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Hammer and Tongues Recordings
Hammer and Tongues were a women's unaccompanied vocal group based in Fremantle 1991 and 1992. They recorded Voices Abreast in 1991.
Voices Abreast, cassette recording, 1991
Kerry Fletcher, Lynn Hazelton, Maria Wilson, with Kate Kelly (tracks 2, 6)
tracks
1. More than a pay check (Ysaye M. Barnwell)
2. Madre Campesina (Spanish trad.)
3. Ajde red (Macedonian trad.)
4. Mama and Papa gonna join a union (Lynn Hazelton, arr. Christine Evans)
5. Travelling shoes
6. I wish (Lynn Hazelton, arr. Phillip Griffin)
7. Hay una mujer (Holly Near)
8. Deaths go on (lyrics Peter Kearney, music Kerry Fletcher)
9. Bamthata (Zulu freedom song)
10. Don't let your heart out (Debbie Longworth)
Kitchen Records Co-operative production
Trio proves merits of human voice
Jennifer Temm, The West Australian, date unknown
Hammer and Tongues, Voices Abreast
INSTRUMENTS can.be made to sound beautiful but there is no instrument that can match the human voice for its range of emotion and expression.
Good a capella is immediately captivating — when voices harmonise so perfectly they produce a single sound and no individual voice can be distinguished.
Hammer and Tongues, a Freo-based trio comprising Kerry Fletcher. Maria Wilson and Lynn Hazeiton, reach that peak often in Voices Abreast.
The three singers have developed a compelling range of material during their three years together and draw on music from Spain, South Africa. Macedonia, the US, South America and Australia as well as adding a few of their own compositions to this 10-track cassette.
The medium is ideal for words of rebellion. Songs such as Hay Una Mujer, about the missing women in Chile, and their own contemporary lament Deaths Go On, about black deaths in custody, carry just as much power as the more traditional arrangements such as the Zulu freedom song Bamthata.
The harmonies can't be faulted and the timing is excellent, notably on the technically difficult Don't Let Your Heart. The only instruments are occasional drums and triangle but the voices create their own melodies. counter-melodics, rhvthms and syncopation with great skill.This is a powerful, well performed collection that deserves to be heard bvya wide audience.
Steve Barnes' review of Voices Abreast
Voices Abreast is the latest in a recent string of independently produced and funded cassette albums by WA acoustic performers. This album is a sparkling collection of original and traditional vocal music by Fremantle-based a cappella trio Hammer and Tongues.
The band has been together in various forms for about three and a half years, Kerry Fletcher and Lynn Hazelton being involved from the beginning. Kerry and Lynn were joined by blues singer Maria Wilson two years ago to make up the current line-up. Between them, their backgrounds range through soul, blues, gospel, South American and Eastern European folk and rock’n’roll. They've been involved in a number of theatrical productions, including Alice at the Spare Parts Puppet Theatre.
They have been making quite a splash lately, both locally and nationally, in the opinion of many people (including me) stealing the show at Adelaide from the much-lauded Blindman's Holiday. Much of their appeal comes from the excitement and choreography of their stage performance, and the inevitable question with their debut recording was, would the energy come across without the visual element? Obviously, listening to the cassette is a much different experience from seeing the band live, but I'm happy to report that the music stands up beautifully by itself.
The ten songs on the album include traditional songs front Chile, Macedonia and South Africa, originals by Lynn Hazelton and Kerry Fletcher, some contemporary covers, and the gospel classic 'Travelling Shoes', borrowed from Maria Muldaur and given a rousing treatment. All the songs were recorded at Planet Studios under the expert guidance of James Hewgill. The great advantage of studio work - the opportunity to overdub extra parts - is used sparingly and effectively, and the production has an impressive sense of space.
The vocal performance is very nearly flawless thoughout, and the arrangements sparkle with imagination. The opening number, 'More than a Paycheck' (from Sweet Honey in the Rock) is the standout track, with a complex five-part arrangement that builds to a fascinating counterpoint. Much less complex but no less satisfying is the traditional Macedonian song “Ajde Red", driven by Kerry's tasteful work on the Tapan (the big Macedonian druin). Lynn Hazelton’s 'Mama and Papa gonna join a Union' is another fine track with a punchy arrangement, a very good song in the best Pete Seeger tradition. 'Bamthata', a freedom song from South Africa on the well worn Nelson Mandela theme, has a melody that won’t leave you alone, and comes a close second to 'Pay-check' as my favourite on the album. Holly Near’s 'Hay una mujer' is beautifully sung here, but this is one of those great but over-exposed songs which needs to be left alone for a while so that people can start to hear it again. This is the one song on the album which really needs H&T's theatrical stage presence to make it happen - the live version, complete with candles to symbolize the junta's victims, really brings the message across. On the other hand, a song which I feel comes over better recorded than live is Lynn's original 'I Wish', a wistful song of female aspirations with a lovely subtle arrangement.
