Conway Savage

Last updated • 7 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Conway Savage
Conway Savage 1992.jpg
Savage in 1992
Background information
Birth nameConway Victor Savage
Born(1960-07-27)27 July 1960
Victoria, Australia
Died2 September 2018(2018-09-02) (aged 58)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • singer-songwriter
  • composer
Instrument(s)
  • Piano
  • keyboards
  • organ
  • vocals
Years active1980–2017
Labels
  • Mute
  • Beheaded Communications

Conway Victor Savage (27 July 1960 – 2 September 2018) was an Australian rock musician. He was a member of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, providing piano, organ & backing vocals from 1990 to 2017.

Contents

Savage released solo albums entitled Nothing Broken (2000) & Wrong Man's Hands (2004) as well as a compilation called Rare Songs & Performances 1989–2004. He also collaborated with other artists such as Suzie Higgie for Soon Will Be Tomorrow in 1998 & "Quickie For Ducky" by Amanda Fox & Robert Tickner in 2007.

Biography

Conway Victor Savage [1] was born on 27 July 1960 and grew up in country Victoria where his parents were publicans. [2] His brother, Frank Savage, is a part-time rock music cabaret singer and builder. His niece, Cash Savage, is the lead singer of the band Cash Savage and the Last Drinks. [3] Savage began playing piano in his early teens in the dining room of one of the pubs his parents owned. [2] He later recalled "I just really enjoyed it ... I could just sit down and play it and play it – it's a beautiful relaxation, until this day. But it wasn't like I was playing in the pub for nickels and dimes or anything. I was really embarrassed about it and I kept it pretty quiet". [2]

From 1980 to 1981, Savage was on piano and backing vocals in Happy Orphans, with Jim White on drums. [4] He was also in Scrap Museum over a similar time period. [4] From 1982 to 1986 he was in a country music band, The Feral Dinosaurs, again with White. [4] [5] [6] Other members of that group were Nick Danyi on saxophone and vocals; Dave Last on double bass and vocals; and Jim Shugg on guitar (ex-People with Chairs up Their Noses). [6] The group issued a track, "Blue Day", on a various artists' compilation album, Asleep at the Wheel (1984). [6] A single, "Ramblin' Man", followed before they released an extended play, You've all Got a Home to Go To, in December 1985. [6] Also in the 1980s he played in the Melbourne-based country-rock band, Dust on the Bible, with his sister-in-law Jane (Frank's wife) as lead vocalist. [5] In 1988, with Last, he formed Dave Last and The Legendary Boy Kings, which included Bruce Kane on drums; Manny Markogiannakos on guitar; and Shane Walsh on bass. [4] [6]

In 1989 Conway Savage joined Dave Graney and the White Buffaloes on keyboards and played with them for all of that year, including recording the album My Life On The Plains for Fire Records. It was recorded at Sing Sing Studios in Richmond, Melbourne and was produced by Phil Vinall from the UK. Other members of the band included Rod Hayward on guitar and Chris Walsh ex of the Moodists (as were Dave Graney and Clare Moore). Savage joined Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds in 1990 on piano, organ and backing vocals [4] [5] [7] to promote their sixth album, The Good Son (April 1990). He has since appeared on their studio albums including Henry's Dream (April 1992), Let Love In (April 1994), Murder Ballads (February 1996), The Boatman's Call (March 1997), No More Shall We Part (April 2001) and Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus (September 2004). [4] [7] [8] In October 1995 Conway contributed lead vocals for "The Willow Garden", a B-side of the single, "Where the Wild Roses Grow". Due to the overall minimal piano parts on the band's fourteenth release, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (March 2008), Conway was used on backing vocals and hand claps. [4] [7] [8]

Through the late 1980s and into the 1990s, he also guested on albums and singles for various fellow Australian musicians, including Kim Salmon, Dave Graney (My Life on the Plain, 1989), David McComb (The Message EP, 1991), Spencer P. Jones (Rumour of Death, 1994), and Robert Forster ( I Had a New York Girlfriend , 1995). [2] [4] [8] Savage started to record his own solo material from late 1992, [6] when he released a self-titled four-track EP. [4] [8] He provided lead vocals, piano and organ; and was assisted by fellow Bad Seeds members: Martyn P. Casey on bass guitar; and Mick Harvey on drums, guitar and backing vocals. [8]

