Sharkmouth
Sharkmouth is a studio album by Australian singer–songwriter Russell Morris. It was released on 12 October 2012 by Fanfare, Ambition Records. The album was presented to all the major labels who declined to release it. It is Morris' first top ten album and the highest selling album in his career.[1]
Sharkmouth based on stories from Australia's Depression years and some of their colourful characters, like boxer Les Darcy, “gangsters” of the 1920s and '30s like Squizzy Taylor and, from the '40s, Arthur Stace and horse Phar Lap.
A Making of Sharkmouth DVD was released on 15 November 2013. [2]
Background
In a 2013 interview with The Music AU, Morris said; “I originally did four tracks, "Blackdog Blues", "Ballad of Les Darcy", "Big Red" and "Sharkmouth" – and I thought I'd see if anyone was interested. We did the rounds and went to all the record companies, and all of them said no." Morris continued with the recording and went back offering not only the album but also the publishing on the album and my old publishing, on songs like "Wings of an Eagle" and "Sweet, Sweet Love", but they still declined to release it. Morris pressed 500 copied of the album and began performing it at gigs when Robert Rigby from Ambition Entertainment said he'd release it under the FanFar label.[3]
The project was created after Russell had read about a 1920's Gangster from Sydney, Shark Jaws. This was the driving force behind a want to create an album including Australian characters from the 1920/30's era. Mitch Cairns, explains: "To our knowledge, most "Australiana" characters have been portrayed in a traditional colonial folk sense, so we wanted to find a way to deliver the stories in a more mainstream vein whilst still placing them in a "vintage era". A blues style seemed to be the perfect fit!! We tried to keep the vibe of the album raw and honest with lots of textural instru-ments and sounds, but above all, it had to be simple and spacious. We are also very honoured to have some very special guests on the album, including Troy Cassar-Daley, Mark Lizotte and Renée Geyer." The album Sharkmouth has stories about Australian characters which are all moulded together in a melt-ing pot of swinging shuffles and delta grooves![4]
Accolades
At the ARIA Music Awards of 2013, the album was nominated for and won ARIA Award for Best Blues and Roots Album. [5][6]
Track listing
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| 1. | "Black Dog Blues" | Morris, Jim Keays | 3:33 |
| 2. | "The Big House" | Morris | 2:44 |
| 3. | "The Ballard of Les Darcy" | Morris, Garry Paige | 3:57 |
| 4. | "'Bout to Break" | Morris, Mitch Cairns | 4:13 |
| 5. | "Sharkmouth" | Morris, Paige | 4:00 |
| 6. | "Walk My Blues" | Morris, Paige | 2:43 |
| 7. | "The Drifter" (featuring Renée Geyer) | Morris, Paige | 4:14 |
| 8. | "Squizzy" | Morris | 3:51 |
| 9. | "The Bridge" | Morris, Alan Howe | 3:06 |
| 10. | "Money Dont Grow on Trees" | Morris | 3:54 |
| 11. | "Big Red" | Morris, Paige | 3:33 |
| 12. | "Mr Eternity" | Morris, Cairns | 4:24 |
| Total length: | 44:07 |
Personnel
- Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Resonator Guitar [Dobro] – Shannon Bourne
- Artwork By – Adam Miller
- Backing Vocals – Jerson Trinidad (tracks: 10), Steve Romig (tracks: 2, 4, 9, 10, 12)
- Banjo, Cello – Mark Lizotte (tracks: 8)
- Bass – Mitch Cairns
- Drums – Adrian Violi
- Electric Guitar [Solo] – Troy Cassar-Daley (tracks: 10)
- Harmonica – Chris Wilson (tracks: 7, 10, 12)
- Mastered By – John Ruberto
- Mixed By – David Carr
- Piano, Organ – James Black (tracks: 2, 9)
- Producer – Mitch Cairns
- Recorded By, Engineer – Mitch Cairns
- Vocals – Renée Geyer (tracks: 7), Russell Morris
Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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Certifications
Release history
References
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| Studio albums | |
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