BLACKFEATHER

Blackfeather formed in Sydney in April 1970, bringing together bassist Leith Corbett, drummer Mike McCormack and lead guitarist John Robinson, all formerly of the Dave Miller Set, with lead vocalist Neale Johns. Robinson later recalled his first impression of Johns: “A small guy with a huge voice, Neale was very taciturn. He was into the blues and had excellent range.” The band’s name evolved from two suggestions they found in a book: “Whitefeather” and “Heavyfeather”.

Corbett and McCormack left the group soon after its formation and were replaced by bassist Robert Fortesque and drummer Alexander Kash. Corbett subsequently reunited with singer Dave Miller to record the duo album 'Reflections of a Pioneer'. Johns and Robinson became the principal writers of Blackfeather’s original material. Blackfeather developed a strong following as a hard rock band in Sydney and Melbourne and signed with Infinity Records, Festival Records’ newly established progressive subsidiary. Their debut album, 'At the Mountains of Madness', was released in April 1971 and co-produced by Robinson and Richard Batchens of The Cleves. It reached #7 on the Go-Set Top 20 Albums chart.

Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane described the record as a highly regarded progressive rock album, praising Robinson’s inventive guitar playing and the adventurous nature of its songs. At the Mountains of Madness included ''Seasons of Change'', a song co-written by Johns and Robinson. During the album’s recording in late 1970, Robinson invited John Bissett and Bon Scott, both members of Fraternity, to contribute. Neale and Robinson subsequently gave Fraternity ''Seasons of Change'' to record as a single, with Scott taking the lead vocal. After relocating to Adelaide, Fraternity released its version in March 1971, where it reached #1 on the local charts.

Robinson had a verbal agreement with Infinity’s David Sinclair that the label would not release Blackfeather’s original recording in competition with Fraternity’s single. However, once Fraternity’s version began charting in Adelaide, Festival rushed out Blackfeather’s recording as a single. It reached #15 on the Go-Set National Top 40, remained on the chart for 16 weeks and finished at #40 on Go-Set’s list of the top singles of 1971. Despite this success, tensions within Blackfeather continued to grow and the band underwent further changes. By August 1971, the line-up comprised Neale, Robinson, bassist Harry Brus, formerly of the Dave Miller Set and Jeff St John’s Copperwine, and drummer Steve Webb. Eventually Johns and Robinson went their separate ways, each fronting a different version of Blackfeather.

The rights to the Blackfeather name were held by the band’s former manager, Peter Conyngham of Nova Agency, who had registered it. Conyngham favoured the Johns-led version, which featured Jim Penson on drums, Warren Ward, formerly of Flying Circus, on bass, Paul Wyld, formerly of The Throb, on piano, and former Tamam Shud guitarist Alex “Zac” Zytnick. Robinson’s version continued with Brus and Webb, but the trio survived only briefly before disbanding. Robinson later worked with the studio group Duck in 1972 and released the solo album 'Pity for the Victim' in 1974. He eventually retired from performing during the 1980s and pursued work as a teacher and composer.

Meanwhile, in early 1972, the Johns-led Blackfeather, then comprising Johns, Ward and Wyld, was joined by former Flake guitarist Billy Taylor. With Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs drummer Gil Matthews guesting, the group recorded ''Boppin’ the Blues'', released in July 1972. The single became a major success, reaching #1 in Australia in October and holding the position for four weeks. In September 1972, a four-piece line-up of Johns, Ward, Wyld and drummer Greg Sheehan was recorded live at Melbourne Town Hall and the Q Club. The performances formed the basis of Blackfeather’s second album, 'Boppin’ the Blues', produced by Howard Gable and released in December 1972. Music historian Ian McFarlane later observed that during this period the group relied heavily on boogie-woogie piano in place of a conventional guitar-led sound.

Blackfeather underwent another major change at the end of 1972 when Paul Wyld departed. He was replaced by guitarists Lindsay Wells, formerly of Healing Force, and Tim Piper, previously with Chain and Chants R&B. The addition of the two guitarists returned the band to the heavier, guitar-driven sound associated with its earlier Robinson-era line-up. In January 1973, Blackfeather appeared at the second Sunbury Pop Festival. Their performance was later released as the live album 'Live! (Sunbury)', while the track ''I’m Gonna Love You'' appeared on Mushroom Records’ inaugural release, the triple album 'Sunbury 1973 – The Great Australian Rock Festival', issued in April 1973. Blackfeather’s third single, a cover of Little Richard’s ''Slippin’ & Slidin’'', was released in February. By then, Sheehan had left the band, and Blackfeather broke up in April 1973. Neale Johns briefly performed as a solo artist before joining former Blackfeather members Jim Penson and Terry Ward in Flake, which disbanded in late 1974.

