Sons of the Vegetal Mother (also known as The Vegetals to fans) were an Australian "esoteric special-occasion progressive band", formed in late 1969, with a floating line-up based around the nucleus of
Ross Wilson and
Ross Hannaford
Ross Andrew Hannaford (1 December 1950 – 8 March 2016) was an Australian musician, active in numerous local bands. He was often referred to by his nickname "Hanna". Widely regarded as one of the country's finest rock guitarists, he was best kn ...
.
A side-project of the band, formed in 1970 was
Daddy Cool, which played 1950s
doo-wop music plus some originals.
Daddy Cool were to eclipse their parent band when their debut single "
Eagle Rock" reached No. 1 on the Australian National charts.
[ NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 until ]ARIA
In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...
created their own charts
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tab ...
in mid-1988.
History
Background
Sons of the Vegetal Mother brought together the four musicians who subsequently became
Daddy Cool,
Ross Wilson and Ross Hannaford (both ex
The Pink Finks
The Pink Finks were an Australian pop/R&B band of the mid-1960s. Based in Melbourne, the group is most notable for being the first in the series of bands that featured Ross Wilson and Ross Hannaford, which culminated in the hugely successful ...
, The Party Machine)
and singer-drummer
Gary Young and bassist
Wayne Duncan
Wayne Duncan is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours'', played by Jonathon Sammy-Lee. He made his first screen appearance as Wayne during the episode broadcast on 4 February 1993. Wayne becomes a chemistry teacher at ...
,
who had both been members of veteran Melbourne band The Rondells, who are best known as the backing group for pioneering beat duo
Bobby & Laurie.
In early 1969, Wilson had been invited to go to the UK and join "
progressive pop" band
Procession
A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner.
History
Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...
.
That band (which had evolved from
Normie Rowe
Norman John Rowe (born 1 February 1947) is an Australian singer and songwriter of pop music and an actor of theatre and soap opera for which he remains best known as Douglas Fletcher in 1980s serial '' Sons and Daughters''. As a singer he was ...
's backing group The Playboys) had relocated to Britain in 1968 but their career had stalled and they were trying to revitalise the group and find a new direction, to which end they invited Wilson to come to London to join the band. Having just received an insurance payout for a road accident he had suffered in his teens, Wilson broke up his band of the time, The Party Machine, and flew to London to join Procession.
"I received a phone call from Brian Peacock in the UK. They were having a line up change and felt a front man might be a good idea. I had to pay my own way there but had just scored an insurance payoff from a traffic injury and was eager to escape Melbourne and see the world."
Wilson arrived in London in April 1969 and the revamped Procession gigged sporadically over the next three months. During this period, they got the opportunity to record some new material at Olympic Studios in Barnes. and three tracks were cut at these sessions—Mick Rogers' "Surrey" and Wilson's "Papa's in the Vice Squad" and "I Wanna Be Loved", all of which were consigned to the vaults and are yet to see the light of day. By this time, Procession's music had taken on a new direction, with Wilson adding a more theatrical feel thanks to his interest in
Frank Zappa. One of the new songs incorporated into the set (but never recorded by the band) was "Make Your Stash".
" twas later recorded by both Spectrum
A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors ...
and Daddy Cool and the source for inspiration for Manfred Mann's Earth Band album that used Gustav Holst's ''Planets Suite''. "Make Your Stash" used one of the themes from that suite with my lyrics and bridge which Mick appropriated for Manfred Mann using new lyrics."
It is worth noting that Zappa also 'borrowed' a small section of Gustav Holst's The Planets - Jupiter movement on the track Invocation & Ritual Dance Of The Young Pumpkin on the Absolutely Free Album of 1967.
By June 1969 Procession was on its last legs, but manager David Joseph secured an unusual final booking for the band—a transatlantic student cruise from London to New York and back, set for the second week in August 1969, which was the trip was supposed to help pay off the band's outstanding debts.
"It was the best thing we did," says Wilson. " t wasa lot of fun and we got to play every night and join in some cool arty student performance stuff during the day."
When they returned to London in August, Procession had effectively run its course:
" eran out of money and industry interest," adds Wilson. "By then manager, David Joseph was more interested in the New Seekers, plus I think the new line up ith me and Chrishad meant the group lost whatever focus it had."
Formation
Wilson returned to Melbourne in late 1969, armed with a swag of new material, intent on creating an "esoteric special-occasion progressive band" with a floating line-up of semi-regular members and guest players, which would allow him to explore the progressive/theatrical interests that his passion for Zappa had awakened.
The Vegetals performed intermittently at multimedia and art events, 'happenings' and concerts at Melbourne galleries and venues like the TF Much Ballroom. Band 'members' at these events included Wilson and Hannaford's former Party Machine cohort
Mike Rudd
Michael David Rudd (born 15 June 1945) is a New Zealand-born musician and composer who has been based in Australia since the late 1960s, and who was the leader of Australian progressive rock bands Spectrum and Ariel in the 1970s.
