Musicians
Vic Simms
- Origin
- La Perouse, New South Wales, Australia
- Genre/styles
- Country | Jazz | Rock Explore more genres
- About Vic
-
Vic Simms is a Bidjigal man. His birth name is William Victor Simms.
When I see the talents that are existing at the moment up on the charts and sort of making it into the mainstream... it gives the impression that it was well worth going through the hard times of music.
— Vic Simms
Discography
Album formats explained Explain formats
Album formats
- 10": 10 inch vinyl records were played at 45 or 33 1/3 rounds per minute (rpm). The former could hold 9, the latter 12 minutes of music per side.
- 7": 7 inch records (often referred to as 45s) were played at 45 rpm or 33 1/3 rpm, with about 4:30 or 6 minutes of music per side.
- LP: Long play, is a vinyl record played at 33 1⁄3 rpm with a 12 or 10-inch diameter.
- EP: Extended play, are vinyl records that allowed two or even three songs on each side.
Yo-Yo Heart (7")
- Released
- October 1961
- Tracks
- Yo Yo Heart
- I Wanna Bop
Introducing Vicky Simms
- Released
- 1962
- Tracks
Sorry, no tracklisting available.
- Notes
This is a very rare album of Vic Simms.
I'm Counting Up My Love (7")
- Released
- February 1962
- Tracks
- I'm Counting Up My Love
- She's Got Soul
Yo-Yo Heart EP
- Released
- March 1962
- Tracks
- Yo Yo Heart
- I Wanna Bop
- I'm Counting up My Love
- She's Got Soul
Back Into The Shadows
- Released
- 1973
- Tracks
Sorry, no tracklisting available.
The Loner
- Released
- 1973
- Tracks
- Get back in the shadow
- Poor folks happiness
- Little barefoot urchin
- Try to understand
- The loner / Stranger in my country
- Everyone had known but me
- Living my life by the days
- Karen's song
- Anybody's nobody
- Notes
"Australia's great lost classic album of black protest music."
The Loner story: In 1973 Vic Simms was 26 years old and mid-way into a seven year sentence in Bathurst Jail for robbery. In jail he had bought an acoustic guitar for two packets of cigarettes, learned to play chords and started to write songs about his life and the injustices he saw around him.
Representatives of a charity group heard Simms singing in the prison yard and took a cassette of his songs to record company RCA. The company brought in a mobile studio and recorded ten of Simms' original songs in a single one hour session. Initially, Simms' music enabled him to sing his way out of Bathurst Jail.
He was one of the first indigenous performers to sing at the Sydney Opera House and went on the prison circuit singing for other inmates. Offended by the patronising attitudes of both RCA and the NSW department, Simms struck out on his own when he was released from prison in 1977.
The original LP is exceedingly rare and few copies are known to exist. It sells for over U$100 at actions.
Koala Bear
- Released
- 1988
- Tracks
Sorry, no tracklisting available.
From The Heart
- Released
- 1996
- Tracks
Sorry, no tracklisting available.
Find Vic Simms albums & CDs
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Use the Aboriginal music timeline to view albums over time.