It's a pity that they skimped a bit on the labelling on the cassettes - music this good deserves packaging to match. I hope they can fix this on subsequent production runs.
In conclusion, I can strongly recommend this cassette to lovers of good singing and good songs. It’s a pleasure to be able to recommend a local recording not out of any sense of parochialism but entirely on its musical merits. This is a lovely album which speaks for itself. Copies are available from Mills Record Bar, Dada’s, 78s and Monkey Music for $15.
Hammer and Tongues will be appearing later on in the year in one of our Fly By Night concerts, and will also be doing a workshop at the Skills Exchange. Don't miss them!
ARTSWEST review July/August 1991
HAMMER and Tongues have been together for a few years, but the present line-up of Lynn Hazelton, Kerry Fletcher and Maria Wilson has been in force since about the time of the memorable Women In Song concert last year.
They form part of a rising trend in female a cappella music which seems to have been underway since the seventies, but has flourished in the last two or three years. The Roches and Sweet Honey In The Rock are almost household names and Australia’s Blindman’s Holiday have been cutting a swathe overseas.
It is no accident that this trend has paralleled the strides that women have made for equality in the last couple of decades. Such bands have often been characterised as a platform for feminism and to some extent that is true and why not?
But Hammer and Tongues, like most, are entertainers as well as purveyors of social messages, moved as much by the music as by setting the world to rights. Also evident in their repertoire is a love of the music of the disparate cultures of the world which lends refreshing variety to their performances.
And the concert stage is where Hammer and Tongues stand out from many similar outfits. The degree of commitment to selling their songs is unique. The spotty trousers, tailcoats and braces, the choreography and tire warm, infectious sense of fun and theatre all demand, and get, instant communication with the audience, defying indifference.
All of this has taken a lot of work and rehearsal but it doesn’t show ... if you see what I mean. Melting hearts as they went, they swept into Adelaide at the National Folk Festival over Easter and came away with accolades and a swag of invitations to play over east, including the prestigious Port Fairy Festival.
With all this it mustn’t be assumed that the music comes second. They are all fine singers and Maria Wilson has access to those gutsy tones that can really lift a song. Their arrangements are complex and sometimes dazzling but always serving the music, rather than showy for the sake of it.
This said, for such a visual group, a recording is somewhat of a test, but one which they have passed with a few gold stars. Recorded in January at Planet Studios and self-produced, it sounds great with clear separation and balance of tire voices.
Helping out with vocals on a couple of tracks is former member Kate Kelly. The material ranges from traditional songs of Spain, Macedonia and South Africa to gospel and contemporary songwriting, including two originals from Lynn and Peter Kearney’s Deaths Go On with music from Kerry.
Plenty of variety in the approach too, with Roches-style cool vocals coupled with lyrical punch in More Than A Pay Check, about industrial disease, impassioned harmonising on tire Spanish Madre Campesina and the harder style, Eastern European, almost-dissonances of the Macedonian Ajde Red.
Hazelton’s Mama And Papa Gonna Join A Union and I Wish show delightfully different songwriting skills and lyrical sophistication. The latter, concerning role expectations versus freedom, is one of the highlights of the recording with a multi-layered arrangement by Phillip Griffin.
Holly Near’s Hay Una Mujer is a compelling song about the victims of Pinochet’s Chile and Bamthata is a moving Zulu freedom song. The recording concludes with Debbie Longworth's Don't Let Your Heart — the sort of quirky arrangement they do so well and which conjures up images of their live performance. The same goes for Travelling Shoes—a joyful gospel stomp.
I have this wonderful recording. Three gold stars!
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See also: Voices Abreast, cassette recording, 1991
Hammer and Tongues
Unaccompanied vocal group 1989-1992
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HAMMER AND TONGUES - BRIEF HISTORY
Fremantle Gazette 24 October 1989 >
Maria Wilson, Christine Evans, Kerry Fletcher, Lynn Hazelton >
1989
Received "Artrage" grant to produce HAMMER AND TONGUES cabaret season "Sequins and Searchlights"
Performed live on Music Deli Featured at Toodyay.
