Thanks to Dennis Wilson and Bob Daisley
The year 1970 was an important one in the development of the Australian progressive scene. It marked a period of transition. The 1960s had been the 'scream years' of Aussie music, with the image of the clean-cut 'pop idol' predominating above all else. The late-'60s saw bands like The Zoot, The Masters Apprentices, The Valentines and The Twilights vying for the frenzied attention of hordes of screaming girls.
As 1969 drew to a close, the musical climate changed overnight. The effect of Woodstock had been felt and the counter-culture was ascendant. The musical naivety of the '60s had been outgrown and the screaming simply faded. The way was open for serious musical pursuits; the Australian 'head' scene was beginning to burgeon forth and bands were engendered with a sense of where they could take their music, of stripping away old inhibitions, of exploring their roots in order to expand their horizons.
Sydney bands like Tamam Shud, Tully, Mecca, Levi Smith's Clefs and Jeff St. John & The Copperwine had already shown the way, with Kahvas Jute , Blackfeather, Pirana, Fraternity, Melissa, Buffalo and Galadriel emerging in their wake during 1970. The Melbourne 'head' scene already boasted Spectrum, Company Caine, the reconstituted Aztecs and Chain, with King Harvest, Healing Force, Sons of the Vegetal Mother, Daddy Cool and Carson forming by year's end. Way over in Perth the Bakery was similarly gathering steam. It was a vibrant time and the subsequent pub scene, alongside the festival/concert circuit, proved to be the bread and butter for all aspiring progressive bands.
It was only in such a positive musical climate that a band like Kahvas Jute could have existed. There was no hype to the band, just an unpretentious bunch of musicians capable of producing inventive and enduring music. Not only did the band earn a reputation as one of the best live bands of the period, they also released one of the great Aussie progressive psych albums in Wide Open. As the title suggests, Wide Open is a free-flowing, expansive blending of rock, jazz and blues, with a touch of patchouli-scented folk-rock thrown in for good measure. All up it's a hard-as-nails progressive blues rock extravaganza strong on rhythm and melody, and bristling with exceptional guitar interplay.
Musically, the album fits somewhere between the likes of Cream and Blodwyn Pig, with nods in the direction of Led Zeppelin, the Jeff Beck Group, Groundhogs, Bakerloo et al. It's a very English sound, but far from being a slavish copy of the overseas role-model the album bears a uniquely Australian flavour. The tightly structured songs and the superb guitar work of Dennis Wilson and Tim Gaze combine to place the record head-high in the progressive stakes. Furthermore the whole shebang is held together by the fuzzy, restlessly exploratory bass style of the great Bob Daisley and the muscular, yet agile drum patterns of Dannie Davidson. Stacked up against celebrated Vertigo label albums produced by UK bands like Clear Blue Sky, May Blitz, Gravy Train, Warhorse or Freedom, Wide Open comes out shining like a beacon.
Is it any wonder then that all these elements add up to make Wide Open one of the most sought-after artefacts from the entire Aussie progressive era, with original vinyl copies (when they do turn up on the market) selling for upwards of $600. Collector demand in Europe has now resulted in the album's release on CD, and having been taken from the original master tapes sonically the CD version sounds better than ever.
The beginnings of Kahvas Jute start with an innovative late-'60s Sydney band called Mecca, which itself grew out of the ashes of Barrington Davis & the Powerpact. The constant factors in these three bands were guitarist Dennis Wilson and bassist Bob Daisley. Wilson spent his teenage years playing the Sydney suburban dance scene with semi-pro outfits like The Hi-Lites, R&B band The Riddles and pop band Kevin Bible & The Book. By 1967 Wilson had linked up with singer Barrington Davis and drummer Brian Boness as Barrington Davis & the Powerpact.
Meanwhile Bob Daisley had been playing with beat group Denis Williams & the Delawares and then The Throb when he met 18 year old Dennis Wilson in 1968. Daisley duly signed up with The Powerpact, but by the end of the year the band had transformed into Mecca. Barrington Davis was a ballad singer at heart and soon vacated the frontman role, later travelling to England. Mecca continued on as a three-piece into 1969 and, under the influence of classic outfits like Cream and Jimi Hendrix Experience, emerged as one of Australia's first heavy duty power trios. The band gigged regularly, with Wilson earning a cultish following as a burgeoning guitar hero.
