Australian bush soundsdcapes: Various releases - Carl & Lise Weismann, Harold J. Pollock (1964 - 1970)

This post has been written by guest blogger, Roger Close.

Demand for album-length recordings of field sounds is not what it once was. In the mid-twentieth century, though, long before smartphones could summon up any bird-call in seconds, there seems to have been a thriving market. This suite of five EPs from the 1960s and ‘70s (packaged with slim hardback volumes by The Jacaranda Press) brings together a splendid range of field recordings from the Australian natural environment. The earliest two records, Australian Bird Songs (1964) and Australian Bush Sounds (1966), were recorded by Danish couple Carl and Lise Weismann during a ten-month traversal of the continent in 1957. Zoologist Carl Weismann was one of the pioneers of ornithological field recordings, having collecting bird calls for Danish radio as early as the 1930s. However, it was the popularity of their ‘Singing Dogs’ novelty records that financed their Australian tour. Vocalisations on these two albums are presented without a narrator: the interested listener can follow ornithologist Alan Keast’s extensive written commentary. However, the calls are sufficiently distinctive that it’s easy to keep in step with the track listing. The later three recordings, ‘Menura—The Lyrebird’ (1967), Bird and Animal Calls of Australia (1968) and Voices of the Australian Bush (1970) are the end-result of thirteen years of outback travel by of one of Australia’s leading wildlife photographers at the time, Harold J. Pollock. Although these recordings also contain extensive notes, the subject of each track is also announced by Mr Pollock in a delightfully old-fashioned tone.

Nineteen species are included on Australian Bird Songs, all of which are captured clearly and with minimal background noise—perhaps attributable to the gigantic three-foot parabolic microphone reflector dish pictured on the back of the EP (wielded by Carl; his wife (“at this stage a new bride”) operates the portable reel-to-reel tape recorded slung over her shoulder). Recordings were made in a wide variety of remote environments. Both sides of this EP contain a mix of common and lesser-known (and more unusual-sounding) species, although they are frequently referred to by obsolete names, which might confuse modern listeners a little. Accompanying the black and white photographs, Alan Keast provides lively and poetic descriptions of each species’ calls, which are preceded by an informative discussion of the biological roles of bird song.

Additional material recorded during the Wiesmanns’ Australian expedition was released the next year on Australian Bush Sounds. Unlike their previous recording, this EP is not limited to birds, and features several mammals, amphibians (the Weismanns professed to be overawed by the incredible variety of frog calls on offer in this country) and even insects, a greater variety of calls that makes for more pleasant background listening. In particular, the far-off howling of a pack of dingos is very evocative, and one can only imagine how the two Scandinavian globetrotters felt as they captured this soundscape.

‘Menura—The Lyrebird’ is the only EP to focus on a single taxon. Most of the recordings are of two Superb Lyrebird individuals: a male, ‘Wanderer,’ in Sherbrooke Forest in Victoria, and a female, ‘Theresa,’ living near Sydney; the text gives detailed biographies, along with accounts of the natural history of the lyrebird. An anonymous Albert Lyrebird from Southern Queensland also makes an appearance. It seems this release was a tie-in with a now-forgotten documentary film of the same name, during the making of which Mr Pollock lived alongside his subjects for six months. (Pollock also made short documentaries about pelicans, brolgas, red kangaroos and koalas, all financed by the State Bank of New South Wales). The EP gives a terrific impression of the variety of calls and imitations that these peculiar birds are capable of—particularly mimicry of other bird species, although ‘Theresa’ does produce a fine imitation of a dog’s bark.

Bird and Animal Calls of Australia (‘animals’ here being synonymous with ‘mammals’) is the first instalment in this Jacaranda series to be printed in full-colour. The first side of the EP presents calls from a range of fairly common bird species, including the melodious Pied Butcher Bird, the curious but familiar Pied Currawong, and the less-commonly-heard calls of the Cassowary and Brolga. Side two is perhaps more interesting, focussing on mammal species. The male and female koala calls provide an amusing contrast, particularly the ‘courting’ vocalisations; we’re also treated to the sound of koalas fighting and to a baby koala, which is rather cute. More obscure ‘animal’ calls include the Squirrel Glider, Tasmanian Devils (which sound remarkably like feral cats) and Flying Foxes. The natural history of each species in included in the booklet, along with an extensive description of the technical hurdles of recording field sounds, should you wish to attempt your own. If you wish to go down the reel-to-reel tape route, the German-made Uher 4000 Report S is a “lightweight masterpiece of electronic engineering” (only 7 lb. complete with battery); this will no doubt make it easier to lug around your parabolic reflector and AKG microphone.

The final EP, Voices of the Australian Bush doesn’t include Mr Pollock’s announcements, but does cover 29 species of bird, both rare and common, accompanied by colourful descriptions and photographs. In addition to an updated guide to making field recordings, there is a portrait showing Mr Pollock brandishing his equipment.

