REPOST: Fraternity - Livestock (1971) featuring Bon Scott

(Australian 1970-75)
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Once over-hyped as potential superstars of Aussie progressive rock, early-'70s hippie collective Fraternity failed to live up to expectations and might have been entirely forgotten to history had their singer not been one Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott -- future legendary frontman for AC/DC.
Formed in 1970 by bassist and de facto band leader Bruce Howe, guitarist Mick Jurd, keyboardist John Bisset, and drummer Tony Buettel, all of the recently disbanded Levi Smith's Clefs, Fraternity were conceived to be Australia's answer to the Band, and, as such, they initially didn't even feel the need to draft a true lead singer for their first trip into the studio to record a single ("Why Did It Have to Be Me?") financed by local independent label Sweet Peach. But they soon changed their minds when Bon Scott became available following the demise of his popular bubblegum group, the Valentines, inviting him to join them at their communal house in Sydney, along with drummer John Freeman (another Levi Smith's Clefs alum), who replaced Buettel. Interestingly, although their lineup was just coalescing at home and on-stage, Fraternity were already seen as a hot commodity based solely on the reputation and experience of the band members, and as they shifted out of blues-rock into art rock, under the influence of groundbreaking foreign bands like King Crimson, the Moody Blues, and Deep Purple (plus countless mind-altering substances, besides), their shows began drawing rave reviews from the excitable Aussie press.
Fraternity was soon ushered into the studio to record the songs for its debut album, 'Livestock', and though Sweet Peach wouldn't get around to releasing it until nearly a year later, the hype surrounding Fraternity continued to grow unabated as they scored repeat TV appearances throughout late '70, and even toured the country behind American rock & roll godfather Jerry Lee Lewis. That tour took them through the south central town of Adelaide, where they were welcomed like returning prodigal sons by fans and press alike, and quickly taken under the wing of one Hamish Henry. The scion of a well-to-do local family and a self-appointed patron of the arts, Henry offered Fraternity unqualified financial support if they only agreed to set down roots in Adelaide permanently, and local boys Howe and Freeman, at least, were more than happy to oblige. This decision altered the course of Fraternity's career forever and for the worse, unfortunately, as they would become increasingly isolated from the Aussie music business hotbeds of Melbourne and Sydney in what was then still a pretty sleepy and geographically remote outpost.
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Nevertheless, after performing at Sydney's Odyssey and Adelaide's own Myponga festivals (two of the largest Australian festivals in the post-Woodstock era), the members of Fraternity settled into a sheltered property outside of Adelaide named Hemmings Farm, which they intended to make into their own "Big Pink," diving headlong into their music and mounds of magic mushrooms. The group also recorded a new single entitled "Seasons of Change" in April of 1971, then welcomed harmonica player "Uncle" John Ayers, who, in the true spirit of the Age of Aquarius, stopped by for a visit and simply never left. Their long-awaited first album, the aforementioned Livestock, would finally emerge that June but impressed few with its bloated art rock meanderings -- even after Fraternity hit the road for a series of gigs across Australia. Even more worrisome, the reality was that, despite this show of activity, Fraternity's members -- now augmented with erstwhile Flying Circus guitarist/keyboardist Sam See -- had frankly grown lazy and unfocused in their entitled seclusion, spending more time communing with the trees in the idyllic surroundings of their Adelaide fiefdom than composing new material or performing local gigs.
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In the end, all this was more peace and quiet than even Bon, Howe, and Bisset could stand, and they duly vacated the farm for downtown Adelaide in late 1971, where they attempted to rekindle Fraternity's fires after being dropped by Sweet Peach. Naturally, it was Hamish Henry who would come to the rescue, dipping once again into his bottomless pockets to finance the recording of a second Fraternity album, named Flaming Galah (that being the aboriginal name for the rose-breasted cockatoo), eventually released through RCA in April of 1972.
Now mostly cured of their ponderous proggyness, the band seemed bent on exploring a bluesier, more boogie-oriented direction, but many of the songs featured were in fact quite old, or re-recorded fare, leaving room for just a handful of new compositions. Meanwhile, Fraternity had tellingly been shunned by Australia's biggest festival ever, Sunbury, so, as a last-ditch effort to make something of their ailing career, they were packed off to England by the ever-faithful Hamish (wives and dog in tow!), where their unshakable self-confidence would finally be put to the ultimate test.
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However, 18 tortuous months later, that test had resoundingly failed. Fraternity had to wait nearly six months before scoring the first of several two-bit gigs, lost Sam See to his old band, Flying Circus, and even changed their name to Fang during the desperate winter of 1972-1973 -- all to no avail. At the last, even Hamish decided that time had come to cash out, and by the early months of 1974, most of the band members had also limped home to Australia, each in his own time, signaling Fraternity's probable demise.
Shortly after his return, Bon Scott miraculously survived a motorcycle accident and then expeditiously joined AC/DC, thus sparing himself involvement in Fraternity's unexpected (and largely unheralded) reunion in early 1975. This produced no further recordings but ironically served to kick-start the career of future Cold Chisel singer Jimmy Barnes, during his lone year with the group as Bon's replacement. By 1976, Barnes was gone and Fraternity had changed their name to Some Dream, then morphed into Mickey Finn between 1978 and 1981, at which time they released a pair of singles before vanishing for good [bio by Eduardo Rivadavia, Rovi]
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The rip was taken from a deleted CD re-release of the original LP (see cover below) in FLAC format and includes two additional single tracks - "The Race Part I & II" and their hit single "Seasons Of Change". Full album artwork for the CD release is also included along with select photos of the band. This album was quite exceptional for its time and is an essential addition for both AC/DC fans and collectors of Progressive Australian Rock.

