Antipodean Beat

Band Members:-

John ‘Mort’ Abbott – Vocals & Drums (1964-68)
Keith Yelland – Keyboards (1965-67)
Daryl Chance – Guitar (1965-67)
Gordon Parsons – Drums (1965-68)
Jon Cooksey – Bass Guitar (1965-67)
Dave Pearson – Bass Guitar (1967-68)
Dennis James – Guitar (1967-68)

Record Releases:-

Can’t You See/The Wind Blew Into My Eyes (Act!on KE-002) c.66
Choose Who I Like (Unreleased studio track) c.67

Can't You See?

From information I have received about this band there were in fact three line-ups, John ‘Mort’ Abbott (v) helped form this band in 1964, this line-up had the image of dressing in stove pipe hats and black coats with tails. To start the show they would wheel or carry a coffin onstage and the lid would open up revealing Mort from his deep slumber, thus they were dubbed as Morticians. The band played frantic r’n'b.

Later on Keith McGowan, the top DJ from Perth’s leading radio station 6PR, offered to manage and record the group. As I (Keith Yelland) have since been told, Keith suggested to Mort that more experienced players were needed if they were going to record so thus the second line-up was born in 1965. This line-up recorded the Action single sometime in 1966 plus the unreleased track “Choose Who I Like” in early 67. The band minus Mort provided backing for Maggie Hammond on her Action records.

I’ve just had it confirmed that Keith Yelland did not play on the Maggie Hammond tracks or “Choose Who I Like” session, he (Keith Yelland) believes it was some other keyboard player who replaced him in the group, so the plot thickens.

This line-up broke up sometime around mid 67 – late 67, this is where the third line-up came into being. Gone was the bouncy r’n'b Farfisa/Vox Continental organ sound and in came the heavier Hendrix/Cream/Small Faces sound that was in force around Australia at the time. No recordings were sadly done with this line-up. This line-up lasted till 1968.