REPOST: Bakery - Momento (1972) + Bonus Tracks

(Australian 1969-75)

Bakery was formed in Perth during 1969 when Peter Walkers' band 'The Jelly Roll Bakers' split. Regarded as one of the leading 'underground' groups of their day, they are remembered for their superb debut album Momento, the innovative Rock Mass for Love LP and the powerful single "No Dying In The Dark".

The original lineup was John Worrall, 'wild-haired guitarist' Peter Walker (ex-Jelly Roll Bakers), Mal Logan (ex-The Rebels), Eddie McDonald and Hank Davis. McDonald and Davis were both ex-members of the NZ Avengers. Bakery played a brand of progressive rock that combined elements of hard rock and country with strong jazz overtones. Their everchanging arrangements, gentle acoustic guitar passages and monstrous heavy progressive sections made them true innovators of the early 70's music scene.

Bakery released only two singles, but both were impressive heavy rock efforts. The first, released on the RCA label, was "Bloodsucker" / "Leave Scruffy Alone" (February 1971). By the time they released their second single in July 1971, Bakery had signed with the Melbourne-based Astor label, who issued "No Dying in the Dark'" / "Trust in the Lord".
Both singles displayed the band's main stylistic influences, primarily the new wave of 'heavy' bands spearheaded by British groups Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. "Bloodsucker" was in fact a Deep Purple cover, sourced from their In Rock LP. "No Dying in the Dark" was very successful in Perth, peaking at #9 on the local chart, and it's the track for which they are now best remembered.

The B-side of the single was a track from their 'Rock Mass For Love' LP. This unusual project was a significant thematic departure from Bakery's usual progressive/hard rock style. Recorded live at a mass at St George's Cathedral, Perth on 21 March 1971, it was one of the first Australian musical musical works of its kind, preceding the first Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar by almost a year.
Rock Mass For Love tapped into the current interest in what became known as 'God Rock' or 'Jesus Rock', in which composers sought to communicate the Christian message to young people by setting religious-oriented lyrics in rock or pop music arrangements. In large measure, this movement was a direct reaction to the calamitous fall in church attendances that had begun in the Sixties, and the concurrent massive upsurge in the popularity of rock and pop music. Little is known at this stage about how this Bakery album came to be recorded, although some mention is made in an interview with band for the Australian music program GTK.

Bakery, meanwhile, was undergoing its first round of lineup changes. By mid-1971, both Worrall and Logan had departed, with Worrall briefly joining Ssarb before forming Fatty Lumpkin in 1972. They were replaced by Tom Davidson (vocals) and Rex Bullen (keyboards); Bullen had been a member of '60s Canberra beat group The Bitter Lemons.

Rock Mass for Love was issued in August 1971, narrowly missing the national Top 20, and it was also issued in the USA on the Decca label. After the LP came out, Mark Verschuer (ex-Barrelhouse) replaced Davidson on vocals. Verschuer sang lead vocals on their fantastic second album, the studio LP 'Momento' released a year later in August 1972. Ian McFarlane lauds it as "a fine example of European-influenced, heavy progressive rock" and Vernon Joyson reserves particular praise for the track "The Gift", written by Peter Walker, which he describes as 'an eight-minute barrage of bombastic riffs, arse-kicking solos and swirling Hammond organ in the mold of acts like Deep Purple and Leaf Hound'. Regrettably, like most of Astor's locally-recorded output, neither of the Bakery albums has ever been officially reissued on CD in Australia, which is a great shame, as Momento certainly ranks as one of the strongest and most accomplished Australian rock albums of the period.

Line-up changes continued into 1972, with Steve Hogg (bass, vocals; ex-Juke, King Biscuit Company, Nostra Damus) and Paul Ewing (organ, vocals) replacing McDonald and Bullen respectively; Verschuer also left, with Davis, Walker, Hogg and Ewing sharing vocal duties. Bullen moved on to Natural Gas before reuniting with John Worrall in Fatty Lumpkin.

This four-piece version of Bakery is probably the best remembered incarnation of the group for fans in the eastern states. They gigged consistently, gaining a strong following on the east coast festival/concert circuit, playing alongside the other leading acts of the day like Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, MacKenzie Theory, Chain, Carson, Madder Lake and Sid Rumpo. Bakery performed at the second Sunbury Festival in January 1973 and their live version of the jazz-tinged "Living with a Memory" (a track from Momento) was included on Mushroom's debut triple album set The Great Australian Rock Festival Sunbury 1973, released in April 1973.