NEW FLAC RIP!

Tracks Listing
01. The Race Part One (Non-Album Single) 2:57
02. Seasons of Change (Single Version) 3:37
03. Livestock 3:40
04. Summerville 4:22
05. Raglan's Folly 6:02
06. Cool Spot 4:54
07. Grand Canyon Suites 4:54
08. Jupiter's Landscape 2:47
09. You Have a God 2:26
10. It 8:23
11. The Race Part Two (B-Side of track 1) 4:13
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Band Members:
Bon Scott (Lead Vocals, Recorder)
Mick Jurd (Lead Guitar)
John Freeman (Drums)
John Bisset (Keyboards)
Bruce Howe (Bass Guitar)
Uncle" John Eyers (Harmonica On Tracks 1 & 11)
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.Fraternity Link (277Mb) New Link 15/11/2024
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Fraternity - Flaming Galah (1972)

(Australian 1970-75)
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Original line-up: BON SCOTT (vocals); BRUCE HOWE (bass); MIC'KJURD (guitar); JOHN FREEMAN (drums); JOHN AYERS (harmonica); JOHN BISSET (keyboards).
Fraternity formed late in 1970 and based themselves in Adelaide. All the members had previously played with professional bands.
Before long they began recording for the Sweet Peach label and by June 1971, they had released three singles — 'Question', 'Why Did It Have To Be Me' and 'Seasons Of Change' (which was written originally for them by Blackfeather), along with their first LP 'Livestock'.

In September Sammy Lee (ex-Flying Circus) joined to become their seventh member (playing slide guitar and piano). They went on to win the 1971 Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds. Meanwhile, they switched record companies to the Raven label. In October, although they had terminated their contract two months prior, Sweet Peach released 'The Race'. The band disagreed with its release as the sound on it was mechanical and not representative of their talents.

Also in October, came their first single for Raven, 'You Got It'. Then in March '72 (after Raven had been taken over by RCA), another single, 'Welfare Boogie' was released, followed by their second album 'Flaming Galah'. But the band couldn't seem to produce hit records and eventually dissolved with Bon turning up later in AC/DC. [extract Noel McGrath's Australian Encyclopedia of Rock, Outback Press, 1978. p 120]

After their first LP 'Livestock' came out, Adelaide businessman Hamish Henry took over management of Fraternity and the group moved to Adelaide. Most of the band took up residence at Hemmings Farm in the Adelaide Hills, where they wrote and rehearsed communally (in the spirit of Traffic and The Band) while Bissett and his wife rented a flat above Henry's art gallery in North Adelaide. Vince Lovegrove reported on the group's new base in the June 1971 edition of Go-Set:

L-R Mick Jurd, John Freeman, 'Uncle' John Eyers, Bruce Howe, Bon Scott, Sam See, John Bisset

(Fraternity) live like no other band in Australia, in a house in the hills 17 miles from Adelaide. It's surrounded by seven acres of bushland. They're from everything but nature. What a buzz! Once a week they come into the city to have a meeting with their management and collect their pay. They only leave their pad to play gigs.

