JEFF ST. JOHN AND COPPERWINE / COPPERWINE

Formed in October 1968, Jeff St.John unveiled his new band, Copperwine (AKA Jeff St John's Copperwine), with low-key dates in Perth, before returning to Sydney. Copperwine soon created a following in that city's fast developing 'head' scene. The original lineup consisted of Jeff on vocals, John Green on guitar (ex-Soul Agents), Barry Kelly on keyboards (ex-Soul Agents), drummer Peter Figures (ex-The Throb, Yama) and Alan Ingham on bass. In 1969 John Green left the band and was replaced by Phil Wooding. Wooding didn’t hang around that long. Guitarist Ross East was invited to join the revised Masters Apprentices line-up, but he turned it down when Jeff asked him to join the band. This new lineup wowed punters at the Ourimbah "Pilgrimage For Pop", Australia's first major outdoor rock festival, held at Ourimbah, NSW at the end of January 1970.

The band's dynamic repertoire mixed quality prog-flavoured group originals with powerful renditions of Sly & the Family Stone's funk classic "Sing A Simple Song", a storming version of The Temptations' psych-soul masterpiece "Cloud Nine" and Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way Home". This body of songs was captured by producer Spencer Lee that remains one of the most accomplished and musically adventurous LPs of the time. The album entitled 'Joint Effort' won considerable critical acclaim, but failed to generate significant sales.

The single "Cloud Nine" suffered a similar fate in February 1970. An EP, 'Sing A Simple Song', which featured four songs from the album, was released in May 1970. 'Joint Effort' as an album was one of Festival Record's most consistent sellers for many years, it's a fine example of what was musically going on with Australian rock in this fertile time, and it documents what a fine band Copperwine was and provided conclusive proof that Jeff St. John was one of the best rock vocalists this country has ever produced. Another single, released in November 1970, fared extremely well. The smoothly confident, organ-led cover of Rotary Connection's "Teach Me How To Fly" propelled the band to #12 on the Melbourne charts and a very encouraging #3 in Sydney. Jeff's dazzling vocal performance on this record is probably the main reason why.

From March 1970 to February 1971, Wendy Saddington joined the band and was co-lead vocalist Jeff. By this time Harry Brus replaced Alan Ingham on bass guitar. In January 1971, Copperwine attended the Wallacia Festival on the outskirts of Penrith in New South Wales, and recorded a live album without leader, Jeff St John. It was released as 'Wendy Saddington and Copperwine Live' but Saddington had left before its release in February by Festival Records on their Infinity label. Saddington was not pleased with the quality of the live album. Nevertheless, Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, felt her tenure with Copperwine had "motivated many changes in their musical direction, with much of the soul-copying being replaced by a more purist blues-oriented sound. That change was heard on the album". 

The band toured relentlessly during 1971 and appeared with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra plus they supported The Hollies on their Australian tour in 1971. They also released another single, the delicate "Hummingbird". By late 1971 friction had emerged between Jeff St. John and Copperwine. He left them early in 1972 to form his own band and pursue a solo career. Wendy Saddington died in 2013. Ross East died in 2015. Jeff St. John died in 2018

Members

Jeff St. John (vocals), Harry Brus (bass), Ross East (guitar, vocals), John Green (guitar), Barry Kelly (keyboards, clarinet), Wendy Saddington (vocals), Peter Figures (drums), Alan Ingham (bass), Phil Wooding (guitar)

SINGLES 
''Days To Come / Cloud Nine'' 1970 Spin 
''Teach Me How To Fly (#11) / Freedom Blues'' 1970 Chart 
''Hummingbird / Keep On Growing'' 1971 Infinity
''Golden Angels / What's In A Day'' 1972 Infinity 

EPs 

'Sing A Simple Song' 1970 Spin

ALBUMS 
'Joint Effort' 1971 Spin 

References

http://www.candomusos.com/profile-jeff-st-john.php

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