The Wrong Tram
Liner Notes
Music is a powerful thing. The joy it continues to give, from my early childhood, has never waned. These fourteen represent a large slice of my personal history. When I think about it, this album is quite a mixed bag. From my early working life, through to fatherhood; now grand fatherhood. Most of these songs are new, however, there a number that are not. In fact, they appeared on my very first LP (1985) NT Road. I’ve not been able to let them go, possibly because I’ve invested too much emotional energy in them. In their re-recording, I’d like to think I’ve given them new life, in the hope that they’ll connect with a new and younger audience. I just felt they deserved another outing.
I know where and when all these songs were born. My working songs come from personal experience of being there, tasting the air feeling, the exhaustion, and downing a beer at days end. But others have simply appeared, seemingly dragged up from the deep corridors of the mind to a moment when subconsciously, they’ve appeared on the page. Conversations that strike a chord can be fleeting, so I’ve always carried a pen. These days the voice recorder on my phone is invaluable. When the moons are aligned, they may see the light of day. Such is the life of a songwriter.
I could not be any happier with the outcome of this production. My good friend and Co-Producer, Ross Muir and I have collaborated and worked on this recording for more years than I care to mention. Ross is a patience man with a discerning musical ear. He convinced me on the odd occasion that some of my musings needed massaging and realignment, to their betterment. To agree to all this, you need trust. I don’t know where to start on how to thank him. It’s been a quite a journey, one that we’ve both enjoyed and will proudly share in whatever the outcome, as these songs take wing.
The Front Cover
The cover image of this album could not be denied. It was taken from the steps of Parliament House, Melbourne in August of 1971. My lifelong schoolmate, Andrew Cooke was beside me; we were 14 years old and budding photographers. Father’s Day was looming, so we caught the train into the city to buy presents for our dads. A tram is turning left out of Bourke Street into Spring Street. The Westgate Bridge can be seen on the distant horizon. It partially collapsed in October of the previous year with the loss of thirty-five lives. A day I will never forget. The Salvation Army City Temple can be seen on the left-hand side of Bourke Street. It sets the scene for the title track.
Sunday morning, at the Army’s Mission, he joins his mates singing strong.
But Monday morning down Flinders Street, as you rush to work, he shuffles along.
The Songs
1. Back in the 90s and entertaining in the tourism arena, I had the pleasure of working with the then Alice Springs based comedian, Fiona O’Loughlin. I have a number of hilarious memories when working with Fiona. Queen Fee, as she is now known, inspired me to pen this song Laughter In the Air, after I read her first book, ‘ Me of The Never Never.’ We all need a good laugh to help us get through the tough days. As Fiona states, ‘Laughter is the Fuel of Life.’ Too True Queen Fee.
Barry Skipsey - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
The Chanfloozies: - Harmonies
Steve Kidd, Kristina Kidd, Miriam Nichols
Michelle Fleming, Michelle Koerner
Jamie Balfour - Harmonies
Glenyss Rae - Violin, Mandolin
Ross Muir - Bass Guitar
Anders Pfeiffer - Cajon
2. I find myself referring to this next track, Home, as being my ‘Empty Nest Syndrome’ song. Prior to the event, had you asked me, “When your kids eventually leave home, do you think you’ll be suffering from that particular syndrome”? “Hell No”, I would’ve fired back. So, when I perform this song, I will often ask my audience, you be the judge. Would I be alone? Perhaps not.
Barry Skipsey - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Glenyss Rae - Accordion & Violin
Luiz Gubeissi - Upright Bass
3. If you’ve been lucky enough to spend any length of time travelling overseas, you’ll appreciate what it feels like to return home. We Australians are a resilient mob and this shared, Great Southern Land is unique in so many ways. With mates by our side, long may we continue to have the grit, support and optimism to greet whatever comes our way, good or bad.
Barry Skipsey - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Glenyss Rae - Violin
Broderick Smith - Harmonica
Luiz Gubeissi - Upright Bass
4. As a teenager, on my way to work in the city, I’d often see the wino’s sitting in shadows and the alleyways, clutching their brown paper bags. There must be someone ? I naively thought, a brother, a sister, a family member who knows of their predicament, their situation ? In the bustling city of Melbourne, at some stage in their lives, somewhere along the way, sadly, they’ve managed to hail and hop on board of The Wrong Tram.
Barry Skipsey - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Glenyss Rae - Violin, Piano Accordion
Ross Muir - Bass Guitar
5. Travelling long distances interstate with young kids in the car can be a memorable, experience, “are we there yet”? “I wanna wee”! With our three kids growing up in Alice Springs, it was rare for our extended family members to visit us from down south. So, on a regular basis, we’d scream on down the Stuart Highway in the family station wagon, on yet another Relly Run. After six weeks away on one such trip at Christmas time, I arrived home completely wrung out and penned this song.
