One of the classic rock bands that I've come to thoroughly enjoy is Cold Chisel. They aren't well known outside of their native Australia. But in Australia they aren't only the definitive pub rock band. They are also an integral thread in the fabric of Australian culture.
They got their start as heavy metal band, Orange, before changing their name to Cold Chisel (which was actually the title of a song they used to perform as Orange).
While the band's line-up fluctuated somewhat in their early years (1974 until about 1978) with vocalist Jimmy Barnes quitting and rejoining repeatedly due to his personality clashes with drummer Stephen Prestwich. Barnes even briefly replaced Bon Scott in Fraternity when Scott left that band to join AC/DC. From their debut album on their line-up remained rather stable:
Jimmy Barnes - Vocals
Ian Moss - Guitar & Vocals
Don Walker - Keyboards, Piano, & Organ
Phil Smalls - Bass
Stephen Prestwich - Drums & Vocals
They did have a rather ill-fated attempt to find success in the United States in the late seventies/early eighties but were unable to match the success of other Australian exports like Little River Band and AC/DC. Their lack of success in the US spawned their Aussie hit, You Got Nothin' I Want, a musical middle finger of sorts to a listening public that never truly gave them a chance.
That turned out to be our loss as these guys put together quite a string of hit songs and solid albums between 1978 and 1983. They reunited in 1998 and released the studio album, The Last Wave of Summer and have toured off and on in the years since. The clips below are all from their 2003 reunion tour. These performances were also released on the 2CD live set (Ringside).
But enough background info from me... Give them a listen below and decide for yourselves:
Cold Chisel - Khe Sanh (Live 2003)
Cold Chisel - Bow River (Live 2003)
Cold Chisel - Goodbye Astrid (Live 2003)
Cold Chisel - HoundDog (Live 2003)
Cold Chisel - Flame Trees (Live 2003)
Cold Chisel - When the War Is Over (Live 2003)
6 comments:
I remember the Easybeats tune that he did with INXS ("Good Times") in the mid 80s but I didn't know about Cold Chisel or his legacy in the Aussie music scene. Good stuff.
Hey Barb ! It feels great to read your blog once again after such a long wait, as its definitely a treasure full of Classic Rock, and a great stop for me !
Cold Chisel is definitely one of the most amazing band that was referred to me by Perplexio, he's got tons of knowledge about most bands that I might not even have heard of ! :) hehe
Finally got around to listening and I do like them. Thanks for another great introduction to a band I never heard of. Of course I've heard of Jimmy :) From you years ago!
Bearockr, so good to see you here!!
I had heard of them before (esp Jimmy Barnes). There are quite a few good Aussie rock bands out there.
Barbara, I'll have to ask my daughter about them....she just moved to Australia,..left on Tuesday !
Lori
to watch JImmy Barnes sing live is like having your head knocked off, working class brute force at its finest ! Saw him a few years ago at a festival that included George Thoroughgo, Bo Diddely, Jack Johnson and he trounded them all
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