Bon Scott, vocalist, recorder and timbala player, is constantly in a dream world of his own but he's having a ball. He says: "The point is, the dollar sign is not the ultimate. We want to try and help each other develop and live. So that the thing inside of us, whether it be creative or not, is satisfied. Something makes us tick and it's up to people to satisfy that something. We are satisfying ourselves and others by creating an environment."

The group's next single "Livestock", "Why Did It Have To Be Me?" b/w "Cool Spot" was issued in January, but did not chart. Their second single became their only major hit -- it reached #1 in Adelaide and made the Top Ten in other cities, but for reasons beyond their control it faced strong competition from the original version by Blackfeather. As noted above, Fraternity had wanted to cover "Seasons of Change" for some time, and with the blessing of David Sinclair and John Robinson, they cut their own version, which was released in March 1971. It would probably have been a major national hit, because John Robinson had generously obtained an undertaking from Infinity not to release Blackfeather's version as a single. Predictably though, as soon as Fraternity's version became a hit in Adelaide, Festival reneged on its promise and rushed out the Blackfeather version as a single.

Two new members joined during 1971, expanding the band to a seven-piece. Harmonica player 'Uncle' John Ayers joined in May, and not long after that the group achieved another career peak, winning the 1971 Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds. Next on board was guitarist-pianist Sam See (ex Sherbet, Flying Circus) who was apparently approached to join Fraternity by Bruce Howe. Sam left Flying Circus at the completion of their Australian tour in September. Flying Circus had relocated to America earlier in the year and they were beginning to build up a following in Canada, where they recently toured, and they returned there after their Australian tour and it eventually became their permanent base.

Two more Singles were released after Sam joined -- "The Race" came out in October 1971 on Sweet Peach, and the same month their fourth single "If You Got It" came out on the Raven label (not to be confused with the present-day reissue company), evidently signaling the end of their relationship with Sweet Peach.

Now augmented by Ayers and See, Fraternity' cut their second album 'Flaming Galah', which came out on the RCA label in April 1972. It was a much rockier album that their debut and featured a distinctive twin-keyboard interplay between Bissett and See. Although songs like "Welfare Boogie", "If You Got It", "Hemming's Farm" and "Getting Off" showed the group moving into a bluesy hard rock style, there were only three new songs alongside re-recorded (albeit superior) versions of earlier songs.

By the time the album had been released, Fraternity were in the UK, having taken advantage of their Battle of the Sounds prize (a free trip to London). Unfortunately, like so many other Australian bands, the dream of 'making it' in the UK proved impossible to achieve. Basing themselves in Finchley, London the group slogged away in the UK and Europe from early 1972 to mid-1973, playing one-off gigs around England and one or two short tours of Germany.

As John Bissett recalled in an interview with the AC/DC website 'Back In Black', Fraternity's sojourn on the punishing UK music scene had the same effect on them as it did on so many other Australian bands:

John Bisset & Bon Scott

Our wealthy and benevolent manager, Hamish, transplanted the whole Fraternity community to London. My dog Clutch even joined us after six miserable months in quarantine. In all there were 17 people and a dog living in a house designed for maybe 6 people. It was very cramped and communal and there was a lot of bickering as you can imagine. Each band member had a girlfriend or wife and I also had a young child and a dog. There were also the two roadies, Bob and Rob, Bob's wife and our tour manager, Bruce King. Hamish had also shipped our Fraternity tour bus to London from Australia. The Finchley residents were bemused by the mini greyhound bus parked in the narrow London street.

