Description
Down Under (But Not Out) is a compilation album by the American singer and songwriter Larry Norman, issued to celebrate 30 years of Larry Norman artistry and features tracks from the People! period in the late 1960’s and other early classics combined with mostly studio tracks from the 70’s and first half of the 80’s. It was originally released as a cassette in 1984 in Australia only (hence its title). Officially released in the US in 1986 as a double vinyl album on Norman’s label Phydeaux Records, and as well released as a single LP on the Swedish gospel label Royal Music the same year.
A compilation of tracks recorded by the Jesus music pioneer between 1967 and 1984 with a particularly complicated history. Originally released in Australia (hence its title) in 1984 it was originally a 20-song double album compilation which confusingly cobbled together tracks from the People! era, finished recordings from various albums and unreleased demos recorded with brother Charlie. When in 1986 Larry released ‘Down Under But Not Out’ on his Phydeaux label there were cassette releases in two different versions with bonus tracks. But by the time the project got onto a CD it had been trimmed to 14 tracks! Musically, it’s a very mixed bag. The very early tracks interspersed with more recent (well, 1984) recordings don’t sit too well and this is more for hardcore Norman completists (but then they’re probably trying to search out those rare Phydeaux cassettes). It has its moments of course. The studio version of «I Hope To See You In Heaven» from the 1973 sessions for the ‘So Long Ago The Garden‘ classic is wonderful while «If The Bombs Fall» is a great pop song. But, in truth, it’s still a rather exasperating hotchpotch of tracks. [Tony Cummings, Cross Rhythms, December 2007]
> iTunes (https://music.apple.com/cd/album/down-under/367772712)
LP tracklist (single LP version, Royal Music, 1986, Sweden):
Side One
A1. “Riding In The Saddle” (Spoken)
A2. “Hard Luck Bad News Blues” (from Something New Under The Son)
A3. “Country Church, Country People” (from The Story Of The Tune)
A4. “Riding High” (See US LP listing)
A5. “Somebody Tell Me My Name” (See US LP listing)
A6. “Soul On Fire” (See US LP listing)
A7. “Righteous Rocker” (See second cassette listing)
Side Two
B1. “Shot Down” (from In Another Land)
B2. “Watch What You’re Doing” (from Something New Under The Son (see notes))
B3. “Give It Up” (Instrumental, 80’s recording)
B4. “Why Should The – Punk” (See US LP listing)
B5. “More Precious Than Jewels” (Instrumental version of “Woman Of God”, 80’s recording)
B6. “If The Bombs Fall” (See US LP listing)
B7. “Trinity” (Spoken) (80’s recording)
2LP tracklist (double album version, Phydeaux Records, US, 1986):
Side One
A1. Riding High (B-side of the “Organ Grinder” 45 single by People)
A2. Ashes Of Me (B-side of the “Apple cider” 45 single by People)
A3. Somebody Tell Me My Name (B-side of the “I Love You” 45 single by People)
A4. I’ve Got You On My Mind (From the People album Both Sides Of People)
A5. Hasty Heart (From the People album Both Sides Of People)
Side Two
B1. I Love You (Alternative version by People)
B2. Letter From The President (B-side of the 45 single by the Flies)
B3. Sweet Song Of Salvation (From Upon This Rock)
B4. What Goes Thru Your Mind (From Bootleg)
B5. I’ve Searched All Around The World (From Bootleg)
Side Three
C1. I Hope I’ll See You In Heaven (Studio recording from 1973, see notes of So Long Ago The Garden)
C2. Soul On Fire (From Orphans From Eden, unreleased, 1974)
C3. Stop This Flight (1978 (?), studio version (see notes))
C4. When Messiah Comes (198?, instrumental, demo)
C5. You’re Out Of My System (1984, studio version)
Side Four
D1. Why Can’t You Be Good (1976 probably, studio version, recorded for the album Le Garage Du Monde (unreleased))
D2. Why Should The Devil (80’s, live recording (recorded in Australia))
D3. I’m Gonna Write A Song About You (80’s, studio recording)
D4. If The Bombs Fall (80’s, studio recording, different from “Bombs” on Back To America)
D5. Galaxy (80’s, instrumental studio recording, probably by Charles Norman with no Larry Norman involvement)
CD tracklist (CD-version, Phydeaux Records, 1996):
01. Riding High
02. I’ve Got You On My Mind
03. Hasty Heart
04. Sweet Song Of Salvation
05. What Goes Thru Your Mind
06. I’ve Searched All Around The World
07. I Hope I’ll See You In Heaven
08. Soul On Fire (Nite Lite Mix)
09. Stop This Flight (First Demo)
10. Out Of My System
11. Why Can’t You Be Good?
12. Why Should The Devil (Punk)
13. If The Bombs Fall
14. Galaxy
Note: Down Under (But Not Out) is a compilation issued to celebrate 30 years of Larry Norman artistry. It features tracks from the People period and other early classics combined with mostly studio tracks from the 70’s and first half of the 80’s (side 3 and 4). Originally this album was released on cassette in Australia. It was offered to new subscribers to the magazine “On Being”. Along with the tape came a “booklet,” which was a special Larry Norman edition of “On Being.” The Australian tape features the songs of side 1, 2, and 3 of the US double LP. It’s subtitled “A chronological history (1966 1984)” on the J-card. The US double album has a regular cover. This one might be referred to as “Thirty Years 1956 – 1986”. Has also been released as a double-album cassette by Phydeaux.
The Swedish release of this album is very different from the US releases and its songs are therefore listed separately. It (some?) came with a four-page insert (“Excerpts from On Being”) and a printed inner sleeve. “Riding In The Saddle” is part of some interview in which Larry Norman explains what kind of songs he wrote back in the fifties. “Watch What You’re Doing” is the “Little Joe Billy” version with intro (same as on the Phydeaux tape of “Something New Under The Son).” “Trinity” is listed as “Trinity (spoken)” but Larry Norman only gives a spoken introduction to this (short) song.
[youtube_sc url=”oi2srC-rps8″ title=”Larry Norman – Soul On Fire (Nite Lite Mix)” autohide=”1″ rel=”0″]
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