Song for Winter (Spring, Summer & Autumn too!)

North wind rolling down my friends are leaving town
I know they’re waiting just for me
One more summer gone and one more winter song
And one more time I tried to leave

Wintersong (Quill/Tolhurst/Dubois)

Country Radio’s follow up single to Gypsy Queen was the brilliant avant-garde Wintersong. Another co-write by Greg Quill and Kerryn Tolhurst, following on from their successful single Gypsy Queen. There was another writing credit included by Greg on Wintersong that of John (DuBois) Bois for his amazing bass lick. Sadly, the endorsement for some inexplicable reason doesn’t appear on the single – it does on the album. Kerryn had crafted the intro and he and Greg worked collaboratively (in conjunction with band members) on developing the rest of the tune. The lyrics were Greg’s except for a few added by Kerryn.

The success of this song is measured by the intricate sum of its parts. Some of those integral interwoven parts (see what I did there) are (in no particular order); Tony’s dramatic drum fill leads into the first chorus and the la las, John’s driving euphonic bass riff in the intro and throughout, Kerryn’s floating lap steel (intro and throughout) and exquisite mandolin, Chris’ pure sweet harp, Greg’s emotive vocal and lyric, the band’s harmonies on two lines of each verse and the smooth groove of the MSO strings that filter in during a fill in the second verse (which replaced Birdies’ keys). I couldn’t hear any keys on the single. Let’s not forget Greg’s folk finger picking style that helped formulate Wintersong.

Gypsy Queen had been Kerryn’s first venture into the art of writing songs after learning the mandolin and developing the chord progression on the way to auditioning for the band. Kerryn informed HRR that he wouldn’t have been a songwriter if it wasn’t for Greg. Greg had taught him the mechanics of songwriting – structure, lyrical content and imagery. Greg was penning songs predominantly on the theme of leaving and using Northern Hemisphere imagery, as witnessed in Gypsy Queen – Goin’ home ain’t quite as fine as leavin’ and dreaming of it in Wintersong – like the snowbirds fly. It was this imagery and lyrical content that provided Kerryn with the catalyst for developing the songs of the Dingoes and leaving Country Radio after a year and a half. Greg’s desire for the band to migrate to Canada also hastened Kerryn’s departure.

Although Australia hadn’t the extensive history and poetic past of overseas, we did have a rich history unique to our continent and the rhythmical verse of bush balladeers Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson. Kerryn’s objective with the Dingoes tunes was not to hit you over the head with nationalistic jingoism, but to subtly acknowledge the Australian way of living. Kerryn’s first kit and caboodle tune (music and lyrics) was Aaron for The Dingoes followed by Way Out West (based on a friend’s trip to the Kimberleys). I have to say Pay Day Again (his third sole write from the Dingoes first album) – So it’s back to the cattle and the dust and the plains, is my favourite Dingoes (Tolhurst) song in instilling this evocation.

Ross Wilson (Mr. Eagle Rock) may have been impressed with the inclusion of the la la las, although he was more of a na na na man. Ross reckons it’s a sure writing contrivance for a hit record. Interestingly (but not very funny), Kerryn incorporated both (primarily la las) on his classic hit with The Dingoes’ Way Out West. Madder Lake’s iconic 12lb Toothbrush, of the same vintage as Wintersong, had the na nas and Elton John’s Crocodile Rock, also of the same era, contained the la las. One of the best na nas of course is the Beatles Hey Jude and even earlier was Wilson Pickett’s Land of a Thousand Dances. My recall for using la las was Mum’s sage advice to sing la la for the lyrics you fail to recall. The la las along with the percussion of empty beer cans and clapping provided a wonderful inclusion for the punters. With thirty thousand at Sunbury ’73 this made for amazing optics and ambience.

Readers would be aware I’m not big on chart success for judging the worth of a song. To use tautology, a good song is a good song, but you do need to have the opportunity of the experience. However the tunes passage in the charts is somewhat interesting, which I’ll address shortly. Wintersong and Country Radio (who for all sense and purpose was a Sydney Band) had gang buster success in Melbourne town, which was achieved on the back of their incredible sunset set on day one of Sunbury ’73.