1990
Featured on "Woman at Work" double cassette
Featured in "Spare Parts Puppet Theatre" 4 week season of 'Alice'
Regular performances in Perth and country touring Featured at Toodyay Folk Festival.
1991
Queensland Tour, headlining at Maleny Festival.
Regularly played on National ABC programmes eg; Connexions Intempo
Half hour HAMMER AND TONGUES special on ABC Nationals "Coming Out Show"
Performed at Lismore Womens Music Festival
Guests for Goolwa Festival (S.A.) and numerous Adelaide performances and community workshops.
Received grant from Office of Family to teach multicultural lullabies.
Featured at Toodyay Folk Festival
Released first cassette "Voices Abreast"
Received grant from "W.A. Womens Trust" to produce "Standing Strong"
International support for Molombo
Performed at National Folk Festival, Adelaide
1992
Support for Robyn Archer
Performed in Festival of Perth
Received Grant from Office of Family Domestic Violence Unit
Featured in Youthfest W.A.
Photograph in the program for the Maleny Folk Festival 1991-92.
Spotted by national folk festival
Peter Sherry, Fremantle Herald, date unknown, 1991
LOCAL Fremantle a cappella act Hammer and Tongues has been invited to perform at the National Folk Festival.
Band member Kerry Fletcher sent a demo tape and band bio to the organisers. The response was an-all expenses paid invitation to the festival, to be held in Adelaide over the Easter weekend.
Kerry says they're very excited at the prospect. The band has been playing for three years and its perseverance is beginning to pay off, she believes.
"It's wonderful - a breakthrough. It will be especially stimulating for us because there will be lots of other a cappella groups there."
Hammer and Tongues has also scored a support slot with South African band Malombo, coming for the Festival of Perth.
And on top of all that, the band has just finished recording a cassette at Planet Studios.
If you want to wish this great a cappella group well on their trip cast, be at the Hammer and Tongues Go East bash at the Ethnic Music Centre on Saturday February 23.
Cover of Infolkus, Folk Federation of SA, vol. 1 no. 8, May 1991.
Kerry Fletcher @ Toodyay, 1991
'RAGING TONGUES'
XPress, unknown date
A Cappella lilts into Artrage this year with the all female group Hammer and Tongues.
These artists of unaccompanied harmony have been heard serenading audiences all around town, and will carry on in the same way during the October Fringe Festival.
Of course, you will have Hammer and Tongues' performances of Go For It pencilled in your diary already, like any enthusiastic Artrager. But even the best laid plans go astray.
Hammer and Tongues has completely altered its plans — dates, venues, titles, the lot — just to keep us on our toes. The group will now be performing Sequins and Searchlights at the Seaview Tavern, Fremantle, on October 25 to 28. The foursome will join with some of Perth's most exciting performers to evoke Paris and Berlin between the wars, treading the line between glitter and gunfire.
The four performances will be full of spangles, sequins, and songs with stings in their tails, with a great dance bracket to finish.
Homecoming brings down the house
Fremantle Herald, unknown date
THE annual Homecoming Concert at the Fly By Night Club last weekend was another huge success - as everybody knew it was going to be.
A large crowd witnessed the best of local music play til the wee hours of the morning. Rich and Famous and Jim Fisher opened the night. Their performances were excellent and well received by the vocal, but at that stage fairly small, crowd.
Hammer and Tongues were very entertaining. The three women use only their voices as instruments and their enthusiasm was absorbed by the audience with the set tight and enjoyable. Their song about Soweto was uplitting.
Devils on Horseback brought the crowd to the dancefloor. They never fail to deliver and once again their set was excellent. The band played a stack of songs from their Scatter the Mud CD which were well received.
WARMIA song contest winners Kavisha Mazzella and Russell and Shirley Smith also played enjoyable sets, and Water Diviners were the next band of the night to bring the crowds back to the dancefloor. Their stint was very danceable despite the fact they were without their percussionist.
The last act of the night was the excellent Market Banned. Their music is very personal and at times almost classical. It was unfortunate they played last, rather than a dance band. It was hard to sustain interest at three in the morning and I ... um ... fell asleep.
Tender slices of roast pork in a traditional rich gravy, topped with poached apples, served with roasted vegetables and a cauliflower & pea gratin.
