Goldrush - Live At Last (1983)

(Australian 1980 - 1985)
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Back in 1980 when Tommy Emmanuel was taking a break from the guitar, he and his brother Phil put together a band called Goldrush with Tommy on drums and vocals, and Phil on Electric Lead and vocals. There is only one recording of the band recorded live direct to to disk with no overdubbing. This is it. Other band members include David Mare or vocals, acoustic and electric guitar, Chris Haigh on bass guitar and vocals, Mark Collins on banjo, mandolin, electric guitar and vocals. This Sydney based country/bluegrass/rock band played predominantly Neil Young stuff at the time along with some America and Lynard Skynard material. 
In 1983 “Goldrush-Live at Last” was released on an unsuspecting public. It was different from everything else that was out there at the time. It was predominantly Country rock/Bluegrass in it’s feel, but the band featured some of Australia’s most outstanding musical talent. Phil Emmanuel: Electric guitars Tommy Emmanuel: Drums Mark Collins: Banjo, Mandolin and guitars Dave Mare: Lead vocals/Acoustic and Electric guitars Chris Haigh: Bass guitar.

Phil Emmanuel

An original track penned by Dave Mare and Dennis James titled, “Keep in touch”, received some limited airplay being released as the band's only single (backed by T.F.F) and now fetches big money on eBay (last one I saw went for $47). But it was live where Goldrush really made it’s mark, with the audience being totally spellbound by the guitar wizardry of Phil Emmanuel, the finger gymnastics of Mark collins, and the novelty of Tommy Emmanuel, now a world class guitarist, playing drums.” [extract from Australian Music History]
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Tommy Emmanuel gained further prominence in the late 1970s as the lead guitarist in The Southern Star Band, the backing group for vocalist Doug Parkinson. During the early 1980s, he joined the reformed lineup of leading 1970s rock group Dragon, touring widely with them, including a 1987 tour with Tina Turner. He left the group to embark on a solo career. Throughout his career he has played with many notable artists including Chet Atkins, Eric Clapton, Sir George Martin, Air Supply, John Denver, Les Paul, Edgar Cruz and Doc Watson.

Tommy Emmanuel

In 1994, Australian music veteran John Farnham invited him to play guitar next to Stuart Fraser from Noiseworks for the Concert For Rwanda. Emmanuel became a member of Farnham's band.
Emmanuel and his brother Phil performed live in Sydney at the closing ceremony of the Summer Olympics in 2000. The event was televised worldwide with an estimated 2.85 billion viewers. When performing together the pair will sometimes share and play just one guitar with each having one hand free.
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This post is for a mate of mine, Steve, who requested the album recently at a 60th Birthday party. It is a Vinyl Rip in glorious FLAC format - my copy is almost virgin and exhibits very little surface noise. You'd almost swear the thing was ripped from CD. As usual, full album artwork is included along with label scans.
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Tracklist
01. White Russia
02. Sweet Elise
03. Cactus
04. TFF
05. Desert Wind
06. Keep In Touch
07. Duelling Banjos
08. Sweet Home Alabama
09. Dixie Breakdown
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Band Members:
Doug Bligh – Drums
Mark Collins – Banjo, Mandolin, Guitar and Vocals
Guy Dickerson – Guitar and Vocals
Tommy Emmanuel – Drums and Guitar
Phil Emmanuel – Guitar
Chris Haigh – Bass and Vocals
David Mare – Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica
Tony Slavich – Keyboards
John Spence – Drums
Bruce Worrell – Bass
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Goldrush FLAC Link (291Mb) New Link 22/12/2023
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