If ever there was a band to lay claim to rock ‘n ‘roll royalty, then Little River Band (LRB) is that band. Comprising of Glenn Shorrock (Twilights and Axiom), Beeb Birtles (Zoot and Mississippi), Graham Goble and Derek Pellici (Mississippi), along with accomplished musicians, Rick Formosa and Roger McLachlan (Godspell) and managed by Glenn Wheatley (Masters Apprentices/John Farnham), LRB came to life in 1975.
All the band members had tried to conquer the U.K. market with their respective bands without success. With that in mind they almost immediately went into the studio to produce international hits. The name Little River Band was taken from a signpost on their way to a gig near Geelong (Victoria) early in the career.
The first draft of the band recorded a version of the Everly Brothers' ‘When will I be loved’ as a single, which was shelved when Linda Ronstadt also happened to choose that song as a single. Their self-titled first album was released in November 1975.
The following May they released a second album, After Hours. The bands eight-and-a-half minute epic ‘It's a long way there’ had been edited down for release as a single. America was still in shock after the Nixon presidency, and the song created their first big US breakthrough.
Their American record company decided that After Hours was too dark, and put the band straight into the studio to record the next album. The band used some of the After Hours tracks and added some new ones to produce their third Australian album called Diamantina Cocktail.
Until then, Australia had enjoyed LRB’s music, but not embraced it. That is until ‘Help is on its way’, from the new album was released. The song went straight to number one. The album sold gold in America, the first time an Australian act had achieved such a feat.
The band produced their fourth album Sleeper Catcher in Australia, which went on to sell over a million copies in the U.S. The single ‘Reminiscing’ became a number three hit on the US billboard charts. For the next four years LRB kept straddling the two continents, renowned for their impeccable live shows.
Internally, relationships were not as happy and regular changes in the backline only contributed to the tensions. During one break between American tours, Graham Goble started writing and producing an album for John Farnham. He then campaigned the band to replace Glenn Shorrock with Farnham. This lead singer change would later cause controversy with US fans as Farnham was unknown in the States. Farnham walked straight into the recording studio to record The Net. More line-up changes followed, including the departure of Beeb Birtles.
In all, John Farnham recorded three albums with LRB over four years. The experiment never worked. America longed for Glenn Shorrock. At the end of 1985, while LRB was seriously contemplating its future, Farnham took the initiative of leaving to start work on his own solo album, Whispering Jack. LRB regrouped in 1988 with new management and a new record label. Glenn Shorrock and Derek Pellicci rejoined Goble, with "new boys" Wayne Nelson and Steve Housden to record the Monsoon album and its single ‘Love Is a Bridge’. In 1990, Goble left Little River Band as a touring member, and the band as we'd known it finally called it a day in 1991.
Countdown tip - John Lennon was quoted as saying that LRB’S ‘Reminiscing’ was one of his all time favourite songs and even had the lyrics stuck up on the wall above his bed.
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