Russell
Morris 'The
Real
Thing' Live
August 2007 These Clips were filmed in 2007 at
"The New Capers' in Hawthorn Australia
Russell
Morris is one of Australia's most enduring singers.
A major
pop star in the late '60s, he went on to become one of the country's
first singer/songwriters. Both ends of his career feature predominantly
in the soundtrack to the movie The Dish. Morris' career started in
September 1966 with the formation of the Melbourne group Somebody's
Image, which rose to prominence with a local hit version of the Joe
South song "Hush."
Morris was convinced to leave Somebody's Image for a solo career. His
manager/producer, local music identity Ian Meldrum, spent unprecedented
hours and money to create a seven-minute production extravaganza around
a song called "The Real Thing." Once the result was released to shocked
radio programmers who had never been asked to play such a long
Australian single before, it was up to Morris' personality, singing,
and performing talents to make the record work. It reached Australia's
number one spot in June 1969. Without any promotional support from
Morris, "The Real Thing" reached number one in Chicago, Houston, and
New York. The second single -- "Part Three Into Paper Walls" ("The Real
Thing" revisited) and "The Girl That I Love" (a pop ballad more
indicative of what was to come) -- became a double-sided number one
hit, the first time an Australian artist had scored consecutive number
ones with their first two singles.
Morris, in the meantime, had traveled to the U.K. to help promote
the release of "The Real Thing." Morris had now decided to concentrate
on his own songwriting and with the cream of Australian musicians,
spent almost a year painstakingly recording and re-recording what
became the Bloodstone album. It was one of the first Australian albums
of its kind, the first from an Australian singer/songwriter, and a
whole world away from the extravagant "The Real Thing." The hit single
from Bloodstone was the resonant, romantic "Sweet Sweet Love."
The following year, in 1972, Morris delivered the equally
beautiful "Wings of an Eagle." In 1973, Morris moved to London to
record an album only to discover there was no record contract waiting
for him. He relocated to New York and set to work on an album there,
including new versions of both "Sweet Sweet Love" and "Wings of an
Eagle" and the single "Let's Do It." A second American album appeared
in 1976. It was two more years before Morris was granted his green
card, enabling him to tour America. But by then, any chance of an
American career had bolted. Instead, Morris returned to a very
different Australia than the one he had left behind five years earlier.
During his solo career, Morris had done limited live performances
without a band of his own.
He then formed the Russell Morris Band and threw himself into a
busy round of live performances, writing songs designed to be played
live rather than chasing radio airplay, but scoring a couple of minor
hits on the way. Eventually, the band played and recorded as Russell
Morris & the Rubes. In 1991, Morris released another solo album, A
Thousand Suns, and he spent the subsequent years as part of a highly
successful performing trio with fellow '60s heroes Ronnie Burns and
Darryl Cotton of the Zoot, with a repertoire made up of their
individual hits from yesterday, as well as new songs. In 2000, Jim
Keays of the Masters Apprentices replaced Burns. Also in 2000, Morris'
"The Real Thing" and "Wings of an Eagle" featured prominently in the
Australian-made movie The Dish (centered around man's landing on the
moon) and Midnight Oil released their version of "The Real Thing" as a
one-off single, the first time this highly regarded band had chosen to
record a cover. 'Wings of
an Eagle' Live
August 2007 Visit::www.russellmorris.com.au.
The
Videos presented on this page were filmed and
produced by 3 Amigos Films, a small independant film group based in
Melbourne, Australia. We have been out and about capturing some of
Australia's best loved music talents who have all stood the test of
time as writers & performers... Stay
tuned for more...
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