History The Black Sorrows

1 history

1.1 formation , years: 1983–85
1.2 classic era : 1986–93
1.3 new line-ups: 1994–98
1.4 return hiatus: 2004–08
1.5 later activity: 2009–present

history
formation , years: 1983–85

the black sorrows began loose pick-up band in melbourne in 1983. played covers of r&b, zydeco, soul , blues music. line-up founding mainstay, joe camilleri (aka joey vincent) on vocals, saxophone , guitar (ex-the pelaco brothers, jo jo zep & falcons); jeff burstin on guitar (ex-company caine, jo jo zep & falcons), wayne burt on guitar , vocals (ex-jo jo zep & falcons, fabulaires); george butrumlis on piano accordion; wayne duncan on bass guitar (ex-daddy cool, living legends); steve mctaggart on violin; paul williamson on clarinet , saxophone; , gary young on drums (ex-daddy cool, jo jo zep & falcons).

initially camilleri used group play gigs in local cafes after dissolution of previous band, jo jo zep & falcons. 1983 1988 used name joey vincent work band. membership in band has been loose , fluid. of falcons, @ 1 point or another, have been members; numerous other australian musicians have drifted in , out of line-ups. aside zydeco, style included cajun music.

joe camelleri performs black sorrows @ byron bay bluesfest, april 2014.

their first 2 albums, sonola (june 1984) , rockin zydeco (march 1985), each recorded live-in-the-studio, in 1 day, camilleri producing. consisted entirely of r&b covers of material chuck berry, fats domino, arthur alexander, don covay, , john lee hooker.

a place in world followed in november 1985, again produced camilleri, had 1 cover track, rest co-written camilleri nick smith (ex-millionaires, kevins, stephen cummings band), on guitar , backing vocals. camilleri told catherine cook of canberra times had exist on own merit . noted songwriter taking best music playing , adding experiences , ideas . joining group, before recording, peter luscombe (ex-tinsley waterhouse band, stephen cummings band) on drums , percussion. camilleri, burstin, burt, butrumlis, luscombe, mctaggart, , smith joined in studio sessions musicians including ed bates (ex-the sports) on guitar; joe creighton (ex-billy t) on bass guitar; ross hannaford (ex-daddy cool, billy t) on guitar; andrew pendlebury (ex-the sports) on guitar; , blackberries on vocal harmonies.

classic era : 1986–93

by november 1986 black sorrows line-up camilleri, burstin, luscombe , smith; johnny charles on bass guitar. group playing original material. group released mystified gained radio play , peaked @ number 24 on kent music report. group s fourth studio album, dear children (april 1987), co-produced camilleri , burstin, appeared on camel records. cbs signed them distribution deal. cbs promoting, peaked @ no. 22 australian kent music report albums chart in june. in may year, single, daughters of glory , had reached top 50 on related kent music report singles chart.

additional session musicians used on dear children included: butrumlis; tony faeshe on guitar , viola; venetta fields on backing vocals; mick girasole on bass guitar; paul grabowsky on piano; sherlie matthews on backing vocals; mick o connor on keyboards , hammond organ. band made use of session or touring musicians including sam see on slide guitar, tony norris on trumpet, , kerryn tolhurst on guitar.

during 1988 smith left performance line-up, continued writing lyrics black sorrows on following 2 decades. mid-year burt had returned on guitar, charles replaced girasole on bass guitar, , vika , linda bull joined on backing vocals , occasional lead vocals (ex-sophisticated boom boom, sacred hearts of sweet temptation, honeymooners). australian journalist ed nimmervoll described classic line-up of group camilleri, linda , vika bull, burstin, burt, girasole , luscombe. bull sisters readily identifiable singing style became big part of black sorrows sound. @ live gigs each had own spots showing different voices: vika strong , soulful. linda soft , gentle.

the group s fifth album, hold on me, issued in september 1988, co-produced burstin , camilleri. standard version cbs released limited edition 2× lp in australia. allmusic s rudyard kennedy felt lead singer able channel voice , persona of van morrison , while group borrow many of same ingredients trick in mixing well-worn ingredients , coming new such album deserves heard , hailed music fans world on .

the album peaked @ no. 7 on aria albums chart in may 1989 , remained in top 50 46 weeks. provided 2 top 40 hits on associated singles chart: chained wheel (march 1989 – highest charting single @ no. 9) , crack-up (april). @ aria music awards of 1990 won best group. internationally hold on me peaked @ no. 6 on norwegian albums chart; no. 18 on swedish albums chart; , no. 35 on new zealand albums chart.

before recording sixth album, harley , rose (august 1990), jen anderson added on violin (ex-kings of world); , richard sega replaced girasole on bass guitar. co-produced camilleri, burstin , luscombe; , cd format has 6 bonus tracks compared lp version. peaked @ no. 3 in australia , remained in top 50 51 weeks; no. 5 in norway; , no. 36 in sweden. album produced 2 top 30 singles; harley + rose , never let me go .