Download - Mediafire.

Field recording from old Oceania: A Souvenir of Fiji - Tamavua Village Singers (197?)

Due to their proximity, there are a lot of folk recordings from the islands of the Pacific to be found in Australian charity and secondhand shops. Some of them are great; many are forgettable. I really like this EP because it’s a field recording of the performers in their traditional setting. It was recorded in a bure (a Fijian wood and straw hut) in Tamavua by one James Siers. You can hear the crickets buzzing in the background and it has genuinely captured a certain sound and place. 

This is also an interesting recording as in addition to four traditional Fijian compositions there is a rendition of Twelfth Street Rag, an old Tin Pan Alley standard. The aforementioned tune is played with hacky gusto by the guitarist - or is it a ukelele? - without any accompaniment by the vocalists. 



I wanted to create a new label for categorising recordings from this part of the world. I assumed that Fiji would be in Polynesia, but it is in fact part of Melanesia along with New Guinea and associated islands. I’ve since ran with Oceania which is the most all encompassing term for this region, although this also apparently includes Australia. (I don’t think this inclusion makes for a particularly meaningful term. Australia is too culturally overbearing to be included in the more modest nations of the Pacific and should probably be left out of any such definitions.)

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Incidentally, this record was released by Hibiscus Records, a subsidiary of Kiwi Records. I am very interested in any releases from either of these labels, both of which specialised in indigenous musics, field recordings and other wonderfully esoteric materials from Oceania and New Zealand respectively.

Label: Hibiscus Records
Released: I really have no idea. Probably 1970s.
Players: Samu Loki
Malakai Niubasaga
Semesa Lewai
Aca Tomasi
Bulewa Vilitati

Mediafire.

Braddock cigarettes toe-tappingly tackle women's lib: The Braddock Way of Seeing Things - Larry King (197?)

More cigarette advertising songs! This is a promotional 7" I found at the always awesome 3MBS record fair. Braddock are a brand of cigarettes that no longer exist, but who were clearly aiming for a very manly, conservative image with this campaign. I found it very difficult to get any details about this record at all until I found the website of what turned out to be the producer: Brian King. There are a lot of Brian Kings out there, and it wasn't until he replied that I knew he was the right man. Here is an excerpt of his email:

For about 10 years starting in the 70's I was in partnership with Larry King (no relation). We had a company which produced advertising jingles and film music.

When "Braddock" came our way it was right in the middle of the "Women's Lib" movement and the brief was to create a campaign which celebrated the differences between men and women. Larry King was a good looking guy, kind of like the "Marlborough Man" and as well as our company producing the music Larry also got the gig as "The Braddock Man". This involved a short live tour to Melbourne which was the place they decided to test market the brand. The slogan for the campaign was "Braddock....Not Mild".

It was all good fun but to this day I've still never smoked a cigarette!

I emailed Brian back with a few follow-up questions - I was quite curious as to whether there were any photos of 'The Braddock Man', for example - but he didn't reply.

There are eight tracks on this record with lyrically consistent themes of women dressing differently to how they used to, bureaucracy and red tape making a man's life difficult and very little mention of tobacco or cigarettes - although every composition ends with Braddock's aforementioned tagline, 'Braddock…not mild'. As Brian alludes to, this was a pitch aimed at the kind of blokes who were threatened or bewildered by the womens' rights movement and there's an amusing lack of subtlety in the lyrics which pretty much all boil down to 'Everything is different to how it used to be (so smoke our cigarettes)'.



Label: Private press
Released: 197?
Players: Larry King - vocals

Brian King - producer

Mediafire.

Maori folk pop with a hint of Hawaii: The Fabulous Howard Morrison Quartet (1960)

Although the fabulous Howard Morrison and his quartet were all New Zealanders playing traditional Kiwi songs, there’s a definite Hawaiian feel to this four-track EP. It seems obvious enough why they would take this stylistic route; Hawaiian music was huge in the sixties, these fellow denizens of the Pacific must have felt a kinship with its culture, and why not take advantage of a musical trend while you can? 

The songs on the EP all showcase the strong multi-part harmonies of the fabulous quartet and are all sung in their native Maori tongue. My favourite is the upbeat closing track, Haere Haere Ra E Hine, which features some sweet, reverby sixties guitar playing.

Label: La Gloria

Released: 1960

Mediafire.

