Russell Morris - Russell Morris II (1976/2026) [Hi-Res]

With a career spanning more than fifty years, singer/songwriter Russell Morris’ experience pursuing a career in music exemplifies the unpredictable nature of the industry, while also reinforcing the importance of remaining positive and motivated in one’s career, and the importance of building a strong network of industry contacts.

Singer of the original version of the Johnny Young-written and Ian “Molly” Meldrum produced Australian rock classic, The Real Thing, Russell’s career is one which has experienced a range of highs and lows. The Real Thing, released in 1969 has been recognised as one of the top 30 Australian songs of all time. Despite experiencing such success, Russell has experienced hardship over the ensuing decades in being able to continue pursuing music. As he recalls:

“For a while there, I couldn’t make any money. I would probably do 15 shows a year at the most, and the rest of the time I was trying to write television ads, commercials and things to make money so I could survive, and that was really, really hard.”

While being recognised for his contribution to the Australian music landscape would see him be inducted into the ARIA [Australian Record Industry Association] Hall of Fame in 2008, it was a bittersweet moment for Russell, but also the catalyst for him to re-commit to music:

“It was like, go and sit on the porch, you’ve done your bit, just move out the way, this is your contribution to music; now you’ve got it, there’s the door. So I thought, wow, is that it? That’s it; I’ve got my gold watch and I thought, damn it; so that’s when I started to galvanise myself and thought, right, I’m going to do another album.”

A resurgence would occur for Russell in 2012 with the release of the ARIA Award winning album Sharkmouth:

“ABC [radio] picked it up and the album just went straight through the roof. All the community [radio] stations picked it up as well. It was like a juggernaut. But that album, as I said, won an ARIA, it was a platinum album, it was top 10, it was the biggest Australian selling album of that year.”

Russell credits his positivity and the strong support network of industry connections he has developed over the life of his career with being able to sustain himself through difficult periods. While he recognises that networking is a skill to learn (“some people are good at it and some people aren’t”), he says:

“Connections are really, really important. It becomes very important not to become a diva and not to treat people in a way that you think that you’re better than they are… You have to show respect for people and I think that helps your connections. Holding grudges doesn’t help either.”

Valuing the contribution of his backing band, one of the key challenges Russell experiences is being able to have a regular stream of live performances in place in so as to support the members financially. Being able to do this, however, is impacted by the relatively small music market in Australia (“you can’t work every single week”). Making his living primarily from live performances means that Russell spends considerable time traveling, and therefore is often away from home. He recognises that while he is fortunate – and enjoys traveling – this can take its toll, particularly when performing in regional areas of the country.

“I tried for 30 years and nothing happened. I couldn’t get anything, any air play, and then all of a sudden, out of the blue I produced something which became bigger than all the earlier stuff.”

David Spinozza, guitar
Don Thomas, guitar
Hugh McCracken, guitar
Russell Morris, guitar
Vinnie Bell, guitar
George Opalsky, horns
Michael Brecker, horns
Randy Brecker, horns
Jim Wisner, keyboards
Ken Archer, keyboards
Will Lee, bass
Rick Marotta, drums
Arthur Jenkins, percussion
The Al Brown String Section
Barbara Massey, backing vocals
Carl Hall, backing vocals
Tasha Thomas, backing vocals

Digitally remastered