In late 1965, The Mustangs renamed themselves as The Masters Apprentices (deliberately omitting the apostrophe), Bower supplied the name because "we are apprentices to the masters of the blues—Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Jimmy Reed, Elmore James and Robert Johnson". By early 1966 they were one of the most popular beat bands in Adelaide, later in 1966, The Masters Apprentices shared a gig with pop star Bobby Bright of Melbourne duo Bobby & Laurie, who was impressed and recommended them to his label, Astor Records. A few weeks later, they were contacted by Astor, which requested a four-track demo. The band went to a local two-track studio to record it but realised that they had only three suitable songs to record. Needing a fourth track, guitarists Bower and Morrison wrote a new song, "Undecided''. The band relocated to Melbourne in February 1967, and Vaughton, who remained in Adelaide was replaced on drums by Steve Hopgood.
"Undecided" raced up the Melbourne charts to peak at #9 locally. In May 1967 "Buried and Dead" was released as their second single, and the band made a promotional film clip for TV (at their own expense), which is believed to be one of the first pop music videos made in Australia. In June, Astor released the group's self-titled debut LP, 'The Masters Apprentices', featuring earlier singles, several originals written by Bower, a cover of Bo Diddley's "Dancing Girl" and The Beatles' "I Feel Fine".
Their next single, Bower's "Living in a Child's Dream", is regarded as an early example of Australian psychedelic rock and one of their greatest pop songs. It was recorded at the newly opened Armstrong's Studios in South Melbourne and like all their Astor cuts it was nominally produced by staff producer Dick Heming. According to Keays, Heming's input was limited and most of the production was by engineer Roger Savage with considerable input from Ian Meldrum. Released in August at the peak of the Summer of Love, it reached Top Ten in most Australian capitals and peaked at #9 on Go-Set's Top 40. Both "Living in a Child's Dream" and "Undecided" ranked in the Top 5 Australian singles of 1967, and "Living in a Child's Dream" was voted Australian Song of the Year by Go-Set readers.
The loss of Bower was a blow that threatened to end the band's career as it was taking off. Bower was central to their success, having written (or co-written) all their singles and all original tracks on their debut album. His forced departure left the group floundering, and they continued with de facto leadership passing to Keays. At the end of September, Keays and Webb chose Bower's replacement, guitarist Rick Harrison (ex-The Others) from Adelaide. Harrison quit soon after and they recruited another lead guitarist, Peter Tilbrook from Adelaide (ex-The Bentbeaks, Sounds Of Silence)
As 1967 ended the band's career reached a critical juncture. In Sydney, Keays met two brothers, bass guitarist and singer Denny Burgess (ex-The Throb), and drummer Colin Burgess, both had played in a support band, The Haze, at a gig in suburban Ashfield. Keays was impressed and considered them for possible new members. Keays then approached Doug Ford, an innovative electric guitarist from the second line-up of Sydney garage rock band The Missing Links and its offshoot Running Jumping Standing Still. The new recruits revitalised the band's career. Ford was a strong songwriter, a good singer and an accomplished electric guitarist who brought a new depth to the band's sound. He and Keays began working as a writing team. Ford's arrival filled the gap left by Bowers' departure and made possible their transition from pop band to rock group. "Elevator Driver"—written for them by Brian Cadd of The Groop—was released in February, accompanied by another film clip. The single went #27.
In April 1968 bassist Gavin Webb—last of original line-up of The Mustangs—was forced to quit, suffering from stomach ulcers. Tilbrook switched to bass guitar for a few months before Glenn Wheatley (ex-Bay City Union) joined them on bass and Tilbrook reverted back to guitar. In December 1968, Tilbrook left the band. 1969 began with The Masters Apprentices signing with record giant EMI, settling their new line-up and the Ford/Keays writing team hitting its stride. The band now moved to its best-remembered and most successful phase. The long-awaited first EMI single was moderately successful, and even though it was something of a false start artistically, "Linda Linda / Merry-Go-Round" (March 1969) marked the beginning of a short but successful collaboration with New Zealand -born producer Howard Gable. Their next single, the rocky "5:10 Man", released in July, which peaked at #16 on the Go-Set Singles Chart.