In February 1973, just after their Sunbury appearance, Phil Lawson (bass) replaced Steve Hogg and renowned New Zealand-born vocalist Barry Leef (ex-Simple Image, Hunger) joined as lead singer. In August, (the late) Jackie Orszaczky (ex-Syrius) replaced Lawson on bass. When Frank Zappa toured Australia for the first time during June 1973, he spotted Leef fronting the band at Chequers in Sydney -- Bakery regularly played a cover of Zappa's "Road Ladies" in their live set at this time -- and FZ was so impressed with Barry's vocal talents that he invited him to audition for the Mothers. Barry performed as a guest vocalist on "Road Ladies" at two of Zappa's Hordern Pavilion concerts, but sadly, contractual problems prevented him from taking up Frank Zappa's invitation to join The Mothers in the USA, and he reluctantly had to turn down the offer of a lifetime.

Bakery continued gigging until their split in February 1975, but regrettably they made no more commercial recordings. (extract from www.milesago.com)
.

I have posted Momento, as I consider this album to be one of Australia's best progressive rock albums of all time and highly recommend you give it a listen. My favourite tracks are 'Holocaust' with its complex jazz structure, laced with mesmerizing sax, guitar and keyboard solos, and 'The Gift' which exhibits a strong Deep Purple influence with its strong hammond organ and guitar power riffs. "Living With A Memory" is another great track, but the live version from the Sunbury recording is far superior and is probably indicative of their uncanny ability to reproduce their studio sound on stage and then some. My two biggest regrets in life is selling my copy of this album when I was an ignorant teenager and that I never had the opportunity to see Bakery play live (particularly at the Sunbury 73 Festival)

This rip was taken from a Vinyl pressing in FLAC format (NEW) and includes full album artwork. Bonus singles have also been included which were made available on the re-released CD of Momento, which is now out-of-print. The live Sunbury track was ripped from the CD entitled 'Highlights From Sunbury 73'
.

Track Listing

1. Holocaust

2. Pete for Jennie

3. Living With a Memory

4. S.S. Bounce

5. The Gift

6. When I'm Feeling

7. Faith to Sing a Song

[Bonus Tracks]

8. No Dying In The Dark (Single)

9. Leave Scruffy Alone (Single)

10. Blood Sucker (Single)

11. Living With a Memory (Live At Sunbury 73')

Band Members:
Rex Bullen (keyboards) 1971-72

Tom Davidson (vocals) 1971

Hank Davis (drums) 1970-72

Paul Ewing (organ, vocals) 1972-75

Steve Hogg (bass, vocals) 1972-73

Phil Lawson (bass) Feb-Aug. 1973

Barry Leef (lead vocals) 1973-75

Mal Logan (keyboards) Jun. - Oct. 1970

Eddie McDonald (bass) 1970-72

Jackie Orszaczky (bass) Aug. 1973 - 1975

Mark Verschuer (vocals) 1971-73

Peter Walker (guitar) 1970-75

John Worrall (vocals, flute) 1970-72

Bakery Link (406Mb) New Improved Link 04/10/2022

.

Bakery - The Seven Inches (Mayfair Bonus LP) 2006

(Australian 1969 - 1975)
.

'Bakery' was formed in 1969 when Hank Davis (drums) and Eddie McDonald (bass) from the New Zealand "Avengers" went to Perth, West Australia, with John Pugh (guitar) and Bernie Payne (sax) Bernie left to pin the Australian production of the musical "Hair" in Sydney, and was replaced by Peter Walker (guitar).
This was the core of the band for several years and arguably its most effective line-up. No recordings of that line-up exist though, and "Momento" was their only mainstream album although there was a previous album "The Rock Mass For Love". This was a live recording done in a Perth Cathedral during the hippie days when peace, love and religion were briefly intertwined.
.
A few '7-Inch notes' from Peter Walker:

Bakery was never a "singles" band, our writing and playing was much more suited to longer arrangements, with extended solos etc At the time (and now?) singles were for "pop" music, which we tried hard to avoid. Record company and marketing pressure meant that we eventually had to do them (but only two!).

"Bloodsucker" was a Deep Purple cover, which always worked well on the Aussie pub-rock circuit. Purple's version wasn't very well known m Australia, so we felt OK about releasing it ourselves.
"Leave Scruffy Alone" was officially a "B" side with lyrics by Tom Davidson (our former singer) about the injustice of the "police state", and how it treated long-haired youths (like us!). Rex and I wrote most of the music in about half an hour but we rarely played it on stage.

