Mississippi were an Australian

soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

band (1972–1975), which included

Graham Goble Graeham George Goble, (born 15 May 1947)Goble, Graeham (2006Graeham Goble: Biography. Retrieved on 14 July 2008. is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and record producer, best known as a founding member of Australian rock group Little Riv ...

on lead vocals and guitar,

Beeb Birtles Beeb Birtles (born Gerard Bertelkamp, 28 November 1948) is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He has been a member of various Australian groups including Zoot (1967–71), Mississippi (1972–74), Little River Band (1975 ...

on lead vocals and guitar, and

Derek Pellicci Derek Allan Pellicci (born 18 February 1953) is an English-born Australian drummer. He is best known as a founding member of Little River Band. Pellicci lives in Melbourne with his wife, Anne and a son. Early life In 1960, Pellicci's family, his ...

on drums. The band had started as Allison Gros in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

in 1970 and moved to Melbourne in 1971 where they recorded as Allison Gros, Drummond and, early in 1972, became Mississippi. As Drummond they issued a cover version of " Daddy Cool" (July 1971), which peaked at No. 1 on the ''Go-Set'' National Top 40 for eight weeks. As Mississippi they reached No. 10 with "Kings of the World" (October 1972). In early 1975, with Birtles, Goble and Pellici aboard and the addition of

Glenn Shorrock Glenn Barrie Shorrock (born 30 June 1944) is an English-born Australian singer-songwriter. He was a founding member of rock bands the Twilights, Axiom, Little River Band and post LRB spin-off trio Birtles Shorrock Goble, as well as being a solo ...

, the group were renamed

Little River Band Little River Band (LRB) are a Rock music, rock band originally formed in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studi ...

History

1970–1972: Allison Gros and Drummond

Mississippi developed from an Adelaide-based

group, Allison Gros which formed in 1970 with

on vocals and guitar, Russ Johnson on vocals and guitar, Rob Leedham on bass guitar, John Mower on lead vocals and Shane Simon on drums. The group were probably named after "

Allison Gross "Allison Gross" (also known as Alison Cross) is a traditional ballad, catalogued as Child Ballad #35. It tells the story of "the ugliest witch in the north country" who tries to persuade a man to become her lover and then punishes him by a trans ...

", which is a traditional

English folk The folk music of England is a tradition-based music which has existed since the later medieval period. It is often contrasted with courtly, classical and later commercial music. Folk music traditionally was preserved and passed on orally wit ...

ballad, with a widely recognised version recorded by

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, and we ...

for their 1973 album, '' Parcel of Rogues''. Allison Gros recorded a lone single, "Naturally", on the independent label, Gamba, which was released in 1970. It appeared on the

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July ...

Singles Chart top 100. The band moved to Melbourne in 1971 and signed to

Ron Tudor Ronald Stewart Tudor MBE (18 May 1924 – 21 August 2020) was an Australian music producer, engineer, label owner and record industry executive. He started his career with W&G Records in 1956 as a sales representative; he became their in-hous ...

Fable Records Fable Records was an Australian independent record company which operated from 1970 to 1984. It was one of the most successful and productive Australian 'indie' labels of the period, issuing over 300 singles and dozens of EPs and LPs. Fable made ...

label and released two further singles: "If I Ask You" (July 1971) and "All the Days" (December 1971). In 1971, Allison Gros (as Drummond) recorded a "

Chipmunk Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of the family Sciuridae. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia. Taxonomy and systematics Chipmunks may be classified either as ...

"-style cover version of a 1950s rock song, " Daddy Cool" (July 1971), which spent eight weeks at the top of the ''Go-Set'' National Top 40, from 18 September to 12 November. Its success had immediately followed " Eagle Rock" by local band, Daddy Cool, which had held the number-one spot for 10 weeks. Drummond recorded further singles, but with no further involvement from members of Allison Gros; Fable (who owned the band name) used the name 'Drummond' for different ensembles of studio musicians until September 1977.

1972–1975: Mississippi

Early in 1972, Allison Gros were renamed as Mississippi with Goble, Johnson and Mower joined by session musicians:

Geoff Cox Geoff Cox (born 13 March 1951) is an Australian musician and media personality. He is often referred to as "Coxy". Cox is most notable for having played drums with Brian Cadd, and with the bands Cycle, The Bootleg Family Band and Avalanche. He ...

on drums, Peter Jones on piano, Graeme Lyall on flute and Barry Sullivan on bass guitar. They released a self-titled debut LP in that year which reached No. 21 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart. ''Mississippi'' was produced by Jones and Ern Rose via the Bootleg label, which had been set up by Tudor and

Brian Cadd Brian George Cadd AM (born 29 November 1946) is an Australian singer-songwriter, keyboardist, producer and record label founder, a staple of Australian entertainment for over 50 years. As well as working internationally throughout Europe and the ...