The Unique Sound of Andy Sundstrom - Andy Sundstrom/Sven Libaek (1963)

Earlier this year I wrote a post about a single by Andy Sundstrom from 1963 playing a couple of songs composed and produced by Sven Libaek. I have now come across the EP from which this single was taken thanks to Urban Bowerbird reader Rex. The Unique Sound of Andy Sundstrom features the two songs from the single - Northern Territory and Theme From Black Orpheus - and two more Libaek-penned tunes; Free Fall and Theme From An Unwritten Movie. Although I didn’t realise this after hearing the single, Sundstrom plays these songs not on a guitar, but on a balalaika. This has added a whole new layer to the music for me and makes Andy a bit of a pop oddity. Whoever thought that balalaika surf-pop from the early sixties Australian music scene even existed? Two of the tracks, Northern Territory and Theme From An Unwritten Movie would be recorded by Sven with his usual jazz ensemble of the time and included on The Music Of Sven Libaek released four years later. The third track, Free Fall, was written by Libaek and performed by Australian surf group The Atlantics on their Bombora LP from 1963. (I’m not sure who played it first - both recordings came out in 1963).

Back cover liner notes: Three years ago ANDY SUNDSTROM came to Australia as a crew member on the 38 foot ketch “Sarong”. He had a guitar under one arm and a balalaika under the other. He wasn’t planning to stay too long, as all his family live in Denmark, his country of birth. However, he fell in love, with Australia, as do so many other visitors and migrants - and he’s still here! He hasn’t wasted his three years here either, on the contrary, he has established himself as one of Australia’s leading entertainers. 

ANDY’S speciality is the balalaika and in playing it he has been referred to as the “fastest man on strings”. However, his first CBS disc was far from a fast one. It was a haunting melody simply entitled “THEME FROM AN UNWRITTEN MOVIE” and although it was not a hit for ANDY it certainly made a stir among the public as well as disc jockeys and show business personalities. It was NORTHERN TERRITORY that really established Andy as a top pop artist with his balalaika. His beautiful rendition of THEME FROM BLACK ORPHEUS also became extremely popular with the public. All these tracks you will find on this E.P. and in addition, his latest entitled FREE FALL, a virtuoso surfin’ number.

This collection could easily have been entitled - “The Best of Andy Sundstrom”, but THE UNIQUE SOUND OF ANDY SUNDSTROM seemed more appropriate. It is indeed a unique sound - this strange haunting and brilliant way of playing that rather unusual instrument the balalaika, with a pop flavor. ANDY has created a new branch of Australian entertainment business. A branch that is growing in popularity every day.

Label: CBS, produced and composed by Sven Libaek

Released: 1963

Players: Andy Sundstrom - balalaika, guitar (no other musicians credited)

EDIT: Urban Bowerbird reader "randbasic" emailed me a reconstructed version of the artwork for this record. It looks great.

EDIT 25/09/2016: Here's a short article talking about Andy's work on this EP from Australian Womens Weekly in 1962. 

Mediafire. 

A Place To Stand (Ontar-i-ar-i-ar-i-o) - Dolores Claman (1967)

Despite its unsurprising popularity in Canada, I suspect that few non-hosers are familiar with this charming geographical pop oddity from 1967. This EP is the soundtrack to an Oscar winning short film intended to promote the Canadian province of Ontario, first shown at Expo 67. "So popular has this music become that a demand arose for an original sound track recording, in stereo", the liner notes inform us. 

It begins with a concise vocal version of the song - a jaunty, catchy melody sung with hearty enthusiasm by a chorus of female and male singers. I have unashamedly loved this song from the moment I heard it. It has all the elements of a great pop song and I wholeheartedly suggest incorporating this track into mixes for a bit of unexpected flavour, like adding a dash of fine maple syrup to a meal. The remainder of the EP is taken up by the actual soundtrack to the film, in two parts. These two tracks contain some great material occasionally evoking jazz, Gershwin, SMiLE-era Brian Wilson and general late-sixties soundtrackery.

The song and the soundtrack were written by Dolores Claman who is the subject of some veneration in her home country due to having penned, not only this unofficial anthem, but also the theme to Hockey Night In Canada. In partnership with her husband and lyricist Richard Morris, she composed over 3000 commercial jingles over a 30 year period.

Label: RCA Victor
Released: 1967
Players: Dolores Claman - composer
Richard Morris - lyrics
Jerry Toth - arranger
Rudy Toth - conducter
Larry Trudel - French lyrics

Mediafire.

The Australian Kookaburra - Peter Bruce (196?)

Here is another bird call EP by Peter Bruce, focusing on another of Australia's iconic bird species, the Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae). The Kookaburra is one of our most recognisable and well-known bird species due mainly to its extremely distinctive laughing call and its tendency to live in close proximity to humans. Although this EP was recorded by Bruce (who's amusing narrative style I remarked upon in my post on his Lyrebird EP) this time the narration is done by Richard Davies - one of those old-style announcer types who has that curious accent that fuses the classic Australian tone with that of the British private school. The first side of the record describes the calls and habits of the Kookaburra, referring to the indigenous folklore surrounding the bird and its place in the Aboriginal dreamtime stories. The second side is a mix tape of native bird species - Grey Butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus), Grey Shrikethrush (Colluricincla harmonica), Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen), Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galleria) and Boobook Owl (Ninox novaeseelandiae). Unlike the showcasing of the mimicry on Bruce's Lyrebird EP, no prior knowledge of Australian birds is needed to enjoy this set of field recordings.

