The Masters Apprentices (1967 album)
The Masters Apprentices is the self titled debut studio album by the Masters Apprentices, released in June 1967 on Astor Records. It featured two hit singles; "Undecided" and "Buried and Dead".
| The Masters Apprentices | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 1967 | |||
| Recorded | 1966 - 1967 | |||
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| Genre | Garage rock, psychedelic rock | |||
| Length | 33:00 | |||
| Label | Astor | |||
| Producer | Max Pepper | |||
| The Masters Apprentices chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Masters Apprentices | ||||
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Background
In mid-1966 Adelaide-based rock group, the Masters Apprentices, shared a gig with pop star, Bobby Bright (of Melbourne duo, Bobby & Laurie), who was impressed and recommended them to his label, Astor Records. A few weeks later, they were contacted by Astor's Max Pepper, who requested a four-track demo.[1][2] The band went to Pepper's local two-track studio to record it, : "Hot Gully Wind", "Buried and Dead", "She's My Girl" and "Undecided".[1][3] The demo became their debut extended play, The Masters Apprentices (February 1967).[3][4]
"Undecided" was released as the group's debut single, "Undecided" backed by "Wars or Hands of Time", was released in October 1966 and gradually climbed the Adelaide charts, due to support from local DJs,[3] peaking at No. 4.[5] The B-side, "Wars or Hands of Time", written solely by Bower,[6] is the first Australian pop song to directly address the issue of the Vietnam War,[7] which was then affecting the lives of many young Australians because of the controversial introduction of conscription in 1965.[3] Teen pop newspaper, Go-Set, started publishing their national singles charts in October 1966. By February of the following year the group had relocated to Melbourne and issued their four-track EP (which was self-titled) on Astor.[4] "Undecided" peaked at No. 13 on the Go-Set National Top 40 in June 1967,[8] spending sixteen weeks in the charts.[9]
Due to the success of "Undecided" and the EP, Astor requested additional tracks to be recorded for a full length album. The album itself is a compilation of the four tracks featured on the EP, five cover songs ("Dancing Girl", "I Feel Fine", "My Girl", "Don't Fight It" and "Johnny B Goode") and two new originals ("But One Day" and "Theme For A Social Climber") written by then chief songwriter and guitarist Mick Bower.
The album was released by Astor Records in June, 1967. It was later reissued on the budget Summit Records label in 1971. In 2009 a 2 CD special edition was released by reissue label Aztec Music.
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
In a retrospective review Allmusic was mixed on the album saying that the "Debut mixes sloppy covers of popular '60s rock and soul tunes with some fine originals".
Track listing
All songs written by Mick Bower except as noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "But One Day" | 2:39 |
| 2. | "Wars or Hands of Time" | 2:52 |
| 3. | "Dancing Girl" (Bo Diddley) | 3:13 |
| 4. | "I Feel Fine" (Lennon-McCartney) | 3:23 |
| 5. | "My Girl" (Otis Redding) | 2:23 |
| 6. | "Undecided" | 2:29 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hot Gully Wind" | 2:51 |
| 2. | "Theme for a Social Climber" | 1:54 |
| 3. | "Don't Fight It" (Steve Cropper, Wilson Pickett) | 3:05 |
| 4. | "She's My Girl" | 2:24 |
| 5. | "Johnny B Goode" (Chuck Berry) | 2:47 |
| 6. | "Buried and Dead" | 2:41 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Living in a Child's Dream" (single) | Mick Bower | 2:28 |
| 14. | "Tired of Just Wandering" (B-side to "Living In A Child's Dream" single) | Mick Bower | 3:38 |
