Ariel - Live At The Station Hotel, Prahran (1975)

(Australian 1973-1977)

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The original lineup of Ariel was a genuine 'supergroup', combining key members from two of Australia's leading progressive bands of the period: Rudd, Putt and Mills hailed from Melbourne's legendary Spectrum, Gaze and Macara from Spectrum's esteemed Sydney peers Tamam Shud. Lead guitarist Tim Gaze, regarded as one of the hottest players on the scene, had also joined Shud at just 16 and by the time he joined Ariel he had also been a member of Kahvas Jute, and played on their only album, the brilliant Wide Open.
Like its predecessor, Ariel was primarily a vehicle for the talents and vision of singer, songwriter and guitarist Mike Rudd, and his longtime bass-player and musical partner, Bill Putt. Like Spectrum, the band began strongly, but lineup changes, record company problems and the changing nature of music in the mid-70s meant that they never achieved the level of success they deserved, and Ariel proved to be Mike Rudd's last really high-profile outfit, although he remains one of the most respected figures in the music scene.
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Ariel formed in mid-1973, after the breakup of Spectrum. When Spectrum drummer Ray Arnott announced he was leaving to join Ross Wilson's new band Mighty Kong, Putt and Rudd commendably decided to end the band rather than try to recruit a new member, feeling that it wouldn't be possible to recreate the special spirit of that group. Within a few months of Spectrums's farewell performance their new band (whose name was taken from the character in Shakespeare's "The Tempest") was up and running. Ironically, the two new members, Tim and Nigel, had originally come to Melbourne to work with Ross Wilson and Ross Hannaford on their new project (which became Mighty Kong) and it was after they departed that Wilson asked Ray Arnott to join, thus precipitating the split of Spectrum!
The band released three studio albums and two live albums between 1973 and 1977, during which there were several line-up changes, with Rudd and Putt the only permanent members. Other members of Ariel included guitarists Harvey James and Glyn Mason and keyboard player Tony Slavich.
Their debut album A Strange Fantastic Dream, produced by Peter Dawkins was released in December 1973 and reached #16 in the Australian music charts. It included their most successful single "Jamaican Farewell", which peaked at #34, and the darkly satirical "Confessions of a Psychopathic Cowpoke". Ariel left for the UK on 12 October 1974 for the recording and some gigging, hoping to capitalise on the momentum, including favourable UK reviews of "Jamaican Farewell". After the 30-hour flight to London they were greeted by manager Phil Jacobsen, who announced "There's been a change of schedule. We start today."
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They immediately began eleven days of recording at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios with engineer Tony Clark, who was impressed with "the speed and efficiency" with which the Aussies worked. It was mixed by the great Geoff Emerick, engineer on most of the later Beatles Albums and Singles. The tracks they recorded there became their next LP Rock'n'Roll Scars.
Although Mike somehow found time to dash off three new (excellent) songs, the rejection of the Mutant project forced him to fall back on earlier material from his days in Spectrum/Murtceps. These songs, rearranged for the two guitars, formed the bulk of the album. They included new versions of "I'll Be Gone", "Launching Place", "We are Indelible", "What the World Needs (Is A New Pair Of Socks)", and a superb reworking of the Murtceps' "Some Good Advice", which showed the skills of Harvey James to the full. The album also included a new version of "Red Hot Momma", which had been cut by Ariel Mk I but was only released as the B-side of Jamaican Farewell. The cover photo features a subtitle, "Before The Mutant" -- evidently an ironic reference to this album's abortive predecessor. One of the three new tracks from the album, "Keep on Dancing (With Me)" was issued as a single in March '75, but it didn't make the charts.

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Ariel left for the UK on 12 October 1974 for the recording and some gigging, hoping to capitalise on the momentum, including favourable UK reviews of "Jamaican Farewell". After the 30-hour flight to London they were greeted by manager Phil Jacobsen, who announced "There's been a change of schedule. We start today." They immediately began eleven days of recording at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios with engineer Tony Clark, who was impressed with "the speed and efficiency" with which the Aussies worked. It was mixed by the great Geoff Emerick, engineer on most of the later Beatles Albums and Singles. The tracks they recorded there became their next LP Rock'n'Roll Scars.
Although Mike somehow found time to dash off three new (excellent) songs, the rejection of the Mutant project forced him to fall back on earlier material from his days in Spectrum/Murtceps. These songs, rearranged for the two guitars, formed the bulk of the album. They included new versions of "I'll Be Gone", "Launching Place", "We are Indelible", "What the World Needs (Is A New Pair Of Socks)", and a superb reworking of the Murtceps' "Some Good Advice", which showed the skills of Harvey James to the full. The album also included a new version of "Red Hot Momma", which had been cut by Ariel Mk I but was only released as the B-side of Jamaican Farewell. The cover photo features a subtitle, "Before The Mutant" -- evidently an ironic reference to this album's abortive predecessor. One of the three new tracks from the album, "Keep on Dancing (With Me)" was issued as a single in March '75, but it didn't make the charts.

