The Black Sorrows are an Australian band founded by Joe Camilleri

Joe Camilleri

Joseph Vincent "Joe" Camilleri, aka Jo Jo Zep or Joey Vincent, is an Australian vocalist, songwriter and saxophonist. Camilleri has recorded as a solo artist and as a member of Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons and The Black Sorrows...

, the group's only constant member. Founded in 1983, The Black Sorrows are still active today, and are best remembered for their top 40 Australian hits of the late 1980s and early 1990s, including "Hold On To Me", "Chained To The Wheel", "Harley and Rose" and "Snake Skin Shoes".

Formation and early years: 1983-85

Beginning as a loose Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 pick-up band playing mostly covers of R&B, zydeco and blues songs, The Black Sorrows eventually evolved into a unit that scored several top 40 Australian hits with original material. In the beginning, though, The Black Sorrows were simply a way for singer Joe Camilleri to play some fun, low-pressure gigs after the dissolution of Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons

Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons

Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons were an Australian blues and rock music band which featured singer, songwriter and saxophonist, Joe Camilleri . The band was active in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and had several Australian chart hits, including "Hit and Run", "Shape I'm In" and "All I Wanna Do"...

. From 1983-1988, Camilleri adopted the pseudonym 'Joey Vincent' for his performances with the band.

Membership in the band has always been loose and fluid. Most of The Falcons were (at one point or another) members of The Black Sorrows; several dozen other Australian vocalists and musicians have drifted in and out of the line-up over the years, with Camilleri being the only constant.

The early line-up (c. 1983/84) included 'Joey Vincent' (i.e. Camilleri) on vocals and sax, Paul Williamson (sax/clarinet), Jeff Burstin (guitar), Wayne Burt (guitar), Wayne Duncan (bass), Gary Young (drums), George Butrumlis (accordion, piano) and Steve McTaggart (violin). Camilleri, Burstin, Burt and Young had all been members of Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons. The Black Sorrows first two albums were recorded live off-the-floor, and consisted almost entirely of R&B cover songs by the likes of Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry

Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...

, Fats Domino

Fats Domino

Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....

, Arthur Alexander

Arthur Alexander

Arthur Alexander was an American country soul singer. Jason Ankeny, music critic for Allmusic, said Alexander was a "country-soul pioneer" and though largely unknown, "his music is the stuff of genius, a poignant and deeply intimate body of work on par with the best of his...

, Don Covay

Don Covay

Don Covay is an American R&B/rock and roll/soul music singer and songwriter most active in the 1950s and 1960s, who received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1994...

 and John Lee Hooker

John Lee Hooker

John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...

.

The 'classic' era: 1986-1993

By the time of their first top 20 album, 1986's Dear Children, the Black Sorrows were playing original material and the official line up was Camilleri, Burstin, Nick Smith (lyrics/backing vocals), Johnny Charles (bass) and Peter Luscombe (drums). However, 15 musicians actually played on the Dear Children album, including Butrumlis, vocalists Venetta Fields

Venetta Fields

Venetta Fields is an American singer best known as session musician for leading rock and pop acts of the 1970s including Pink Floyd, Barbra Streisand, Steely Dan and the Rolling Stones...

 and Shirley Matthews

Shirley Matthews

Shirley Matthews was a Canadian pop singer born in Harrow, Ontario.Matthews sang in a church choir and at high school dances prior to embarking on a career in music. She worked in a Bell Telephone office while singing nights at the Club Bluenote in Toronto. Her debut single, "Big Town Boy", was a...

, and keyboardist ick O'Connor] while first call Melbourne session Musicians John Barret (saxophone), Bob Venier (trumpet) and John Courtney (Trombone) completed the line up. In fact, despite whatever 'official' band membership configurations existed at any given time, The Black Sorrows often made extensive use of session musicians for both recordings and live shows throughout their career. Players at various times in the band's history who were never acknowledged as full members of The Black Sorrows include pianist Paul Grabowsky

Paul Grabowsky

-Biography:Grabowsky was born on 27 September 1958 in Lae, Papua New Guinea; his father Alistair had lived in Papua New Guinea with his wife Charlotte since the 1930s working on oil rigs, building roads, flying planes and playing the drums...

, slide guitarist Sam See, trumpeter Tony Norris, guitarists Kerryn Tolhurst

Kerryn Tolhurst

Kerryn Tolhurst is a noted Australian musician and songwriter who was based in the USA in the late 1970s and 1980s.His musical career began in Melbourne with the Adderly Smith Blues Band. He subsequently joined Sundown, led by Keith Glass, which was one of Australia's first country-rock groups...

 and Tony Faeshe, and many others.

