Duck - Laid (1972)

 (Australian 1972)

In 1972 Bobbi Marcini, John Robinson (ex-Dave Miller Set, Blackfeather) and Steve Webb became the core a new supergroup called Duck, with the lineup completed by renowned jazzer and session pianist Bobby Gebert (who worked with many well-known rock bands including Tully), bassist Teddy Toi (ex-Aztecs, Fanny Adams) and percussionist Larry Duryea (ex Tamam Shud). They recorded 16 tracks at Melbourne's TCS Studios, although only 12 were eventually released. Singer Jon English (ex-Sebastian Hardie) performed lead vocals on several songs, alternating with Bobbi. The resulting LP released on Warner Brothers, 'Laid', released in July 1972, was a mixed bag, but included some strong tracks including Neil Young's ''Southern Man'', Bill Withers' ''Ain't No Sunshine'', Frank Zappa's ''Dog Breath'' and Nick Gravenites' ''Buried Alive in the Blues''.

Two Duck singles were issued the first, ''Sweet Inspiration/Southern Man'' came out before the LP in May 1972, followed by their version of Paul McCartney's ''Maybe I'm Amazed'' and on the flip side Bob Dylan's ''The Man in Me'' in September. Encouraged by the results of the project, the core members of the band decided to become a permanent outfit and hit the boards. But by the time they premiered as a live act, Jon English was already ensconced as 'Judas' in Harry M. Miller's production of Jesus Christ Superstar so his place was taken by former Wild Cherries lead singer Danny Robinson for touring. Guitarist Russell Smith (ex-Company Caine, Mighty Kong) also toured with them.

According to contemporary reports, the group suffered from the all-too-familiar management woes, and both Bobbi and and John have confirmed that the group's relationship with producer G. Wayne Thomas was part of the problem. Clearly this was not an isolated incident, since it is known that the members of Tamam Shud, who featured prominently on the 'Morning Of The Earth' soundtrack, were never paid for their contributions to that album and have never seen a cent from it to this day. When Bobbi fell ill in late 1972, she went into hospital for an appendectomy and when she came out, Duck had folded. Percussionist Larry Taylor, also known as Larry Duryea, passed away on 9 December 2003 in Los Angeles, California, after a long struggle with cancer. Jon English died following post-operative complications late in the evening of 9 March 2016.
[Extract from history of aussie music - thanks to Kimbo]

Album Review (by Resevoir_dog - 2022)

An interesting range of cover versions are found on this rare Australian LP, including a Zappa tune and also Lucille Has Messed Up My Mind which Zappa covered on Joe's Garage about 7 years later when Jeff Simmons was in the Mothers. There are also some more predictable covers of Dylan, Lennon, Bill Withers and McCartney tunes. Another interesting cover choice was the Stones' "Memo From Turner" (wrongly called Memo To Turner) which originally appeared in the cult Mick Jagger-James Fox film Performance. It was only ever released as a split single and also appeared on their Metamorphosis compilation. The album flopped commercially - perhaps Duck was a rather lame name, but interestingly at least 23 other groups decided to call themselves Duck.

Newspaper Article: Have The days of the Supergroup gone?

For the past three months six Sydney musicians, under the name of DUCK, have been constantly rehearsing together in an attempt to give Australian audiences back some entertainment.

Strong words, but with Duck's impressive line-up they have proved to be such the band to present these aims properly. Their live performances are energetic, very exciting and musically astonishing.

Duck are Bobbi Marchini (ex-Hunger) vocals and percussion, Teddy Toi (ex-Wild Cherries and Fanny Adams) bass and vocals, John Robinson (ex Blackfeatrher and Hunger) guitar, Bob Gebbert (ex Tully) electric piano, Steve Webb (ex Blackfeather) drums and Larry Duryes (ex Tamam Shud) congas and percussion. Besides these musicians, Jon English will feature in the Sydney performances and Danny Robinson will perform with the band in Melbourne.

"The Australian music scene today is dull, with only a handful of groups who give the audience what they want, good music and entertainment, so Duck was formed to play good rock and roll and also to entertain the audience at the same time". With this statement John Robinson named the Aztecs and Blackfeather as examples of groups who fall into this handful.

Duck is the brainchild of Isis Productions (G. Wayne Thomas and others). Since it's inception, the band has been financially backed thus enabling them to rehearse as much as possible. John explained further. "With our backing, together with session work as a band and as individuals. Duck has been kept alive".

Besides Duck doing gigs and recording as a band, each member is able to pursue their own solo projects in recording or whatever. Asked about the material that they'll be doing, John replied "mostly cover versions, but once the band is fully established we will do more original material by members of the band. At present our repertoire consists of about ten percent original material.

Material on their album includes McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed". Jeff Symmon's "Lucille", The Hollies' "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress", Joplin's "Buried Alive In The Blues" and John Lennon's "Mother".

Duck recently recorded 16 tracks at TCS but picked 12 tracks for the album. The release date is planned for October.

Danny Robinson sings Dylan's "Man And Me" on the LP, this was also planned for a single but was retracted because G. Wayne Thomas thought it wasn't commercial enough. Duck haven't had any success with their single release because they don't seem to be able to actually get one released. Not because the record isn't good enough, it's just that they believe they can do better.

The days of the super-groups have gone, perhaps not with the formation of Duck. The band plan to do their first concert in Sydney at the end of this month. Duck are finally in flight, watch for them as their live performances are really something else. [Sydney Newspaper article, 1972 by D. Nugent]

This post consists of MP3's (320kps) ripped from vinyl (not my rip) and includes album artwork and label scans. As a cover band Duck were a highly professional and talented group, however it is a shame that they didn't go on to record their own material. 

Sadly, like most supergroups they didn't stay together for very long and one can only wonder what 'might have been'.  

Tracklist

A1 Maybe I'm Amazed (Jon English)  3:28

A2 Southern Man (Bobbi Marchini) 2:24

A3 Anyway You Want Me (Jon English & Bobbi Marchini) 3:45

A4 Dog Breath (Jon English & Bobbi Marchini) 2:41

A5 Burned Alive In The Blues (Bobbi Marchini) 2:38

A6 Memo To Turner (Jon English) 3:41

B1 The Man In Me (Jon English) 3:20

B2 How Long Before I'm Gone (Bobbi Marchini) 3:59

B3 Ain't No Sunshine (Bobbi Marchini) 3:22

B4 Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress (Jon English) 3:07

B5 Mother  4:25

B6 Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up (Jon English) 3:26

B7 Do Right Woman (Danny Robinson & The Virgil Brothers) 3:26

Band Members:

Jon English (vocals), 

Bobbi Marchini (vocals), 

Danny Robinson (vocals), 

John Robinson (guitar), 

Russell Smith (guitar), 

Bobby Gebert (keyboards), 

Teddy Toi (bass), 

Larry Duryea (percussion)

Steve Webb (drums)

Duck Link (102Mb) New Link 18/11/2024