Blackfeather
| Blackfeather | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Feather |
| Origin | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Genres | progressive rock, psychedelic rock, hard rock |
| Years active | 1970–1976, 1978, 1983, 2003–present |
| Labels | Festival / Infinity, Calendar |
| Associated acts | Dave Miller Set, Madder Lake, Flake |
| Members |
|
| Past members | see Members list below |
Blackfeather are an Australian rock group which formed in April 1970. The band has had numerous line-ups, mostly fronted by founding lead singer, Neale Johns. An early heavy rock version recorded their debut album, At the Mountains of Madness (April 1971), which peaked at number seven on the Go-Set Top 20 Albums chart. It provided the single, "Seasons of Change" (May 1971), which was co-written by Johns with lead guitarist, John Robinson. In July 1972 a piano-based line-up led by Johns issued an Australian number-one single, "Boppin' the Blues", which is a cover version of the Carl Perkins' 1956 single.
Blackfeather formed in April 1970 in Sydney by Leith Corbett on bass guitar, Mike McCormack on drums, and John Robinson on lead guitar (all from the Dave Miller Set), plus lead vocalist, Neale Johns. Robinson recalled meeting Johns, "a small guy with a huge voice, Neale was very taciturn. He was into the blues and had excellent range." Their name was derived from two found suggested in a book, "Whitefeather" and "Heavyfeather". Corbett and McCormack left soon after, replaced by Robert Fortesque on bass guitar and Alexander Kash on drums. Corbett subsequently reunited with singer Dave Miller to record a duo album, Reflections of a Pioneer. Johns and Robinson wrote or co-wrote the band's original material.
Blackfeather became a popular hard rock group in Sydney and Melbourne and signed with Festival Records' newly founded progressive subsidiary, Infinity Records. They recorded their debut album, At the Mountains of Madness (April 1971) with co-production by Robinson and Richard Batchens (The Cleves). The album peaked at number seven on the Go-Set Top 20 Albums chart. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, felt it "remains a highly regarded progressive rock album, highlighted by Robinson's fluid, inventive guitar technique and a swag of adventurous songs."
At the Mountains of Madness included the track, "Seasons of Change", co-written by Johns and Robinson. During recording, in late 1970, Robinson asked members of the group Fraternity, John Bissett and Bon Scott, to contribute to the album. Neale and Robinson gave Fraternity "Seasons of Change" to record as a single, with Scott on lead vocals. That group relocated to Adelaide and released it in March 1971, which peaked at number one on the local charts. Robinson had a verbal agreement with Infinity's David Sinclair that their label would not release the original Blackfeather version to compete with it. As soon as Fraternity's version began charting in Adelaide, Festival rush-released the Blackfeather variety as a single. It reached number 15 on the Go-Set National Top 40, charted for 16 weeks and was listed at number 40 on Go-Set's top singles for 1971.
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