Warumpi Rock: Papunya Sessions 1982
Cut live to two-track in a house in the band’s home community of Papunya, some 240 km’s northwest of Alice Springs (Mparntwe), the recording predates the Warumpis’ seminal first single “Jailanguru Pakarnu” and captures the band well before their classic anthems “Black Fella White Fella” and “Island Home” were written. Indeed, just like the first Rolling Stones album it is all covers (Chuck Berry, Beatles, Bob Dylan, a few classic country tunes and of course the Stones) – the instrumental track from which the collection takes its name is the only original – but this is no set of ordinary covers. It’s as rough as guts, but it’s as lively a set of performances as you’ll hear – a joyous flexing of young muscle, a spirited bash & pop.
Recorded a year or two after they formed, several tracks from the tape appeared on the band’s first release, the Jailanguru Pakarnu cassette that CAAMA released in 1983, and a few tracks also appeared on the Festival/Warner Warumpi compilation Warumpi Band 4 Ever in 2015.
The album contains 18 tracks and features brief notes from Warumpi Band co-founder Neil Murray.
