Graeham George Goble, (born 15 May 1947)Goble, Graeham (2006
Graeham 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 River Band. As a performer, Goble was responsible for the vocal arrangements and high harmonies on eleven studio albums and numerous Top 10 singles with LRB. As a songwriter he penned songs like " Reminiscing", "

Lady The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inf ...

", "

Take It Easy on Me "Take It Easy on Me" is a song by Australian soft rock band Little River Band, released in March 1982 as the third and final single from the album '' Time Exposure''. The song reached No. 10 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 14 on the Ad ...

", " The Other Guy" and " The Night Owls", each played millions of times on radio. As a producer, Goble's credits include

John Farnham John Peter Farnham AO (born 1 July 1949) is a British born Australian singer. Farnham was a teen pop idol from 1967 until 1979, billed then as Johnny Farnham, but has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer.McFarlane (1999). Enc ...

's '' Uncovered'' album in 1980 and his own catalog of recordings. Goble is a keen student of concepts such as

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape ...

; he changed his first name from Graham to Graeham as a consequence of his interest in

numerology Numerology (also known as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, of the letters in ...

and feng shui.Kruger, Debbie (2001
Graeham Goble's Long Way Here
APRA, March 2001. Retrieved on 14 January 2007. Goble was awarded a

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(OAM) in the

2021 Australia Day Honours The 2021 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2021 by the Governor General of Australia, David Hurley. The Australia ...

"for service to the performing arts as a singer, songwriter and producer."

Biography

1947-1960s: Early Life

Goble was born 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 ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

, and was drawn to music, in particular its harmonies, at an early age. "My early influences were bands like

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

The Hollies The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash founded the band ...

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member ...

Bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

and I always wanted to be in a band with harmonies. ... From my very first band we had 3 part harmonies"Aue, Frankie (1997
A web-interview with Mr Goble
22 July 1997. Retrieved on 14 January 2007.

1966-1974: Early groups ''The Silence'', ''Travis Wellington Hedge'', ''Allison Gros'' & ''Drummond''

Starting out as a drummer, Goble quickly progressed to the

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

. "As soon as I had a stringed instrument in my hands I suddenly had all these melodies." Thereafter came the transition to guitar. A number of bands followed in quick succession: ''The Silence'' (1966–67), ''Travis Wellington Hedge'' (1968), ''Allison Gros'' (1969–71) and ''Drummond'' (1971). Each of these bands was recorded singles and or albums. The members of Allison Gros were recruited to record the song "Daddy Cool" but their

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 ...

version was so atypical that they recorded under the fictitious name ''Drummond''. Drummond would provide Goble with his first Number 1 hit single with "Daddy Cool". "Daddy Cool" would remain on top of the charts for seven weeks from 6 September 1971. The success of the hit song "Daddy Cool" brought about greater awareness of Allison Gros/Drummond and led to a recording contract with the new record label Bootleg. The band morphed yet again, this time adopting the name ''

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

''. Still consisting of Goble, Russ Johnson and John Mower, the band was augmented by session musicians for the recording of their first, self-titled album.Milesago (2004
Mississippi
. Retrieved on 20 January 2007. The first single released by Mississippi would provide Goble with his first chart success as a songwriter, the song "Kings of the World" peaking within the Australian top 10. With a successful album and single behind them, Mississippi hit the road. To fill out their live sound, the band was enhanced by the addition of top musicians including Beeb Birtles (an ex-member of the band Zoot). The first appearance of the expanded Mississippi took place on 28 October 1972 at Corbould Hall,

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. Within months of Vi ...

.Aue, Frankie (1997
Graham Goble's list of live shows: Part 1
. Retrieved on 28 May 2007. With various personnel changes, but always including Goble, Birtles and Pellicci, Mississippi would go on to notch up over 400 live performances in 1972–74.Goble, Graeham (2006
Live Shows Mississippi
. Retrieved on 14 July 2008. In 1974, Mississippi were disestablished.

