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Peter Head (born Peter Beagley, 1946, Adelaide) is an Australian rock musician, pianist and singer-songwriter. He is best known for his work with the progressive rock band Headband from February 1971 to 1974. He then formed The Mount Lofty Rangers with Bon Scott, best known for his time as the lead singer of AC/DC, on lead vocals. [1]
Peter Head began playing piano professionally at the age of 13 with "Adelaide's first rock'n'roll band," Johnny Mac and the Macmen as well playing to accompany the showgirls at the infamous Hindley Street institution, La Belle, after school. Throughout his teens, he continued piano lessons from a variety of well-known pianists such as Bobby Gebert and Roger Frampton and played modern jazz. He also played many shows accompanying a young Johnny Farnham and Doug Ashdown. At 17, he attended art school and opened his own art gallery for a short while with his wife. He relocated to London at age 19, working and touring with a reggae band run by Boz Burrell (Bad Company) and moonlighted in various bands and loose formations in a music scene alongside artists such as Georgie Fame, Alan Price, The Foundations, and King Crimson. [2]
In 1970, Head returned to Adelaide and was playing avant-garde jazz before forming Headband, an adventurous progressive blues/rock band, with vocalist Chris Bailey (later of The Angels) on bass, Mauri Berg (ex Silhouettes) on guitar and backing vocals and Joff Bateman on drums and backing vocals. Headband released three national singles – "Land of Supercars/How I Miss The Country" (1972), "Country Lady/Stay With Me" (1972), and "A Song For Tooley/Brand New Morning" (1973). The album A Song For Tooley (Polydor 2907.008), featuring Sydney Symphony players and a 110-piece children's choir was released in September 1973.
Headband supported Elton John and John Mayall and toured Australia with The Rolling Stones. Headband went their separate ways in 1974.
On 1 April 2016, Peter Head and Headband was inducted into The South Australian Music Hall Of Fame at The Goodwood Institute, Adelaide.
After Headband split in 1974, Head started up Mount Lofty Rangers, an ever-changing group of notable Adelaide musicians that included Bon Scott, Vince Lovegrove, Glenn Shorrock, and Robyn Archer. "Headband and Fraternity were in the same management stable and we both split about the same time so the logical thing was to take members from both bands and create a new one...the purpose of the band was for songwriters to relate to each other and experiment with songs so it was a hotbed of creativity." [3] The band had its own theme song – "The Mount Lofty Rangers Theme" – and featured mainly Head's original compositions.
The Mount Lofty Rangers is the name of the band – so the song goes. But it should be understood that "band" refers not to a fixed group of musicians, but a band of people who work under that name in any capacity they wish. So we have people like Vytas Serelis who does paintings, posters, films etc. Barry Smith who is a welder and mechanic, Dave Colvill who organises things and many others who see the value of putting their individual talents into an unofficial union of productivity. As far as the music goes, there are over 200 people in the last few years who have worked under that name either recording or performing live, and it is to their credit that the Rangers have built a reputation for producing good, original music. [4]
In 1978, he was honoured with a rock award from radio station 5KA for his contribution to the music industry based on his work with the Rangers.
"The '70s were just a special time in Australia at least, where there was a band on every corner in both Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney and they were all playing original music," he adds. "You just don't get that anymore, you don't get that anywhere in the world. It was a very special time, and very prolific time." [5]
Head was the resident Piano Bar artiste for five seasons at the Adelaide Festival Theatre and was Musical Director for a wide array of plays including Young Mo and Hamlet on Ice.
While touring with Young Mo, Head and script writer Rob George collaborated on bushranger musical Lofty – An Epic From The Annals of Country Rock, which was staged in 1977 at Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide. He was Musical Director, composed the score and performed (with a five piece Mount Lofty Rangers). An original Bon Scott composition, "I've Been Up in the Hills Too Long", was featured.
In 1978, Head wrote the music for children's musical Fun and Games which was staged at the Arts Centre. Head toured nationally as Musical Director for the hit Robyn Archer musical, A Star is Torn. He composed soundtrack music for Bob Ellis' 1992 film, The Nostradamus Kid and for Les Patterson Saves The World. Head had a cameo role as "The Beggar" in Aden Young's 2007 short film The Rose of Ba Ziz.