. According to Australian musicologist,

Ian McFarlane Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the '' Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017. As a journalist ...

, it "featured a harmony-rich rock sound heavily influenced by Crosby Stills Nash and Young and The Band. One of the highlights was the lush, orchestrated epic 'Save the Land'." In October, it provided the single "Kings of the World" – "another of the album's standouts" – which reached No. 10 on the ''Go-Set'' National Top 40. In late 1972, Mississippi were joined by

(ex- Zoot, Frieze) on guitar and vocals, Colin DeLuca (ex-Fugitives) on bass guitar and

(ex-Ash) on drums. This line-up released a single, "Mr Moondog", in December and toured Australia. They appeared at the

Sunbury Pop Festival Sunbury Pop Festival or Sunbury Rock Festival was an annual Australian rock music festival held on a private farm between Sunbury and Diggers Rest, Victoria, which was staged on the Australia Day (26 January) long weekend from 1972 to 1975. It ...

in January 1973. During 1973 there were several changes in the line-up, with Johnson replaced, in February, by

Kerryn Tolhurst Kerryn William Tolhurst (born 1948) is an Australian country rock musician, songwriter and producer. He was based in the United States from late 1970s to the late 1990s, although he periodically returned to Australia. He was a founder of the Au ...

(ex-Country Radio) on guitar and

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

; he was replaced in turn by

Harvey James Harvey James born Harvey William James Harrop (20 September 195215 January 2011) was an English-Australian rock guitarist. He was a member of the bands Mississippi (1973–74), Ariel (1974–75), Sherbet (1976–80, 1980–81) and the Party Bo ...

(ex-Clydehouse, Sayla, Wendy Saddington Band) on guitar, a month later. Another single, "Early Morning", was released in July, which peaked at No. 56 on the Kent Music Report. They supported the

Jackson Five The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

on the Australian leg of their tour in October of that year. In that same month DeLuca and Mower left and were replaced by Andre Santos on bass guitar and vocals. Santos was replaced two months later by

Charlie Tumahai Charles Turu Tumahai (14 January 1949 – 21 December 1995) was a New Zealand singer, bass player and songwriter who was a member of several noted rock groups in New Zealand, Australia and the UK. He is best known internationally as the bass ...

. In 1974, they appeared at the Sunbury Pop Festival again. Their next single, "Will I?", appeared in May which peaked at No. 31 on the ''Go-Set'' National Top 40. They toured the United Kingdom in 1974 and broke up. In London Birtles, Goble and Pellici met with former Masters Apprentices bass guitarist,

Glenn Wheatley Glenn Dawson Wheatley (23 January 1948 – 1 February 2022) was an Australian musician, talent manager and tour promoter. Career Wheatley began his career as a musician in Brisbane in the mid-1960s. In the late 1960s he became known national ...

, who agreed to become their manager should they decide to go back to Australia. Wheatley was eager to return to Australia after working in the United States and the UK. In the UK, the group met

(ex-

the Twilights The Twilights were an Australian rock band that formed in Adelaide in 1964. The band developed from a three-piece acapella group consisting of Glenn Shorrock, Mike Sykes and Clem "Paddy" McCartney, who merged with instrumental group the Hurric ...

Axiom An axiom, postulate, or assumption is a statement that is taken to be true, to serve as a premise or starting point for further reasoning and arguments. The word comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning 'that which is thought worthy or f ...

) who had been there for four years, and was also returning home. In early 1975, the individuals members, Birtles, Goble, Pellici and Shorrock, had returned to Australia and reformed Mississippi, with the addition of

Graham Davidge Graham Davidge is an Australian musician. He has played with Little River Band (1975), Tidewater (1976), Goanna (1982–83) and numerous other Australian bands. Davidge was chosen as the original lead guitarist for Little River Band. He played ...

on lead guitar and Dave Orams on bass guitar. After a few concerts, on the way to a gig in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

, in March, they decided to change their name to

, after passing by the town of

Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...

. Under the guidance of Wheatley, they became one of Australia's most successful bands in the US.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

;General * Note: Archived n-linecopy has limited functionality. ;Specific

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mississippi Australian soft rock music groups Little River Band Victoria (Australia) musical groups