Biography
Mi ...
(later in
Spectrum
A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors ...
) and bassist Tim Partidge (
Company Caine
Company Caine, also styled as Co. Caine and Company Kane, were an Australian progressive rock band. They were formed in March 1970 by Ray Arnott on drums (ex-Chelsea Set, Browns, Cam-Pact), Cliff Edwards on bass guitar (ex-Cam-Pact), Jeremy Noo ...
) and it was planned that other performers would join in, such as Wilson's friends
Keith Glass
Keith Robert Glass (born 17 September 1946) is an Australian country music singer-songwriter, guitarist, musical theatre actor, record label owner, producer and journalist. In April 1967 he formed a soul music group, Cam-Pact, which released fou ...
and
Gulliver Smith
Kevin Gullifer Hopkins-Smith (born Kevin Gullifer Smith; c. 1950
– November 2014), who performed as Little Gulliver and Gulliver Smith (also styled as Gullifer Smith), was an Australian singer and songwriter from the early 1960s to mid-2000s. ...
.
The Vegetals made few recordings—their only known release is ''Garden Party'', a custom-pressed EP played at and given away to audiences at an event/exhibition called 'The Garden Party'. The EP was never commercially released. One track from the EP, "Make It Begin", was anthologised on Golden Miles, Raven's 2CD compilation of Australian progressive rock, and more recently "Love is the Law" and "Make It Begin" were included on Ross Wilson' career retrospective ''Now Listen!''.
Snippets of footage of the Vegetals in performance can be seen Chris Lofven's experimental short film 806 which is now included as a special feature in the DVD edition of Lofven's 1976 feature film ''OZ''.
Wilson, Hannaford, Young and Duncan also created a 'subset' of the Vegetals, dubbed Daddy Cool,
which was devised to provide 'light relief', playing short, enjoyable sets of 1950s-style doo-wop and rock & roll between the Vegetals' lengthy, exploratory sets, playing Wilson's Zappa-influenced progressive pieces, but over time it became obvious that Daddy Cool was getting more popular than the "main act"
Sons of the Vegetal Mother were part of the line-up at one of Australia's first outdoor rock festivals at Myponga in South Australia at the end of January 1971, and this proved to be a watershed in the group's short career. The enthusiastic reception given to Daddy Cool's set eclipsed the Vegetals' performance, making it clear that Daddy Cool was taking on a life of its own, and Sons of the Vegetal Mother was soon phased out altogether. It was during the Myponga performance that Lofven filmed the footage that was later used in his promotional film-clip for "
Eagle Rock".
A few months after Myponga,
Daddy Cool was spotted by former teen guitar prodigy turned producer
Robie Porter
Robert George Porter (4 June 1941 – 16 December 2021) was an Australian country and pop-rock musician, producer and record label owner.
Beginning in 1959, he performed under the stage name Rob E.G. and recorded lap steel guitar instrum ...
they signed to the Sparmac label, and in May 1971 they released their debut single "Eagle Rock". The single quickly reached No. 1 and stayed there for a (then) record ten weeks.
Wilson and Hannaford used the Sons of the Vegetal Mother band name when playing at the Station Hotel, Prahran in the short period between Daddy Cool and the launch of Mighty Kong in 1973.
Band members
*
Wayne Duncan
Wayne Duncan is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours'', played by Jonathon Sammy-Lee. He made his first screen appearance as Wayne during the episode broadcast on 4 February 1993. Wayne becomes a chemistry teacher at ...
(bass, vocals)
* Trevor Griffin (piano)
*
Ross Hannaford
Ross Andrew Hannaford (1 December 1950 – 8 March 2016) was an Australian musician, active in numerous local bands. He was often referred to by his nickname "Hanna". Widely regarded as one of the country's finest rock guitarists, he was best kn ...
(vocals, guitar)
* Jeremy Kellock (Jeremy Noone) (tenor sax*)
*
Mike Rudd
Michael David Rudd (born 15 June 1945) is a New Zealand-born musician and composer who has been based in Australia since the late 1960s, and who was the leader of Australian progressive rock bands Spectrum and Ariel in the 1970s.
Biography
Mi ...
(bass)
* Tim Partridge (bass)
* Ian Wallace (alto sax #)
* Simon Wettenhall (trumpet #)
*
Ross Wilson (vocal/guitar)
* Bruce Woodcock (tenor sax #)
*
Gary Young (drums, vocals)
Discography
* ''Garden Party'' (EP) (November 1970)
:Side One is a buff colour and credits the song to Sons of the Vegetal Mother, with writing credited to Ross Wilson; Side two is an orange colour.
:Only 250 copies of the EP were produced
#"Love Is The Law" *
#"The Garden Party" / Make It Begin" #
References
{{Authority control
Australian rock music groups
Victoria (state) musical groups
Musical groups established in 1969
Musical groups disestablished in 1971