(Australian 1964 - 1975)
Albert Productions, the recording arm of the 94 year old independent publishing house J. Albert & Son, is a record label unlike any other. It came into being as a result of one man's love of rock & roll and has continued under virtually the same criteria for 14 exceedingly successful years.
Ted Albert, great grandson of company founder Jaques Albert, was 26 when Beatlemania engulfed the world late in 1963. Although he had never been involved with music recording, Ted knew that something exciting was happening and he wanted to be in on it.
With recording facilities in Sydney being all but non existent, Ted Albert dusted off the disused 2UW Radio Theatre in George Street and set about becoming a record producer. In every major city of the English speaking world, the same process was occurring as a new music empire was being built.
Ted began with two groups. One was already firmly established and had enjoyed huge national chart success on another label, the other was a scruffy bunch of young amateurs from the Villawood Migrant Hostel. Both Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs and The Easybeats became multi-hit supergroups and Ted Albert emerged as one of rock's natural producers with a raw technique honed out of eager enthusiasm.
In August 1964, the first Albert Productions single was released on the Parlophone label - "Mashed Potatoes" by Billy Thorpe, a sizeable hit. Seven months later The Easybeats debuted with "For My Woman" and for the next 18 months both acts virtually shared the top of the charts.
R&B influenced rock resigned at Alberts, as Ted sought out and recorded such premier exponents as The Missing Links and The Throb - acts that other companies would not have dreamed of signing! In all it was a euphoric boom which lasted until The Easybeats left for England at the end of '66. Ted went with them, produced a few unreleased tracks and then returned to Australia - where he wound down his recording activities to a point of virtual cessation, after dispatching producer/A&R man Tony Geary to London as his representative.
Alberts concentrated on publishing until the end of the sixties, while The Easybeats were battling the English charts and sending home their songwriting demos in hope.
The first attempt at Albert Productions' own label was in February 1969 when the unlikely "Songs Of Brotherhood" by The Boys of Fort Street High School Choir appeared, but it was not until December 1970 that serious pop releases began with Ted Mulry's "Falling In Love Again" hit.
Ted Mulry began a second phase for the company, scoring a healthy string of chart hits and generating numerous cover versions. The engagement of publicist co-ordinator Katie MacKillop (ex secretary to Radio Luxemborg boss Alan Kleen) was another shot in the arm, as well the timely signing of a shy and diminutive young pop singer called John Paul Young. Visiting English producer Simon Napier-Bell, working out of the Albert's camp, matched John with one of the Vanda & Young demos which were on hand and the result was a huge 1972 hit with "Pasadena" (The lyrics of which, incidentally, were written by actor David Hemmings)
At the end of 1973 Harry Vanda & George Young returned to Australia after a four year production/recording stint in England, wanting to get down to some serious work. They threw their awesome weight behind the new Albert Productions label and within a matter of months the charts were saturated with Albert singles.
Throughout 1974-75 Wanda & Young returned Alberts to a boom period, akin to the turbulent 1965-66 Easybeats era. Stevie Wright became the flagship of the fleet with the classic Evie single which won the 1974 'Song Of The Year' award for Harry & George and is enshrined as one of the top ten selling Australian singles of all time. V&Y also contributed heavily to the success of Alberts publishing division, as a result of cover versions of their songs by hundreds of international acts - including David Bowie, Rod Stewart, Bay City Rollers, Savoy Brown, James Last Orchestra, Dahlia Lavi, Joe Dolan and Marmalade.
William Shakespeare, a V&Y exercise, scored two huge hits; AC/DC began their spiraling rise to world fame with the double Platinum 'High Voltage' album and John Paul Young commenced a new phase of his career with the incredible "Yesterday's Hero"
It was not only Albert acts which rode the charts on V&Y superhits, others like Ray Burgees, Alison McCallum, Johnny O'Keefe, Doug Parkinson and Johnny Farnham queued for material and, subsequent hits.
After 1975 Vanda & Young settled down to more long term-orientated activities with the international market in mind and other Albert acts emerged as strong forces. The most notable was Ted Mulry who, with his Gang, became a teenage rock idol of immense record selling proportion. A&R Director Chris Gilbey developed a wide range of artistically interesting but commercially disappointing acts such as Cool Bananas, Wendy Grove, Bobby Marchini, Graham Lowndes, and Madden & Harris
By 1977 Alberts completed the installation of a world standard twin 24 track studio complex and moved forcibly toward the world markets with high quality rock acts like AC/DC, John Paul Young (affectionately known as Squeek by his fans), The Angels, Rose tattoo and Flash & The Pan. Now in 1978, under the A&R direction of Fifa Riccobono and the international representation of industry veteran Mike Browning, Albert Productions is enjoying the greatest level of consistent success since its inception in 1964 and is still, to Ted Albert's external credit, a true ROCK label. For it is in such an environment that Vanda & Young are able to work unhindered and albums like this, are able to be issued [notes by GLENN A. BAKER]
This post consists of FLACS ripped from CD (thanks to Micko at Midoztouch) and includes full album artwork for both vinyl and CD releases along with label scans. As a bonus, I thought it appropriate to include some of the tracks mentioned in Glenn A. Bakers notes that were not included on this release, as bonus tracks. If you are looking for a full discography of Albert Production releases, I highly recommend their 50th Anniversary 5CD release entitled '
Good Times' from 2014.
Tracklist
01 The Easybeats – She's So Fine (Live)
02 The Missing Links – Shakin' All Over
03 The Throb – Fortune Teller
04 Billy Thorpe And The Aztecs – The Word For Today
05 Bobby And Laurie – Every Second Day
06 Ted Mulry – Ain't It Nice
07 Alison McAllum And Tully – To Love Somebody
08 The Easybeats – All Gone Boy
09 Marcus Hook Roll Band – Natural Man
10 Jeremy Paul – What Becomes Of You My Love
11 The Hooter Sisters – So Tough
12 Cool Bananas – Been And Gone
13 John Paul Young – You Drive Me Crazy 14 AC/DC – Rockin' In The Parlour
15 T.M.G. – It's All Over Now
16 Stevie Wright – My Kind Of Music (Live)
17 Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs - Mashed Potatoes [Bonus Track]
18 Ted Mulry - Falling In Love [Bonus Track]
19 John Paul Young - Pasadena [Bonus Track]
20 The Easybeats - For My Woman [Bonus Track]
Many thanks for this one.
ReplyDeleteGreat lp! Found it many years back here in the USA! 'All Gone Boy' is one of my favorite Easy's tunes.......
ReplyDeleteTerrific compilation, one which I'd have searched out myself had I discovered it somewhere else. Instead, you've taken a high-quality LP and made a clean rip for all our enjoyment. Thanks also for the bonus tracks!
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