In late-1969 Clive Coulson joined Mecca as lead singer. Coulson had fronted a band in New Zealand called Dark Ages before travelling the world as Road Manager for the likes of The Pretty Things, The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin. This version of Mecca cut a single for Festival Records, 'Black Sally' b/w 'Side Show Man' which was issued in March 1970. Both tracks had been written by Wilson, 'Black Sally' in particular being an excellent hard rock tune. Despite the somewhat shallow production quality, Wilson weights in with a crushing performance on the central guitar riff. New Zealand progressive trio Human Instinct later covered the song on their Stoned Guitar album, giving it a heavier more majestic treatment.
Not long after the single's release, Coulson received a beckoning call from Jimmy Page to rejoin Led Zeppelin for a European tour. Subsequently (May 1970), Wilson and Daisley teamed up with ex-Tamam Shud members Dannie Davidson (drums) and Tim Gaze (guitar) in a new venture they dubbed Kahvas Jute. (Historical note: the word Kahvas refers to Turkish law enforcement officers, while Jute is a form of the hemp plant which was essentially cultivated for its strong fibre.) Davidson was an experienced player who had spent most of the 1960s alongside guitarist Lindsay Bjerre, firstly with The Strangers, then The 4 Strangers, followed by The Sunsets and lastly Tamam Shud. Davidson recorded seven singles with The Sunsets, plus the acclaimed soundtracks for the surfing films A Life in the Sun and The Hot Generation.
In 1969 Tamam Shud recorded the album Evolution (the soundtrack to the surfing film of the same name) which was the first original rock album released by an Australian band. He and Gaze were fresh from having recorded the Shud's second album, Goolutionites and the Real People when they joined with Wilson and Daisley. Gaze was a talented guitar player, being something of a child prodigy (he was 16 when he recorded the Shud album, 17 when he joined Kahvas Jute ). He and Wilson became a formidable team, their styles meshing tightly with a great deal of emphasis placed on interlocking riffs and harmony guitar lines. Daisley and Davidson also clicked as a team, with Davidson's driving, open style allowing Daisley to consolidate that expansive, authoritative bass style (in the manner of Jack Bruce) on which he would later build an international reputation.
Wilson told me in 1994: "We liked Led Zeppelin, the Jeff Beck Group, Blodwyn Pig, Jethro Tull, Cream; Jack Bruce's solo album was a big influence. Tim was a very good guitarist, he had a few songs, he could sing harmonies, could play well. Having two guitarists worked well because we devised dual guitar parts instead of trying to have a guitar duel all the time. We used lots of harmony parts and chord structures where I'd play the low part and Tim would play the high part, or vice versa.
"Also, with a rhythm section like Bob and Dannie, it was like a steam train really. Bob was such a phenomenal bass player, and being the guitarist it was like playing with something that you'd better keep up with or else! We tried to have no limitations, to find new directions in our playing. That was the whole idea. We didn't want to set ourselves in any particular style. We wanted to play the way each of us played, and it just happened that it worked well together."
The sound the guitarists achieved was down to the equipment they employed. Wilson used a black, 1960 Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar plugged into a Phoenix fuzz box, a tone bender and a wah-wah pedal, and played through a 100-watt Marshall amplifier. Gaze used a Gibson SG Custom guitar, likewise plugged into a Phoenix fuzz box and played through a 150-watt Lenard amplifier.
Daisley played a Gibson bass with which he achieved his trademark fat, solid sound. His influences at the time included Paul McCartney, Jack Bruce and Ronnie Wood (specifically his bass work on the first two Jeff Beck Group albums).
Within a matter of weeks of joining forces, the band was in Festival Studios in Sydney, laying down tracks for their debut album. To capitalise on the rise of Australia's first 'heavy' bands, Festival Records launched their progressive subsidiary label Infinity (in the manner of Phonogram's Vertigo label and EMI's Harvest label), and as well as signing Kahvas Jute , the label had snapped up Chain, Aztecs, Cleves, Tymepiece, Heart 'n' Soul and Blackfeather.
Wilson suggested the band work with producer Pat Aulton and within three days they emerged with one of the first wholly original progressive albums ever produced in Australia (following the lead set by Tamam Shud, Tully and Chain). The band recorded everything live in the studio with no overdubs and the only embellishment being a dash of reverb that gives the fuzzy riffs that cavernous, open ended feel.
