Friday, August 3, 2007

Rabbit - Rabbit (1975)

Australia's Rabbit began its life as a power trio in 1973, based out of Newcastle. Mark Tinson (vocals/guitar), Jim Porteus (bass) and Phil Screen (drums) quickly opted to augment the band with a dedicated vocalist, one Greg Douglas, the following year. That union only lasted months before Dave Evans climbed aboard as the new frontman. Evans, newly ousted from a fledgling AC/DC, was a flashier entertainer and quickly audiences began catching on to the hedonistic image the band was now sporting. Having recently relocated to Sydney and on the strength of Evan's association with AC/DC, CBS Records signed the band the following year, culminating in their self-titled debut, "Rabbit". A few charting singles were issued from the album, prompting the band to engage in an all out war with glam contenders, Hush. Luckily, there was plenty of room in Australia for both bands, and Rabbit's success began to increase over the next year. By this time, a second guitarist named Dave Hinds was added to thicken up the band's sound.

The tougher sound proved to be just what the band needed when they entered the studio in 1976 to record and release their 2nd album, "Too Much Rock & Roll", which only cemented their position in the charts and increased the band's visibility. This was also helped by an appearance on the popular Aussie TV show, Countdown that same year. Just as things were moving along nicely for the band, Tinson and Screen bailed, leaving Rabbit a trio once again. Drummer, Barry Lytten, was brought in on drums and the band carried on as a quartet until finally imploding at the conclusion of a short promotional tour in late 1977. Members later hooked up with other bands like Swanee, Heroes, Finch, Hot Cockerel and Thunder Down Under. Evans later embarked on the revival circuit, mostly capitalizing on his association with AC/DC. He continues recording and touring with his band, The Badasses, to this day.

So what to make of this album? Well, due to its close ties to AC/DC, one can't help but draw comparisons. The problem is that, frankly, most of the writing doesn't stand up to the legacy. There are hooks here and there, but the album and its followup are both devoid of any real staying power, save for a few tracks between them. Hush and Rabbit are actually almost indiscernably identical, different vocalists aside. Nonetheless, this extremely elusive album is highly sought by collectors. This particular rip was passed on to me recently, and for the most part it's a solid conversion. "Running Bear" does cut short, but the rest of the tracks sound clean and mostly free of clicks and pops. Until I secure a pristine copy of the album and rip it myself, this is as good as we'll get for the time being. Download and enjoy!

16 comments:

micksguitar said...

another great post j.i'll be lookin' in the next few days when i get some time. sorry that you have to wait. don't get your hopes up. i'm not sure that i did it on cd before i left it slip away. but if i have it .it's yours. thanx mick.

Anonymous said...

COOL POST do you got the second one too too much rock n roll you gotta love the lp cover on that one.

skids said...

Rabbit - Too Much Rock'n'Roll

Year : 1976
Bitrate : 320K/s 44100Hz Stereo
ID3-Tag : ID3v2.3


Track Listing

1. Too Much Rock'N'Roll Intro - Higher Than A Kite (3:35)
2. Go Down Screaming (2:57)
3. Bad Girls (3:26)
4. Shakin' All Over (3:17)
5. Too Much Rock'N'Roll (3:41)
6. Heartbeat (4:25)
7. I Like To Hear My Music (3:51)
8. Shake That Thing (3:02)
9. Wild Fire (3:05)
10. Keep On (4:29)

Total Playing Time: 35:51 (min:sec)
Total Size : 82.1 MB (86,110,072 bytes)


http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FAZIT9MJ

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU for this!! Been looking for a long time my friend. This is such a great blog, I appreciate all your hard work brother.

Anonymous said...

Dear Ronnie,

I've never ever heard this record!

I've never ever seen this record!

I've never ever met anybody who has this record!

And I live in Australia!!

Thank you so so much!

Big Ern xxxx from Melbourne

Anonymous said...

Fantastic!

Anonymous said...

Hi from Melbourne, Australia

I've never even seen this record, let alone heard it! It's so rare

The second album, Too Much RockN Roll is way better, both musically and for the cover alone, but this one has some good moments on it!

Thanks so much for sharing it!

Big Ern xxx

Anonymous said...

Thanks a lot for posting this album, Do you have their singles too? Some of their songs were only available on singles.

Broke-ass Krell M said...

Wow, it took some digging to find this. Google turns this up on like the third page of results. Cheers for this!

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much, I've had the second cd for a while, I'd given up hope of ever getting this one.

Anonymous said...

Dave Evans has the greatest Aus Rock vocals around. His music that he is still recording these days rocks. I have every record that has Dave Evans on vocals. Some of I have doubles (none 4 sale sorry.

struck said...

thanks so much friend this cd was so hard to find it means the world to me to get this thank u i have a question do u have the singles by any chance there was a couple songs that wore only released as singles and not put in the albums thanks again friend

struck said...

since i got a couple great things from u friend which i really really apreciate i actually have THE MARCUS HOOK ROLL BAND with angus,malcolm from AC/DC and there 2 brothers GEORGE and ALEX if u would like it to post i can send it 2 u thanks friend

struck said...

do u have another aussi great by the name of STEVIE WRIGHT he did 2 solo cds that r out of print titled HARD ROAD and BLACK EYED BRUISER i would love to get those if they r out there by any chance thanks

struck said...

Hey bro do u have by chance the last single Dave and rabbit did " let me/kiss me goodnight"

✟ Electric Sabbath ✟ said...

hey i love your blog but can you reupload this album PLEASE?