John came to me many years ago to record some of this songs. John is a friend of Xero, and when he was looking for somewhere to record his songs, Xero suggested he come to me. I rarely record other musicians, as I don't have the time, nor the inclination, but as Xero said he was an interesting person, I decided to lend a hand.
He came for about three days, and recorded thirteen songs in the time I would record one track of one song. I sat him in front of the mic, and I don't think he even listened through the earphones - he just sang his songs one after the other in one afternoon as I recall.
I mixed them down very fast - shooting from the hip, and most of the effects worked perfectly. He had a rough sounding guitar, so I had to apply effects to soften the sound, and try to make each song sound different.
The result became a classic, and favourite of Julie and me, as well as Xero and a few others. His songs were fabulous. I gather he had been working out in the wild outback as a guide in National Parks, and had stored up these songs for some time. Later he went on to record a few more albums, but for some reason, none of them had the power and passion that he poured into this first set of songs.
Alas I sent him the master tape of the recordings, and I have never been able to get it back, so finally I have brought across to digital from the second copy I had kept for my own listening. A lot of clarity is forfeited from not having the master, but the result is still excellent, and as you guys will probably never get the CD, I've put up some of the pieces here in MP3 format.
John was (is?) bi-polar, and one of these songs is about that condition from his own perspective.
I hope you guys get as much enjoyment from these as the rest of us who know this tape have.
John 3John 4John 5John 6John 9John 11John 13