On 20 October 1996, Head released the Bon Scott Round and Round and Round EP on Head Office Records (with label partner, radio announcer and musicologist David Woodhall). [6] The original tracks were recordings from 1974.
"The tracks were recorded for $40 which was all the studio time we could afford then" laughs Head. "Bon and I used to help each other out. I'd write music and he'd sing lyrics of my songs. Those were pioneering days. They were recorded at the first 8 track studio in Adelaide. I'd been carting the tapes around for twenty years and then I met Ted Yanni at Round Midnight and we started talking about new technology and what you could do with older material like this." [7]
"They were just rough demos and a few weeks later Bon went off to join AC/DC and that seemed to be it ... The fun of finishing off something first started 22 years ago really appealed to me", explained Head. [8] In the case of "Carey Gulley", Woodhall had only a cassette dub. It was well received.
For the remixing process, Head teamed up with producer Ted Yanni, another old friend of Bon's, who he felt could fulfill the design for the song that he had intended 22 years prior. Using the best technology available, Ted isolated the original vocal track from "Round And Round". He then spent many months building an entirely new backing track for the song so that it "sounded as though it was recorded today, rather than yesterday." The original version is also included on the CD single. It features former members of Headband and Fraternity. "Carey Gully" celebrates the Mount Lofty Rangers' stomping ground at that time. The entire project was achieved by many people - musicians and technicians donating their time, talent, and studios to pay tribute to an old friend. The result is one of the best recordings available by Bon Scott, displaying a side of his vocal ability that was not as evident in subsequent releases. [9]
Bon Scott and Peter Head had a close and enduring friendship and Head has contributed interviews to Bon Scott and AC/DC biographies by Murray Engleheart [10] and Clinton Walker [11]
Musician Peter Head, former leader of Adelaide's Headband and a virtuoso piano player, befriended Bon. Bon would go to Peter's home after a day shovelling shit, and show him musical ideas he had had during his day's work. Bon's knowledge of the guitar was limited, so Peter began teaching him how to bridge chords and construct a song. One of the songs from these sessions was a beautiful ballad called Clarissa, about a local Adelaide girl. Another was the country-tinged Been up in the hills too long, which for me was a sign of things to come with Bon's lyrics; simple, clever, sardonic, tongue-in-cheek... [12] [13]
About 11 pm on May 3, 1974, at the Old Lion Hotel in North Adelaide, during a rehearsal with the Mount Lofty Rangers, a very drunk, distressed and belligerent Bon Scott had a raging argument with a member of the band. Bon stormed out of the venue, threw a bottle of Jack Daniels on to the ground, then screamed off on his Suzuki 550 motorbike. Three hours later, I received a phone call from his wife, Irene, at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Bon was in a coma, near death, after a disastrous collision with a car. I drove to the hospital, and there was Bon as I had never seen him; limp, smashed to smithereens, his jaw wired, most of his teeth knocked out, a broken collar bone, several cracked and broken ribs, deep cuts across his throat. He was in a coma for three days. He remained in hospital for 18 days. This happened before Bon was to find fame with AC/DC. Irene tells me that, before Bon went into the coma that night, the nurse sarcastically said to her: "He says he's a singer." [13]
Head moved to Sydney in 1980, performing regularly at Kinselas and Kings Cross nightclubs such as Round Midnight, the Bourbon & Beefsteak, Paradise and Springfields, both solo and with regular musical cohorts Doug Williams, Wendy Saddington, Lucky Starr and Jeff St. John. Head's King of the Cross recording was inspired by his years working in the Cross, and is rumoured to be based on Abe Saffron. "Well, the Cross is good, every time you walk down the street there at least ten stories come into your head, all those weird and wonderful people" he explains. [14]
In 2003, Head released In The Key of Night a solo piano/voice album, recorded to recreate the feel of one of Head's late night piano bar performances at the urging of Big Beat Music's founder.