Johns revived Blackfeather in 1975 with Ward, Doug McDonald on drums, Billy Ryland, formerly of Freshwater, on bass, and Ray Vanderby, formerly of Band of Light, on keyboards. The line-up proved short-lived. Early the following year, Johns assembled a more pop-oriented version of the group featuring Vanderby, Lee Brosman on bass, Warwick Fraser on drums and Warwick’s younger brother, 14-year-old Stuart Fraser, on guitar. Johns left in November 1976 and travelled to the United Kingdom. The remaining musicians recruited John Swan as lead vocalist and Wayne Smith on guitar, adopting the new name Feather. In mid-1977, Swan’s younger brother Jimmy Barnes announced plans to leave Cold Chisel and join Feather. However, after what was intended to be his farewell performance with Cold Chisel went particularly well, Barnes decided to remain with the band.

Johns returned to Australia in 1977 and briefly joined Fingerprint before once again reviving Blackfeather in June 1978. This incarnation reunited him with Terry Ward, Paul Wyld and Trevor Young from the band’s 1972 line-up. By October, however, Johns was the only member remaining. A new line-up was assembled with Ray Oliver, formerly of Friends, on guitar; Huk Treloar, previously with Pantha, Bleeding Hearts and Living Legends, on drums; Rick Rankin, formerly of Sidewinder, on guitar; and Jeff Rosenberg, formerly of Hot Air Band, on bass. Former Dingoes drummer John Strangio briefly replaced Treloar, but the group had again folded by the end of the year.

Another attempt to revive Blackfeather followed in 1983, when Johns formed a line-up with pianist Andy Cowle, guitarist Russell Hinton, formerly of Elliot Gordon Union, bassist Cleve Judge and drummer Joe Vizzone. This incarnation was also short-lived. From 2003, Johns occasionally performed under the Blackfeather name with guitarist Brendan Mason and bassist Kerry McKenna, both formerly of Madder Lake. This line-up remained together until 2015. During this period, Aztec Music released an expanded CD edition of 'Boppin’ the Blues' in 2010.

In June 2015, Johns brought former Blackfeather members Harry Brus and Stuart Fraser back into the group, on bass and guitar respectively, alongside keyboardist Gary Steel and former Icehouse drummer Paul Wheeler. That year, Blackfeather undertook its first Australian tour since 1983. Over the years, a number of musicians associated with Blackfeather have died. Jim Penson died in a road accident in the early 1980s, Paul Wyld died in 1999, Trevor Young in 2014, Stuart Fraser from cancer in 2019, and Ray Vanderby in 2022.

Members

John Robinson (guitar), Neale Johns (vocals), Leith Corbett (bass), Mike McCormack (drums), Robert Fortesque (bass), Steve Murphy (guitar), Alexander Kash (drums), Terry Gascoigne (drums), Harry Brus (bass), Steve Webb (drums), Warren Ward (bass), Jim Penson (drums), Alex "Zac" Zytnic (guitar), Paul Wyld (piano), Billy Taylor (guitar), Gil Matthews (drums), Trevor Young (drums), Tim Piper (guitar), Greg Sheehan (drums), Lindsay Wells (guitar), John Lee (drums), Ray Vanderby (keyboards), Billy Rylands (bass), Doug McDonald (drums), Ian Rilen (bass), Ian Winter (guitar), Lee Brossman (bass), Warwick Fraser (drums),Stuart Fraser (guitar), Rex Bullen (keyboards), John "Swanee" Swan (vocals), Wayne Smith (guitar), Ray Oliver (guitar), Rick Rankin (guitar), Jeff Rosenberg (bass), Huk Treloar (drums),John Strangio (bass), Andy Cowan (keyboards), Phil Gordon (drums), Cleve Judge (bass),Phil Smith (drums), John Tucak (bass), Mick Holden (drums), Nic Carrafa (drums), Anthony Ziros (drums), Chris Ziros (guitars), Roger McLachlan (bass) 

SINGLES 
''Seasons Of Change (#11) / On This Day That I Die'' 1971 Infinity 
''Boppin' The Blues (#1) / Find Somebody To Love'' 1972 Infinity 
''Slippin' And Slidin' (#85) / Fly On My Nose'' 1973 Infinity 

ALBUMS 
At The Mountains Of Madness' (#14) 1971 Infinity 
'Boppin' The Blues' (#39) 1972 Infinity 
'Live! (Sunbury)' 1974 Infinity 

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackfeather

http://top100singles.blogspot.com.au/