| 15. | "Elevator Driver" (single) | Brian Cadd, Max Ross | 2:35 |
| 16. | "Brigette" (single) | Doug Ford, Jim Keays | 2:30 |
| 17. | "Four Years of Five" (B-side to "Brigette" single) | Jim Keays, Peter Tilbrook | 3:20 |
| 18. | "I Feel Fine (Alternate Version)" (Alternative song take) | Lennon-McCartney | 3:06 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Blast Off" | |
| 2. | "Inside Looking Out" (Max Pepper Demo) | |
| 3. | "Black Girl (In the Pines)" (Max Pepper Demo) | |
| 4. | "Bye Bye Johnny" (Max Pepper Demo) | |
| 5. | "Dear Dad" (Max Pepper Demo) | |
| 6. | "Poor Boy" (Max Pepper Demo) | |
| 7. | "Bye Bye Baby" (Rehearsals in the Garage) | |
| 8. | "Wild Wild Party" (Rehearsals in the Garage) | |
| 9. | "Got My Mojo Working" (Rehearsals in the Garage) | |
| 10. | "Not Fade Away" (Rehearsals in the Garage) | |
| 11. | "Bright Lights, Big City" (Rehearsals in the Garage) | |
| 12. | "Little Girl" (Rehearsals in the Garage) | |
| 13. | "Around And Around" (Rehearsals in the Garage) | |
| 14. | "It's Gonna Work Out Fine" (Rehearsals in the Garage) | |
| 15. | "Cops and Robbers" (Rehearsals in the Garage) | |
| 16. | "Dimples" (Rehearsals in the Garage) | |
| 17. | "Just a Little Bit" (Rehearsals in the Garage) | |
| 18. | "Mama, Keep Your Big Mouth Shut" (Rehearsals in the Garage) | |
| 19. | "Don't Bring Me Down" (Rehearsals in the Garage) | |
| 20. | "Hey Bo Diddley" (Rehearsals in the Garage) | |
| 21. | "Road Runner" (Rehearsals in the Garage) |
Personnel
- The Masters Apprentices
- Mick Bower – rhythm guitar
- Jim Keays – lead vocals
- Rick Morrison – lead guitar
- Brian Vaughton – drums
- Gavin Webb – bass guitar
- Production Team
- Producer – Max Pepper
References
- General
- Keays, Jim (1999). His Master's Voice: The Masters Apprentices: The bad boys of sixties rock 'n' roll. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-185-X. Retrieved 29 May 2017. Note: limited preview for on-line version.
- Kimball, Duncan (2002). "The Masters Apprentices". Milesago: Australasian Music and Popular Culture 1964–1975. Ice Productions. Archived from the original on 13 November 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
- McFarlane, Ian (1999). "WHAMMO Homepage". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 5 April 2004. Retrieved 29 May 2017. Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
- Spencer, Chris; Nowara, Zbig; McHenry, Paul (2002) [1987]. The Who's Who of Australian Rock. Noble Park, Vic.: Five Mile Press. ISBN 1-86503-891-1.[10] Note: [on-line] version was established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition. As from September 2010 the [on-line] version is no longer available.
- Specific
- Keays, pp. 41, 45, 50, 52, 54–55
- Creswell, Toby (2007) [2005]. 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories and Secrets Behind Them (RocKwiz ed.). Prahran, Vic: Hardie Grant. p. 443. ISBN 978-1-74066-458-5.
- Kimball
- McFarlane, "'The Master's Apprentices' entry". Archived from the original on 18 June 2004. Retrieved 2004-06-18..
- McIntyre, Iain (Ed) (2006). Tomorrow is Today: Australia in the Psychedelic Era, 1966-1970. Wakefield Press. p. 53. ISBN 9781862546974.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
- ""Wars or Hands of Time" at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 29 May 2017.
- Keays, p. 41
- Nimmervoll, Ed. "Go-Set National Top 40". Go-Set. Waverley Press. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
- McGrath, Noel (198). Noel McGrath's Australian Encyclopaedia of Rock. Outlaw Press. p. 197.
- "Who's who of Australian rock / compiled by Chris Spencer, Zbig Nowara & Paul McHenry". catalogue. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 29 January 2010.