"Black and Blue" is a 1971

1971 in music

-Events:*February 1 – after months of feuding in the press, Ginger Baker and Elvin Jones hold a "drum battle" at The Lyceum.*February 8 – Bob Dylan's hour-long documentary film, Eat the Document, is premièred at New York's Academy of Music...

 song by Chain

Chain (band)

Chain are an Australian blues band formed in Melbourne as The Chain in late 1968 with a lineup including guitarist, vocalist Phil Manning; they are sometimes known as Matt Taylor's Chain after lead singer-songwriter and harmonica player, Matt Taylor...

 which is said to be "genuine Australian blues". It is a song about a chain gang

Chain gang

A chain gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work, such as mining or timber collecting, as a form of punishment. Such punishment might include building roads, digging ditches or chipping stone...

 from Australia's convict

Convict

A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison", sometimes referred to in slang as simply a "con". Convicts are often called prisoners or inmates. Persons convicted and sentenced to non-custodial sentences often are not termed...

 past, and it struck a raw chord with young suburban audiences, to the extent that it reached #1 on the Australian charts. The song was written by the four members of Chain at the time (the classic Chain line up); Matt Taylor

Matt Taylor (musician)

Matt Taylor is an Australian blues musician. He is best known for his work with long-lasting blues band Chain and for the hit song "I Remember When I Was Young".-Biography:...

, Phil Manning

Phil Manning (musician)

Philip John "Phil" Manning is an Australian blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. Manning has been a member of various groups including Chain and has had a solo career. As a member of Chain, Manning co-wrote their January 1971 single "Black and Blue", which became their only top 20 hit...

, Barry Sullivan & Barry Harvey.

"Black and Blue" features on the double gold certified album Toward The Blues

Toward the Blues

Toward the Blues is a studio album by Australian blues band Chain. The album reached #6 on Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart. In October 2010, it was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums.-Track listing:# Black and Blue...

 which was released in September 1971 and went to #6 nationally in Australia. The album reached ARIA gold status for the 2nd time in 1998. Also available in CD format and the 30th anniversary "remixed" version of the album was released as a CD in September 2001. The 30th anniversary CD included 3 bonus songs; Chain's number 2 hit single "Judgement", "Blow in D", and the single version of "Black and Blue". Chain appeared at a special night to mark the 30th anniversary of the release of "Toward the Blues" held in Melbourne at the Mercury Lounge

Mercury Lounge

The Mercury Lounge is a club/music venue, in the Lower East Side section, of New York City. The structure, at 217 East Houston Street, housed the servants to the Astor Mansion, connected to it by an underground labyrinth of tunnels...

during September 2001.