"No Dying in the Dark" lyrics by Tom, music by Rex and I, was an attempt at a "heavy" single. It suffered in the recording, as the technology of the day (4 track) didn't capture much of the raw volume. Onstage it was quite successful, and contributed to our reputation as a "heavy" band.

I remember it very well because it was one of the few songs where I played an SG Gibson (solid-body), rather than the 335 Gibson I normally used. The SG also featured on 'The Gift", on the
Momento Album. The SG Gibson was a real pig to play unfortunately, but it had the right sound for these tracks.
..
Album Foreword
The tracing down of band members is a very hard job ! Especially when they performed 35 years ago
and more or less disappeared after releasing two albums. So I was very happy when I found the correct Peter Walker (hence the "uncommon" name) over a couple of detours and I was even happier when Peter agreed to this re-release.
Work on the project began immediately Luckily I could get my hands on the very rare Singles from Bakery and the included songs are really an excellent enrichment.
Two of these tracks are quite long (for single-tracks) and therefore I had to change plans by adding a one-sided second LP instead of a Bonus-7" to the 'Momento' re-release.

Peter and Hank (Drummer of Bakery) also managed to send me some pictures from their vaults which also proved to be a hard task, since the Momento line-up was very short-lived so that there are not many photos in existence (to Peter's despair he was the one who took most of the photos and therefore he couldn't be seen in them).
But in the end everything worked out so please put the record on the turntable and listen to this brilliant album!
And don't believe Peter and Hank with their noble self-criticism in their notes...
They're old men now and don't know what they're talking about '
by Boris Jerschensky (Mayfair Music.Oktober 2006)

.
This post consists of FLACS ripped from the Mayfair 12" Bonus LP  (Thanks to Sunshine) that accompanied Mayfair's re-release of the Momento LP.  Inner Artwork and label scans are included, along with label scans from the actual single releases. Note that the Mayfair Bonus LP did not feature the B-Side to "No Dying"" entitled "Trust In The Lord" (taken from their Rock Mass LP), so I have taken the liberty of including it here as a bonus track.  Once again, thanks to Sunshine for the rip and label scans.
If you are interested in hearing the Momento Album, you'll find it HERE on my blog.
.


Track Listing
01 - Bloodsucker (released Feb, 1971)
02 - Leave Scruffy Alone (B-Side)
03 - No Dying In The Dark (released July, 1971)
04 - Trust In The Lord (B-Side)
,
Mayfair Seven Inches Bonus LP Link (118Mb)
.

Various Artists - Sunbury 73

(Various Australian Artists 1973)
.

The word 'Sunbury' has etched itself into Australian rock music folklore. Forty years ago it was a farming town just 40 'miles' (70s speak) north of Melbourne, an hour's drive from suburbia into a gently rolling rural landscape. In 1972 and for the three subsequent years, during the late January Australia Day weekend the word 'Sunbury' became associated with a rock music festival on a farm out of the Sunbury township. Today suburbia lurks so close to the Sunbury Pop Festival site if you turned up Billy Thorpe's amp to its obligatory '11' you'd get complaints from the neighbours on the hill. But the site is still there, identified only by the rusted wire fence surrounding the area where the stage stood, and the foundations of the toilet block nearby, in front of Jackson's Creek. Behind the creek a steep incline, in front a gently rising hill, a natural amphitheatre. 

 There had been rock festivals before and there have been rock festivals since. But Sunbury looms large as 'Australia's Woodstock' - erroneously. It could just as easily be called the first 'Big Day Out' -- held during the same weekend. Or a prototype of Meredith. Australia's real 'Woodstock' was held at Ourimbah in NSW on the Australia Day weekend in 1970. During the intervening two years 'the Woodstock nation' had been replaced by another generation of teenagers, another generation of music, another set of values The Beatles had been replaced by Led Zeppelin. But for the media those Woodstock images lingered. That's what they went to Sunbury looking for. That's what they came away with. That's what sticks in people's minds as 'Sunbury'. Those who were there remember the 'bonged out' sitting next to the underage drinkers and bikers collapsed in their own vomit after a night of shouting 'suck more piss' from the hill. The similarity between Sunbury and all festivals is the freedom to be young and free, to the soundtrack of the day's music.

