said in the past that the song had been inspired by the music played at the funeral of Pope John Paul II.-Track listing:...

" was released as the final single on 24 June 2006. All proceeds from the single were passed on to Australian charity Youngcare. Fanning also toured with Kasey Chambers

Kasey Chambers

Kasey Chambers is an Australian country singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of steel guitar player Bill Chambers, and the sister of musician and producer Nash Chambers.-Solo success:...

, again giving proceeds to the charity. Fanning said that "the aim of this show and the single release is to raise money for Youngcare but also to raise awareness of the terrible situation that these young people face", referring to children forced to live in aged facilities. "Watch Over Me" spent eight weeks on the ARIA Singles Chart, where it peaked at number 16. The song was performed by Fanning, Chambers, and Clare Bowditch

Clare Bowditch

Clare Bowditch is an Australian musician from Melbourne, Victoria. She released her fourth album Modern Day Addiction via Island Records on 13 August 2010. It became both 3RRR Album of the Week and ABC Radio National's Album of the Week. MDA is the first of Bowditch's album's to enter the Top Ten...

at the 2006 ARIA Awards

ARIA Music Awards of 2006

The 20th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 29 October 2006 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex...

Music and lyrics

I realised about three songs into writing it how insulting that was to people who write country music ... someone like me trying to make a country record.
—Bernard Fanning
Bernard Fanning
Bernard Joseph Fanning is a musician and singer-songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and frontman of Australian alternative rock band Powderfinger from its formation in 1989 to its dissolution in 2010....

On why he abandoned his plan to make a purely country record.

The country-folk-alternative blend on Tea & Sympathy formed a stark contrast to Powderfinger's last work, Vulture Street
Vulture Street
Vulture Street is the fifth studio album by Australian alternative rock band Powderfinger, released by Universal Music on 29 July 2003. Produced by Nick DiDia, Vulture Street was certified platinum, and spent 47 weeks on the ARIA Charts and peaked at #1...

—the band's heaviest work yet. Initially intended to be a purely country album, Fanning abandoned the prospect shortly into the writing phase because he did not think he was able to make music of the quality he had expected. He thus turned to an amalgamation of country, rock, and folk elements. Fanning considered Powderfinger music to "always [have] a song that just kind of grabs you" but doubted his album had similar elements; instead he focused on an album that as a whole would move the listener. The album is primarily acoustic—"Which Way Home?" a notable exception—and features fiddle

Fiddle

The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...

s and mandolin

Mandolin

A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...

s for backing music. The album centres on themes of love, in the context of the recent end to Fanning's relationship. Only three songs on the album exceed four minutes, while four are less than three minutes long; Fanning was critical of the "convention that a song should go on for 3 [and a half], four minutes".

Opening track "Thrill is Gone" was written by Fanning as a joke about a hypothetical ending in his relation with rock music. The song is reminiscent of 70s country/folk Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

, setting the mood for the rest of the album. Numerous songs on the album are influenced by Neil

Neil Finn

Neil Mullane Finn, OBE is a New Zealand Pop recording artist. Along with his brother Tim Finn, he was the co-frontman for Split Enz and is now frontman for Crowded House...

and Tim

Tim Finn

Brian Timothy "Tim" Finn, OBE is a New Zealand singer and musician. Finn is most known for his music with New Zealand 1970s and 1980s rock group Split Enz, and later for his solo work, a temporary membership in his brother Neil's band Crowded House and his joint efforts with Neil Finn as the Finn...

Finn

Finn Brothers

The Finn Brothers is a New Zealand Rock musical duo consisting of brothers Neil and Tim Finn. In June 1993 both members were awarded the OBE for their contribution to music....

; "Believe", "Sleeping Rough", "The Strangest Thing", and "Wish You Well" all have comparisons drawn to the brothers. "Not Finished Just Yet" and "Songbird", meanwhile, are reminiscent of Neil Young—a long-term Powderfinger influence. Much of the album was emotional, as opposed to Powderfinger's habitually critical music; "Wish You Well", "Not Finished Just Yet", and "Yesterday's Gone" were noted as examples of "Fanning frankly prodding and probing matters of the heart" by dB.

On "Wash Me Clean", Fanning aimed to imitate Nick Drake

Nick Drake

Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...