Perhaps on the face of it Wintersong was not radio friendly due to the length of the song 5:20 minutes. Although Kerryn and the band weren’t concerned as it had a long fade out. You wouldn’t want to fade the la las out – just saying. Maybe, if it was an issue for airplay, they could’ve confused the jocks of the day by having an incorrect time stamping on the label displaying a shorter duration, like Gypsy Queen. It was stamped as 3:20, but spinning the disc would see it run for 3:50! The only catch might have been if it was spun before the news.

Wintersong was released in December 1972 – I have seen it claimed on the 25th. This was not lifted from the live album, but recorded in the TCS studio and engineered by John ‘Frenchy’ French with the MSO (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra) adding strings. Having blown the budget on their previous single Gypsy Queen (the flip tune Radio Rag was concocted in ten minutes on the spot), they did it again with Wintersong (probably engaging the MSO). So with limited studio time available and the high cost of recording at TCS, the flip side Observations from a Second Story Window was ripped from the album. The album itself had reduced expenses by being recorded live at the studio in front of selected friends.

Melbourne radio station 3UZ was first on board Country Radio’s newest drop, shortly followed by 3XY (Three Eggs Why). Wintersong entered the 3UZ top forty on Friday January 19, 1973 and would reside there for two and a half months. The tune rose to number twenty five on the 25th of February, then slipped quickly back to thirty four, before having a resurgence attaining its peak of twenty four on the 16th March. For some inescapable reason Wintersong infiltrated the Go Set National Charts at thirty seven for one week only on the 7th April. This was a good two weeks after it had exited the 3UZ charts! How? I cannot comprehend. As far as I could see the tune never entered the Sydney Charts. Their loss our gain.

There was talk of an edited version of the song out there, but the only one I know of was the three and a half minute version on K Tel’s 20 Happening Hits Volume 3. The title was butchered into two words Winter Song as was the tune cutting out the delightful instrumentals after the chorus. How dare they! In fact we don’t hear Chris’ brilliant harp until the 2:50 mark! Sacrilege! To shave two minutes off the song, a chorus was also dropped with the la las fading out quite a bit earlier. Whether this had airplay I cannot say. One would hope not.

I seem to have a predilection for tunes that are not an artists biggest hit – one example Chain’s Judgement rather than their huge hit Black And Blue. Wintersong for the author musically contained all the elements essential for sublime acoustic enchantment and in my humble opinion was more masterful than Gypsy Queen. So in closing, let’s raise our glasses to the genius of Greg, Kerryn and the band – pioneers of Oz Alt Country. I’ll raise another one for Chris, a master of the upper octave extension and the inspiration for my lick on Benoit’s Someday I’ll Find My Way.

And for your aural pleasure I’ve provide audio to what would be Chris Blanchflower’s last recorded harp (with Kerryn) shortly before his untimely passing.

WINTERSONG (Greg Quill / Kerryn Tolhurst / John Bois)

North winds rollin down
My friends are leavin town
I know they're waitin just for me
One more summer gone
One more wintersong
One more time I tried to leave
Maybe it's the lonesome way 
You turn your head and smile
Each time the snow begins to fall
Maybe it's the fact
That you're around me all the time 
That keeps me goin' through it all
If I could make you see
I'm not the man you need
I just don't make the stayin kind
Then like the snowbirds fly
We'd go my songs and I
Instead of stayin one more time

Wintersong (Quill-Tolhurst-Bois/Cellar Music).
Produced by John French, TCS Studios Melbourne, 1972. String and cor’ anglais arrangements by Peter Jones. Single. (5:20)

Song Key: G. Chords: G, C Am & Em Mouth Harp: C (2nd Position – Cross)

Country Radio (classic line up):

Greg Quill (vocals, guitar), Kerryn Tolhurst (guitar, dobro, slide guitar, mandolin), Chris Blanchflower (aka Chris Anderson) (harmonica), John A. Bird (piano), Tony Bolton (drums), John Bois (bass)

LINKS

Harmonica Riff Raff – articles: Crystal Captured Chris, Fleetwood Plain, Dingoradio, Way Out West, Before Sunbury

Harmonica Riff Raff – interview audio: Fleetwood Plain, Kerryn Tolhurst, Greg Quill Tribute, Chris Blanchflower Country Radio Style

Music: Wintersong Single, Gypsy Queen, Observations From A Second Story Window, Pay Day Again, Way Out West, 12lb Toothbrush, Someday I’ll find my way

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