I'll Be Gone; Mike Rudd, Spectrum and how one song captured a generation

Description

I'll Be Gone tells the story of a song that captured the imagination of a generation of young Australians. It reveals the musical and personal journey of Michael Rudd a national treasure, even though he's a New Zealander! The book traces Rudd's musical origins leading Chants R&B, a quirky counter-cultural phenomenon of a band from Christchurch and follows him as he moves to Melbourne in the mid-1960's to become an integral member of two Ross Wilson led avant-garde outfits, Party Machine and Sons of the Vegetal Mother. In 1969 Rudd then formed what would become Australia's premier progressive/expressionist band, Spectrum. The book describes the political, social and artistic context in which Rudd led Spectrum for the next four years. This was an era when Dylan wrote symbolist lyrics such as those of Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, The Beatles were using horns and harps, harmonica quartets, assorted animal noises and a 91-piece orchestra on their recordings and Pink Floyd's 1970 Atom Earth Mother LP presented side 1 as a suite, almost a symphony. Politically in Australia hundreds of thousands of young people all over the country were marching in the streets of our capital cities in protest of Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War and capitalism was under the microscope, with many young people challenging it's social and sexual inequalities, rampant materialism and environmental destruction. It was in this tumultuous context that Mike Rudd wrote his seminal song I'll Be Gone, a song that rejects the overriding materialist paradigm and describes an alternate life that embraces simplicity and freedom. It's a beautiful song that encouraged a generation of young people to embrace a spirit of hope over violence, naturalism over avarice and freedom over servitude.

Craig Horne is a Melbourne based writer and musician who has been part of the fabric of the local blues and roots scene for over 48 years, most recently as the singer songwriter for The Hornets. Over the years Craig has performed alongside some of Australia's most respected musicians including, Jeff Burstin, Bruce Haymes, Chris Tabone, Yuri Pavlinov, Sam See, Paul Williamson, Mike Rudd as well as Ross Wilson, Wane Duncan, Gary Young and Ross Hannaford from Daddy Cool. Craig has been variously described as one of the best blues singers in the country with Music Victoria's CEO Patrick Donovan, describing him as 'blessed with a deep soulful voice and a writer of Melbourne blues songs like no other.'