Sid Rumpo - First Offense (Reissue) (1974/1993)

The blues-rock band Sid Rumpo was organized in the Australian city of Perth in 1971. The original members included Bob Sears (guitar, vocals), John Hood (guitar, harmonica), Ken Valles (keyboards) and Owen Hughes (bass). In search of a drummer, I had to advertise in a local Sunday newspaper, since none of their acquaintances possessed sufficient skill. Noel Herridge, who had extensive experience playing in blues bands and accidentally ended up in Perth, responded to the announcement. Using a slide guitar and harmonica made the band very bluesy.
After winning the local rock band competition Sid Rumpo in November 1972, they decided to move to Melbourne, which at that time was the musical Mecca of Australia. Numerous concerts and participation in a number of festivals brought the group fame among fans of blues. During the concerts, recordings were made, based on which a bootleg was released in the late 70s. They and Perth visited, opening for John Mayall during his tour. The guys became friends with his drummer Keef Hartley, who composed good music and later performed two of his tracks in concerts. In August 1973, John Hood suddenly decided to leave the group and return to Perth. He was replaced by Mike Elliot, a fairly good guitarist who played in Levi Smiths Clefs, Jim Keays' Southern Cross, They Accidentally Sued Themselves and Western Flyer.
 In 1974, First Offense was recorded. Some of the things are a bit of a broken boogie blues with careless piano runs, but there are also quite serious numbers with strong riffs, among them the best tracks from Sailing and Song With No Trees. In some places there is a slight bias in southern rock, in particular, on Spotlight and the next Breakin 'My Back; there are two instrumental instruments - the acoustic guitar Spider Curry and the final brooding piano Poor Man's Orange. Very solid work. After playing for the last time at the Sunbury festival, the band ceased to exist.