Australian music had shifted dramatically during those two years between 1970 and 1972, between Ourimbah and the year of the first Sunbury in 1972. In 1970 Australian music had struggled to be 'progressive' like the rest of the world. Our record companies weren't interested. Then during the last half of that year a record ban forced the Australian music released by the major record companies off radio airwaves, retiring many of the pop stars of the day. Music fans had to go 'out' to get their music fix. In Melbourne they found Daddy Cool and Spectrum north of the river. Chain and Billy Thorpe's 'new' Aztecs south of the river. In Sydney the music retreated to the Kings Cross nightclubs entertaining servicemen on 'r and r'. The first Sunbury festival tapped into that still very alive thirst for live music. Somehow Australian music had forgotten to look over its shoulders at overseas trends and musicians and their audience were happily following their own path. In January 1972 it led to Sunbury.
.
The festival had been organized by an unlikely 'hero', John Fowler, a middle-aged Channel Nine employee. While their children were smoking dope and drinking and dipping nude in Jackson's Creek elder Australians were watching John Fowler lighting the soundstage for their own addiction, 'In Melbourne Tonight'. Fowler and his advisers thought that the popular acts of the day weren't quite enough and for that first Sunbury Festival organised for the return of Max Merritt and the Meteors after just over a year in England. Ever competitive, Billy Thorpe would have made conquering the Sunbury hill his goal anyway. Having old rival Max top of the bill was an added incentive. Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs turned up the volume and made Sunbury 72 theirs'. Within weeks Billy released 'Most People I Know' and later that year a live album of the Aztecs at Sunbury became a national top ten. The only other Australian-made top ten album that year had been Daddy Cool's 'difficult' second album 'Sex Dope And Rock'N'Roll'

Sunbury 73 was set up as the most important event on the Australian music calendar. Clearly. whoever won the hill at Sunbury 73 was set up for the rest of the year. You had to be there.
A lot of people get the four Sunbury's confused. In their minds they've become one. But 1973 was THE one. In bygone years there had been a thing called the Hoadley's Battle Of The Sounds, where the bands of the day allowed themselves to be judged. The winners were kings for the year. Often the losers broke up to think of a way of winning the following year. That was the mood with which Australian music entered Sunbury 73. You had to be there. It was important to make an impression. It was the year the Sydney acts - Sherbet, Country Radio - descended on the festival, and Mississippi performed with a 35-piece orchestra. It was so important to be there, even pre-70s rock legend Johnny O'Keefe came, determined to stay in the game. And Michael Gudinski was there to record it for his just-formed Mushroom Records.
Of course Billy Thorpe was also there, returning just in time to top the bill after trying his luck in the UK. This was our chance to celebrate his return. There was no clear winning at Sunbury '73 but the points decision probably went to Thorpe. There were a lot of winners, a lot of sets went back to the traditional venues and found keen audiences for the rest of the year. [written by Ed Nimmervoli]

While Sunbury '72 was widely touted as the beginning of a new era, Sunbury '73 was the one that consolidated the festival's success. However it also marked a changing of the guard, with a number of notable bands -- Carson, Country Radio, Friends, Healing Force -- all splitting for good in the months following their Sunbury appearances. It was also the final Australian performance by Flying Circus, who had already been in Canada for some time. They returned specially for the festival, but were coolly received, and returned to Canada immediately after Sunbury, where they remained until they split some years later.
The Aztecs headlined again, reprising their huge success of the previous year and Max Merritt & The Meteors again returned from the UK to perform. One of the surprise hits of the festival was rock'n'roll legend Johnny O'Keefe; he was cheekily introduced as a "newcomer" by MC Paul Hogan, but despite an initially derisory reception, he won the crowd over and by the end of his set, as Ian McFarlane notes, he "had the audience of hippies eating out of the palm of his hand".

"Sunbury 1972 was the first, but the 1973 festival is often remembered as the best. It has a place in our music history, just like the vintage clips of the Easybeats performing 'Friday On My Mind' and AC/DC travelling down Melbourne city streets on the back of a tray truck while belting out 'It's A Long Way To The Top'."  - Steve Waldon, The Age

Like Sunbury '72, the performances were taped using a mobile multi-track facility; it is presumed that some film or video footage was made but it is not known how much of that (if any) still exists. The sound recordings were edited to become the inaugural release for the newly established Mushroom Records label, founded by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans. With commendable hubris, it was the first Australian triple-album set ever released.
The fine performance by Carson (which would prove to be their last major concert appearance) was also released by EMI as the On The AirLP; this has long been out of print but it is scheduled for re-release on CD by Aztec Music. The other major recording culled from the festival was the extended early-morning jam session between The Aztecs, Lobby Loyde's Coloured Balls and Leo De Castro, which was released on the Havoc LP Summer Jam. This has recently been reissued on CD by Aztec Music. [extract from milesago.com]

