Joe Camilleri Add to Shortlist

“Some people like playing golf, I like playing music with people…

And I hope I die on the tour bus.”

So says legendary Australian singer, songwriter, producer and saxophonist Joe Camilleri.

Maltese-born Joe Camilleri’s music career began in the mid 1960s playing blues and R'n'B with the King Bees, the Adderly Smith Band (who allegedly sacked him for sounding too much like Mick Jagger and stealing the show!), Lipp and the Double Dekker Brothers, The Sharks and The Pelaco Brothers. 1975 saw the formation of  Jo Jo Zep and The Falcons and it was here that Joe Camilleri first gained national prominence as lead singer, songwriter and saxophonist. With a constantly evolving lineup that included, at various times, Jeff Burstin, Wayne Burt, John Power, Gary Young, Tony Faehse and the ebullient Wilbur Wilde on sax.  Incorporating influences from blues, R & B, soul, punk rock, New Wave and reggae, the group achieved considerable commercial and critical national success.

The eventual demise of Jo Jo Zep in 1983 paved the way for Camilleri to get back to his roots to create the phenomenon that was to become The Black Sorrows.  From humble beginnings playing zydeco, R&B and soul-inspired semi-acoustic music around Melbourne's inner-city cafes, Camilleri transformed the band into one of the most sophisticated ensembles in the country. The Black Sorrows developed a strong fan following and garnered wide critical acclaim for their recordings and superb live performances. They were acknowledged as one of the best and hardest working live bands in Australia, showcasing the powerful vocal talents of sisters Vika and Linda Bull and the compositional prowess of Camilleri and longtime writing partner Nick Smith, plus the superb playing of Camilleri's longtime guitarist Burstin. They released a string of commercially successful and critically acclaimed albums in the 1980s and 1990s including A Place in the World, Dear Children (an Australian Top 20 album in 1987), Hold on to Me (peaked at #7, 1988), Harley & Rose (peaked at #3, 1990), Better Times (peaked at #13, 1992) and compilation The Chosen Ones - Greatest Hits (peaked at #4, 1993). Top 30 hit singles were, Chained to the Wheel (which peaked at #9 in 1989), Harley & Rose (1990) Never Let Me Go (1990), and Snake Skin Shoes (1994). The Black Sorrows released Roarin' Town in 2006.

Never one to limit himself, Joe Camilleri has always had many other irons in the fire. With other projects such as The Revelators and Bakelite Radio and in addition to songwriting and producing for many other high-profile artists, Camilleri’s career has nothing short of remarkable. Australian music journalist, Ian McFarlane, described him as "one of the most genuinely talented figures in Australian music”. His induction in 2007 into the Australian Recording Industry’s Hall of Fame could not have been more deserved.