If you've ever lived and loved the nightlife, chances are, some stage during your carousing, cruising, boozing and late night losing, you'd have come across Peter Head. His self penned sublime songs and lyrics tell tales tall and true ... Head's night time netherworld of ivory tickling in smoke filled rooms, singing wayward songs about wayward people, is unique in Australia, our very own musical journeyman; always outside the crap and corruption of the music industry, always laying down a magical rolling chord, a riff, a poignant lyric, a primal honed voice – frayed at the edges as it is, rasping, growling, crackling and about as soulful as it gets....This excellent set, beautifully recorded with passion and empathy by the adventurous Big Beat Music label shows Peter Head in his best light yet, highlighting his splendid songs like I Don't Believe and Everything Is Everything. Head's fresh interpretations of songs from a few of his heroes like Tom Waits, Randy Newman and Ray Charles are not only commendable, but demonstrate the uniqueness of his voice and his very original phrasing. Not to mention his world class piano playing. A master. [15]
Head has collaborated with three family members: daughter Loene Carmen, son Joshua Beagley, and granddaughter Holiday Sidewinder.[ citation needed ]
He features on Carmen's 2009 album It Walks Like Love and has played alongside her opening for artists such as Kinky Friedman, The Handsome Family, Renee Geyer and in the band Slow Hand, which featured the "duelling keyboards" of Head and organ player Johnny Gauci (2000–2005). [16]
In 2013 Head and Carmen independently released album The Apple Don't Fall Far from the Tree , a "charming smoky blues romp driven by Head's bar-room piano." It includes original tunes "Old Hands" and "Songs Don't Care". [17] [18]
Head played in Carmen's bands Automatic Cherry and Honky Tonk Angels (for which he also acted as Musical Director and assembled the band).
His son, Joshua Beagley, is a disco funk guitarist, composer, studio producer and DJ. His bands include Confection, Professor Groove and The Booty Affair and Swoop. Beagley contributed guitar to the King of the Cross recording.
Head is responsible for suggesting the name for granddaughter Holiday Sidewinder's band, Bridezilla. The three generations (Head, Carmen and Sidewinder) performed together for the first time with Songs of Sydney, a Creative Festival event held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in 2009 in Sydney.
Head also features on Finnish band Exception to the Rule's 2010 debut album, High And Low.
AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in 1973. They were founded by brothers Malcolm Young on rhythm guitar and Angus Young on lead guitar. Their current lineup comprises Angus, bassist Cliff Williams, drummer Phil Rudd, lead vocalist Brian Johnson, and rhythm guitarist Stevie Young, nephew of Angus and Malcolm. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and heavy metal, but the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formative influence on the new wave of British heavy metal bands, such as Def Leppard and Saxon. AC/DC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.
Back in Black is the seventh studio album by Australian rock band AC/DC, released by Albert Productions and Atlantic Records on 25 July 1980. It was the band's first album to feature Brian Johnson as lead singer, following the death of Bon Scott, their previous vocalist.
Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980.
Brian Johnson is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC.
Flick of the Switch is the ninth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. The album was deemed a commercial disappointment after it failed to match the sales figures of the band's two previous releases, 1980's Back in Black and 1981's For Those About to Rock, and its release represented the beginning of the band's commercial decline. The third AC/DC album to feature lead vocalist Brian Johnson, the album is also the last to feature drummer Phil Rudd before his return on Ballbreaker (1995). The album was re-released in 2003 as part of the AC/DC Remasters series.
T.N.T. is the second studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released only in Australia on 1 December 1975. This was the band's first release with bassist Mark Evans and drummer Phil Rudd, although the last two tracks feature George Young and Tony Currenti, both of whom previously appeared on High Voltage.
Powerage is the fifth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in 1978. This was the band's first album to feature Cliff Williams on bass guitar, and it was also the first AC/DC album not to have a title track and the first worldwide not to be released with a different album cover. Powerage was re-released in 2003 as part of the AC/DC Remasters series.
'74 Jailbreak is the only EP by Australian rock band AC/DC, released in 1984. It is composed of five tracks that had previously been released only in Australia. Despite the EP's title, the song "Jailbreak" was actually recorded in 1976 and was originally released that year on the Australian version of the Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap album. The EP's four other tracks were originally released on the Australian version of the band's debut album, High Voltage, recorded in 1974 and released early the following year.
