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To my ear Aussie Blues has always had the white, larrakin voice
of Matt Taylor or Phil manning. That was until Yugul, almost 40
years after first getting together, finally burst onto the national
scene last year.
Hailing from Ngukurr in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory,
Yugul first formed in 1967 in a tin shed on the banks of the Roper
River. While other aboriginal bands were going country or rocking
out, Yugul were into the Blues. The band, whose founders are Danny
Thompson and Kevin Rogers, took 36 years to release its debut
album – ‘Across The River’. The project organised
by Skinnyfish Music, brought Melbourne singer and harmonica player,
Chris Wilson to the Territory to record and tour with Yugul, including
a performance at the 2004 Adelaide Festival.
A revving car motor leads into the first track. The band is “comin’
back home … gonna play the blues tonight.” A howling
harmonica solo compliments a stinging guitar sound. But when Yugul
sings about having “moved on out of country some years ago”,
they are not referring to heading for the city. They just “moved
a little further down the track… to a place called Roper
River.” The band also moved out of country music in the
line, “Got rock ‘n’ roll, blues and reggae too.”
With themes like ‘Crossroads’, the songs trace a familiar
line to the Chicago blues artists, with lyrics based around women,
work, wandering and woe. ‘Homeland’ is about a “home
by the sea”, an ancestral place… a place of comfort
and peace. A reworking of the classic, ‘Dear Me’ has
some lovely licks from Wilson’s harmonica interwoven with
Hammond organ played by the album’s producer, Steve Teakle.
Gritty guitar riffs add depth to this ballad of unrequited love.
The road, some booze and a good woman waiting at home is the typical
theme of the rollicking rhythm ‘n’ blues numbers,
while some have the feeling of gospel hymns with solemn vocals
laid over solid organ chords. The remaining tracks combine a country-blues
feel with sweet vocal harmonies and chunky guitar licks. Other
songs express the freedom of speaking in traditional language,
of the spirit, of identity through the land. “ Born on a
cold and wet December night, as the lightning struck and the thunder
roared. On that night… yes that night I breathed the air
of this land. I was carried around in a paperbark coolamon.”
Says it all!
Despite all the sentiments about life in the bush, ‘High-class
Tripper’ is a rollicking rager with a hankering for the
big smoke and bright lights.
Peter Dawson
For more info on Australian aboriginal music check out:
www.mujik.com
www.skinnyfishmusic.com.au
www.caama.com.au
www.vibe.com.au.
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