M4U-(BLACKFEATHER-At Mountains Of Madness)-Bon Scott-LP

	A$		50
	$		33

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DESCRIPTION ITEM: VINYL LP
ARTIST: BLACKFEATHER
TITLE: At The Mountains Of Madness
COUNTRY: OZ
CAT No: INFINITY, SINL-934159
COVER: (Grade at strong VG+) small biro & orange texta back cvr
VINYL: (Grade at VG+ to EXCELLENT-) small ink stamp label 1
BAND:
Alexander Kash - Drums and Footsteps
Neale Johns - Vocals
Robert Fortescue - Bass Guitar
John Robinson - Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Effects

Recorders ("Seasons of Change")- Ronald Belford Scott
Timbalis, Tambourine - Bon Scott
Electric Piano ("The Rat") - John Bisset

TRACKS:
"At The Mountains Of Madness" (Robinson)
"On This Day That I Die" (Robinson)
"Seasons Of Change Part 1"" (Robinson/Johns)
"Mangos Theme Part 2" (Robinson)
"Long Legged Lovely" (Robinson/Johns)
"The Rat" (Suite)
"- Main Title (The Rat)"
"- The Trad"
"- Spanish Blues"
"- Blazwaorden (Land Of Dreams)"
"- Finale (The Rat)"

COMMENT: Milesago

Blackfeather were one of the most popular and successful groups of the early '70s, and produced one of the landmark Aussie progressive rock albums, but a major split early in the group's history disabled what should have been a promising career for founder John Robinson. … there was a bewildering series of lineup changes, with Blackfeather going through at least six major incarnations between 1970 and 1983, with a huge personnel list for each version. The list is a veritable 'Who's Who' of the 70s rock scene. However it's the first two lineups - 'Mark I', who made At The Mountains Of Madness and 'Mark II' who recorded "Boppin' The Blues" - that are the best known.

Blackfeather (Mk I) formed in April 1970 with the original lineup being John Robinson (gtr), Neale Johns (vcls), Leith Corbett (bs) and Mike McCormack (dr). All but Johns had come straight from the split of the highly-rated Dave Miller Set, who were one of NSW's most popular live groups in the late 60s, and whose classic version of "Mr Guy Fawkes" was Go-Set's pick for the Best Single of 1969.

In these extracts from his memoirs, John Robinson takes up the story of how the band was formed:

"Just after Xmas 1969, Dave disbanded the group. He had done his five single deal with Spin, and wanted a solo career. Looking back from an almost 30 year distance, I can acknowledge Dave's contribution to Aussie Rock. He was a very savvy business person and a great showman. The business and PR side of music was something of a mystery to me. And I was just about to find out how hard it could be without a safety net. Mr Guy Fawkes had reached the national Top 5 by the end of 1969, and it seemed a fitting way for DMS to sign off."

"Dave went into a solo project, Reflections of a Pioneer for Spin. Leith, Mike and I went looking for a singer. It didn't take long before Leith turned up with Neale Johns. A small guy with a huge voice, Neale was very taciturn. He was into the blues and had excellent range. We rehearsed in my garage in Epping at first, then at the Hornsby Police Boys Club on weekdays. We pulled up every blues standard and original we could think of and soon had an impressive song list. We were looking for a name -- a drummer friend of mine, Wayne Thomas of Flake gave me a book which had about 500 possible band names in it. 'Whitefeather' & 'Heavyfeather' were two of them. Heavy became 'Black' and we had it. At this point, I took some rolls of infra-red film, which became our first publicity stills. They were shot in a graveyard in Ashfield and looked very spooky."

"At one session in Hornsby, an engineer named John Zuliaka taped us for a demo. This tape I would love to hear now. It was sent to EMI and Festival. Both sent back contracts to sign. We were to book through NOVA and one John Sinclair was our PR man. We signed up to Essex Music under John Brummel and to Festival's new Infinity label, headed by John's brother David Sinclair."

The new band had lots going for it -- although only 18, Neale Johns was a powerful vocalist, and Robinson has already developed a strong following as a 'guitar hero', along with players like Lobby Loyde, Kevin Borich, Dennis Wilson and Tim Gaze. Corbett and McCormack were a powerful rhythm section in the Free/Led Zeppelin mould and Robinson and Johns quickly formed a strong writing unit, jointly composing all the material on their first LP.

Leith and and Mike left shortly after the band was formed, and were replaced by Fortesque and Kash. (Corbett reunited with Dave Miller and together they recorded the sought-after Reflections Of A Pioneer LP the following year…)

"Things were just beginning to happen when Leith and Mike defected. Dave Miller had poached them for his LP recording project and the new DMS. My career had stalled -- it had been months since I'd earned any money, and my marriage was heading for the rocks. I busied myself writing more riffs and an instrumental called Mango's Theme which was inspired by Leone's "Dollar" westerns.