For 1987's Hold on to Me, Smith left—though he continued writing lyrics for Black Sorrows songs for the following two decades. Returning to the official line-up was one-time Falcons guitarist Wayne Burt. Other changes were also made: Charles was replaced by Mick Girasole on bass (Girasole had actually played on several Dear Children tracks), and backing vocalists Vika and Linda

Vika and Linda

Vika and Linda Bull are a sister vocal duo who came to prominence after being asked to sing backing vocals in Joe Camilleri's band The Black Sorrows.-Biography:...

 Bull were added. The Bull Sisters readily identifiable singing style became a big part of The Black Sorrows' sound, and Hold on to Me spawned 3 top 40 hits in Australia ("Hold on to Me", "Chained to the Wheel" and "The Crack-Up").

For 1990's Harley & Rose, Jen Anderson was added on violin, and Richard Sega replaced Girasole on bass.

Beginning in the early 1990s, Camilleri also fronted The Revelators (originally The Delta Revelators). This band's line-up was practically identical to The Black Sorrows, the only real difference being that The Revelators returned to the early Sorrows roots of playing largely R&B-oriented cover songs. The Revelators released their first album in 1991.

Burt left the band again prior to the Black Sorrows 1992 album Better Times, and yet another new bassist was added in the person of Stephen Hadley, replacing Sega. Also added to the line-up were keyboard player James Black and percussionist Michael Barker. Finally, Laurie Polec took over as the band's primary lyricist, although Nick Smith would still contribute to this and future Black Sorrows releases.

After a further 1993 single from this line-up (a cover of Bob Marley

Bob Marley

Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...

's "Stir It Up"), Camilleri dissolved the band and set about creating a new version of The Black Sorrows.

New line-ups: 1994-1998

Camilleri retained only Hadley from the previous line-up for 1994's Lucky Charm. This album was recorded in New York, and although Camilleri was the only musician to be featured on every track, most of the album featured a band consisting of Camilleri (vocals, sax), Hadley (bass), Rob Burke (sax), Claude Carranza (guitar), Kerryn Tolhurst

Kerryn Tolhurst

Kerryn Tolhurst is a noted Australian musician and songwriter who was based in the USA in the late 1970s and 1980s.His musical career began in Melbourne with the Adderly Smith Blues Band. He subsequently joined Sundown, led by Keith Glass, which was one of Australia's first country-rock groups...

 (guitar, mandolin, keyboards), Andy York (guitars) and Steve Ferrone

Steve Ferrone

Steven "Steve" Ferrone is a British drummer.He was a member of the Average White Band, and has recorded and performed with numerous other high-profile acts, including Slash, Chaka Khan, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Scritti Politti...

 (drums). Lyrics for the album's songs were by James Griffin

James Griffin (songwriter)

James Griffin is an Australian songwriter, performer and broadcaster. His songs have been covered with hit songs by Australian recording artists such as The Black Sorrows and Lee Kernaghan.-External links:*...

, Nick Smith and Laurie Polec.

The next album, 1998's Beat Club, almost completely overhauled the line-up again, with Camilleri being joined by James Black, Tony Floyd, Stephen Hadley, Joe Creighton and Nick Heywood as the new official Black Sorrows. The album also made extensive use of guest musicians, including Wayne Burt, Jeff Burstin and Renee Geyer

Renée Geyer

Renée Rebecca Geyer is an Australian singer who has long been regarded as one of the finest exponents of jazz, soul and R&B idioms. She had commercial success as a solo artist in Australia, with "It's a Man's Man's World", "Heading in the Right Direction" and "Stares and Whispers" in the 1970s and...

. Somewhat more jazz-oriented in tone than previous Black Sorrows releases, the lead single "New Craze" was nominated for a 1998 ARIA award

ARIA Music Awards

The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Recording Industry Association...

 for most played jazz composition in Australia.

Camelleri founded another spin-off band called Bakelite Radio in the early 2000s, which temporarily supplanted his activity with The Black Sorrows. As is characteristic of Camillieri's projects, Bakelite Radio started out as a loosely organized covers band, with fairly fluid membership. In practice, Bakelite Radio is often (though not always) virtually identical to The Black Sorrows in terms of membership; only the repertoire differs somewhat.

Return from hiatus: 2004-2008

After a long period of inactivity, The Black Sorrows returned from hiatus and released an acoustic album (One Mo' Time) in 2004. The new line-up consisted entirely of returning vets: Camilleri, Hadley, Burstin, Black, and Floyd.

