Review’s Isolation Room: Joe Camilleri takes on Van Morrison’s optimistic anthem
From his home in the central Victorian town of Kyneton, the Black Sorrows frontman belts out a Van Morrison classic | WATCH
Joe Camilleri finished recording his 50th career album just before the national lockdown in March last year, and after waiting patiently for the right time to set it free, he believed he had finally found some clear air.
Like all of us who thought we had plans, he’s had to think again.
“I thought it was going be a wonderful opportunity to release the recording – and then all of a sudden, I’ve lost 40 shows in the last two and a half months,” he told The Weekend Australian.
“I feel for everybody: work is work, and sometimes at 73, you think, ‘They’ve actually retired me’,” he said with a laugh. “I’m like one of those poor old footballers that don’t get a call back.”
The release of the new Black Sorrows album, Saint Georges Road, is going ahead on September 10, with rescheduled concerts to follow sometime down the track.
The singer, songwriter, guitarist and saxophonist isn’t one to sit around feeling sorry for himself, though.
For Review’s exclusive Isolation Room video series, he has recorded a superb duo take on the Van Morrison classic Bright Side of the Road.
From his home in the central Victorian town of Kyneton, Camilleri belts it out and plays harmonica while accompanied by his friend Shannon Bourne on acoustic guitar.
“What we need right now is something really uplifting, happy and joyous,” he said. “I want my songs to be as great as that song. When I perform, I want to be able to be that guy: I want to bring joy.”
“I know that sounds old-school. I’m more interested in everyone surfing the wave, right? Whatever it takes,” he said. “Music moves around in many different forms and it creates these feelings. It’s not about ‘me, me, me’ – it’s about all of us.”
From his early career with Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons through to the Black Sorrows, the Melbourne blues-rock act he co-founded in 1983, Camilleri is one of the true lifers of Australian music.
“I’ve seen the peaks and valleys, and I’ve lived through it,” he said. “I’ve become a better person, and a better musician, because of it.”
“With the last few releases, I get the sense that I’ve been able to place all the things that I’ve been mining for the last 55 years of playing – or 45 years of recording – and finding a way of doing the best I can do with what I’ve got, and knowing what that is.”
“Music is my daily bread,” said Camilleri. “I love it to death. There’s nothing better than when there’s something going on. You feel alive, and nothing – no synthetic drug – can give you that.”
To rewatch our Review’s Isolation Room archive, click here.
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