(Australian 1990-1995)
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On Australia Day we come together as a nation to celebrate what's great about Australia and being Australian. It's the day to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in our great nation. It's the day for us to re-commit to making Australia an even better place for the future.
Australia Day, 26 January, is the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet of 11 convict ships from Great Britain, and the raising of the Union Jack at Sydney Cove by its commander Captain Arthur Phillip, in 1788.
Because Australia is often referred to as the great 'Southern Land', I have decided to post this great debut album by the Aussie band the 'Southern Sons' in recognition of this great nation that we live in.
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Southern Sons was created as a direct result of songwriter Phil Buckle's collaboration on six of the twelve songs on John Farnham's 'Chain Reaction' album (1990). Phil's group The State was signed to Farnham manager Glenn Wheatley's Wheatley Brothers records, and had released one album. Hearing John's treatment of his songs, Phil Buckley wanted to replace himself as lead vocalist and recruited John Farnham sound-a-like singer/guitarist Jack Jones, who had auditioned for the band previously but was considered too young.
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The new group changed its name to Southern Sons and made its public debut as support act for John's 'Chain Reaction Tour', Phil and Jack also having played on the album, doing double duty as members of John's backing band. 1990 saw the release of their debut album, 'Southern Sons' (which spawned three top ten hit singles) and a five-track EP, 'Train Tracks', released to coincide with Phil and Jack's return to Southern Sons duties after a European tour with Farnham.
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Their second album in 1992, 'Nothing But the Truth', came with the departure of guitarist Peter Bowman. After two singles, including "You Were There" one of three Phil Buckley songs in the Australian Ballet production of 'Beauty and the Beast', "Nothing But the Truth" was re-released, with different cover artwork featuring a new look Jack Jones, to include the single "Silent Witness". Southern Sons third and final album, 'Zone', was released in 1995, self-produced with former member Peter Bowman. Its lead single, "Don't Tell Me", featured vocals from Men At Work's Colin Hay.
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The individual members of the band have remained in the field. Now based in the US, Virgil Donati collaborated with Tommy Emmanuel on his album 'The Journey' album and toured as a member of Tina Arena's backing band for her 'In Deep Tour'. Peter Bowman co-wrote songs with Debra Byrne for her 'Sleeping Child' album and collaborated with Tommy Emmanuel on his albums 'The Journey' and 'The Journey Continues'. Jack Jones provided guitar for Debra Byrne on the 'Sleeping Child' album and for Bachelor Girl on their 'Waiting for the Day' album. He also toured as a member of Tina Arena's backing band for her 'In Deep Tour' as well as serving as a member of John Farnham's backing band for the 'I Can't Believe He's 50 Tour'. Jack is signed to Gotham Records and is currently recording his debut solo album. Phil Buckle co-wrote songs with John Farnham
for the album '… Then Again' , with David Hirschfelder and David Hobson for their album 'In This Room' and with Rick Price for his album 'Another Place'. This latter album was also co-produced and co-performed by Phil. Most recently he was writing and performing as a member of a new band, Sneak. Jack Jones re-emerged in 2002 as Irwin Thomas. (Contributed by David Grills - extract from howlspace.com.au)
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Jack Jones
Born in New York City in 1971, Jack Jones arrived in Australia as a ten year old. Even as a youngster, Jack began showing an incredible talent with his guitar playing. At fourteen Jack was already playing professionally in both cover and original bands. At the same time, he was earning a reputation as a very accomplished and well respected studio musician.
After heading back to the United States for several years to further
study his craft, Jack eventually returned to Australia and joined the successful 90's band ‘Southern Sons’ as lead singer/guitarist. With hits such as “Heart In Danger”, “Always & Ever”, “Hold Me In Your Arms”, “Waiting For That Train”, “I Can’t Wait Any Longer”, “Lead Me To Water”, “Silent Witnesses”, & “You Were There”. His vocal ability was highly praised by both fans and musical peers alike… He not only enjoyed success in Australia, but in Asia, Canada, Germany, and pockets throughout Europe. Confirming he was a major talent worthy of recognition.