1975-1992: Little River Band (LRB)

The nucleus of Goble, Birtles, Pellicci, new boy Glenn Shorrock and manager Wheatley kicked off the revitalised venture. Guitarists

Ric Formosa Riccardo Formosa (born 1 September 1954) is an Italian-born Australian musician and composer. He was the lead guitarist of the pop band Little River Band from 1975 to 1976 and recorded their first two albums, ''Little River Band'' and '' After Hou ...

and Roger McLachlan were recruited to complete the sound of the band. The new group performed in public for the first time in March 1975, still known as Mississippi.Wheatley, Glenn (1999) ''Paper Paradise'', Bantam, (). The new name ''Little River Band'' followed soon after, taken from a road sign to the town of Little River as the band travelled to a performance in

Geelong Geelong ( ) ( Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the south eastern 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 ...

. As principal composer, vocal arranger and co-producer, and with strong interest in the band's on-stage performance and day-to-day administration, Goble would soon come to be known as the "father figure" of the band. Glenn Shorrock put it less kindly, stating that "it's like having a policeman onstage with you every night". The creative tension, competition and differing personalities within the band would also fuel its subsequent rise to international stardom. As

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the ...

would later remark, "That's what makes these acts what they are. It's a matter of harnessing this energy they have."

"Graham was meticulous in every detail. He drove people crazy with his fanaticism but you had to respect and admire him for his absolute perseverance and his ability to write a good song. Without such songs we had nothing. Graham wrote some classics. He is also very intelligent, as I discovered in our many late-night discussions. Through all his quirks he is a very interesting human being."

The group released five studio albums in the 1970s. In 1976, The little River Band's "It's a Long Way There" (written by Goble) became an international hit. This was followed in 1978 with "Reminiscing". It was Goble who acted as spokesman in moving to have foundation lead vocalist Shorrock replaced by

. According to Goble, "that lineup oble, Nelson, Housden, Farnham, Prestwich and Hirschfelderwas the most talented LRB lineup that I had ever played in."Miller, Chuck (2005
Born in the Sign of Water
Goldmine, 4 February 2005. Retrieved on 14 January 2007. "The live performances were so inspiring that I enjoyed playing live as much as recording. I count myself privileged to have experienced playing and singing with this line-up." Additionally Goble summed up the LRB experience saying "There's been six bands from Australia that have made an impact in America. How incredible was our destiny to be one of the very few out of all these incredible bands. Think about the thousands of acts that tried – it's an extraordinary achievement."

1978-present: Solo Career & Birtles Shorrock Goble

In 1978, After the successful release of The LRB's ''First Under the Wire'', Beeb Birtles and Graeham Goble had composed so many songs that had not been used by LRB and were very keen to be put out as a duo and released ''The Last Romance''. LRB members David Briggs, George McArdle and Derek Pellicci joined the two in the studio, together with other session musicians."

"If ''The Last Romance'' album had been successful, I expect that Beeb and I would have left Little River Band and recorded as a duo, e.g. ''
Hall & Oates Daryl Hall and John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, are an American pop rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals. The two ...
''. Our record company (Capitol) were concerned about this possibility and so our album received little support. It was a great experience to record ''The Last Romance'' and it remains one of my favorite recordings."

In 1980, Australian singer

chose Goble to produce his 1980 album ''Uncovered''. Aside from production and vocal arrangement, Goble also wrote or co-wrote nine of the ten songs on the album. In 1990, Goble released his debut solo album, ''Broken Voices'', for which he was composer, producer, vocal arranger, harmony vocalist and acoustic guitarist. This was followed in 1993 with ''Nautilus'' and in 1995 with ''Stop''. In 1998, ''The New Nautilus'' was released - it's a limited edition album and a re-package of ''Nautilus'' with a slightly altered track listing. A chance meeting between Goble and Glenn Shorrock in 2001 (and a subsequent telephone call to Beeb Birtles) would lead to these three original members of LRB reforming as a group and released a live album ''Full Circle'', which was certified gold in Australia. In 2006, Goble released ''The Days Ahead'', in 2008, ''Let It Rain'', which musicologist Ed Nimmervoll said "Ultimately Graeham Goble's album ''Let It Rain'' is the journey of a lifetime. Listening to it takes us on an exceptional journey of our own." Of the eleven tracks on ''Let It Rain'', two have been heard previously (albeit in different contexts). "Heart & Soul" appeared on the Birtles Shorrock Goble live DVD ''Full Circle'' while "Let It Rain" had been performed at the Farmhand Concert for Drought Relief in 2002.

