The Whitlams Eternal Nightcap
CD, 1997

BLACK YAK | PHANTOM Records // (p) Phantom - E.S.P., 1997 (c) Black Yak / Phantom, 1997

track 14 only on the first CD pressings

Management: Kim Thomas at Black Yak Management, Sydney

- Recorded 1996–1997
all songs published by Phantom - E.S.P. except No Aphrodisiac, You Sound Like Louis Burdett, Charlie No. 3, Up Against the Wall by Phantom - E.S.P./Control
Tangled Up in Blue published by C.C.S.Inc.
- Dedicated to Stevie Plunder, 1963 - 1996



released March 18, 1997 Black Yak
released 2000 Warner Bros. / 2 81584
released November 11, 2006 Phantom / PHLP-100



thewhitlams.com:
Eternal Nightcap was the first album of a new era for The Whitlams. When co-founder Stevie Plunder died in January 1996, Tim Freedman took four months off then set about regrouping, determined to take the band to the heights it had promised before tragedy struck. This album is the product of a year searching for a new dynamic. Its common thread is friendship. In general, it is sweet and sombre.

With Tim Freedman at its core, The Whitlams is something of a shifting sphere. He has drawn on his group of usual suspects to record the album:



Original member Andy Lewis plays bass on half the album, the rest is played by live cohort Michael Vidale and new recruit Cottco Lovett (Ute, Peril)


Guitars are played by Tim Hall, who handled live duties up to June '97, Stevie Plunder's brother Bernie Hayes, Spaniard Oscar Briz, Matt Galvin from Eva Trout and Tim's brother Nick Freedman

Piano duties are shared by Tim and the inimitable Chris Abrahams (Midnight Oil, The Necks). There is also a cameo by Larry Muhoberac who played with Elvis Presley and arranged 'Hot August Night' for Neil Diamond. For Larry's work, listen to the jazz stylings in the quiet bridge of 'Up Against the Wall'
String arrangements on three songs were provided by Sydney group Four Play and brass by old friends Paul Jensen and Andy Kell of the Kaempfert Zone


01:. Written by Tim Freedman with his friends from Machine Gun Fellatio, it starts out as a sentimental lament of love at a distance. But loneliness means falling back on oneself - not always a pretty sight. His exhortations regress into unfettered depravity, resembling the lonely hearts classifieds of Picture Magazine. The velvety strings at the head are gradually swallowed by a wall of guitar, just as, in the lyric, sweet solitude becomes the fuel for carnality.

Words: Tim Freedman, Glen Dormand, Matt Ford
Music: Tim Freedman
Tim Freedman: vocal, backing vocals, piano
Oscar Briz: guitar
Andy Lewis: bass, double bass
Michael Richards: drums
Strings by Fourplay

02:. Words & Music: Tim Freedman
Tim Freedman: vocal, backing vocals, piano
Cottco Lovett: bass
Strings by Fourplay


03:. Words & Music: Tim Freedman
Tim Freedman: vocal, backing vocals, piano
Tim Hall: backing vocals, trebley wah guitar
Bernie Hayes: wah guitar
Andy Lewis & Michael Vidale: bass
Mike Richards: drums
Paul Jensen: trumpet
Andy Kell: saxophone
Daniel Barnett: trombone Bill Heckenberg: percussion


04:. Words: Tim Freedman
Music: Tim Freedman, Mark Wells
Tim Freedman: vocal, backing vocals, piano
Chris Abrahams: Hammond organ
Oscar Briz: electric guitar
Matt Galvin: fuzztone guitar
Andy Lewis: double bass
Michael Richards: drums


05:. Sydney bands tour Melbourne frequently. There, they fall in love in the romantic, rainy city. "If I had three lives, I'd marry her in two". This is the most lush track on the album, and was edited and re-mixed for release as a single. Melletron, string quartet, grand piano, Hammond, the bass used by the Easybeats, ten-tracked backing vocals and a girl who paints pictures on the wall.

Words & Music: Tim Freedman
Tim Freedman: vocal, backing vocals, piano, melletron
Chris Abrahams: Hammond organ, piano (outro)
Tim Hall: guitar
Andy Lewis: bass
Michael Richards: drums
Strings by Fourplay (Peter Hollo: cello, Lara Goodridge: violin, Chris Emerson: viola, Tim Hollo: viola)


06:. Penned and sung by Tim Hall, this is a very pretty and moody song, the heavy guitar and insistent piano of the chorus contrasts with the lighter touches around it. Chris Abrahams' Rhodes piano solo in the middle bridge is a highlight.

Words & Music: Tim Hall
Tim Hall: vocal, guitar
Tim Freedman: piano, backing vocals
Chris Abrahams: Rhodes electric piano, Hammond organ Michael Vidale: bass
Mike Richards: drums

07:. Charlie No.3 is the tragic last instalment, co-written with Greta Gertler of Peccadillo. The grand piano is double-tracked over a programme of industrial noises, while distorted organ and massed backing vocals add textures to the canvas.

Words & Music: Tim Freedman, Greta Gertler
Tim Freedman: vocal, backing vocals, piano, Korg and Hammond organ
Oscar Briz: electric guitar
Andy Lewis: bass
Michael Richards: drums
Greta Gertler: backing vocals
Robert Hindley: programming and noises


08: This track was recorded with Stu Eadie (Clouds, Karma County) on drums and Nick Freedman on guitar, who both played with Tim in The Olive Branch in 1993. It was inspired by the splitting up of the T-shirt collection at the end of a long relationship.
Words & Music: Tim Freedman
Tim Freedman: vocal, piano
Nick Freedman: guitar
Andy Lewis: bass
Stuart Eadie: drums
Andy Kell: saxophone, backing vocal


09.: Words and Music: Bob Dylan
Tim Hall: vocal, guitar
Tim Freedman: piano right side
Chris Abrahams: piano left side, Hammond organ organ
Michael Vidale: bass
Mike Richards: drums

10.: Words & Music: Tim Freedman
Tim Freedman: vocal, backing vocals, piano, Korg C3 organ
Bernie Hayes: electric & acoustic guitars
Matt Galvin: chorus licks guitar
Andy Lewis: bass
Michael Richards: drums
Chris Abrahams: Hammond organ


11.: Words & Music: Tim Freedman
Tim Freedman: vocal, backing vocals, piano
Cottco Lovett: double bass
Chris Abrahams: Hammond organ
Peter Hollo: cello


12.: Music: Michael Vidale/Ian Hildebrand
Tim Freedman: vocal, backing vocals, electric piano, Korg C3 organ
Ian Hildebrand: guitar
Tim Hall: guitar (bridge), backing vocals
Michael Vidale: bass
Mike Richards: drums
Scott Johnson: backing vocals
Larry Muhoberac: piano


13.: Words & Music: Tim Freedman
Tim Freedman: vocal, piano
Tim Hall: backing vocals, guitar
Chris Abrahams: harpsichord
Andy Lewis: bass
Michael Richards: drums
Steph Miller: mandolin, accordion, tin whistle


Piano Rock, Pop Rock
- Piano rock, alternative rock