rare live recordings from quintessential Sydney prog group Tully, including their 1970
performance of Australia’s first ever rock opera. These recordings capture the band in their
first incarnation, before they joined forces with members of revered folk-psych band
Extradition to explore more contemplative territory.
Sights & Sounds Of 69, from a May show
of the same name, is the only live Tully recording to have survived the intervening four
decades, and documents a typically far-ranging, mind-expanding performance.
Perhaps
Australia’s greatest living composer, Peter Sculthorpe wrote Love 200 specifically with
Tully and vocalist Jeannie Lewis in mind. The work, commemorating Captain Cook’s expedition
to map the Transit of Venus in 1769, was dismissed by the stuffy classcial establishment at
the time, but Sculthorpe now calls it simply “one of my best works.” Heard here for the first
time since the early 70s, Love 200 is an astounding piece, both elegant and jarring, serene
and chaotic.
Sadly, all three of Tully’s studio albums are still to be officially reissued.
Until then, Live at Sydney Town Hall, 1969-70 is a fascinating insight into the early work
of one of Australia’s most heralded, but least heard bands.