In late 1995, he linked up with singer-songwriter-guitarist Suzie Higgie (of Falling Joys) for the collaborative album Soon Will Be Tomorrow. [9] [10] It was produced by Higgie's husband Matt Crosbie. Its release was delayed until after Falling Joys disbanded and appeared in June 1998 on Anchor & Hope, distributed by Shock Records. [9] [11] Liz Armitage of Canberra Times described the album as an "almost country-medieval record". [10] Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane felt it was "a low-key and low-fi album of soft-hued country 'n' blues tunes" containing "sparse folk/pop tunes and quiet love songs". [11] The duo toured to promote the album. [11]

Savage released his debut full-length album Nothing Broken on his own label, Beheaded Communications, in 2000. [12] [13] He used Casey and Harvey; together with Charlie Owen on banjo and guitars (acoustic and electric); and Tony Wyzenbeek on harmonica. [12] [14] It was co-produced by Savage and his engineer, Dave McCluney. [14] The musicians were recorded without Savage's vocals, which were added later, but just a piano guide track. [12] A reviewer at 16horsepower.com felt "This somewhat blindfolded approach to the songs, results in a fresh, impromptu feel to this stately, contemplative album. Spontaneity has always been an essential element in the recording process for Savage, and this daring approach is vindicated once more". [12] In August 2002 it was re-released in Europe by Cargo Records. [12]

Savage's next solo album Wrong Man's Hands, released in 2004, was recorded from late 2003 to early the next year [15] on an 8-track in a room above the Union Club Hotel, Fitzroy, with members of Melbourne band The Stream, Amanda Fox and Robert Tickner. He admitted that he used a little James Joyce in one of his lyrics "but please don't sue me ... I probably owe you the price of a cup of coffee ... some of his words drifted into my imagination with the songs and next thing they – they just fitted like a glove and I just went with it". [16] Savage's 2005 compilation album Rare Songs & Performances 1989–2004 traced his various studio and live material recorded in Australia and Europe. Guest musicians include Casey, Fox, Harvey, Jones, Tickner, and White.

Savage, Fox and Tickner issued a collaborative album Quickie for Duckie in 2007, which was followed by Savage's solo effort Live in Ireland the next year. [17] It had been recorded live at the Glens Centre Manorhamilton, Leitrim on 18 October 2008. [17] NME 's Edwin McFee noted that Savage's vocals are "a bit like sand and glue. He may not be blessed with the purest set of pipes, but his quivering, piano-led renditions of songs from his last four albums frame his ragged, whiskey-soaked vocals perfectly". [18]

In 2010, Savage, Fox and Tickner issued the six-track EP Pussy's Bow, which had been recorded in Ireland's Tumbleweed Studios in Dundalk in the previous August. [19] Recording engineers were Derek Turner and Jason Varley; while Savage supplied lead vocals, piano and keyboards; Fox was on organ, accordion, percussion and backing vocals; and Tickner delivered guitars and backing vocals. [19] I-94 Bar's Barman reviewed the EP "If, like me, you think of him principally as Nick Cave's piano player, then you need to take a deeper dive ... [it] blows away some of the preconceptions of him as solely a country artist or (gasp) a Goth ... [it] is nothing but a record of contrasting moods. And a very good one". [20]

Savage underwent medical treatment for a brain tumour in 2017. [21] He died, aged 58, on 2 September 2018. [22] [23]

Ghosteen (2019), the Bad Seeds' seventeenth album, was dedicated to Savage.