The album opens with 'Free', which was issued as a single and immediately establishes the pattern for the rest of the album: the gritty, dual guitar arpeggios of Wilson and Gaze (one in each audio channel), Wilson's moody vocal touch, Daisley's restlessly throbbing bass lines and Davidson's steady, hard beat, all wrapped up in an impressively structured tune. Next track, Wilson's 'Odyssey' is reminiscent of Cream's 'Tales of Brave Ulysses' or 'Swlabr' yet the band stamp the track as their own and Wilson's lyrics reveal his love of ancient legends and classical literature.
Tim Gaze's 'Up There' follows, opening delicately before blossoming into an uptempo jazz-tinged section replete with a beautifully spiralling solo from Gaze. Wilson's 'She's so Hard to Shake' is an out-and-out rocker pushed along by strident riffs and nimble harmony guitar lines, and Daisley's powerhouse performance on bass. 'Vikings' slows the pace with acoustic guitar from Dennis, offset by delicate electric lead from Tim (plus a short, wah-wah solo from Dennis) while lyrically it finds Wilson once again in the realm of ancient legends.
The first three tracks on the second side of the original vinyl programme continue in this more reflective vein with two of them making good use of acoustic guitar; Davidson's 'Steps of Time' and Daisley's 'Ascend', while Gaze's gently melodic 'Twenty Three' includes a concise drum solo from Davidson. Yet the respite really only paves the way for the album's centrepiece, the blazing, nine minute 'Parade of Fools'.
This epic track opens with blistering wah-wah guitar from Wilson, the bass and drums come rumbling in, Wilson and Gaze solo madly, the central riff kicks in and the rhythm section sets off at full gallop. The track is essentially an excuse for the band to stretch out on a lengthy jam, but the structure is sound and the delivery is so effortless that the whole thing hangs together with uncomplicated ease. This is where Wilson and Gaze engage in the most amazing guitar riffage and soloing of the entire album, which only confirms their status as one of the great guitar tag-teams of the period.
Unfortunately, Gaze left soon after recording the album reducing the band to a three-piece which is how they remained. Rather than placing too much pressure on Wilson, this three-piece formation suited his purposes with the tightness of the rhythm section allowing him the freedom to expand his style and explore whatever musical avenues lay open to him. This was the period during which Wilson cemented his reputation as one of the country's most innovative guitar players.
As Dannie Davidson recalled, even the other band members acknowledged Wilson's expertise by dubbing him 'The Wizard'. On any given night, among his 'magic tricks' Wilson would stand at the front of the stage, hold his Les Paul aloft in one hand and intro 'Parade of Fools' by letting gravity's pull work on his axe while running his fingers along the fretboard as it descended through his hand.
Kahvas Jute spent the next six months gigging and touring constantly, building up a solid live following. They honed their stage craft to such an extent that they emerged as one of the country's most adventurous live bands. They gave bands the calibre of Aztecs, Chain, Tamam Shud, Spectrum, Blackfeather etc a run for their money and had they stayed in the country and recorded another album, there's little doubt Kahvas Jute would have established themselves as one of the best Australian bands ever.
Yet, the members had set other goals and in May 1971 Dennis Wilson and Dannie Davidson jetted off to England. Bob Daisley did not make the trip at that time, as he had left the band due to ill health; his place had been filled by Scott Maxey (from Nutwood Rug Band) for a month or so. Wilson and Davidson invited Daisley to join them in London later in the year; however, by the time he arrived they'd enlisted the services of David O'List (previously guitarist in The Nice) as bass player and Daisley never played with them again as Kahvas Jute until many years later. The newly reconstituted Kahvas Jute played several shows (including supports to fellow Aussie expats the Master's Apprentices and Max Merritt & the Meteors). Unfortunately, the band made little headway and split up.
Through their connection to Clive Coulson, and his position within the Led Zeppelin organisation, the guys got to meet various members of one of their favourite bands. Wilson remembers Jimmy Page shaking his hand and saying "congratulations on the album". Page also wanted to buy Wilson's Les Paul guitar but he couldn't part with his trusty axe. On the next Led Zep tour, Coulson also arranged to play the Wide Open album as part of the warm-up music before the band hit the stage.
