Procession : Live At Sebastians (1968)

00:00 Anthem 04:14 Take Time 07:16 Once Was A Time I Thought 08:34 Penelope 12:15 Signature Tune 15:44 Nobody Knows When You're Down And Out 19:15 With A Little Help From My Friends 22:55 Cloudburst 24:56 Minuet For Moderns 27:23 Sitting In The Park 31:43 Hear Me Calling Your Name The first stereo live album recorded in Australia, which has not been reissued in any format since its original 1968 LP release. It deserves to be heard, so here it is. Procession was formed in October 1967 by members of two earlier Australasian pop groups, Normie Rowe's long-time backing band, the Playboys, and New Zealand group, the Librettos. The Librettos had formed in Wellington as a beat-pop group in 1960 and by 1965 they relocated to Sydney, where they included Craig Collinge (born 24 August 1948, Sydney) on drums and Brian Peacock (born 27 June 1946, Levin, New Zealand) on bass guitar and vocals. The Librettos broke up in June of the following year, with Peacock joining the Playboys and Collinge forming a heavy rock-trio, the Knack. The Playboys had formed in 1963 as an instrumental group in Melbourne and in November 1966 they relocated to London where they were the backing band for Rowe. In March 1967 Trevor Griffin (born 22 December 1944, Birmingham, England) joined on organ from the Question Marks replacing Phil Blackmore. A month later Mick Rogers joined on guitar replacing Rod Stone. While still with Rowe, the Playboys signed to Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label and recorded a one-off single, ''Black Sheep R.I.P'' (August 1967). By then Rowe and the Playboys had returned to Australia and in October the group split from Rowe and Collinge had joined on drums. They were renamed as Procession with the line-up of Collinge on drums, Griffin on organ, Peacock on bass guitar and vocals, and Rogers on lead guitar and vocals. They made their live debut at Sebastians nightclub, Melbourne on 17 December 1967. They signed with Festival Records, to issue their debut single, "Anthem", in December 1967, which has Peacock and Rogers providing an a cappella rendition. A second single, "Listen", appeared in March 1968 but did not chart, despite being the first Australian disc to be recorded on newly installed eight-track equipment. The group appeared regularly on Melbourne-based TV pop show, Uptight, on ATV 0, which was produced by the band's talent manager, David Joseph. The group's debut album, Procession 'Live' at Sebastians (15 May 1968), a live recording at the venue on 3 April, failed to chart. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane observed, "it revealed the band's predilection for modern jazz." The group played a farewell Australian show at the Royale Ballroom on 18 June 1968 supported by the Twilights and the Virgil Brothers. The story continues at https://historyofaussiemusic.blogspot...