; songs that "you to sleep because they've got so much air and space in them". This came as a contrast to the louder, more vocal Powderfinger work he was accustomed to. "Watch Over Me", released and promoted in support of Australian charity Youngcare, was one of the slowest and most emotional songs on the album—The Ages Daniel Ziffer described it as "emotionally wrenching". It was written alongside "Believe" following the 2005 Big Day Out. Sometimes construed as a relationships-based song, "Watch Over Me" was written by Fanning after watching Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

's funeral. "Down To The River" was equally slow in portions, mixed in with sections of "searing, heart-rending pleading"—praised as the best song Fanning had written by musicOMH's Barnaby Smith.

Reception

Tea & Sympathy was awarded "Best Cover Art" and "Album of the Year" at the 2006

ARIA Music Awards of 2006

The 20th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 29 October 2006 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex...

ARIA Music Awards

The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Recording Industry Association...

; it was also nominated for "Best Blues & Roots Album" and "Highest Selling Album". "Wish You Well" won "Best Video", while "Watch Over Me" was nominated for "Single of the Year". "Wish You Well" topped the Triple J Hottest 100

Triple J Hottest 100

, 2005

Triple J Hottest 100, 2005

, and was the most broadcast song on Australian radio in 2006. Fanning won "Best Male Artist" for his work on the album, and as part of his acceptance speech challenged fellow Australian musicians to write protest songs—something they had been criticised for a lack of by ARIA Hall of Fame

ARIA Hall of Fame

Since 1988 the Australian Recording Industry Association has inducted artists into its ARIA Hall of Fame. While most have been recognised at the annual ARIA Music Awards, in 2005 ARIA sought to create a separate standalone "ARIA Icons: Hall of Fame" event as only one or two acts could be inducted...

inductee Rob Hirst

Rob Hirst

-External links:*******...

. Tea & Sympathy was nominated for the inaugural J Award

J Award

in 2005, and Fanning won "Songwriter of the Year" at the 2006 APRA Awards

APRA Awards

. MTV Australia

MTV Australia

MTV Australia is 24 hour general entertainment channel specialising in music and youth culture programming which serves Australia and New Zealand. It is operated by Viacom International Media Networks Australia owned by Viacom and primarily features imported shows as well as locally produced...

named Tea & Sympathy "Album of the Year" at its 2006 Video Music Awards

MTV Video Music Awards

An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...

.

Tea & Sympathys critical reception was moderate. It was generally seen as being less entertaining than Fanning's Powderfinger work—The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...

said Powderfinger were a "rock band ingrained in the national psyche" like Cold Chisel

Cold Chisel

Cold Chisel is a rock band that originated in Adelaide, Australia. It is one of the most acclaimed Australian rock bands of all time, with a string of hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s and huge sales that continue to this day, although its success and acclaim was almost completely restricted to...

, but that Tea & Sympathy showed little resemblance to Cold Chisel frontman Jimmy Barnes

Jimmy Barnes

James Dixon Swan , better known as Jimmy Barnes, is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer-songwriter. His father Jim Swan was a prizefighter and his older brother John Swan is also a rock singer. It was actually John who had encouraged and taught Jim how to sing as he wasn't really interested at...

's groundbreaking debut album, Bodyswerve
Bodyswerve
Bodyswerve was the debut solo album by former Cold Chisel vocalist Jimmy Barnes. The album was released in on 10 September 1984 and went to No. 1 on the ARIA music chart. It contained covers of tracks by Sam Cooke and Janis Joplin. "No Second Prize" was the album's first single. The song was...

. Barnaby Smith of musicOMH said the album was not "a work to suggest [Fanning's] solo career might better Powderfinger". The BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's Jenna Bachelor wrote that the album is "pleasant enough without pulling up any trees".

Despite Fanning's claims he could not write a country song, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...

(ABC) and BBC drew comparisons to Neil Young

Neil Young

Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...

and supergroup

Supergroup (music)

In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. The ABC said Tea & Sympathy resembled the band's work, "though without the hippy, drippy lyrics", while the BBC observed a "harmony porch style sound" highly similar to that of Young. Allmusic wrote that "Fanning's influences are strictly old school", noting Manassas

Manassas (band)

Manassas was an American rock band, formed by Stephen Stills in 1971. The nucleus of the band had already backed Stills on his July 1971 album, Stephen Stills 2, and in May 1972, the double album, Manassas, was released. Down The Road was released in 1973, but in October of that year the band split...