In 1972, Coulson tipped off Daisley that guitarist Stan Webb of Chicken Shack (once home to Christine Perfect nee McVie) was looking for a new bass player. Daisley got the gig with Chicken Shack and Wilson was also enlisted as front of house mixer. They toured around Britain and Europe for a year and Daisley appeared on one album, Unlucky Boy (1973). By that stage, however, this once renowned blues band was on its last legs and in 1973 Daisley jumped ship, initially joining Mungo Jerry before reuniting with Webb in Broken Glass.
Daisley's international career is well documented, so here's a brief recap. He joined hard rock outfit Widowmaker in 1976, formed by guitarists Ariel Bender (ex-Mott The Hoople; Luther Grosvenor from Spooky Tooth) and Huw Lloyd-Langton (ex-Hawkwind) and singer Steve Ellis (ex-Love Affair). The band made two albums, Widowmaker and Too Late to Cry (1977) but failed to establish a major identity. Daisley then joined Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow; he recorded the Long Live Rock 'n' Roll album (1978) and toured the world.
Next he joined ex-Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne in his new venture, Blizzard of Ozz, alongside guitarist Randy Rhodes (ex-Quiet Riot) and drummer Lee Kerslake (ex-Uriah Heep); this line-up recorded two essential heavy metal albums, Blizzard of Ozz (1980) and Diary of a Madman (1981). As well as his formidable bass lines, Daisley contributed lyrics to these albums but he left the band in 1982; he is also heard on the live album Tribute (which Ozzy assembled in 1987 in memory of Randy Rhodes who died in 1982).
Kerslake rejoined Uriah Heep, bringing Daisley along as well; he played on Abominog (1982) and Head First (1983) before joining the Gary Moore Band, with whom he remained for several years, playing on the albums Victims of the Future (1983), Wild Frontier (1985), After the War (1989) and Still Got the Blues (1990). He then joined Mother's Army in 1993 with Joe Lynn Turner (vocals), Jeff Watson (guitar) and Carmine Appice (drums). Needless to say, he remains one of the most respected bass players in the international hard rock sphere.
Meanwhile Wilson and Davidson had returned to Australia in mid-1973 and reformed Kahvas Jute with bassist Scott Maxey. This version of the band lasted for another year without making significant headway. By 1974, the Australian scene had changed again. Commercial pop bands were back in vogue, with the likes of Skyhooks, Sherbet, AC/DC and Hush grabbing all the headlines and chart positions while the heavier bands were relegated to the backblocks.
For the last few months of the band's life, ex-La De Das bassist Peter Roberts joined. Wilson and Davidson were unable to recapture the magic of old and by mid-1974 Kahvas Jute had split, a sad end to a once magnificent outfit. Roberts switched to guitar and he and Wilson formed Chariot, an excellent, hard-working live act thwarted by continual line-up changes until Wilson split the band at the end of 1977. Meanwhile, Davidson joined Band of Light with whom he recorded the album The Archer (1974) and since the 1980s has worked solidly as an in-demand session and cabaret drummer.
Wilson went on to form the Dennis Wilson Band, record the commercially minded Walking on Thin Ice LP in 1980, tour with the Doc Spann Blues Band (a Chicago blues-styled outfit fronted by American-born Doc Spann), play on Jackie Orszaczky's Jump Back Jack album, a heavy funk / progressive outing with Frank Zappa overtones and form the bands Thin Ice and The Deltoids during the 1980s.
Wilson, Daisley and Gaze reunited as Kahvas Jute for a gig in late 1992, and then a recording session in November 1993 which resulted in four new tracks (which remain unreleased). Wilson also recorded an album's worth of demos he had hoped to issue as a solo CD. The songs, including a previously unrecorded version of the Kahvas Jute song 'Green Mansions', were very commercial sounding, with lashings of Wilson's brilliant guitar work well to the fore. They would have made an excellent addition to Wilson's discography and would essentially tie up some of the loose ends in the career of this redoubtable musician.
EDITORIAL NOTE: Following the publication of this article back in 1994, another decade was to pass before Kahvas Jute reunited once again in 2005 to write new material and play live with a showcase gig taking place at famed Sydney venue The Basement on 17 July. Also, in 2006 Aztec Music reissued the Wide Open album on remastered CD with five bonus tracks taken from the band's Basement gig.
Review by Ian McFarlane for Freedom Train Magazine