SUNBURY - THE VENUE
Owned by George Duncan, he generously offered the use of his property at no cost to the organisers, even going so far as allowing toilet facilities and rubbish bins to be installed on the property in later years of the festival. Which really makes sense, considering he’d have had as many as 40,000 people in his “backyard”. You don’t have to be a mathematician to know a crowd like that plus three days of food and booze equals a mess that would make even Keith Moon blush.

With the Duncans’ farmland providing a natural amphitheatre, the scene of the Sunbury festivals has since become an isolated area, far from the bustling hub it was during one of music history’s most famed events. Residential subdivision in the area has since limited public access to the site and redeveloped the landscape.

According to a document on the website of Hume City Council, little remains there now but there are still the remnants of the toilet facilities and bins, along with echoes of the event that linger to this day with “small artifacts such as items of footwear and drink can pull-rings” scattered over the area.
.
For more information on the Sunbury 73 concert, refer to the following websites:

hume.vic.gov.au
nla.gov.au
onlymelbourne.com.au
wikipedia.org
theage.com.au
.
It was the Sunbury 73 that got me first hooked on 'Aussie Rock'. My brother owned the triple album set originally (having being lucky enough to attend the festival) but I soon managed to talk him into selling it for a bargain basement price.  Being a young teenager at the time, I was listening to overseas artists like Robin Trower, Alice Cooper and Grand Funk Railroad. However, the bands and the infectious aussie rock that they played at this famous festival was the turning point in my life. I suddenly realised that there was 'real talent' in my own back yard.  And I've never looked back.
Bands like Madderlake, Chain, Carson, Blackfeather and the Aztecs have been a huge part of my passion for music and I owe it all to this wonderful recording, released on the legendary Mushroom label (thanks Gudinski)

My only regret is that I was too young to attend the 73 Festival although I did manage to fulfill my long life dream to a point, by attending the 2010 Sunbury Backroad Festival, featuring Madderlake, Spectrum and Chain. See my review
If you haven't heard this Sunbury 73 recording, then you have really missed out on a vital chunk of Aussie Rock. Need I say more?
.
The post consists of an MP3 rip (320kps) taken from my cherrished vinyl copy, which is in relatively good condition considering the number of plays it has had. The artwork included (with CD2 and as a separate link) was taken from a CD release that was circulating on the web at one stage (possibiliy C/- of the Midoztouch Forum).
Some choice photos of the venue and crowd are also included.
As a bonus, I have included a recording of Mississippi's "Kings Of The World" which was also recorded at the Sunbury 73 festival but never made it onto the triple set (sourced through YouTube)

Note: There was also a promotional E.P released featuring 6 tracks taken from the triple Sunbury album set and is one of the items on my Holy Grail List of wants. I have yet to see it turn up on ebay, and can only dream of the day when I might find it! (see pictures below bottom)
.

Tracklist
CD1
01 Johnny O'Keefe – High Rollin' Man 2:57
02 Friends – Bird On A Wire / La La Song 6:58
03 69ers – Harry Rag 6:58
04 Coloured Balls – Johnny B. Goode 4:51
05 Madder Lake – Down The River / 12lb. Toothbrush 14:40
06 Band Of Light – Messin' With The Kid
07 Aztecs – Going Back Home 13:31
08 Blackfeather – I'm Gonna Love You 9:53
CD2
01 Carson – Friday Night Groove 4:53
02 Mighty Mouse – Sunset Song 10:05
03 Healing Force – Erection 6:47
04 Country Radio – Silver Spurs 4:51
05 Matt Taylor – From Brisbane To Beachworth 8:50
06 Sid Rumpo – Sailing 8:38
07 Mackenzie Theory – New Song And 8:47
08 Glenn Cardier – Australia 2:28
09 Bakery – Living With A Memory 12:12 
10 Mississippi - Kings Of The World BONUS 2:38
 
.
Sunbury 1 mp3  Link (155Mb) New Link 17/09/2025

Sunbury 2 mp3 Link (183Mb)

Sunbury Artwork & Photos (20Mb)

Sunbury 1&2 in FLAC (897Mb) New Link 06/09/2024