Now, if you'll forgive a little self-indulgence, my own musical ensemble, The Cambrian Explosion, used the B-side of this EP as a sample for a track from our last album The Forgotten Music of Felix Ookean - a tribute to the Australian nature documentary soundtracks of the sixties and seventies. In the song, Those Bushranging Birds Of The Bush, we have taken the sample in its entirety and scored each call like different scenes in a documentary - have a listen.

Label: Columbia, produced by Geoffrey Jackson.

Released: 196?

Players: Peter Bruce - recordist and script writer

Richard Davies - narrator

Mediafire.

The Superb Lyrebird - Peter Bruce (196?)

I'm a musician and a zoologist, and I've always had trouble trying to work out where and how these two disciplines can interconnect. However, there have always been those who shared those twin interests and this where we get the field of bioacoustics - the study of the music made by animals. There seems to have been an assumption many years ago that Australian birds were musically inferior to the songbirds of Europe - probably due to the squawking, screaming calls of the ubiquitous native parrots and some of the more inharmonious honeyeater species. Despite this, or possibly because of this slight to their native fauna, early  Australians developed a patriotic pride in  the unique musicality of their native bird-life and much was written praising them. (Even while others were introducing European bird species such as Blackbirds to remind them of the birdsong of the old country). Obviously, audio recording was the best way to show off and share these unique soundscapes and back in the old days many vinyl recordings were released in this vein.

I was lucky enough to find two Australian bird call EPs both on the Columbia record label in an op-shop in Laverton. The first such record I would like to share is The Superb Lyrebird (Australia's Forest Singer) by wildlife recordist Peter Bruce, recorded, by the looks of it, sometime during the early sixties although no date is indicated. The Superb Lyrebird is very well-known for its extraordinary mimicry and this was something that was recognised and celebrated soon after Europeans became familiar with this bird. Superb Lyrebirds (Menura novaehollandiae) are found along the edge of south-eastern Australia in temperate forests and woodland. They are incredibly distinctive as they are large ground-dwelling birds that can measure up to 1m, including their tail. This huge fan-shaped tail is made up of two large outer feathers surrounded by wispy, light feathers in between. 

Peter Bruce provides us with narration on the habits of these birds interspersed with examples of their talent for mimicry. Bruce has an amusingly languid and descriptive tone but he is clearly very familiar with his subject and was responsible for the field recordings themselves. It must be said, that it certainly helps to be familiar with Australian bird calls to really appreciate these sorts of records - after all, how impressive is the Lyrebird's spot-on impression of a Gang-gang Cockatoo if you don't know what the hell a Gang-gang Cockatoo is? Regardless, there is something fascinating about listening to these sorts of recordings and imagining the world that Bruce is describing, where Lyrebirds are always calling and there's a friendly narrator to guide you through the Australian bush when it was a little more pristine than it is today.

Label: Columbia

Released: 196? (Bruce recorded an LP of Lyrebird recordings for Smithsonian Folkways in 1966, and it seems likely that this was EP was recorded at around the same time.)

Players: Peter Bruce - recordist and narrator

David Corke - writer of commentary

Superb Lyrebird - vocals

Mediafire.

Here's Hawes - The John Hawes Jazz Band (1963)

There's something almost punk about this EP from 1963 - six young Melbourne lads (none of the band members were over 21) smashing out party music with this rebellious new 'jazz' sound. The first track, Dr. Jazz opens with a sample of a phone operator asking 'May I help you?' who is then greeted to John Hawes screaming over a frenetic jazz track. Although the sound of the EP is generally trad jazz, the sample and the screaming vocals give this track at least, quite a modern feel. The next track Shout 'Em Aunt Tilly (written by Duke Ellington) is my favourite, another ostensibly trad jazz piece but with slightly more edge than the rest of the record. The EP closes with another vocal track, I Want A Girl which hearkens back to an age when it was socially acceptable to sing a song about how you wanted to bang a girl who was just like your mum. In summary, it's a consistently entertaining EP from some very young, exuberant players who wanted to "achieve a 'different' sound" and to "[a]bove all 'to entertain' as this album so ably demonstrates."

Label: Crest

Released: 1963

Players: John Hawes - leader, cornet, vocals

Graeme Davies - trombone

Hamish Hughes - bass

Dave McCallum - drum-kit and interruptions

Jeff Thomas - standard banjo

Ray Rickerby - clarinet

Mediafire