Barry Skipsey - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Kate West - Harmonies
Jessie May - Violin
Anders Pfeiffer - Cajon, Banjo
Ross Muir - Bass Guitar
6. My good friend Peter Bugden wrote the lyrics to this song Missing. Back in the mid- 90s he asked whether I could put a tune to his moving family story. It’s been stored away, until now. Peter writes:
My Grandfather, Walter Thomas Bugden, volunteered for WW1 in 1915. On the second day of the first Battle of the Somme he was posted as ‘Missing in Action’. After the war, my grandmother, Elizabeth had still not received news that he was dead and posted an article in the East Kent Times asking for any news from his ‘Pals’ as to if? and where he fell? She never accepted that he was dead and would not leave home overnight in case he came home. We’ve since found out that he was, in fact killed on that day and is buried in Ovillers Military Cemetery in Albert, Somme, France. PB.
Barry Skipsey - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Xavia Nou - Cello
7. It’s funny how often the emotion of being by the sea, appears in my songs. Especially given that I’ve lived in Central Australia for more than four decades. I can only assume it’s a legacy of being born on an island, King Island, in the middle of Bass Strait. Deep In the Night is one such song, another love song. Soaring over the waves and up into the sun.
Barry Skipsey - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Kate West - Harmonies
Ross Muir - Bass Guitar
Jessie May - Violin
8. I’ve written several humorous songs about my time working on the ocean waves as a deckhand on a Prawn Trawler. But there was always a gut feeling that I had it in me to write something that could truly convey the life of a fisherman. Man Of the Sea appeared on the page many years after the event. I recall it was a cold and wet day and a long way from the sea, at home in Alice Springs. I dedicate this song to all those who make a living on the rolling sea. In my plans to rerecord this song, I heard the haunting sounds of the Uilleann Pipes. It took a number of years to find a player of this evocative instrument, willing to give it a go. Thank you, Matthew.
Barry Skipsey - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Glenyss Rae - Violin
Lyndal Chambers - Button Accordion
Matthew Horsley - Uilleann Pipes
9. The phrase, Good Heavens Above, was one that my father would often come out with. As a kid, around the kitchen table, along with my siblings, we took turns to explain the day’s events at school . “Good Heavens Above,” he’d say, “really?” Is it not funny how we remember these simple things ? Sixty years later, it would end up as the title to another love song.
Barry Skipsey - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Glenyss Rae - Fiddle, Mandolin
Ross Muir - Bass Guitar
Joey Klarenbeek - Brushes
10. For years, our big old home in Alice Springs, with its many Rooms and wide corridors, always seemed to be full of comings and goings. There was a great deal of activity and laughter when the kids had their friends over. One by one, they grew wings and flew the coop, that’s life. Walking into these rooms today will often trigger a memory, taking me down a road of melancholy.
Barry Skipsey - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Darcy Davis - Grand Piano
Harshini Bartlett - Cello
11. The year was 1977, and as an adventurous twenty-year-old, I found myself working as a roustabout for the then Grazcos Shearing Co-operative. At one shed, out of Skipton in Western Victoria, I worked on the sorting table with a bloke by the name of Wally. He’d spent most of his life in the shearing game and even though he described himself as a Burnt-Out Shearer, he could not give the game away. It was an honour to work with him. This is Wally’s story.
Barry Skipsey - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Yarn Wositzky - Harmonica, Banjo
Glenyss Rae - Accordion
Ross Muir- Bass Guitar
12. This song, Me is my attempt at addressing a long-held annoyance at the theft of childhood. It should be a crime. Child’s play are important and formative years, however, peer pressure and media marketing, all too often, will curtail the innocence of child’s play, girls in particular. Leave them to their own imaginations, I say. We should all be happy and free to be who we are. Teach them independence, yes, but allow them to be kids for as long as they themselves, want to be kids.
Barry Skipsey - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Katie Harder - Vocal Harmonies
Glenyss Rae - Violin
Lyndal Chambers - Button Accordion
Bill Peachie - Dobro Guitar
Ross Muir - Bass Guitar, Mandolin
Joey Klarenbeek - Brushes
13. The Foam Street Taxi is loosely based on fact, but it’s more of a whimsical memory from young boy growing up in Aspendale, in Melbourne’s Bayside. Long before ride sharing, there was a thing called a Taxi. Back in the era that this was written about, ( the 70s ) Taxis were predominantly Black Valiant Regals. Most of these appeared to be driven by New Australians with limited English. And I have a confession, to this day, I still love my Twisties; cannot go to the movies without them.
Barry Skipsey - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Anders Pfeiffer - Cajon, Banjo
Svetlana Bunic - Piano Accordion
Ross Muir - Bass Guitar
14. Born of humble beginnings, Oceanliner was written on the deck of a 69-foot Prawn Trawler in 1979. I was 22 at the time, working as a deckhand for MG Kailis, in Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia. I remain proud and truly amazed at its evolution into a Sea Shanty that is now performed by dozens of Shanty Choirs around the Globe. Sadly, I disappointed my mother; I’m afraid I was never destined to be a tap dancer!
Barry Skipsey - Vocals
The Shavings Choir: - Vocal Harmonies
Bill Davis, Chris O’Loughlin, Jamie Balfour, Mark Hussey, Ross Muir, Angus Duguid
Adam Gooderham, Rod Moss, Chris Shilton, Rowan Churches, Henry Smith and
Keith Castle.
Ross Muir - Acoustic Guitar
Tony Suttor - Accordion
Glenyss Rae - Accordion