Ariel returned to Australia in January 1975 and the same month they added New Zealand-born Glyn Mason on guitar and vocals as fifth member. Glyn's previous credits included Chain, Copperwine and even a stint with Thunderclap Newman. His powerful, soulful voice was a great addition to the band, and the three guitar lineup packed a real punch, but unfortunately this terrific lineup was woefully under-recorded. Happily though, a high-quality live recording of this lineup has recently come to light, and it's a priceless historical document for several reasons.

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Made at the Station Hotel, Prahran on 11 November, 1975 -- the night of the dismissal of the Whitlam government -- the tape includes a live rendition of a suite of songs from The Jellabad Mutant, and it showcases what a polished and dynamic live outfit Ariel Mk III really was.

As reviewed by Micko at Midoztouch "What a gig this one is. It's a mega rare chance to hear Ariel's 3 guitar lineup of Mike Rudd, Glyn Mason who had just joined and Harvey James who was about to leave and join Sherbet. The only official recorded product from this particular version of the band was the excellent single "I'll Take You High". Glyn's vocals are right up in the mix with Mike's and they make a great contrasting pair, though on this occasion Glyn takes no leads and none of the songs are his. Both Glyn's lead vocals and his songs would of course appear on Ariel's next album - Goodnight Fiona.

Playing a mixture of both Ariel and Spectrum/Murtceps faves here, the band is really on fire, with several hot solos by the underrated Harvey. Mike also previews tracks from the now legendary unreleased album 'Jellabad Mutant', which didn't see the light of day until recently when Mike made it available through his website. "

Other contributors from Midoztouch have added - "The recording was done by the FOH sound engineer, Mike Wickow, direct through the mixing desk , who went on to mixing for LRB and John Farnham... amongst many others. It was one of the first nights for the new lighting trog, Ian (Piggy) Peel, after he left Redhouse Roll Band" [Grundrat] and "It was actually a mono sound board mix combined with ambient stereo room mics onto 4 track analog tape. It was recorded, produced engineered & mixed by Paul Culnane, the brains behind milesago.He remastered it to CD in 2000 from the original stereo masters. The actual CD is called "Looking Forward to Hearing Back" as suggested by Mike Rudd. The song "Real Meanie" is also available (and included in this posting) but didn't fit on the 1st cd which ran for 78mins" [Bazza]
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Ariel continued gigging into 1976, but their progress was disrupted in March by the departure of Harvey James, who was subsequently chosen to replace guitarist Clive Shakespeare in Sherbet. Opting for keyboards instead of guitar this time, they replaced Harvey with Tony Slavich (ex-Richard Clapton Band) on keyboards and vocals. No doubt facilitated by Mike's friendship with Dawkins Ariel changed labels to CBS and their third LP Goodnight Fiona, again produced by Dawkins, was released in August. After the expiration of their EMI contract the group signed with CBS Records for their third LP Goodnight Fiona (1976) and their only other charting single, the non-album track I'll take you high which reached #36 in January 1976.
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By early 1977 the band realised they had taken Ariel as far as it could go. The breakup was announced in July 1977. Their final gig was a lavish affair with an 'island fantasy' theme, held at Melbourne's Dallas Brooks Hall on 31 August 1977; it was recorded live and later released over two LPs: Aloha Ariel and Live - More From Before. A farewell single, "It's Only Love", was released to coincide with the concert. The live LPs were later combined and reissued as the 2LP set Ariel Live In Concert. [ extracts from Wikipedia and Milesago.com].

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The rip included here was taken from tape at 320kps and includes album artwork (thanks to Micko from Midoztouch for providing these). The missing track "Real Meanie" is also included as a bonus track (thanks to Bazza at Midoztouch). The last three photos are recent shots taken at Ariel reunion concerts and were sourced from Mike and Bill's Website.

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Track Listing

01. Train Song

02. What The World Needs Now Is A New Pair Of Socks

03. We Are Indelible

04. Keep On Dancing

05. I Can't Say What I Mean

06. Confessions Of A Psychopathic Cowpoke

07. Caught In The Middle Again

08. Jellabad Mutant Suite: Neo-Existentialist Greens/Medicine Man/The Letter Song/Use Your Imagination

09. (I Am) The Laughing Man (For Leo)

10. Rock & Roll Scars

11. I'll Take You High

12. Red Hot Mama

13. Some Good Advice

14. I'll Be Gone
15. Real Meanie (Bonus Missing Track)

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Band Members:

Mike Rudd (Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals)

Bill Putt (Bass)

Harvey James (Guitar)

Glyn Mason (Guitar, Vocals)

John Lee (Drums)

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Ariel Link (192Mb) REPOST

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