Fraternity were an Australian rock band that formed in Sydney in 1970 and relocated to Adelaide in 1971. Former members include successive lead vocalists Bon Scott, John Swan, and his brother Jimmy Barnes. Their biggest local hit was a cover version of "Seasons of Change", which peaked at No. 1 in Adelaide, but nationally it was overrun by the original Blackfeather version. The group won the 1971 Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds with the prize being a free trip to London. Fraternity went through various line-ups and was renamed as Fang, Fraternity (again). In the late 70s some Fraternity former members created the bands Some Dream and Mickey Finn. Mickey Finn disbanded in 1992.
"Can I Sit Next to You, Girl" is the debut single by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, issued on 22 July 1974. On 26 August 1974, the song peaked at number 50 in Australia. This version has lead vocals performed by Dave Evans prior to his being replaced by Bon Scott, as well as drums by ex-Masters Apprentices member Colin Burgess, and bass guitar by ex-The Easybeats member George Young. Originally, AC/DC's first bassist, Larry Van Kriedt, played the bass parts, but George recorded his own over them later. In 1975, after Scott joined, the group re-arranged and re-recorded the song as the seventh track on their Australia-only album T.N.T., released in December 1975, and as the sixth track on the international version of High Voltage, released in May 1976. The title of this version of the song removed the comma, becoming "Can I Sit Next To You Girl".
Stephen Edward Foster was an Australian singer-songwriter and musician from Murray Bridge, South Australia.
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap is the third studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, originally released only in Europe, Australia and New Zealand in 1976. The album was not released in the United States until 1981, more than one year after lead singer Bon Scott's death. This was also AC/DC's first album in its entirety to be recorded with the same lineup, rather than including at least one track recorded with a different bassist or drummer.
"Night Prowler" is the final track on the 1979 AC/DC album Highway to Hell. It is notable among other AC/DC songs for its slow rhythm, ominous lyrics, and controversy stemming from its association with the mid-1980s Richard Ramirez serial killings.
Lo Carmen is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, producer, author and actress. Carmen has independently released seven solo albums in the Americana alt-country indie rock vein. In February 2022 her memoir Lovers Dreamers Fighters was published by HarperCollins, "a memoir of coming-of-age on screen and in song that also pays tribute to the iconic Australian women—writers, rebels, activists and fellow musicians—who lit her way". Author Madeleine Lucas said in their Rushh magazine conversation, "At its heart, I felt like Lovers Dreamers Fighters is really a memoir about work. I appreciated that because creative work, like domestic work, is not seen as labour a lot of the time."
Antonino "Tony" Currenti is an Australian rock drummer of Italian descent, best known as a session drummer for Australian hard rock band AC/DC and various Vanda & Young projects – including Stevie Wright and John Paul Young.
High Voltage is the first internationally released album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It contains tracks completed from their first two previous Australia-only issued albums, High Voltage and T.N.T..
High Voltage is the debut studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released only in Australia and New Zealand, on 17 February 1975. Their first international release in 1976 would also be named High Voltage, though with a radically different track list.
In The Key Of Night is a solo piano/voice album by Australian pianist Peter Head. It was released in 2004 and was recorded to capture the classic feel of Head's late night piano bar shows, at the request of Big Beat Music. It features Head's interpretation of songs by Ray Charles, Tom Waits, Randy Newman and Gram Parsons, alongside his original tunes.
Headband were a progressive, blues rock band formed in Adelaide in February 1971 by bass guitarist Chris Bailey; drummer Joff Bateman; singer-songwriter and keyboardist Peter Beagley ; and singer-songwriter and guitarist Mauri Berg. The group supported Elton John, The Rolling Stones at their Sydney performances. The band finished third in the 1972 Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds – a national performance competition between the best groups representing each state. Headband released an album, A Song for Tooley and four singles before disbanding in 1974. Bailey later joined The Angels and then GANGgajang, Berg joined Fraternity and Head formed Mount Lofty Rangers and later went solo.
Christopher Mark Bailey was an Australian bass guitarist and vocalist. He was a member of various rock groups including Headband (1971–1974), The Angels, Gang Gajang (1984–2013), and The Stetsons. Bailey died of throat cancer, aged 62.
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