Clip from the program for Alice, Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, 1990.
'Images louder than words'
Ron Banks's review of Alice, West Australian, 31 July 1990.
Written by Christine Evans
Directed by Peter Wilson
ALICE is an entertaining and enlightening demonstration of the bewildering array of modern images that face teenage girls. Full of carefully constructed symbols, its blend of puppetry, music and surreal images is presented with such panache and inventiveness that one can only be beguiled by its cleverness and charm.
It is loosely based on the famous Alice in Wonderland, who went on the ultimate fantasy trip. This particular Alice is an adorable rod puppet with wide-eyed face and a wonderfully expressive body.
Her alter ego is Lynn Hazelton of the a cappella quartet Hammer and Tongues, who are an intrinsic part of the action.
Like most teenagers. Alice fantasises about romance, her daggy parents' music and finding out who she really is. Temptation comes her way in the form of the White Rabbit (Brian Ireland), who introduces her to the glitzy world of music and fashion and even surfing.
She also has a little sister Minnie, a tiny rod puppet who can’t understand big sister and gets in the way.
The dialogue from Christine Evans is sparse. Images speak louder than words and the story’s symbolism is carried mainly by the imaginative puppetry directed by Peter Wilson.
It was an inspired choice to cast Hammer and Tongues. Dressed in black velvet, the four women move through the play both as image-makers and as a chorus. Their songs, ranging from the plaintive to the upbeat popular, are woven through the story with intricate harmonic stitching. Their opening and closing version of Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time is a gentle delight and additional taped rock music by Phil Griffin and Mike Burns considerably enlivens the imagery on stage.
The set by Mark Thomson consists of a larger-than-life dressing table and mirror, complete with drawers that act as steps for the actors. Through the mirror comes the White Rabbit with his images to tempt Alice, while her mother and father (grotesquely large puppets) bob up out of the drawers.
Spare Parts sets a cracking pace with a crazily inventive opening scene that shows Alice taking breakfast with her family. It’s full of visual jokes and crazy sound effects that set up an expectation of more enjoyment to come.
And later images don’t disappoint, particularly the poignant image of Alice’s suitcase being converted into a house with Alice trapped inside, incapable of breaking free of the domestic bonds.
It says more about the 'trapped housewife’ syndrome than half a dozen earnest books on the subject.
But be warned: this play is more suitable for older teenagers who are facing the same problems as Alice. And encapsulated in the story is a neat little message about finding one’s true self.
Alice marks a return to the witty and ground-breaking work that established Spare Parts' reputation. It is quite possibly their best work to dale.
Fremantle voices rise in harmony at Qld festival
Jennifer Temm, The West Australian, 1992
Fremantle a cappeiia group Hammer and Tongues returned to Perth in triumph last week after performing at the Maleny Folk Festival in Queensland. The five-day event drew 45.000 people—one-third more than last year.
“It was just magnificent. We performed on the opening night and to be a part of it was just brilliant. It would have to be the best folk festival in Australia,” singer Maria Wilson said. “We thought we’d get lost in the crowd but they invited us back.”
Other performers at the event included Kev Carmody, Sirocco, Archie Roach, Koori singer-songwriter Joe Gaia, and a contingent from Fremantle which included Ros and Steve Barnes and Rich 'n' Famous.
The show was just one of the many festivals around the country attended by the singing group, which began as a five-piece about three years ago.
“It started out as just a group of women who wanted to sing in the lounge room and evolved from there,” Wilson said.
"I don't know if we ever had a direction, except that we always choose our songs for their message. We thought we had a chance to reach people, with a very lovely medium.”
After various line-up changes the group became a trio a year ago and now includes Wilson, Kerry Fletcher and Lynn Hazelton.
Their material is a mix of traditional vocal songs from as far as Spain, South Africa and South America, and original compositions. They include laments, songs of freedom and contemporary topics such as black deaths in custody.
But not all the songs are grim—Hammer and Tongues are also adept at using satire and humour to make their bitter pills easier to swallow.
Nor is singing all they do. Last year the group put together their Standing Strong project with Aikido and self-defence instructor Katie Noad.
The 20-minute theatre and music piece is a series of skits highlighting the situations in which women can be threatened—on a bus, in the pub, in the bedroom—and aims to raise women’s awareness of their strengths, rights and ability to defend themselves.