Personal life

Goble has been seriously writing songs since he was 16:

"I still write my songs the same way as when I first began. Usually an idea comes while I'm playing my acoustic guitar, but songs often come to me at any time of the day when I'm not playing my guitar. I sometimes dream complete compositions." ''Graham Goble'' (1997)

"I hear everything at once – melody, lyrics, it just comes in. There's a feeling that comes over me and I know that there's a song trying to come through. It's sort of like I'm taken over or someone's trying to contact me; I really believe very much that I'm in some ways channeling this thing. Because when I write a song it's always done very quickly, completed in 20 minutes or maybe half an hour. I never labour anything, or very rarely. The only labouring I've ever done in songwriting might be when I've completed a work, a song, and there might be a couple of lyrics I don't like, so sometimes I might sit with those and really put some brain power in how to fix up the lines. But for the most part it comes to me, it comes in and I can hear the whole thing finished with harmonies and everything." ''Graeham Goble'' (2001)

Graeham Goble has spent much of his adult life in the study of spirituality and related concepts:

"I believe very much in Spiritual Realms. I've undertaken a lot of Spiritual study – not religious study, but Spiritual study. There's a big difference. I believe in Guardian Angels and Higher Realms. My studies have taught me that when we sleep our soul leaves our body and has interaction with the Spiritual Realms. I've moved through lots of different beliefs and arrived at
Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (27 or 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as ...
."Kruger, Debbie (2005) ''Songwriters Speak'', Limelight Press, ().

Goble currently lives in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. "I think the quality of what I'm doing is very high and the songs are very meaningful because I've lived a lot now. I've written from the point of view of somebody who's been through the mill and come out the other side."Dwyer, Michael (2005) The boys played on

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

, 21 June 2005.

Solo Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Awards

APRA Gold Award

The

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

gave

Gold Awards The Gold Awards is an annual awards show that honours the best performers in the Hindi-language television industry. They were first awarded in 2007. Boroplus was the title sponsor for the first 10 editions after which Kesh King took over. The ...

to the best songs in Australia from 1982 to 1900. , - , 1982 , himself (" Reminiscing") , APRA Gold Award , , - , 1985 , himself (" The Other Guy") , APRA Special Award ,

ARIA Hall of Fame

The

ARIA Hall of Fame 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 accompani ...

is to honour the growing number of legendary performers, producers, songwriters and others who have influenced music culture in Australia. , - ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

, Little River Band ,

Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame

The Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 2004 to honour the lifetime achievements of some of Australia's greatest songwriters. , - , 2006 , himself , Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame ,

BMI Special Citation of Achievement

Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), the performing rights organisation, awards a special citation of achievement for songs played more than one million times on US radio and television. Goble has won five such awards: , - , 2007 , himself ("

") , One Million-Air , , - , 2007 , himself (" The Other Guy") , One Million-Air , , - , 2014 , himself (" Reminiscing") , Five Million-Air , , - , 2017 , himself ("

") , Four Million-Air , , - , 2020 , himself (" The Night Owls") , One Million-Air , , -

Mo Awards

The Mo Awards, (technically The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards), are annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia.Goble, Graeham (2006
Graeham Goble Reminiscing: Awards
. Retrieved on 14 July 2008. , - , 2004 , Birtles Shorrock Goble , Classical Rock Performers of the Year ,

South Australian Music Awards

The

South Australian Music Awards The South Australian Music Awards, also known as SA Music Awards, commonly SAM Awards, formerly Fowler's Live Music Awards (FLMA), are annual awards that exist to recognise, promote and celebrate excellence in the South Australian contemporary mu ...

are an annual two-week celebration of live music, celebrating musical achievements of

. , - , 2018 , himself , Hall Of Fame ,

References

External links

Graeham Goble's websiteOnline Museum

Graeham Goble's Facebook profile

Five-part video interview at undercover.com.au
(2008)
Video of song ''Someone's Taken Our History''
(2006)
Article in ''The Age'' newspaper
(2005)

(2001)
Web interview by Frankie Aue
(1997)
Graeham Goble Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2020) {{DEFAULTSORT:Goble, Graeham 1947 births APRA Award winners Living people Australian musicians Australian soft rock musicians Little River Band members Musicians from Adelaide Mississippi (band) members Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Birtles Shorrock Goble members