Kush -

Kush was an Australian brass-rock/soul band that made the 1974 Warner album Snow White and the Eight Straights and the 1975 RCA release Nah, Tellus Wh’t Kush Means Yer Great Sausage.

Members: Geoff “Jeff” Duff (vocals, percussion), David Herzog (acoustic guitar, electric guitar), Rob Matthews (bass), John Ellis (alto saxophone, baritone saxophone), Bill Harrower (tenor saxophone, flute), Steve Ball (clavinet, electric organ, electric piano, keyboards, Mellotron, Moog synthesizer, piano), John Santos (trumpet), Ian Hellings (trumpet), Clive Harrison (bass, vocals), Nick Lister (drums), Arthur Robinson (clarinet, flute, saxophone, violin)

Background

Kush formed in Melbourne in late 1971 when saxophonist–arranger John Ellis developed a smaller group from the 20-piece Barry Veith Big Band. Ellis assembled guitarist Roger Pell, reedist–keyboardist Ron Anderson, bassist Rob Matthews, drummer Larry Kegn, and trumpeters John Santos and Colin Chapman, then added singer–percussionist Jeff Duff through an audition.

Duff took singing and drum lessons from age twelve and played in the mid-1960s groups Why and Not Only But Also. He fronted Melbourne pop band The (New) Avengers by late 1969 under the name Jeff Black, alongside future Little River Band guitarist David Briggs. Duff also attended Swinburne Art College, where he met future members of Madder Lake, collaborators on the college-produced 1969 flexi-disc Swinburne Bestiary. Trumpeter John Santos, also known as John Montesante, worked in Melbourne jazz, big bands, show orchestras, and television orchestras.

Kush initially performed rearranged cover material, with Ellis and Santos preparing charts for songs including “Proud Mary,” “River Deep, Mountain High,” and “Spinning Wheel.” Warner Bros. issued “Peter Gunn” in 1973 (b/w “The Sky Is Falling”), followed by “Can’t You Hear Me Calling” (b/w “Wait”). Personnel shifted across the two sessions as David Herzog, Graeme McDonald, Ian Mason, Nick Lister, Bill Harrower, and John Hughes entered the recording lineups.

Kush played the Sunbury Pop Festival at Diggers Rest in January 1974 on a bill with Australian groups including Ayers Rock and the Dingoes and visiting English band Queen. The album lineup comprised Duff, Herzog, Matthews, Ellis, Harrower, keyboardist Steve Ball, trumpeters Santos and Ian Hellings, and drummer Lister. Kush recorded Presents Snow White… And the Eight Straights with producer Howard Gable for Warner Bros.

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