Cherry Red RecordsThe late Bon Scott became famous as the frontman for AC/DC, but before joining the legendary Australian hard-rock band, he was the lead singer of a group called Fraternity. Now, a comprehensive three-CD Fraternity compilation called Seasons of Change: The Complete Recordings 1970-1974 has just been released.
The collection features the band’s two studio albums, 1971’s Livestock and 1972’s Flaming Galah, remastered from the original master tapes, as well as non-album singles, B-sides and other bonus tracks. In addition, Seasons of Change includes a full bonus disc dubbed Second Chance boasting recently rediscovered session recordings, live performances from Fraternity’s Country Arts Tour and unheard songs featuring vocals and songwriting contributions from Scott.
Among the bonus tracks are two songs that Fraternity played at the 1971 national Hoadley’s Battle of the Sounds competition, at which the group was crowned Australia’s best band.
Seasons of Change has been curated with input from Fraternity’s surviving members — bassist Bruce Howe, drummer John Freeman, guitarist/pianist Sam See, keyboardist John Bisset and harmonica player Uncle John Eyers — as well as the group’s original manager Hamish Henry and the estate of late lead guitarist Mick Jurd.
Fraternity’s music was influenced by a variety of genres, including prog-rock, soft rock, proto-heavy metal, country, prog rock and psychedelia.
In addition to the group’s own original material, the compilation features Fraternity’s covers of The Moody Blues‘ “Question” and The Band‘s “The Shape I’m In” and “Chest Fever.”
The Seasons of Change package also features expansive sleeve notes and unseen photos of the band.
Here’s the full track list:
Disc One: Livestock
“Livestock”
“Somerville”
“Raglan’s Folly”
“Cool Spot”
“Grand Canyon Suites”
“Jupiter Landscape”
“You Have a God”
“It”
Bonus Tracks
“Why Did It Have to Be Me?”
“Question”
“Seasons of Change” (Single Version)
“Somerville” (Single Version)
“The Race Part 1”
“The Race Part 2”
Disc Two: Flaming Galah
“Welfare Boogie”
“Annabelle”
“Seasons of Change”
“If You Got It”
“You Have a God”
“Hemming’s Farm”
“Raglan’s Folly”
“Getting Off”
“Somerville R.I.P.”
“Canyon Suite”
Bonus Tracks
“The Shape I’m In”
“If You Got It”
“Raglan’s Folly”
“You Have a God”
“Seasons of Change”/”If You Got It” (Hoadley’s Battle of the Sounds 1971)
Disc Three: Second Chance
“Second Chance”
“Tiger”
“Going Down”
“Requiem”
“Patch of Land”
“Cool Spot” (Alternative Version)
“Hogwash”
“Chest Fever”
“Little Queenie”
“The Memory”
“Just Another Whistle Stop”
“No Particular Place to Go”
“Livestock”
“Rented Room Blues”
“Get Myself Out of This Place” (a.k.a. “Getting Off”)
“That’s Alright Momma”
By Matt Friedlander
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