Discography

Conway Savage is credited with: organ, piano, keyboards, backing vocals, guitar, hand clapping, composer, producer. [4] [7] [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds</span> Australian post punk/alternative rock band

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian rock band formed in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its career and presently consists of Cave, violinist and multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis, bassist Martyn P. Casey, guitarist George Vjestica, keyboardist/percussionist Larry Mullins, also known as Toby Dammit, and drummers Thomas Wydler (Switzerland) and Jim Sclavunos. Described as "one of the most original and celebrated bands of the post-punk and alternative rock eras in the '80s and onward", they have released seventeen studio albums and completed numerous international tours.

<i>Murder Ballads</i> 1996 studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Murder Ballads is the ninth studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released in 1996 on Mute Records. As its title suggests, the album consists of new and traditional murder ballads, a genre of songs that relays the details of crimes of passion.

<i>Nocturama</i> (album) 2003 studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Nocturama is the twelfth studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on February 3, 2003 on Mute and ANTI-. Produced by Nick Launay, the album is the last to feature founding member Blixa Bargeld who departed from the band shortly after the album's release.

<i>Live Seeds</i> 1993 live album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Live Seeds is the first official live album by Australian post-punk band, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The album was recorded live from 1992 to 1993, at various concerts throughout Europe and Australia, at the touring stage promoting their previous studio album, Henry's Dream. Nick Cave wanted to give the songs a raw feeling as originally intended before production problems occurred. Live Seeds includes a not previously studio-recorded track, "Plain Gold Ring", which is a cover of a song performed by Nina Simone.

<i>The Best of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds</i> 1998 greatest hits album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

The Best of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is a compilation album by Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 11 May 1998.

The Moodists were an Australian post-punk band. They were formed in late 1980 by Dave Graney on lead vocals, Clare Moore on drums and Steve Miller on guitar, all from punk group the Sputniks. They added bass guitarist Chris Walsh in early 1981, and in April 1983 added guitarist Mick Turner. They issued their sole studio album, Thirsty's Calling, in April 1984. Turner left in January 1985 and the group disbanded in 1987.

The Triffids were an Australian alternative rock and pop band, formed in Perth in Western Australia in May 1978 with David McComb as singer-songwriter, guitarist, bass guitarist and keyboardist. They achieved some success in Australia, but greater success in the UK and Scandinavia in the 1980s before disbanding in 1989. Their best-known songs include "Wide Open Road" and "Bury Me Deep in Love". SBS television featured their 1986 album, Born Sandy Devotional, on the Great Australian Albums series in 2007, and in 2010 it ranked 5th in the book The 100 Best Australian Albums by Toby Creswell, Craig Mathieson and John O'Donnell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Graney</span> Musical artist

Dave Graney is an Australian rock musician, singer-songwriter and author. Since 1978, Graney has collaborated with drummer-multi instrumentalist Clare Moore. The pair have fronted or been involved with numerous bands including The Moodists, Dave Graney and The White Buffaloes, Dave Graney and The Coral Snakes, The Dave Graney Show, Dave Graney and Clare Moore featuring The Lurid Yellow Mist or Dave Graney and The Lurid Yellow Mist and Dave Graney and The mistLY. Many albums since LETS GET TIGHT in 2017 have been credited to Dave Graney and Clare Moore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugo Race</span> Australian musician and record producer

Hugo Justin Race is an Australian rock musician and record producer who had been based in Europe from 1989 to 2011. He was a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (1983–85), and The Wreckery (1984–89) with Nick Barker and Robin Casinader. As from October 2013 he was simultaneously a member of Hugo Race and the True Spirit, Hugo Race Fatalists, and Dirtmusic. True Spirit have released 12 albums. Race returned to live in Australia in 2011.