I remember London rehearsals being very gloomy, unproductive affairs. We had very little money so the booze and drugs supply was severely limited. The whole mood of the band went downhill in London – hag-sub reality began to set in. The party was over. We were not up with the play as far as sound production went. Our PA was inadequate and we lacked the know-how and experience of the UK bands. We supported Status Quo at our first gig. The audience was appreciative and kind but we could not compete with the gear we had.

Other problems inherent in the band became prominent. We had too many members to get a clear sound definition of individual instruments and we lacked good original material. We also had not established a clear musical and cultural niche or direction for ourselves. We were a strange type of country-rock band by this stage. We all tried to write new and better songs but to no avail. I was unhappy on piano but felt like a passenger on a bus that no one in particular was driving, and clueless and powerless to change anything. Things were briefly better in Germany. We focused more on rock for the German audiences and went over quite well. Bon introduced a song or two in German, much to the delight of the audience.

I was the first to jump ship and Sam See followed soon after. The rest (Howe, Jurd, Ayers, Scott and Freeman) carried on for a time as Fang but soon returned to Australia.

John Bissett was hired and fired from Mungo Jerry then moved into computing for several years. Sam See was contacted by Doug Rowe and headed to Canada to rejoin Flying Circus. The rest of Fraternity returned to Australia and briefly changed their name to 'Fang', but not long after they got back Bon (whose daredevil exploits were already the stuff of legend) was severely injured in a motor-bike accident that almost claimed his life, and he was forced to leave the group and spent many months recuperating.  He collaborated with a group of Adelaide musos, dubbed The Mount Lofty Rangers.

In July 1974 Vince Lovegrove introduced Bon to AC/DC at an Adelaide gig, while the band was touring as support for Lou Reed. They were about to ditch vocalist Dave Evans and Bon was offered his place, but Bon wanted to be the drummer so he turned it down, although he did sign on as their roadie. During a residency in Perth in September Bon 'subbed' as singer when Evans refused to go on; soon after that he was sacked, and Bon was again offered the job. This time he accepted, and the rest is history.

Meanwhile, Howe, Ayers and Freeman had put together Fraternity II in 1974 with Mauri Berg (guitar), John "Swanee" Swan (vocals) and Peter Bersee (violin). Freeman left in mid-1975, so Swan switched to drums and his younger brother Jimmy Barnes briefly took over the new lead singer, but he left soon after, rejoined his earlier band, Cold Chisel and of course went on to become one of the biggest Australian rock stars of the 70s and 80s. Swan left to join Jim Keays' Southern Cross, and later fronted Feather and his own band Swanee.

By late 1975 Fraternity had been renamed 'Some Dream'. Ca. 1978 it was renamed Mickey Finn, which comprised Howe, Ayers, Berg and Joff Bateman. By 1980 John Freeman had rejoined and a second guitarist, Stan Koritini, had been added and this lineup cut a self-titled album for the Eureka label. Mickey Finn released two Singles in 1980 and 1981 before fading from the scene. [extract from Milesago]
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OK - this post is special because it not only features high quality recordings in FLAC, but was freshly ripped from my superb vinyl which I found at the local flee market last week and scored for two bucks!. The only disappointment is that the inside Gatefold was a little roached from moisture damage, but the vinyl is Oh so clean !  A copy of Flaming Galah recently sold on eBay for $1,293 (Aus) - so who's the Flaming Galah now !
Full album artwork is included (thanks to Mick from Midoz for this) along with label scans from my vinyl.
This is certainly an album not to be missed - especially if you are a fan of Bon Scott / ACDC.
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Track Listing
01. Welfare Boogie 3:44
02. Annabelle 4:00
03. Seasons of Change 3:56
04. If You Got It 4:07
05. You Have a God 3:12
06. Hemming's Farm 3:49
07. Raglan's Folly 4:43
08. Getting Off 3:26
09. Sommerville R.I.P. 3:55
10. Canyon Suite 7:21

Fraternity are:
Bon Scott /Lead Vocals
Mick Jurd /Lead Guitar
John Freeman /Drums
John Bisset /Keyboards
Bruce Howe /Bass Guitar
"Uncle" John Eyers /Harmonica
Sam See /Slide Guitar, Piano
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Fraternity FLAC Link (274Mb)

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