Hammer and Tongues have performed Standing Strong about 10 times and will hold a few more shows early this year. But their next performance will be as support to actor, singer, writer and director Robyn Archer at the Octagon Theatre on Sunday night.
They were booked on the strength of their popular 10-track cassette Voices Abreast which was released and recently featured on ABC Radio’s Coming Out national broadcast.
Hammer and Tongues will open the show at 6.15pm for an hour before Archer, accompanied by Michael Morley, presents Robyn Archer, Chansonnier at 8.15. Patrons are invited to bring picnics for the one hour interval.
Tickets at $20 ($18 concession) are available through BOCS booking outlets.
Magnificent 17 ride into town
Women at Work: a wild bunch ready for debut
Mike Gee, West Australian, date unknown
THE magnificent 17 rode into town last week on a mission—to have breakfast together. But, more importantly, these women had two things in common.
They are all so busy that singer/songwriter Kelly Newton-Wordsworth couldn’t get the other 16 together to chew grits at any other time.
More importantly, she and her compatriots all appear on Women at Work, the forthcoming double album from Kitchen Records Co-operative Ltd.
And so this musical super posse sat down to swap tales of the lonesome studio musical trail and to get vibed up for the big show, down Shenton Park Hotel way, on November 11.
That night for four hours most of these women will perform at the launch of what is arguably the most important local album released yet.
It represents the original work of 12 of WA’s best female solo performers and the all-women a cappella group Hammer and Tongues.
Each artist has two tracks—26 in all.
However, until this week the talented 17 hadn’t met, so Newton-Wordsworth got them together for a little press and R&R.
"These Women At Work are really working,” Newton-Wordsworth said. “That’s a good sign for starters.
“But even better is the material on the album—it is simply outstanding.
“There’s everything from folk to blues, jazz to rock, funk to contemporary and some styles they haven't even got names for yet.
“The songs deal with issues as diverse as politics, love and the environment.
“What is even more important is that the album has brought all these artists together and made them realise that they aren’t out there alone and they can compete with the best product from anywhere in the world.”
Newton-Wordsworth might be seen to be a trifle biased as one of the magnificent 17, but the smoke signals from good judges who have heard some of the material is that it is as good as the big wraps being put on it.
So here are the bare facts:
• The project was co-ordinated by A2Z singer Shirley Smith and grew from a pre-production recording workshop held in May 1989 in conjunction with the Department of Employment and Training.
• The tracks were engineered and produced by Russell Smith at Fat Chance Studios.
• The album will be available on two high quality chrome cassettes and runs for more than 100 minutes.
• Buy the double cassette in advance and you get into the release show free.
• The magnificent 17 are: Jeannie Ashurst. Carmel Charlton, Hammer & Tongues (all five), Cathy Hole, Helen Matthews, Kavisha Mazzella, Rita Menendez, Josie Mitchell, Victoria Newton, Shirley Smith, Tzudy Vogue, Louisa Wise and Kelly Newton-Wordsworth.
• Gary Burke of Kitchen Records helped make it all possible.
Be at the Shenton Park on November 11 when the magnificent 17 make their first stand.
Reviews of Hammer and Tongues Performances
"... the music of the a cappella group Hammer 'n' Tongues is a total delight, reinforcing once again that there is no finer instrument and none more delicately balanced than the human voice ". Peter Laud (Sunday Times, Perth, 1990)
"Hammer 'n' Tongues, from West Australia, knocked the socks off listeners - their repertoire was delivered with a winning stage presence."Gordon Mignot (Cornstalk Gazette, Sydney, 1991)
"... an inspired choice ... woven through a story with intricate harmonic stitching ..." Ron Banks (West Australian, 1990)
"An unbelievable highlight of the Folk Federation's weekend ... the sound defied words to describe the beautiful full resonance. Their songs flowed from the staircase through the Club, spilling over into the streets, stopping passers by in their tracks." Alister Wilson (West Australian, Perth, 1991)
"... Their vocal performance is very nearly flawless throughout, and the arrangements sparkle with imagination." Steve Barnes
References, Links, Acknowledgments
Thanks to Maria for lending me her scrapbook.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 24 April, 2021 and hosted at freotopia.org/music/hnt/index.html (it was last updated on 13 May, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 2 May, 2021 and hosted at freotopia.org/music/hnt/voicesabreast.html (it was last updated on 13 May, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally hosted at freotopia.org/people/hnt/index.html, and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.