Peter William "Pete" Wells was the founder and slide guitarist in Australian hard rock band, Rose Tattoo, from 1976 to 1983. He was previously bass guitarist with the pioneering heavy metal outfit Buffalo from 1971 to 1976. Wells also had a solo career and issued albums, Everything You Like Tries to Kill You (1991), The Meaning of Life (1992), No Hard Feelings (1993), Orphans (1994), Go Ahead, Call the Cops (1996), It's All Fun and Games 'till Somebody Gets Hurt (1999), Hateball (2000) and Solo (2002). In 2002, he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer and, on 27 March 2006, Wells died of the disease, aged 59. Rose Tattoo were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame on 16 August of that same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Barker</span> Australian musician

Nicholas Paul Barker is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist who formed a rock, power pop band, Nick Barker & the Reptiles, in March 1988. Their cover version of Cockney Rebel's "Make Me Smile " reached the top 30 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Singles Chart in November 1989. They provided two top 40 albums on the related ARIA Albums Chart, Goin' to Pieces (1989) and After the Show (1991). He formed another group, Barker, in 1993, and their single, "Time Bomb", was listed at No. 20 on Triple J Hottest 100 for 1994. Barker then went solo from 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martyn P. Casey</span> Musical artist

Martyn Paul Casey is an English-born Australian rock bass guitarist. He has been a member of the Triffids, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Grinderman. Casey plays either his Fender Precision Bass or Fender Jazz Bass.

For the American band with a similar name, see Blackeyed Susan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim White (drummer)</span> Australian musician

Jim Ronald White is an Australian drummer, songwriter, and producer. In 1992 he formed Dirty Three, an instrumental rock band, with fellow mainstays Warren Ellis on violin; and Mick Turner on guitar. In Dirty Three, White sometimes shares songwriting duties with Ellis and Turner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suzie Higgie</span> Australian musician

Suzie Higgie is an Australian musician. She is the founding mainstay lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the Falling Joys, an alternative rock band formed in Canberra. She has issued two solo albums, Soon Will Be Tomorrow and Song of Habit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spencer P. Jones</span> Musical artist

Spencer Patrick Jones was a New Zealand guitar player and singer-songwriter from Te Awamutu. From 1976 he worked in Australia and was a member of various groups including The Johnnys, Beasts of Bourbon, Paul Kelly and The Coloured Girls, Chris Bailey and The General Dog, Maurice Frawley and The Working Class Ringos, and Sacred Cowboys. He also issued ten albums as a solo artist. In May 2012 Australian Guitar magazine rated Jones as one of Australia's Top 40 best guitarists.

Tim Gaze is an Australian rock and blues guitarist, songwriter, singer, and producer. He was a member of several Australian groups from the 1960s to 1990s including Tamam Shud, Kahvas Jute (1970), Ariel (1973–74) and Rose Tattoo (1985–87). He also had a solo music career and released the albums, Band on the Run, Rough Trade (1992), Blue Sierra (1996) and Blues Remedy (1998). In April 2008 he issued a retrospective compilation covering both his group and solo work, Reckless Love: the Tim Gaze Anthology.

<i>The Devil Drives</i> 1997 studio album by Dave Graney n The Coral Snakes

The Devil Drives is the sixth album by Dave Graney 'n' The Coral Snakes. It was released in May 1997 on Mercury Records. The album peaked at No. 18 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Album Charts. It was also produced by Dave Graney, Clare Moore and David Ruffy. The album was recorded in August 1996 in Kiss Studios, Melbourne and mixed in October 1996 at London at Matrix Maison Rouge studios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dirty Three</span> Australian instrumental rock band

Dirty Three are an Australian instrumental rock band, consisting of Warren Ellis, Mick Turner and Jim White (drums), which formed in 1992. Their 1996 album Horse Stories was voted by Rolling Stone as one of the top three albums of the year. Two of their albums have peaked into the top 50 on the ARIA Albums Chart, Ocean Songs (1998) and Toward the Low Sun (2012). During their career they have spent much of their time overseas when not performing together. Turner is based in Melbourne, White lives in New York, and Ellis in Paris. Australian rock music historian Ian McFarlane described them as providing a "rumbling, dynamic sound incorporated open-ended, improvisational, electric rock ... minus the jazz-rock histrionics". In October 2010, Ocean Songs was listed in the book 100 Best Australian Albums.

