RAY BROWN / MOONSTONE

After rising to fame in the mid-1960s as a clean-cut teen pop idol with Ray Brown and the Whispers, Ray Brown traveled to the United States, signed with Capitol Records which issued his solo album, 'Just Ray Brown', in 1969, and returned to Australia with a drastically changed, counterculture-inspired musical direction. The group featured musicians guitarist Mal Clarke (ex-Fabulous Blue Jays) and guitarist Jimmy Doyle (ex-Aesop's Fables) on guitar. During 1969 the band played three East Coast tours taking in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane honing the songs to be recorded later in the year. 

The band released their sole full-length album, 'Mad House', in 1970 on the Festival label. The album was an eclectic West Coast-influenced mix of psychedelic rock, folk, and country, featuring unconventional instruments like the sitar, tampoura, tablas, banjo, pedal steel guitar, flute, and cello. Music historian Ian McFarlane described it as "an esoteric blending of country, folk, psychedelia and Eastern influences". After minimal commercial fanfare and a single release ''Oh Sarah'' in March 1970, Brown folded the project and later moved on to form the 11-piece country-rock outfit One Ton Gypsy. 'Mad House' later became a highly prized Australian vinyl rarity and was officially reissued in 2016 by the Blank Recording Co from Sydney.

Members credited on the album

Ray Brown (vocals, guitar), Jimmy Doyle (guitar), Mal Clarke (guitar, bass, sitar), Russel Hinton (guitar), John Carr (guitar, bass), Ed Gaston (bass), Eligio Sincic (sitar, tampoura, dholak, tablas), Don Reid (flute), Nick Lyon (violin, piano), Lal Kuring (cello), Chris Duffy (banjo, piano), Pee Week Clark (pedal steel), Jimmy Thompson (drums), John Sangster (percussion), Alan Carrol (percussion), Graeme Lowndes (backing vocals)

SINGLES
''Oh, Sarah / King Velvet (King Of The Rodeo)'' 1970 Festival 

ALBUMS

'Mad House' 1970 Festival