the revelators band made of members of black sorrows released first album, amazing stories, in december 1991. revelators sound return black sorrows material: playing largely r&b-oriented cover songs.

burt left black sorrows before recording seventh album, better times (september 1992), , stephen hadley (ex-kate ceberano , ministry of fun) replaced sega on bass guitar. added line-up barker , black (on keyboards) of relevators. finally, laurie polec took on band s primary lyricist, although smith contributed , future releases. better times peaked @ no. 13 in australia.

the black sorrows play @ byron bay bluesfest, april 2014

in march 1993 group re-released better times 2× cd pack revelators amazing stories bonus disc. pack reached no. 14 in australia. in september, black sorrows released stir – cover of bob marley track. first greatest hits album, chosen ones - greatest hits, appeared in november 1993, peaked @ no. 4 in january 1994.

by end of 1993, camilleri announced after chosen ones tour, current line-up of black sorrows dissolved. became solo band floating line-up of specially selected musicians . vika , linda launched duo career in march 1994. luscombe later session drummer or band member various groups including paul kelly band (and associated side projects professor ratbaggy , stardust five), , may 2014 member of sbs-tv quiz show, rockwiz house band, rockwiz orkestra since 2005. black worked session musician or band member including sherine s x machine, things of stone , wood, deborah conway, , luscombe on rockwiz since 2005.

new line-ups: 1994–98

for new iteration of black sorrows, camilleri retained hadley previous line-up. group s next album, lucky charm (november 1994) recorded in new york camilleri co-producing kerryn tolhurst. while group had no fixed line-up @ juncture, in studio group called on services of hadley on bass guitar, tolhurst on guitar, mandolin, tiple , keyboards, rob burke on saxophone, claude carranza on guitar, steve ferrone on drums, , andy york on guitar. lyrics album s songs supplied james griffin, smith or polec. mcfarlane noted album more reflective, rootsier collection previous band efforts . reached no. 20 in australia.

the group s ninth studio album, beat club released in november 1998. album co-produced camilleri, black , tolhurst. used guest musicians including burstin, burt , renée geyer on vocals. mcfarlane described containing r&b-tinged jazz , blues tunes . lead single, new craze (august 1997), nominated @ 1998 apra awards performed jazz work in australia writers camilleri, smith , black.

in 2000s camelleri founded side project, bakelite radio, temporarily supplanted recording activity black sorrows. characteristic of camilleri s projects, bakelite radio started loosely organised covers band fluid membership. however, players in bakelite radio similar membership of concurrent line-up of black sorrows, repertoire differing.

camelleri reunited revelators , released aria award nominated studio albums in 2000 , 2002.

return hiatus: 2004–08

the black sorrows returned hiatus , released acoustic album, 1 mo time, in 2004 returning members camilleri, black, burstin, floyd , hadley. band s follow-up album roarin town, released in october 2006. release, black sorrows camilleri, black, floyd, hadley, , returning carranza. carranza , black had played camilleri in bakelite radio. well, nick smith, had been 1 of several lyricists used black sorrows in previous decade, once again band s sole lyricst in terms of band s new original material.

the 2006 touring line-up of black sorrows consisted of camilleri, black, creighton, carranza, floyd, , new recruits annette roche , troy mcmillan on backing vocals. when band resumed touring in 2007, roche , mcmillan had left group.

a one-time gig in december 2008 featured black sorrows line-up traversed different eras of band. line-up included camilleri, anderson, bates, vika , linda bull, butrumlis, carranza, creighton , floyd.

later activity: 2009–present

camilleri continued performing black sorrows, revelators , bakelite radio @ gigs changing roster of musicians. in late 2009 black sorrows released cd/dvd compilation pack, 4 days in sing sing (2009). dvd chronicles making of album, consists of 17 tracks recorded live-in-the-studio @ sing sing studios in melbourne. tracks versions of black sorrows , bakelite radio tracks, , played then-current line-up both bands: camilleri, black, carranza, , creighton.

the 2010-2012 black sorrows line-up consisted of camilleri, carranza, creighton, , returning floyd, alongside new vocalist atlanta coogan joined in 2010. in 2012 line-up released crooked little thoughts, 72-page hard cover book including 3× cds, photos, lyrics , artwork of victor rubin.

by 2013 line-up had shuffled again. camilleri , carranza joined angus burchall on drums, mark gray on bass guitar, , john mcall on keyboards , backing vocals. group released 14th album certified blue, on april fool s day 2014. pair of follow-up albums, consisting of cover songs recorded during certified blue sessions, released simultaneously following year. entitled endless sleep chapter 46 , endless sleep chapter 47, these albums issued on vinyl, cd version included bonus -- cds not available purchase separately.

in september 2016, keeping same line-up, black sorrows released faithful satellite, 17th studio album.