It isn’t true that the Seekers are Judith Durham and three yes men but geez, does that Judith Durham sing sweet. “Georgy Girl”, “The Carnival Is Over”, ” There will Never Be Another You”, show me another band with this sort of pedigree, indeed, show me another folk band so effortless great in distilling pop to folk and vice versa and i will show you Peter, Paul And Mary.
I thought that as far as pop vocals go, I would give Peter, Paul And Mary the edge, but original material is all the Seekers. I’m guessing their material is not new to you but if it isn’t, these are some of the finest folk pop tunes around. A very narrow world of music was the folk scene but for all of its Middle Of The Road trappings, this was more than just easy listening. There was a sense of a certain time and place bohemian in spirit being mainstreamed.
The Seekers celebrated their 50th anniversary this year, which makes them precise contemporaries with with the Rolling Stones and their homeland, Australia are getting around to honoring the band. According to contactmusic.com: “The band will receive the Australasian Performing Right Association’s (Apra) Ted Albert Award for outstanding services to Australian music during the annual ApraMusic Awards ceremony in Melbourne on 17 June (13).
Apra CEO Brett Cottle says in a statement, “Surely no other Australian act has had such enormous international appeal while retaining its unadorned sense of ‘Australianness’. The Seekers really put Australian music on the map… And 50 years later the music sounds every bit as great as it did then.”‘
I would agree and it is a career worth celebrating though to make things a little sadder, Judith is in hospital after surving a brain haemorrhage and their 50th year anniversary tour has been postponed while she recuperates.
Definitely, the Seekers are a band worth celebrating and let’s namecheck Athol Guy on double bass and vocals; Keith Potger on twelve-string guitar, banjo and vocals; and Bruce Woodley on guitar, mandolin, banjo and vocals, while we’re at it. Congratulations and keep on Seeking.