Carol Lloyd Band - Mother Was Asleep At The Time (Reissue) (1976/2011)

Carol Lloyd was born on October 17, 1948 and had a successful career in both Australia and the United Kingdom either as a singer, creative director, producer, not only in the world of music but also in film, television, radio, or entertainment management. Endowed with a great voice, they called her 'Wild Woman of Rock'. She was part of the band Railroad Gin until the mid-seventies where she created her own combo, a mixture of funk rock and some psychedelia.

In 1969, she worked in London on television and radio. She returned to Queensland to work in advertising and began to sing professionally. She joined the band Railroad Gin created in 1968 in Brisbane and in 1973 was composed by Carol Lloyd (vocals), two bassists Dim Janson and Jim Dickson, Bob Brown (percussion), Gary Evans (drums), Peter Evans ( flute, brass, percussion), Phil Shields (guitar) and Laurie Stone (keyboards). They signed with Polydor and after a couple of singles with thermas like "Do Ya 'Love Me" or "A Matter Of Time", which they released in 1975 on their first album entitled 'A Matter Of Time" (see previous post).

In August 1975, Lloyd left Railroad Gin due to throat problems and to pursue her solo career. She was replaced by Judee Ford. By the end of the year she had formed Tonnage, which was soon renamed as The Carol Lloyd Band. The line-up was Lloyd on lead vocals and percussion, Gary Broadhurst on bass guitar, Peter Harvey on guitar and keyboards, Mark Moffatt on lead guitar and pedal steel guitar, and Danny Simpson on drums. They signed a worldwide recording contract with EMI Records - a first for an Australian artist. They had a hit in Queensland with "Storm in My Soul" and promptly commenced work on their debut album.

The album 'Mother Was Asleep At The Time', having taken only nine days to record, was released on Oct 18, 1976. Censors had a field day over-reacting to the original cover artwork for the album which showed a bowie knife severing the umbilical cord of an unborn foetus. The album was only permitted a release date once the offending knife was removed from the picture. Released in 17 countries the album sold quite well reaching #46 on the Australian Charts and it was therefore a huge surprise to everyone when less than a year later the band announced that it was splitting up.

Tony Catterall of The Canberra Times was impressed by Lloyd "[who] is a blues singer and, being part of the seventies, she's singing in the most acceptable blues style of today; the southern US sound pioneered by the Allman Brothers Band." The album was produced by Clive Shakespeare (ex-Sherbet), Catterall observed "on many of the 10 tracks – [Shakespeare is] refusing to let her be out front where a blues shouter belongs or by use of double tracking or echo chamber. The resultant sound isn't exactly displeasing, but it isn't true, either... her power and that of her band, has been too often diluted on 'Mother' by Shakespeare's wrong-headed approach."..