1968–1969: Formation Tully were formed in Sydney in September 1968 with the original lineup of John Blake on bass guitar, Michael Carlos on keyboards, Richard Lockwood on saxophone, flute, clarinet and piano and Robert Taylor on drums. They built up a following on the local "underground scene" and later on Melbourne's concert circuit. Tully's members were accomplished multi-instrumentalists with years of experience and their musical breadth quickly earned them a reputation as an adventurous and polished concert band. Taylor was a child prodigy, who won best drummer in Western Australia three years in a row from the age of 11. Tully's progressive rock music combined various influences:
pop,
rhythm & blues,
soul, modern
jazz,
classical music,
folk/world music,
psychedelic rock and
acid rock. Tully played mostly original compositions, with improvisation a key performance feature. It was created by former ABC current affairs producer Bill Munro.
Fusions used lighting designed by UBU's Aggy Read for two episodes. ''
The Australian Women's Weekly''s Nan Musgrove observed, "for everyone who likes good music, but as good as the music is, it is not good TV... Pop-music combos, hairy or not, are not good visual subjects. They are splendid radio, bad TV." Tully line-up of Blake, Carlos, Lockwood, Taylor and Wilson were augmented by Mick Barnes on guitar, Keith Stirling on trumpet, Fred Payne on trumpet and
John Sangster on percussion. Tully vocalist Terry Wilson joined the cast of the show and sang the featured number "Aquarius". Tully stayed with the production until early 1970 (when they were replaced by Luke's Walnut). They were recorded on the soundtrack album,
Hair - An American Tribal (Australian Cast Recording) (late 1969) via
Spin Records – it was produced by Miller and credited to Tully featuring +4. The soundtrack peaked at No. 3 on the
Kent Music Report albums chart and was certified a gold record. Tully headlined a concert at Sydney Town Hall, supported by John Sangster Quintet and by
the Executives. Late in 1969 Blake was replaced on bass guitar by Graeme Conlan (ex-the Second Thoughts, White Wine), who was replaced in turn by Murray Wilkins, until Ken Firth was recruited in 1970. According to
Rennie Ellis: In January 1970 Tully appeared at Australia's first outdoor rock festival, the Pilgrimage for Pop, at
Ourimbah,
Central Coast, NSW over the
Australia Day long weekend. On 14 February the group performed with the
Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) at the final 1970 Sydney Proms concert. This included the world premiere of
Peter Sculthorpe's work
Love 200, for orchestra and rock band, with words by
Tony Morphett. It was performed by the SSO, augmented by Tully and singer
Jeannie Lewis, conducted by John Hopkins, with light show by Fogg. A studio performance was recorded by the ABC. Wilson also worked as a member of Jeannie Lewis' Gyspy Train during 1970. Tully signed with the Australian division of
EMI and their self-titled debut album,
Tully, was released on the EMI's Columbia label in July 1970. and No. 9 on the
Kent Music Report albums chart. Extradition members Colin Campbell on guitar and Shayna (Karlin) Stewart on vocals joined Tully in early 1971. Taylor was not replaced and the group continued without a drummer. Campbell subsequently wrote or co-wrote considerable material for the group. In 1971 Tully shifted to EMI's new progressive label
Harvest, and released their only single, "Krishna Came" / "Lord Baba" (May 1971). This was followed in June by their second LP
Sea of Joy, which was also the soundtrack to the surf film of the same name by Paul Witzig. Before it was issued Carlos quit the band to rejoin Levi Smith's Clefs. Tully continued without him for several months before finally splitting in early 1972. Tully had recorded enough material for EMI to curate a third album,
Loving Is Hard (May 1972). which explored similar musical territory to Roy Wood's
Electric Light Orchestra, mixing rock and classical instrumentation. The lineup included guitarist Dave Kain (ex-Dr Kandy's Third Eye), jazz pianist
Bobby Gebert, bassist
Ian Rilen (later of
Blackfeather,
Rose Tattoo and X) and cellist Adrian Falk. Lockwood had occasionally played with Tamam Shud and joined them full-time when Tully split.
1976–1978: Reformation In 1976 Robert Taylor formed a new group with guitarist Andrew "Frizby" Thursby-Pelham (ex-Berlin ( Perth, 1975)), and bass guitarist John "Bass" Walton (ex - Graphic). Taylor named them Tully, which performed mainly original rock-fusion tracks written by Thursby-Pelham, but also covered
Mahavishnu Orchestra and
Jeff Beck material. Bill Tahana provided vocals during 1977. This version of Tully gained popularity in Western Australia, performing at
Perth's Daly's Court, The Sandgroper and the City Hotel. From 1976 to 1978 Tully appeared at the annual
Parkerville Amphitheatre weekend festivals. In 1977 the secretary of the Musicians Union, Harry Bluck, had the band headline a televised rally for youth unemployment at the Perth Supreme Court Gardens. Bluck encouraged the members to start a self-help group to deal with social problems prevalent in the contemporary music community. In 1978 John Walton became chronically ill and was unable to continue with the band. A suitable replacement was not found and Tully disbanded.
1978-present: After Tully John Blake was a member of the Original Battersea Heroes and in 1985 he rejoined Levi Smith's Clefs. Michael Carlos rejoined Levi Smiths Clefs in 1972, before moving into session work and arranging, contributing to albums by
Jon English,
Jeannie Lewis and
Ross Ryan (to which Shayna Stewart and Ken Firth also contributed). In 1972 he was appointed musical director for the Australian theatrical production of
Jesus Christ Superstar. He was the leader of the Baxter Funt Orchestra alongside
Reg Livermore. Carlos arranged and conducted music for Livermore's one-man shows. In the late 1970s Carlos helped develop the
Fairlight CMI –, the world's first commercially produced
digital synthesiser. Ken Firth worked in several bands with Barrie McAskill in 1972, including McAskill, Murphy, Maloney & Firth, and another version of Levi Smith's Clefs. He was a member of the
Stevie Wright Band (1972–74),
The Ferrets (1974–78), the
Richard Clapton Band (1975), Billy Miller's Great Blokes, Buster Brown (1976) and
Divinyls (1982). Richard Lockwood joined a later lineup of Tamam Shud (1971–1972) and then followed Lindsay Bjerre into his next band Albatross (1972–1973). Lockwood died in September 2012 after being diagnosed with cancer several years earlier. Prior to his death, Lockwood oversaw preparations for the reissue of Tully's original recordings on CD. Terry Wilson moved on to Space (1971), Lepers Abandon, Original Battersea Heroes (aka Heroes) (1973), Slack Band, Leroy's Layabouts (1975), Doyle Wilson Band (1975), Wasted Daze (1976–79) and the Magnetics (1983). Shayna Stewart joined the cast of
Jesus Christ Superstar (1972) and performed on the related original Australian cast soundtrack LP. Stewart also contributed to
Jon English's debut album,
Wine Dark Sea (1973). == Members ==