Prussian Blue is the debut solo studio album by Australian rock musician, Richard Clapton, which was released in November 1973.[1][2][3] It includes three singles, "Last Train to Marseilles" (October 1972), "All the Prodigal Children" (October 1973) and "I Wanna Be a Survivor" (July 1974).[4][5] The album was produced by Richard Batchens, who later produced some of Sherbet's albums.[6] Prussian Blue failed to appear on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart.[5]

Prussian Blue
The main image is a photo of the artist seen through a window, which has no glass. He is shown in an upper body shot. He has over shoulder-length dark, slightly curled hair parted in the centre. He is wearing a light, coffee-coloured jacket over the top of a blue-and-red striped t-shirt and jeans. His right hand holds a cigarette at waist level. His left hand is tucked into his jeans front right pocket. The window frame has white peeling paint, with the outside wall in pale blue. In the room beyond the artist is a dark chair near the back, dirty brown-white wall. Also visible is a dark doorway directly behind him. Above the wind and across the top is the artist's name in white followed by the album title in dark blue. The rest of the background is very dark blue, almost black.
Studio album by
ReleasedNovember 1973 (1973-11)
GenreRock
Length38:00
Label
ProducerRichard Batchens
Richard Clapton chronology
Prussian Blue
(1973)
Girls on the Avenue
(1975)
Singles from Prussian Blue
  1. "Last Train to Marseilles"
    Released: October 1972
  2. "All the Prodigal Children"
    Released: October 1973
  3. "I Wanna Be a Survivor"
    Released: July 1974

Reception

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Garry Raffaele of The Canberra Times reviewed Prussian Blue in December 1973, he observed, "Clapton sounds as though he's involved with the real issues of our time — pollution, man's inhumanity to those who share Spaceship Earth with him, communication difficulties. He writes of these things but his words are not likely to convince anybody. It's the simplistic trap again."[7]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Richard Clapton[8]

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Hardly Know Myself"3:32
2."Southern Germany"4:13
3."Poor Man's Saviour"3:22
4."Strange Days in Chippendale"3:31
5."Prussian Blue"5:41
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."I Wanna Be a Survivor"4:06
2."Last Train to Marseilles"3:34
3."All the Prodigal Children"4:03
4."Burning Ships"4:01
5."The Lonesome Voyager"2:36

Personnel

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Musicians
  • Richard Clapton – vocals, acoustic guitar; harmonica (track 9)
  • Keith Barber – drums (track 1, 6)
  • Ian Bloxham – congas (track 1, 4), percussion (track 3)
  • Tony Bolton – drums (track 7)
  • Kevin Borich – lead guitar (track 1, 3, 6)
  • John Capek – piano (track 7)
  • John du Bois – bass guitar (track 7)
  • Russell Dunlop – drums (track 5, 8, 9)
  • the Fascinations – backing vocals (track 1, 8)
  • Glen Gardier – lead guitar (track 4)
  • Kenny Kitching – pedal steel guitar (track 2, 7, 8, 9)
  • Mike Lawler – bass guitar (track 5, 8, 9)
  • Mike McLelland – guitar (track 10)
  • Red McKelvie – lead guitar (track 2, 7)
  • Dave Ovenden – drums (track 2, 3)
  • Ronnie Peel – bass guitar (track 1, 6)
  • Mike Perjanik – piano (track 3), keyboards (track 5, 8), organ (track 6)
  • Don Read – saxophone (track 1, 4, 5)
  • Trevor Wilson – bass guitar (track 2, 3)
Recording details
  • Richard Batchens – producer at Festival Studios, Sydney
Artwork
  • Graham McCarter – cover photography
  • Phillip Morris – back cover photography
  • Stephen Nelson – design/art

Release history

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Country Date Label Format Catalogue
Australia November 1973 Infinity Records/Festival Records LP L 34956
Australia 1993 Infinity Records CD / Cassette C 19593 / D 19593
Australia 16 August 2024 Warner Music Australia CD / LP / digital 2173225822

References

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  1. ^ "Richard Clapton – Prussian Blue" at Australian Music Database.
  2. ^ "Richard Clapton – Prussian Blue" at richardclapton.com
  3. ^ Richard Clapton – Pruussian Blue at Rate Your Music.
  4. ^ McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Encyclopedia entry for 'Richard Clapton'". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on 19 April 2004.
  5. ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Note: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1974 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974.
  6. ^ Holmgren, Magnus; Meyer, Peer; Bouchard, Gary. "Richard Clapton". Australian Rock Database. Magnus Holmgren. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  7. ^ Raffaele, Garry (31 December 1973). "Rock Music the Singer not the Song". The Canberra Times. Vol. 48, no. 13, 631. p. 9. Retrieved 15 June 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "'Hardly Know Myself' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 16 June 2018. Note: For additional work user may have to select 'Search again' and then 'Enter a title:' &/or 'Performer:'