Sharkmouth is astudio album byAustralian singer–songwriterRussell Morris. It was released on 12 October 2012 by Fanfare,Ambition Records. The album was presented to all the major labels who declined to release it. It peaked at No. 6 on theARIA Albums Chart to become Morris' first top ten album and the highest selling album of his career.[1]
Sharkmouth is based on stories fromAustralia's Depression years and some of their colourful characters, like boxerLes Darcy, gangsters of the 1920s and 1930s likeSquizzy Taylor and, from the 1940s,Arthur Stace and horsePhar Lap. AMaking of Sharkmouth DVD was released on 15 November 2013.[2]
In an August 2013 interview with Michael Smith ofTheMusic.com.au, Morris recalled: "I originally did four tracks, 'Blackdog Blues', 'Ballad of Les Darcy', 'Big Red' and 'Sharkmouth' – and I thought I'd see if anyone was interested. We did the rounds and went to all the record companies, and all of them said no."[3] Morris continued with the recording, "I went back offering not only the album but also the publishing on the album and my old publishing, on songs like 'Wings of an Eagle' and 'Sweet, Sweet Love', but they still declined to release it." Morris pressed 500 copies of the album and began performing it at gigs whenRobert Rigby fromAmbition Entertainment said he'd release it under the FanFare label.[3]
The project was created after Morris had read about a 1920s gangster from Sydney, Shark Jaws. This was the driving force behind a desire to create an album including Australian characters from the 1920s and 1930s era. Mitch Cairns explains: "To our knowledge, most 'Australiana' characters have been portrayed in a traditional colonial folk sense, so we wanted to find a way to deliver the stories in a more mainstream vein whilst still placing them in a 'vintage era'. A blues style seemed to be the perfect fit!! We tried to keep the vibe of the album raw and honest with lots of textural instruments and sounds, but above all, it had to be simple and spacious. We are also very honoured to have some very special guests on the album, includingTroy Cassar-Daley,Mark Lizotte andRenée Geyer." The albumSharkmouth has stories about Australian characters which are all moulded together in a melting pot of swinging shuffles and delta grooves.[4]