The band's follow-up album was Roarin Town, released in October 2006. For this release, The Black Sorrows were Camilleri, Hadley, Black, Floyd, and the returning Carranza. Carranza and Black had also played with Camilleri in Bakelite Radio.

The 2006 touring line-up consisted of Joe Camilleri (lead vocals, sax), James Black (keyboards), Joe Creighton (bass), Claude Carranza (guitar), Tony Floyd (drums), Annette Roche (backing vocals), and Troy McMillan (backing vocals). When the band resumed touring in 2007, Roche and McMillan had left the group.

A one-time only gig in December, 2008, presented a Black Sorrows line-up that traversed several different editions of the band, and included Joe Camilleri (vocals/sax/guitar), George Butrumlis (accordion), Joe Creighton (bass), Claude Carranza (guitar), Ed Bates (pedal steel), Tony Floyd (drums), Vika Bull (vocals), Linda Bull (vocals), and Jen Anderson (violin).

Current activity: 2009-present

Camilleri continues to play Black Sorrows, Bakelite Radio and Revelators gigs with a revolving cast of musicians. As well, in late 2009 The Black Sorrows released a CD/DVD combo pack called 4 Days In Sing Sing (2009). The DVD chronicles the making of the album, which consists of 17 tracks recorded live (without an audience) in Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne. All the tracks were remakes of Black Sorrows and Bakelite Radio songs, and were played by the then-current line-up for both bands: Camilleri, Carranza, Creighton and Black.

The current Black Sorrows line-up consists of Camilleri, Carranza, Creighton, and returning drummer Tony Floyd, alongside new vocalist Atlanta Coogan who joined the band in 2010.

Singles

Release date	Title	Chart Positions
		Australia	New Zealand
June 1984	"What a Difference a Day Makes" (Grever/Adams)
March 1985	"Shape I'm In" (Cathy/Blackwell)
November 1985	"Sons of the Sea" (Camilleri/Smith)
March 1986	"Country Girls" (Camilleri/Smith)
April 1987	"Daughters of Glory" (Camilleri/Smith)	#48
June 1987	"Maybe Tomorrow" (Deville Willy DeVille Willy DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five year career, first with his band Mink DeVille and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary... )	#91
November 1987	"The Last Frontier" (Camilleri/Smith)
August 1988	"Hold on to Me" (Camilleri/Smith)	#24
October 1988	"The Chosen Ones" (Camilleri/Smith)	#80	#32
February 1989	"Chained to the Wheel Chained to the Wheel Chained to the Wheel is a popular song by Australian blues and rock band Black Sorrows. It was a big hit, peaking at 9 on the Aria Charts. It became the 50th highest selling single of the year... " (Camilleri/Smith)	#9	#42
April 1989	"The Crack Up" (Camilleri/Smith)	#40
August 1989	"Fire Down Below" (Camilleri/Smith)	#73
August 1990	"Harley and Rose" (Camilleri/Smith)	#24
November 1990	"Angel Street" (Camilleri/Smith)	#82
April 1991	"Never Let Me Go" (Camilleri/Smith)	#30
June 1991	"Hold It Up to the Mirror" (Camilleri/Smith)
May 1992	"Better Times" (Camilleri/Polec)	#79
July 1992	"Ain't Love the Strangest Thing" (Camilleri/Polec)	#46
February 1993	"Come On, Come On" (Camilleri/Polec)	#70
July 1993	"Sweet Inspiration" (Camilleri/Polec)
September 1993	"Stir It Up Stir It Up "Stir It Up" is a song composed by Bob Marley in 1967, written for his wife Rita, and first made popular by Johnny Nash. Nash's recording hit the top 15 in both Britain and America in 1972.... " (Marley)	#58	#20
July 1994	"Snake Skin Shoes" (Camilleri/Griffin)	#16
November 1994	"Last One Standing for Ya" (Camilleri/Griffin/Polec)	#46
February 1995	"Lucky Charm" (Camilleri/Smith)
August 1997	"New Craze" (Camilleri/Smith/Black)

Studio Albums

• Sonola (1984)
• Rockin' Zydeco (1985)
• A Place in the World (1986)
• Dear Children (1987)
• Hold on to Me (1988)
• Harley and Rose (1990)
• Better Times (1992)
• Lucky Charm (1994)
• Beat Club (1998)
• One Mo' Time (2004)
• Roarin' Town (2006)
• 4 Days In Sing Sing (2009, CD/DVD set)

Compilation Albums

• Greatest Hits (1994)
• The Great Black Sorrows (1994) 3 CD set
• The Essential Black Sorrows (2007)