"Neale contacted me with good news -- he had found a rhythm section recently arrived from Perth. Al Kash, an American, played drums, and Bob Fortesque, bass. They were simpler players than Leith and Mike and the music gelled immediately. We were booked into the Manly Vale Pub soon after, and the crowd went wild. Blackfeather had finally arrived!"

Blackfeather began working consistently around the traps, cementing the strong fan base and critical interest that the Dave Miller Set had built up over the previous three years. As John noted, they became one of the first acts signed to Festival's newly-formed Infinity subsidiary.

It was this second lineup -- Robinson, Johns, Fortesque and Kash -- which featured on their debut album, the Australian progressive classic At The Mountains Of Madness, recorded in late 1970 and released early the following year. The LP was produced by Richard Batchens, who later worked with Sherbet and Richard Clapton. Fraternity's singer Bon Scott guested on recorder and percussion, and their keyboard player John Bissett also contributed.

VINYL GRADING SYSTEM

MINT:
RECORD: New condition with no surface marks or loss of sound quality.
COVER: New condition with no surface marks, creases or wear.
NEAR MINT:
RECORD: Barely noticeable surface mark with no loss of sound quality.
COVER: Barely noticeable surface mark/ wear.
EXCELLENT:
RECORD: Some signs of being played with extremely little if no loss of sound quality.
COVER: Slight wear or creasing.
VERY GOOD:
RECORD: Obviously been played with noticeable surface marks & the occasional light scratches but exhibits no major loss of sound quality.
COVER: Noticeable wear on cover, seam or spine.
GOOD:
RECORD: Very obviously been played with very noticeable surface marks & exhibits major loss of sound quality.
COVER: Noticeable folding, scuffing of spine or edges, splits in seams or spine or fading of colour.
FAIR:
RECORD: Still just playable & exhibits considerable surface noise.
COVER: Major tears, wearing, splits & stains.
POOR:
RECORD: Will not play properly due to scratches etc.
COVER: Very badly damaged.
+(PLUS)/-(MINUS):
Slightly up or down in condition as appears in the comments above.
NOTE:
Gradings are done visually unless there appears to be a questionable surface mark on the vinyl, it is then put on the turntable to check. A comment describing the outcome will appear if this is the case.

BULK POSTAGE SAVINGS

WITHIN AUSTRALIA
1 LP:
ALL AUSTRALIAN STATES=$7.95

2-3 LPs:
NSW=$9.95
VIC=$11.95
QLD/SA/TAS=$12.95
NT/WA=$13.95

4-7 LPs:
NSW=$10.95
VIC=12.95
QLD/SA/TAS=$14.95
NT/WA=$16.95

8-11 LPs:
NSW=$12.95
VIC=14.95
QLD/SA/TAS=$17.95
NT/WA=$20.95

NOTE:
Double albums count as 2 LPs; triple albums count as 3 LPs etc

OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA
1 LP:
NEW ZEALAND=$11.95
ASIA/PACIFIC=$15.95
AMERICAS/MIDDLE EAST=$17.95
REST OF WORLD=$19.95
2-3 LPs:
NEW ZEALAND=$18.95
ASIA/PACIFIC=$23.95
AMERICAS/MIDDLE EAST=$27.95
REST OF WORLD=$31.95

4-7 LPs:
NEW ZEALAND=$32.95
ASIA/PACIFIC=$41.95
AMERICAS/MIDDLE EAST=$49.95
REST OF WORLD=$62.95

8-11 LPs:
NEW ZEALAND=$40.95
ASIA/PACIFIC=$51.95
AMERICAS/MIDDLE EAST=$64.95 REST OF WORLD=$80.95

NOTE:
Double albums count as 2 LPs; triple albums count as 3 LPs etc

PAYMENT METHOD

WITHIN AUSTRALIA
Preferred Payment methods…
Internet Bank Deposit
Money Order,
Personal Cheque (waiting period 5 days till cleared)
Paypal in $AUD

OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA
Preferred method is PayPal in $AUD.

INSURANCE

Insurance is optional but recommended and available at your request.
Items posted without insurance and LOST in the mail are at the buyers risk.

WITHIN AUSTRALIA
Registered post covers insurance up to $100.00 AUD.
If you require insurance above $100.00 AUD please email me and I will provide the latest Australia Post cost. This is because Australia Post change many of their fees every 6 months.

OUTSIDE AUSTRALIA
If you require insurance please email me and I will provide the latest Australia Post cost. This is because Australia Post change many of their fees every 6 months.
Insurance is not available to all countries. Canada is a country that does not allow insured items from Oz.

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