12.29.2008

The Purple Hearts: Benzedrine Beat! (AUS, 1964/70)

Originally formed in Brisbane in 1963, where they established a strong cult following with their wild brand of uncompromising heavy rock and R'n'B. An example, Here 'Tis can also be found on the Devil's Children CD.
They relocated to Melbourne in 1966 and when Redmond left to open a disco Tony Cahill was recruited as his replacement.

Lobby Loyde (aka Barry Lyde) was in their band prior to joining The Wild Cherries. Bob Dames went on to Black Cat Circle and then with Mick Hadley joined Coloured Balls. Tony Cahill later went on to The Easybeats.


ALBUM REVIEW

All ten songs the Purple Hearts released during their brief lifetime (on 1965-67 singles) are on this meticulously thorough reissue. It also adds four songs they recorded on acetates in early 1965 prior to their recording deal, as well as seven tracks by the Coloured Balls, the band in which singer/harmonica player Mick Hadley and bassist Bob Dames played in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Purple Hearts tracks are the ones the collectors who seek this CD out will be most interested in, as they're solid punky R&B, very much in the mold of the British bands springing up in the wake of the Rolling Stones circa 1964-65. The cuts are tough and hard-boiled, and will no doubt recall similar, though superior, British acts such as the Pretty Things and the Graham Bond Organization. What makes the Purple Hearts inferior to such acts is that they recorded absolutely no original material, devoting most of their studio performances to covers of songs by the likes of Bond, Paul Butterfield, Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters. They do, however, pull off a superbly menacing R&B/punk makeover of the spiritual "Early in the Morning," with searing fuzz guitar and voodoo-ish ensemble chanting. Too, their sole 45 to feature cover tunes that weren't well known ("Of Hopes and Dreams and Tombstones"/"I'm Gonna Try") is pretty respectable, though Mick Hadley's vocals aren't quite up to the level of belters like the Pretty Things' Phil May. The Coloured Balls tracks (in quite variable sound quality), which are much more in a hard rock/blues-rock/psychedelic/progressive rock vein, are apparently taken from "rehearsals, gigs and local TV appearances" -- the liner notes aren't wholly clear on this point. These songs aren't nearly as interesting as the Purple Hearts' material, and are likewise all covers, this time around of songs by Jethro Tull, Steve Miller, and Fleetwood Mac, as well as blues tunes by Howlin' Wolf and Willie Dixon. The 36-page booklet is exemplary, with liner notes featuring vintage photos and first-hand quotes from original band members, properly honoring the Purple Hearts' status as one of the more notable Australian rock acts of the 1960s.

PURPLE HEARTS
remember also
their ep
here

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

excellent! i love hopes and dreams
taught me a lesson
cant wait

Plante said...

Pablo, no tendrás nada de un grupo que se llama The downliners sect, que hacían R&B (muy sucio) en los años 63-64-65.

Gracias.

Plante

Plante said...

Ya encontre los discos que buscaba. En Dias de Garage. Un saudo,
Plante

The Bomber said...

Passw: mza-garage.blogspot.com

aaa si ... de los Downliners...
una gran banda Plante...ya voy a subir unas cositas q creo q no estan en dias d garage.

Saludos

Roadrunner said...

entren a roadrunnerblogspot.com,ahi esta todo Downliners sect en mesa de saldos!!jajja,Pablo te hago una pregunta tenes el disco ( The Sanctions )los priméros ( Electric Prunes )?

Anonymous said...

Gracias por todo el material que publicas, feliz 2009
Pablo beatle

Anonymous said...

Hello,,very tough sounding group,,lead guitar playing with a 12string,,awesome and hard to do!I think this might be the hardest souding beat music that i have heard come from Australia!Only drawback is that it sounds as if the tracks came from vinyl instead of tapes.now if i can only find the book from the inside!,,,thanks,,Mr.Beat!

Anonymous said...

I have some spare copies of the booklet -- send me $6 by paypal!

Hey, do you guys have the EP of Sounds Unlimited, Chicago 60s garage band? Can't find or buy it anywhere nowdays!

Robert Charbonnier said...

Great sounds, good group. Thank you very much.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting this grear album.

lg_dea said...

I really like this blog

aldo said...

Some WILD sounds here! Shame the singer decided to change his singing style…he totally ruins otherwise great versions of some of the tracks like "Chicago"(11-14), sounding like Robert Plant with a cold!
Those early demos (tracks 1-4) plus the first 3 singles (5-10) are FANTASTIC! The above review talks about “…their sole single” when in reality there were five…a bit different, yeah?!
About other wild acts in Australia in the 60s…well.. .there were many! MASTER’S APPRENTICES and MISSING LINKS are the most famous and in a similar vein, that also recorded some great originals and worth checking out!

Mateus Paul said...

Concordo com o Aldo os primeiros temas do disco são os mais incríveis! Apesar de que, alguns deles estão no EP, o qual realmente é muito bom, previamente disponibilizado no blog!
Também concordei com a comparação com o Robert Plant, de fato, parece, principalmente no tema de número 13 ("Chigaco")!

Enfim, obrigado por mais esse Pablo! Como você já sabe, sou fã incondicional deste seu maravilhoso blog!
Um abraço.

Anonymous said...

One of the Punkier bands of an era which in Australia was still very conservative, both socially and musically i.e. women could not be served or allowed in the men's bar! Also check out the Uglys and Missing Links to be really freaked out.

Anonymous said...

Here Tiz - very - very nize it Tiz
too bad you can't go anywhere and hear stuff like thiz LIVE - just grab what you can off the time machine a.k.a the internet

Anonymous said...

Thanx!
Hallo

Anonymous said...

insane posting and am dying to hear it but the .rar file requires a 'password' to open it. Would you be so kind to share the password or let me know how else I can get this posting? Thanks

Roadrunner said...

Very easy friend, reading up to 13 previous comments of yours.

Anonymous said...

Great great great stuff take me back to my child hood





Rhod ( Aus)

Anonymous said...

Hello.
I tried and tried to find the goddam password to open the file ... Nothing, nada, rien. Is there a key or something ? I don't understand your answer above, can you help ?

Thanks a lot !

The Bomber said...

man...its not that hard...
if you read the comments carefully you ll find the passw
what its so complicated about it?ah?

THE GODDAM PASSWORD IS:
mza-garage.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

I'm mouse and you're the trap ! Thanks a lot . Yeah, i see it now in one of the previous answers ...

Roadrunner said...

It should be read before friend

Roadrunner said...

ahhh si,terribles estos muchachos solo tenia Chicago y Bring it on Home y me hago una pregunta Robert Plant habra tenido este disco?,No se porqque en algunas canciones los asocio con The Downliners Sect, a pesar que Tiger in Your Tank tiene poco que ver con la versión de los Sect.Long Legged Baby me parece una obra de arte , bien rabiosa pero nada familiarizada con el tema de Jethro Tull.Si señor un buen disco!!, gracias Pablo

The Bomber said...

Gracias por tus palabras viejo, si yo creo que Roberto Planta (utilizando un traductor comun) debe haberle pegado un par de escuchadas a los muchachos...cdo estaba con los Joy sobre todo, antes de unirse al zeppelin.
Aires a los Sect..puede ser, por ahi concuerdo un poco.

Saludos viejo

Roadrunner said...

Me tente cuando lo lei,porque pense lo mismo cuando estaba escribiendo el nombre,con respecto a Los Sect, lo dije solo por una canción "Legs",pero fue una ráfaga,no el grupo bailantero ah?.Un abrazo