The Wreckery are an Australian punk blues group which formed in 1985 in Melbourne. The founding members were Hugo Race on vocals and guitar, Robin Casinader on drums, piano, Hammond organ, guitar and violin, Edward Clayton-Jones on guitar, organ and vocals, Tadeusz O'Biegly on bass guitar, and Charles Todd on saxophone and organ. Within a year, Nick Barker had replaced O'Biegly on bass guitar. The band issued two studio albums, Here at Pain's Insistence and Laying Down Law (1988), before disbanding in mid-1989. In 2008, they briefly reunited in support of a compilation album, Past Imperfect.

References

General
Specific
  1. ↑ "'Beautiful Smile' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 10 August 2014. Note: User may have to click 'Search again' and provide details at 'Enter a title:' e.g Beautiful Smile; or at 'Performer:' Conway Savage
  2. 1 2 3 4 Best, Sophie (20 May 2005). "Savage Seed". The Age . Fairfax Media.
  3. ↑ Mathieson, Craig (11 August 2016). "After a year of achievement and anguish, hope wins for Cash Savage". Sydney Morning Herald . Fairfax Media. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Conway Savage and related entries at Australian Rock Database:
    • Conway Savage: Holmgren, Magnus. "Conway Savage". Passage.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
    • Jim White: Holmgren, Magnus. "Jim White". Passage.se. Australian Rock Database Passagen (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
    • Dave Graney and The White Buffaloes (1989–90): Holmgren, Magnus. "Dave Graney". Passage.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 7 October 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
    • Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds (1990–present): Holmgren, Magnus; Skjefte, Morten. "Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds". Passage.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
    • Maurice Frawley and The Working Class Ringos (1998–2001): Holmgren, Magnus. "Maurice Frawley". Passage.se. Australian Rock Database (Magnus Holmgren). Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 Lobley, Katrina (10 June 2005). "Cave Man". Sydney Morning Herald . Fairfax Media. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 McFarlane, 'Feral Dinosaur' entry. Archived from the original Archived 28 August 2004 at the Wayback Machine on 10 June 2003. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 4 McFarlane, 'Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' entry. Archived from the original on 3 August 2004. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Conway Savage | Credits". AllMusic . Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  9. 1 2 Higgie, Suzie; Savage, Conway (1998), Soon Will Be Tomorrow, Anchor & Hope: Shock Records [Distributor]. National Library of Australia , retrieved 10 August 2014
  10. 1 2 Armitage, Liz (5 October 1995). "Backstage: Keeping Honest Brings Joys". Canberra Times . National Library of Australia. p. 28. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  11. 1 2 3 McFarlane, 'Falling Joys' entry. Archived from the original on 21 August 2004. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 "Thank You for Clapping. Conway Savage: Nothing Broken". 16horsepower.com. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  13. ↑ Savage, Conway (2000), Nothing Broken, Beheaded Communications. National Library of Australia, retrieved 11 August 2014
  14. 1 2 "Nothing Broken – Conway Savage | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  15. ↑ Savage, Conway (2004), Wrong Man's Hands, Beheaded Communications. National Library of Australia, retrieved 12 August 2014
  16. ↑ Barry, Aoife (7 July 2009). "The Good Son". Event Guide. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  17. 1 2 Savage, Conway (2008), Live in Ireland, Beheaded Communications: Country Gent Records. National Library of Australia, retrieved 13 August 2014
  18. ↑ McFee, Edwin (31 July 2009). "Album Review: Conway Savage – Live in Ireland". NME . IPC Media . Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  19. 1 2 Savage, Conway; Fox, Amanda; Tickner, Robert E (2012), Pussy's Bow, Beheaded Communications. National Library of Australia, retrieved 13 August 2014
  20. ↑ Barman. "Conway Savage Reviewed: Pussy's Bow – Conway Savage". I-94 Bar. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  21. ↑ Cantrell, Liz (26 October 2017). "Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' Conway Savage Treated For Brain Tumor". Spin . Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  22. ↑ Walker, Cassie (3 September 2018). "Conway Savage From Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds Has Passed Away". Triple M . Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  23. ↑ "Conway Savage of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds 1960-2018 R.I.P. - Noise11.com". www.noise11.com. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.