JO'BURG HAWK - RARE 1973 SOUTH AFRICAN PROG PSYCH ORIGINAL - NM

$

62

RARE and essential ...Original 1973 BRITISH first pressing in striking gatefold cover ...

BEAUTIFUL CONDITION! Cover/Disc - EX-/M-



Here is a still rather unknown and/or criminally under-estimated 1973 British release by the legendary "HAWK" who made three great Lp's, but only Jo'burg Hawk was released outside of Africa.

Jo'burg Hawk is a compelling conceptual album that takes the listener on an adventurous ride through the jungles of South Africa, filled with rich melodics, vivid images and complex progressive hardrock tones. The wildly popular former Freedoms Children guitarist Julius Laxton is in the ranks...

Followed by the seminal HAWK LP "Africa She Soutyh Africa's premier rock/prog outfits. Explains Braam Malherbe, a member of the original Hawk line-up: "It ( LP "African Day") was political, you know. I mean there's the elephant destroying things left, right and centre – driving people from their land. We were making a huge comparison – if anyone had analysed the words then, they would have realised what we were all about." Like its predecessor, Africa She Too Can Cry, was a concept album, a social commentary on the madness that was South Africa in the 1970s. 

"Hawk was a concept band and the album "Africa She Too Can Cry", came at the right time, it was meant to be," say Dave Ornellas, former lead vocalist and front man for Hawk, the owner one of the definitive rock voices of his era. It tells the story of a young African man, Kakawa and his village and the people who lived in it. "It is a sad story of how the tribe was torn apart," explains Ornellas, remembering the lyrics that captured the mood of the album. 

The album was released in England with a slightly different track listing and credited to "Joburg Hawk" ... Engineered by former Freedom's Children great guitarist, Julian Laxton, also joined the group and saw Hawk take a new musical direction -- progressing from its original flute/guitar/tribal percussions and keyboard driven sound, to a new, more powerful twin guitar attack.

Hawk, far from being social commentators who viewed the madness from the safety of a stage and then went home to the safety and isolation of a divided South Africa, were caught up in centre of the insane politics of the country. One of the few multi-racial bands on the scene at that time, Hawk were finding that, while there was much to write and sing about, it was becoming increasingly difficult for the band and its members to operate -- the band found it increasingly difficult to perform and grow creatively with the noose of apartheid tightening around their necks. 

With Charisma driving the band, they soon found themselves working hard in London, including three gigs at the legendary Marquee club, star billing at the Reading Festival and opening for hard rock group Budgie. And with Charisma, they found themselves part of an impressive stable of some of the biggest bands around, including Genesis and Van der Graaf Generator. From a struggling outfit from the southern tip of Africa, they were suddenly receiving star treatment, with the deal negotiated including tickets to the UK and accommodation in a magnificent three-story house in the plush north London suburb of Highgate. 

"We were treated like real stars, with a fleet of Bentleys at the airport to collect our 16 member party when we landed in London," says a Hawk member. "We thought we had arrived." But the reality was somewhat different: despite their fancy house in one of London's best suburbs, the band was permanently broke. Their manager kept them on a shoestring budget, and they had to survive on a meagre handout of one UK-pound a day from their management. 

Hawk had sold all their equipment before leaving South Africa and the Charisma label supplied them with brand new equipment when they arrived. But at the time the Charisma deal was their ticket to freedom and they grabbed it with both hands. Unlike other South African bands that had tried – and failed – before them to crack it in the UK because of work permit problems, Hawk had no problem getting the right paper work because they were a multi-racial band. Their history of police harassment back home no doubt also helped smooth their entry in the UK. The bands highlight was touring Scandinavia at the end of 1973, where they had the audience eating out of their hands. Julius Laxton remembered: "Here we were in the frozen north, playing full blown African rock and the audience loved it. We were on such a high." The highly successful sell-out tour took them to Norway, Sweden and Denmark with their final appearance at Arhus in Denmark, where they were a highlight of a three-day festival held in an old airplane hangar. "We were billed as "Joburg Hawk, out of Africa, direct from London." Dressed in "war paint" and full Zulu regalia, complete with shields and spears, Hawk were one of the hits of the festival. 

Dave Ornellas: Vocals Mark "Spook" Kahn: Guitar 

Braam Malherbe: Drums 

Les "Jet" Goode: Bass 

Julian "Ipi" Laxton: Guitar 

Ivor Back: Drums 

Alfred "Ali" Lerfelo: African drums, vocals 

Billy "Knight" Mashigo: Percussion, vocals 

Audrey Motaung: Vocals, percussion 

Pete Kubheka: Vocals, percussion

  Uvoyo

  Elegy for Eden

  The Rolling of the Bones

  Dark Side of the Moon 

War Talk

  Africa

B

 African Sun

  This Elephant Must Die

  Beaters

  Hunt

  The Elephant Is Dead

  Ngluvo Ephili

  Yebo Mama 

Sunset

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