Mississippi (band)
| Mississippi | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Allison Gros, Drummond |
| Origin | Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
| Genres | soft rock, folk rock, pop |
| Years active | 1970–1975 |
| Labels | Gamba, Fable, Bootleg |
| Associated acts | Little River Band |
| Past members |
|
Mississippi were an Australian soft rock band (1972–1975), which included Graham Goble on guitar and lead vocals, Beeb Birtles on lead vocals and guitar, Derek Pellicci on drums and Kerryn Tolhurst on lead vocals and lead guitar. The band had started as Allison Gros in Adelaide in 1970 and moved to Melbourne in 1971 where they recorded as Allison Gros, Drummond and, early in 1972, became Mississippi. As Drummond they issued a cover version of "Daddy Cool" (July 1971), which peaked at No. 1 on the Go-Set National Top 40 for eight weeks. As Mississippi they reached No. 10 with "Kings of the World" (October 1972). In early 1975, with Birtles, Goble and Pellici aboard and the addition of Glenn Shorrock, the group were renamed, Little River Band.
Mississippi developed from an Adelaide-based soft rock group, Allison Gros which formed in 1970 with Graham Goble on vocals and guitar, Russ Johnson on vocals and guitar, Rob Leedham on bass guitar, John Mower on lead vocals and Shane Simons on drums. The group were probably named after "Allison Gross", which is a traditional English folk ballad, with a widely recognised version recorded by Steeleye Span for their 1973 album, Parcel of Rogues.
Allison Gros recorded a lone single, "Naturally", on the independent label, Gamba, which was released in 1970. It appeared on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart top 100. The band moved to Melbourne in 1971 and signed to the Fable Records label and released two further singles: "If I Ask You" (July 1971) and "All the Days" (December).
Under a studio-based pseudonym, Drummond, they released a cover version of the Beatles track, "For You Blue", in June 1970. The line-up of Goble, Johnson and Mower was augmented by studio musicians. In the following year Drummond recorded a "Chipmunk"-style cover version of a 1950s rock song, "Daddy Cool" (July 1971), which spent eight weeks at the top of the Go-Set National Top 40, from 18 September to 12 November. Its success had immediately followed "Eagle Rock" by local band, Daddy Cool, which had held the number-one spot for 10 weeks. Drummond recorded further singles; Fable used the band name for different ensembles of studio musicians until September 1977.
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