He has toured and recorded as singer/guitarist with the likes of John Farnham, Glen Shorrock (Little River Band), Tina Arena, Tommy Emmanuel, James Reyne, Rick Price, Merryl Bainbridge, Graham Goble (Little River Band), Richard Clapton, Gary Garry Beers (INXS), Dweezil Zappa, Ahmet Zappa, Jeff Jacobs (Foriener), Schuyler Deale (Michael Bolton, Billy Joel), Crystal Talefiero (Billy Joel), Deb Byrne, Kylie Minogue, Doc Neeson, Stoolz Roachman & the Idiot Sevilles, Renee Geyer, Bachelor Girl, Anthony Warlow and countless others.
His solo acoustic shows accentuate both his vocal and guitar playing talents and have proven to be highly successful with audiences and organisers alike.
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Virgil Donati
Virgil had started his career in his mid teens during the 70's as drummer for the brilliant hard rock band Taste, which evolved from an earlier band Cloud 9. At age 19 Donati travelled to the U.S. to study with Philly Joe Jones, and at Dick Groves School in Los Angeles. He also took lessons from snare drum specialist Murray Spivack.
Donati returned to Australia at the age of 21 where his career finally took off. He played jazz with Allan Zavod and Brian Brown followed by a couple of years in the rock/soul influenced Peter Cupples Band during the early 80's. During the late 1980s Donati's drumming was a feature of the Melbourne-based jazz-rock fusion band 'Changes' (extract from Wikipedia)
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Phil Buckle
Phil Buckle's songwriting career began in the early 90's when he penned hits for his own band, the highly successful Southern Sons and Australian recording legend John Farnham.
In 1990 Phil was awarded the ARIA song of the Year for 'Burn for You'. During this period he achieved 3 top ten hits and a double platinum album with Southern Sons and a six times platinum album Chain Reaction with John Farnham.
In 1991 he was nominated again for the ARIA Song of the Year for "Always and Ever" and received the APRA most played song of the Year for "Heart in Danger". In this year he also received the highest Australian accolade of APRA Songwriter of the Year.
A prolific songwriter in the last couple of years Phil has also written tracks for Shannon Noll, Adam Harvey, Anthony Callea, Deni Hines, David Hobson, Belinda Emmett and Dean Geyer as well as contributing significantly to the Australian vocal Production Music label (extract from unippm.com.au)
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Album Review
This is a great release and well worth the listen if only for three songs that are the best on offer. "Heart in Danger" is an absolute monster AOR song, "Always and Ever" another great tune, but "Hold Me In Your Arms" is pure bliss, a truly wonderful ballad. It might be an album that may be a bit too soft for some but the quality is what makes it so good. Singer Jack Jones would've been an ideal replacement for Steve Perry (yes he is that good, and better than Augeri) and in some ways has a voice not too dissimilar to John Farnham. This debut album is a true classic and a must for any collector of Aussie Rock.
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This post consists of a FLAC rip taken from an out of print CD and full album artwork for both LP and CD. I have also included two bonus live tracks taken from their 'Train Tracks' E.P (thanks to Deutros at
Friday On My Mind) along with two B-side Singles that were not release on an LP.
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Track Listing
01 - Always And Ever *
02 - Which Way
03 - Living This Way
04 - Heart In Danger
05 - Hold Me in Your Arms
06 - Something More
07 - Waiting For That Train
08 - More Than Enough
09 - Hold On To The Memory
10 - The World Is Mine
11 - What I See
Bonus Tracks
12 - Make A Move (Live)
13 - Do You Want My Love (Live)
14 - Out Of My Hands (B-Side Single)
15 - Stand Alone (B-Side Single)
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Band Members:
Jack Jones (aka Irwin Thomas) - Guitars, Lead Vocals
Virgil Donati - Drums, Keyboards
Phil Buckle - Guitars, backing Vocals
Geoff Cain - Bass
Peter Bowman - Guitars, Backing Vocals
(Additional Artists)
Harmonica by Steve Williams
Keyboards by David Hirschfelder*
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Southern Sons FLACs Link (343Mb)
Link Fixed 11/02/2016
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