' self titled album

Manassas (album)

Manassas is the 1972 debut double album from Stephen Stills' band of the same name."It Doesn't Matter" was released as a single and peaked at #61...

and Elton John

Elton John

Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

's Tumbleweed Connection
Tumbleweed Connection
Tumbleweed Connection is the third album by English international recording artist Elton John. It is a concept album based on the Country and Western/Americana themes. All songs are written by Bernie Taupin and Elton John with the exception of "Love Song" by Lesley Duncan. It was recorded at...

as similar.

Fanning's vocals drew praise; Allmusic's Andy Whitman said he was a "fine, soulful singer" whose "vocal presence alone merits attention". Other aspects of the album, though, were seen in a more negative light. musicOMH said songs like "Wash Me Clean" "simply lack a strong enough melody", while the BBC wrote that Fanning "might have to be happy with 'straight in at 101,' in the UK" despite topping the ARIA Albums Chart. The Age concluded its review by calling Tea & Sympathy "a low-key but worthy personal offering".

In October 2010, Tea & Sympathy (2005) was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums
100 Best Australian Albums
100 Best Australian Albums is a compendium of rock and pop albums of the past 50 years as compiled by music journalists Toby Creswell, Craig Mathieson and John O'Donnell. The book was published on 25 October 2010 by Hardie Grant Books...

.

Track listing

"Thrill Is Gone" – 3:11
"Wish You Well
Wish You Well
"Wish You Well" is the first single from Bernard Fanning's solo debut album Tea and Sympathy, released in 2005 and was voted number 1 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2005.-Music video:...

" – 2:31
"Not Finished Just Yet" – 3:17
"Songbird
Songbird (Bernard Fanning song)
"Songbird" is the second single from Bernard Fanning's solo debut album Tea & Sympathy, released in 2005. It reached #11 on National Airplay Charts in January 2006, and was #14 on Triple J Hottest 100 in 2005...

" – 2:36
"Believe" – 3:07
"Which Way Home?" – 3:21
"Wash Me Clean" – 2:37
"Hope & Validation" – 3:09
"Sleeping Rough" – 4:34
"The Strangest Thing" – 3:14
"Further Down the Road" – 4:41
"Down to the River" – 4:13
"Yesterday's Gone" – 2:34
"Watch Over Me
Watch Over Me (song)
"Watch Over Me" is the third single from Bernard Fanning's solo debut album Tea and Sympathy, released in 2006. Fanning has said in the past that the song had been inspired by the music played at the funeral of Pope John Paul II.-Track listing:...

" – 3:31
"Weekend of Mystery
Weekend of Mystery
"Weekend of Mystery" is the fourth and final single from Bernard Fanning's 2005 debut album Tea and Sympathy. The single was released as an iTunes store exclusive single on 15 August 2006. As a song, it was not available on the regular CD versions of Tea and Sympathy; it was only available on the...

" (iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

bonus release) – 3:36

UK sessions

Tracks 1, 2, 4, 6 and 9–14.

Bernard Fanning – guitars and vocals
Jerry Marotta – drums and percussion
Keith Duffy – bass guitar
John Bedggood – guitars, keyboards and backing vocals
Tchad Blake – lap steel guitar
Ben Quinn – backing vocals
Stu Miller – backing vocals

Australian sessions

Tracks 3, 5, 7 and 8.

Bernard Fanning – guitars and vocals
Duane Billing – drums and percussion
Matt Engelbrecht – bass guitar and lead guitar
Chris Bosley – bass guitar

Production

Bernard Fanning – producer
Tchad Blake
Tchad Blake
Tchad Blake is an American record producer, audio engineer, mixer and musician.He has worked with numerous artists and musicians, including State Radio, Apartment 26, Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel, Pearl Jam, Tom Waits, Richard Thompson, Brazilian Girls, Sheryl Crow, November 2nd, Travis, Marike...

– producer, engineer and mixer
(Real World Studios, Box, UK)
Claire Lewis – assistant engineer
(Real World Studios, Box, UK)
Mark McElligott – engineer and mixer
(Leafy Bug Studios, Brisbane, Australia)

Album

Chart (2005)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...	1
New Zealand Albums Chart	11

Sales and Certifications

Region	Provider	Certification
Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...	ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...	5× Platinum

Chart procession and succession

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