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What the Media have to Say...
Warren Fahey should be no stranger to Capital News readers for his informative writings and re-issues of some of our country music pioneers over the years. This CD will appeal to anyone who is deeply interested in where our brand of country music may have sprung from – who and what inspired the stories and the tunes that eventually formed rugged folk songs to bush ballads and even contemporary flavours. Focused around the many stories and songs that the Australian gold rushes inspired, presented in pretty close to the form that musos of the day would have played thanks to Luke Webb, Marcus Holden Garry Steel and Warren himself on the squeezebox. Many of these songs were essentially parodies based on American minstrelsy and as such many a familiar tune will be heard. Given these basics, it stands as an entity in its own right and as such should be required listening.
(Jon Wolfe, Capital News Dec 2014)
Capital News Review (PDF Format)
The discovery of gold in Australia made a significant impact on our history. It also generated a strong musical response. And it's from this creative lucky-dip of songs and poems that Warren Fahey has enthusiastically prized out a truly entertaining and informative representation for his latest CD release.
Included are some fine re-wordings of favourites like The Maryborough Miner, Jolly Puddlers and A Thousand Miles Away. Also highlighted are some gold songs relating to New South Wales (Off To The Diggings, The Rush To Glanmire, Going To The Diggings) and those songs very much influenced by American musical traditions (The World Is Now Turned Upside-Down, Shipping Agents).
To handle especially some of the latter, Warren has called on the very capable talents of Luke Webb who, along with his fine instrumental contributions, shares the vocals with Warren and Marcus Holden. Luke's voice works really well with Warren's comfortable, easy-going vocal style. The top quality, musical talents of Marcus Holden and Garry Steel again make valuable contributions to the very appropriate and appealing musical arrangements and overall sound.
Any educational institution worth its salt should not overlook the value of this CD as a great teaching resource. This attractively presented CD also comes with an informative set of notes about each song.
A fine, entertaining collection of Australian gold rush songs, The World Turned Upside-Down is well worth a listen and more.
(Jim Low, Simply Australia)
A very impressive collection on songs! It certainly appears a great deal of work has gone into this release.
(Raymond Phillips, Country Harvest)
Damned good!
(Tony Bates, 3MDR)
Thank you for sending me this latest CD of Warren Fahey’s. It’s his usual standard and has some great music.
(Bob Cady, Highland FM 107.1)
What a great album, will definitely get airplay on my shows.
(Tim Kingston, Hobart FM)
I love how this album has been put together. It’s a pleasure to lay back & listen to the stories within the songs.
(Tony Slinga’ Slingsby, 5GTR)
On first glance I admit I was wondering whether I'd be disappointed, because "Man Of The Earth" set the bar pretty high all those years ago for this general subject matter. No such worries, thankfully. This is a worthy grandchild of "MOTE" and deserves serious attention in its own right. A most impressive choice of material and a fine group of musicians in attendance as expected for one of Warren Fahey’s albums. Luke Webb is certainly one to watch - lovely voice. Marcus Holden must have been on a drip-feed of chamomile tea - he's almost subdued, by his standards. How obscenely talented that man is, playing all those instruments, recording and engineering. And he's a blonde! It was nice to see Andy Busuttil involved with the mastering.
I hope the days are gone when the Australian folk mafia would scowl and complain that 'popular' songs, minstrel songs and music hall material have no legitimate place in the sacred world of Australian Traditional Music.
'The World Turned Upside-Down' is a fascinating album and I'll be happy to start playing tracks on my program.
(Bruce Cameron, Come All Ye, 2MCE)
If you are interested in Australian music from this era, this is an essential purchase.
(Chris Spencer, Trad&Now, July 2014)
Trad & Now Review (PDF Format)
WITH our sunburnt land currently being mined extensively, resurrection and collation of songs from Australia's gold rush era could be deemed timely. Songs informed by the diggings were a surprising omission from Warren Fahey's 2009 box set Australia: Folk Songs and Bush Verse. This album features the formidable multi-instrumental skills of Marcus Holden (fiddle, mandolin, cello, guitar and keyboard) and other of the Sydneysider's regular side players - most notably pianist Garry Steel, whose playing evokes the period beautifully. Vocalist Luke Webb's familiarity with old-time US music helps illustrate the influence of American minstrel ditties on Aussie gold rush songs. Tunes associated with Oh Susannah, Marching Through Georgia and Campdown Races, such as The Golden Gullies of the Palmer and Shipping Agents, are embellished with Webb's dulcet tones and banjo playing. Fahey's singing excels in the company of accordion in a brace of bushranger odes relating to Frank Gardiner. A quartet of wordy and sarcastic songs authored by self-styled "colonial minstrel" Charles Thatcher, are also highlights.
(Tony Hillier, The Weekend Australian, August 2014)
Weekend Australian Review (PDF Format)
Warren Fahey has done it again! Some time ago he released a CD of dances that delighted the nation’s early settlers, and now he has returned with a collection of folk songs from the days of the Australian goldrush, of the mid 1800s. These were incredibly hard days, with the more fortunate of them having horse drawn wagons to get them from one set of diggings to another, whilst the vast majority relied on, “shanks pony”, as their only means of transport, with their swag, and mining gear thrown across their backs, with their only reward the promise of the bright yellow stuff at the end of the rainbow. It’s hard to imagine any incentive to sing in these very harsh conditions, but sing they did, and it is some of these dittys that Warren Fahey has gathered together for this album. Twenty four tracks on board, some tracks like, “Our Fathers Came In Search Of Gold”, “Off To The Diggings”, “Going To The Diggings”, “The Miner”, and “The mines Of Australia” that point to what life was all about way back then. Songs like , “New Chum Chinaman”, and, “Fat Saucy Chinaman”, remind us of the oppression suffered by the Chinese miners in the days when racial discrimination was just a part of life, and also a couple of bushranger songs to illustrate that there were those who sought to make their fortune without working for it. There are others that are there purely because of the joy it gave the miners to sing them. The music on the CD is courtesy of Luke Webb who plays banjo, guitar, and also provides vocals, while Mark Holden plays fiddle, Cello, Mandolin, guitar and keyboard, Gary Steele chimes in with, accordion and piano, with Elsen Price supplying the bass work. Warren Fahey is also well to the fore, playing concertina, and also doing vocals. The melody lines are mostly original, although there are one or two that rely on Stephen Foster for more than inspiration. The title of the CD is, “The World Turned Upside Down” and runs for over 70 minutes, and takes us back to a time that we have only read of in history books. The mind boggles at the amount of time that must have been spent in researching these songs. There have been countless albums of popular Australian folk songs released over the years, but to my mind this is the first of songs from the goldrush era, and I think Warren Fahey deserves a special vote of thanks for keeping this music alive.
(Burt Everett, Country Pickin’s)
The discovery of gold in Australia made a significant impact on our history. It also generated a strong musical response. And it's from this creative lucky-dip of songs and poems that Warren Fahey has enthusiastically prized out a truly entertaining and informative representation for his latest CD release.
Any educational institution worth its salt should not overlook the value of this CD as a great teaching resource.
A fine, entertaining collection of Australian gold rush songs, The World Turned Upside-Down is well worth a listen and more.
(Jim Low, Simply Australia)
Check out the full review
The album arrived and I am still buried in it. I have always enjoyed Warren’s work – he is our Australian musical historian.
(Wally Sparrow, Radio Adelaide)
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