Dear Children (album)

Dear Children
Studio album by The Black Sorrows
Released	April 1987
Recorded	Sing Sing Studios
Genre	Folk rock pop rock Country rock
Label	Camel Records / CBS Records
Producer	Jeff Burstin, Joe Camilleri
The Black Sorrows chronology
A Place in the World (1985) Dear Children (1987) Hold On to Me (1988)
Singles from Dear Children
"Mystified" Released: November 1986 "Daughters of Glory" Released: March 1987 "Maybe Tomorrow" Released: June 1987 "The Last Frontier" Released: November 1987

Dear Children is the fourth studio album by Australian rock band The Black Sorrows. It was the bands first album released through CBS Records in April 1987. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, Dear Children "represented a turning point in the band's career".^[1] The album peaked at number 22 on the Kent Music Report in June 1987.

Background and reception

The Black Sorrows had released three studio albums between 1984 and 1985 and had began recording more original material. By November 1986 the Black Sorrows line-up was Joe Camilleri, Jeff Burstin, Peter Luscombe, Nick Smith and Johnny Charles, down from eleven members. Camilleri said that the line-up was "a lot more rockier but it has to be that way because all the gentle side of it has gone — the accordion player has gone. We still do some wonderful ballads but there is a big difference between a nine-piece band [as on the Sorrows' last tour] and a five-piece band, something has to go."^[2]

In November 1986, the band released "Mystified" which received significant radio play and peaked at number 24 on the Kent Music Report, this was the bands highest charting single at that point.^[3] The band also performed the song on Countdown. Camilleri said; "I mortgaged the house to make Dear Children and then CBS Records stepped in and said: We like this record, we’ll buy it off you" The group signed to CBS for distribution.^[4] "Daughters of Glory" was released in March 1987 and made the top 50.

Track listing

Vinyl/ Cassette/ CD (CBS – 450924 1)^[5]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Daughters Of Glory"	Joe Camilleri Nick Smith	4:08
2.	"Mystified"	Camelleri Smith	4:35
3.	"The Big Time"	Camelleri Smith	4:01
4.	"Tin Gods"	Camelleri Smith	4:33
5.	"Wild Street Girl"	Camelleri Smith	5:08
6.	"Dear Children"	Camelleri Smith	3:21
7.	"Blue Horizon"	Camelleri Smith	5:53
8.	"The Last Frontier"	Camelleri Smith	3:38
9.	"Maybe Tomorrow"	Willy DeVille	3:05
10.	"Foolish Girl"	Camelleri Smith	3:16

Charts

Chart (1987)	Rank
Australian Kent Music Report[6]	22

Credits

• Accordion – George Butrumlis
• Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Tambourine – Jeff Burstin
• Backing Vocals – Nick Smith, Shirley Matthews, Venetta Fields
• Bass – Mick Grabowski, Mike Girasole, Johnny Charles
• Clarinet – John Barrett
• Drums – Peter Luscombe
• Electric Piano [Rhodes] – Don Nadi
• Guitar – Jeff Burstin, Tony Faehse
• Organ – Mick O'Connor
• Piano, Keyboards, Marimba – Paul Grabowsky
• Saxophone – John Barrett, Joe Camilleri
• Slide Guitar – Tony Faehse
• Trombone – John Courtney
• Trumpet – Bob Vinter
• Tuba – Karl Fritzlaff, Tim Jones

References

1. McFarlane. "'The Black Sorrows' entry". Archived from the original on 20 April 2004. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
2. Ferrington, Andrew (11 December 1986). "Joe Camilleri Sweet Sorrows". The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). National Library of Australia. p. 13. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
3. "The Black Sorrows". Head Records. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
4. "The Black Sorrows Biography". Black Sorrows. Retrieved 27 August 2016.
5. Dear Children (LP). The Black Sorrows. CBS Records. 1987.
6. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St. Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. pp. 36–37. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

External links

• "Dear Children" at discogs.com