Australian Period
The original Python Lee Jackson was formed in December 1965, in Sydney by two British men – singer Frank Kennington and guitarist Mick Liber (born in Peebles, Scotland on 1 March 1944) – after meeting drummer David Montgomery (born September 1945 in Melbourne). Together with bass player Roy James they played the underground circuit. In early 1966 Kennington deported back to the UK, and former Missing Links singer Bob Brady filled in for several months before Liber and Montgomery struck on the idea of putting a new version together.
A new Python Lee Jackson line-up came together around March 1966 when keyboard player and singer David Bentley (born in 1943, in Brisbane) left Sydney group Jeff St John & The Id to join Liber and Montgomery alongside former Unit 4 bass player Lloyd Hardy (aka Cadillac Lloyd Hudson).
In June the quartet added former Wild Cherries singer Malcolm McGee (born in Melbourne on 1 November 1945) and opened Rhubarb's club in Sydney's Liverpool Street. In September Bentley left (and rejoined the band in 1968) and was replaced by Bob Welsh. The band's first single, "Emergency Ward" c/w their version of the Bo Diddley song "Who Do You Love", was actually a Ward Austin single featuring Python Lee Jackson as backing group.
Python Lee Jackson released a cover of Major Lance’s "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um" c/w "Big City Lights" in December 1966 before Hardy was replaced by Duncan McGuire from Doug Parkinson's The Questions for three weeks. McGuire appeared on the band's cover of Sam and Dave’s "Hold On, I’m Coming" c/w "Your Mother Should Have Warned You" before Hardy (now going by the name Virgil East) returned for the band's first trip to Melbourne in early/mid March. While there the group performed at the Catcher from 17 to 19 March with various local bands each night. Python Lee Jackson returned to the city for an extended stay from 30 March to 16 April. Like its predecessor, the new single was a minor hit.
In April 1967, Dave MacTaggart from Adelaide band The Black Pearls replaced Virgil East. On 11 June the group appeared on Opus TV with The Loved Ones and Ray Hoff and The Offbeats. The new line-up released the band's final Australian single, "It’s a Wonder" c/w "I Keep Forgetting", in August before Welsh left to be replaced by saxophone player Bernie McGann.
A few months later Mick Liber left and worked with Billy Thorpe and Gulliver Smith’s band, The Noyes, while former member Virgil East joined Jeff St John’s next project, Yama. Liber's replacement was Laurie Arthur from The Strangers. The band continued to play gigs, appearing at Melbourne clubs, Sebastians, and Berties. However Python Lee Jackson broke up in January 1968.
Malcolm McGee then joined vocal trio The Virgil Brothers with Rob Lovett (ex The Loved Ones) and Peter Doyle (who had replaced founding member Mick Hadley from The Purple Hearts). McGee recorded two singles with the Virgil Brothers, including their Australian hit "Temptation 'Bout To Get Me", but he left the group just after they moved to the UK in late 1969 and was replaced by Danny Robinson (ex The Wild Cherries. McGee later played with McGuire in Rush. MacTaggart reunited with Liber briefly in Billy Thorpe's band.
Montgomery reunited with David Bentley in The David Bentley Trio. Around October 1968, they joined forces with Mick Liber and travelled to the UK where they revived the Python Lee Jackson name.
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Famous quotes containing the words australian and/or period:
“Beyond the horizon, or even the knowledge, of the cities along the coast, a great, creative impulse is at work—the only thing, after all, that gives this continent meaning and a guarantee of the future. Every Australian ought to climb up here, once in a way, and glimpse the various, manifold life of which he is a part.”
—Vance Palmer (1885–1959)
“Stupid word, that. Period. In America it means “full stop” like in punctuation. That’s stupid as well. A period isn’t a full stop. It’s a new beginning. I don’t mean all that creativity, life-giving force, earth-mother stuff, I mean it’s a new beginning to the month, relief that you’re not pregnant, when you don’t have to have a child.”
—Michelene Wandor (b. 1940)