Blackfeather - Live Sunbury (Remastered) (1974/2005)

Blackfeather were one of the most popular and successful groups of the early '70s, and produced one of the landmark Aussie progressive rock albums, but a major split early in the group's history disabled what should have been a promising career for founder John Robinson. As indicated by the huge personnel listing below, there was a bewildering series of lineup changes, with Blackfeather going through at least six major incarnations between 1970 and 1983, with a huge personnel list for each version. The list is a veritable 'Who's Who' of the 70s rock scene. However it's the first two lineups - 'Mark I', who made At The Mountains Of Madness and 'Mark II' who recorded "Boppin' The Blues" - that are the best known.

Blackfeather (Mk I) formed in April 1970 with the original lineup being John Robinson (gtr), Neale Johns (vcls), Leith Corbett (bs) and Mike McCormack (dr). All but Johns had come straight from the split of the highly-rated The Dave Miller Set, who were one of NSW's most popular live groups in the late 60s, and whose classic version of "Mr Guy Fawkes" was Go-Set's pick for the Best Single of 1969.

It was this second lineup -- Robinson, Johns, Robert Fortesque and Alexander Kash -- which featured on their debut album, the Australian progressive classic At The Mountains Of Madness, recorded in late 1970 and released early the following year. The LP was produced by Richard Batchens, who later worked with Sherbet and Richard Clapton. Fraternity's singer Bon Scott guested on recorder and percussion, and their keyboard player John Bissett also contributed.