In 1969 the band left for the UK by ship. They entered the studio at Abbey Road studios in London in September 1970 to record the album 'Choice Cuts'. The staff and facilities were superior to those in Australia, which allowed a greater range of expression. The songs they brought to the sessions—many written during the voyage—were original and distinctive, distilling their recent musical influences. This included the heavier sounds of Hendrix, King Crimson and Free, as well as the acoustic styles of Donovan, the Small Faces and Van Morrison (whose 'Astral Weeks' LP was on constant rotation at their North Harrow house). They brought in outside musicians to augment some tracks and made use of Paul McCartney's white grand piano on a few cuts, including "Because I Love You". During sessions they bumped into a Who's Who of UK music: The Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Barclay James Harvest, Ringo Starr and Roy Harper. Towards the end of recording, they found themselves one song short of the optimum LP length, so at Jarratt's suggestion they wrote a new song, built up from a Latin-flavoured instrumental shuffle that Ford had been playing with. Keays wrote lyrics for the piece overnight, they cut it the next day and it became the album's opening track "Rio de Camero".
The entire LP was recorded, mixed and mastered within a month, and the band were thrilled with the results. The choice of the first single was, "Because I Love You", a song of love, separation and independence, and became a popular and enduring recording. In January 1972, EMI issued the new album, 'A Toast to Panama Red' and in February they lifted a single from it, the anthemic "Love Is", which had been recorded using a twelve-string acoustic specially loaned to Ford for the occasion by one of his heroes, The Shadows' Hank B. Marvin. Without adequate support, both LP and single sank without trace in Australia, in spite of their high quality.
The classic line-up's last recording was the album's delicate and poignant closing track, "Thyme To Rhyme". According to Ian McFarlane in his Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop the album, 'A Toast to Panama Red' is "one of the great lost treasures of the Australian progressive rock era". Wheatley tried to convince the rest of the band that they should break up, but they disagreed, so he announced he was leaving to work full-time for the management agency. Soon after, Keays announced his own departure and intention to return to Australia immediately. Ford and Burgess decided to keep going and they sent for Burgess' brother Denny, who took over on bass guitar. The final trio line-up soldiered on for a few months, and made one recording, "Freedom Seekers" before finally splitting in mid-1972. Jim Keays died from pneumonia related to multiple myeloma on 13 June 2014. Glenn Wheatley died in 2022. Colin Burgess died in 2023. Gavin Webb died in 2024.
Jim Keays (vocals, guitar), Mick Bower (guitar), Rick Morrison (guitar), Gavin Webb (bass), Brian Vaughton (drums), Steve Hopgood (drums), Tony Sommers (guitar), Rick Harrison (guitar), Peter Tilbrook (guitar), Doug Ford (guitar/vocals), Glenn Wheatley (bass), Colin Burgess (drums), Dennis Burgess (bass)
SINGLES
''Undecided (#8) / Wars Or Hands Of Time'' 1966 Astor''Buried And Dead (#22) / She's My Girl'' 1967 Astor
''Living In A Child's Dream (#7) / Tired Of Just Wandering'' 1967 Astor
''Elevator Driver (#27) / Theme For A Social Climber'' 1968 Astor
''Brigette (#30) / Four Years Of Five'' 1968 Astor
''But One Day / My Girl'' 1968 Astor
''Linda Linda (#42) / Merry-Go-Round'' 1969 Columbia
''5.10 Man (#18) / How I Love You'' 1969 Columbia
''Think About Tomorrow Today (#12) / A Dog, A Siren And Memories'' 1969 Columbia
''Turn Up Your Radio (#8) / Jam It Up'' 1970 Columbia
''Because I Love You (#15) / I'm Your Satisfier'' 1971 Columbia
''Future Of Our Nation (#56) / New Day'' 1971 Columbia
''Love Is (#89) / Southern Cross'' 1972 Columbia
EPs
'Volume 1' 1967 Astor
'Volume 2' 1968 Astor
'Turn Up Your Radio' 1970 Columbia
ALBUMS
'The Masters Apprentices' 1967 Astor'Masterpiece' 1970 Columbia
'Choice Cuts' (#10) 1971 Columbia
'A Toast To Panama Red' 1972 Columbia
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masters_Apprentices
http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masters_Apprentices
http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/
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