Charcoal Lane

Charcoal Lane
Studio album by Archie Roach
Released	May 1990
Recorded	April 1990
Studio	Curtain Street Studios; Melbourne, Australia.
Length	43:39
Label	Aurora, Mushroom Records
Producer	Paul Kelly, Steve Connolly
Archie Roach chronology
Charcoal Lane (1990) Jamu Dreaming (1993)
Singles from Charcoal lane
"Took the Children Away" Released: September 1990 "Down City Streets" Released: 1991
Alternative cover
25th Anniversary Edition (2015 release)

Charcoal Lane is the debut studio album by Australian singer song writer Archie Roach, released in 1990.

Name

From the 1960s through to the 1980s, the inner-city Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy was a meeting place for Aboriginal people who had left missions, Aboriginal reserves, and other government institutions and drifted to the city in a bid to trace their families,[1] and Roach was one of these. A street behind a factory was a meeting and drinking place known to the community as Charcoal Lane.[2]

In 2009 the old Aboriginal Health Service building at 136 Gertrude Street was converted into a social enterprise restaurant, which was called Charcoal Lane[2] at the request of the local Koori community,[3] and provided training for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people.[4][5] It closed its doors in August 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the building being returned to the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service.[6]

Other musicians

Vika and Linda Bull were backing vocalists on the album.[7] Tim Finn provided backing vocals on "Took the Children Away".[8][9]

Reception, ratings, awards

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[10]

The album was released in May 1990 and peaked at number 86 on the ARIA Charts in April 1991.[11] At the ARIA Music Awards of 1991, the album received three nominations, winning two; ARIA Award for Best New Talent and Best Indigenous Release.[12]

Rolling Stone said "In the best singer-songwriter tradition, Charcoal Lane is deeply moving in both personal and political terms".[13]

The album was certified gold in 1992.[11]

25th anniversary edition

A 25th Anniversary Edition of the album was released in November 2015; including the original disc plus new interpretations by Australian artists and five live recordings from 1990.[14][15]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Native Born"	Archie Roach	4:00
2.	"Charcoal Lane"	Roach	3:21
3.	"Munjana"	Roach	7:36
4.	"I've Lied"	Roach	3:17
5.	"Down City Streets"	Ruby Hunter	4:04
6.	"Took the Children Away"	Roach	5:24
7.	"Sister Brother"	Roach	4:27
8.	"Beautiful Child"	Roach	4:01
9.	"No No No"	Roach	3:49
10.	"Summer of My Life"	Roach	3:34

25th Anniversary Edition (2015)

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Charcoal Lane" (performed by Paul Kelly and Courtney Barnett)	Roach	4:00
2.	"Munjana" (performed by Dan Sultan and Emma Donovan)	Roach	7:33
3.	"I've Lied" (performed by Marlon Williams and Leah Flanagan)	Roach	3:15
4.	"Beautiful Child" (performed by Ellie Lovegrove and Nancy Bates)	Roach	5:12
5.	"Down City Streets" (performed by Emma Donovan & The PutBacks featuring Archie Roach)	Hunter	4:21
6.	"No No No" (performed by Radical Son and Urthboy and Trials)	Roach	4:06
7.	"The Children Came Back" (performed by Briggs and Gurrumul and Dewayne Everettsmith)	Roach	3:40
8.	"Charcoal Lane" (performed by Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter [Live at the Wireless, 1990])	Roach	3:44
9.	"Down City Streets" (performed by Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter [Live at the Wireless, 1990])	Hunter	5:19
10.	"Native Born" (performed by Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter [Live at the Wireless, 1990])	Roach	5:13
11.	"Sister Brother" (performed by Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter [Live at the Wireless, 1990])	Roach	5:55
12.	"Took The Children Away" (performed by Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter [Live at the Wireless, 1990])	Roach	5:57

Charts

Chart (1990–92)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[16]	86

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[11]	Gold	35,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Country	Date	Format	Label	Catalogue
Australia	May 1990	Vinyl Record Compact Disc Cassette	Aurora, Mushroom Records	D30386
United States of America	1992	Compact Disc Cassette	Hightone Records	HCD 8037
Australia	6 July 2004 [17]	Compact Disc Digital Download	Mushroom Records	MUSH320132
Australia	6 November 2015 [14]	Vinyl Record Compact Disc Digital Download	Festival Records	FEST601039

References

1. Dunstan, Joseph (31 July 2022). "Melbourne's Fitzroy hides a past as a hub for the Aboriginal civil rights movement". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
2. Schaik, Johan van (1 March 2010). "Charcoal Lane". ArchitectureAU. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
3. "Charcoal Lane". Gastrology. 12 November 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
4. Topsfield, Jewel (5 June 2009). "Laneway leads to Aboriginal careers in food". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
5. "Charcoal Lane". Gastrology. 12 November 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
6. "Mission Australia announces closure of Fitzroy social enterprise restaurant Charcoal Lane". Mission Australia. 16 September 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
7. "Vika and Linda on the magic of Fitzroy and Archie Roach". Double J. 13 November 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
8. "Album Tales: Archie Roach's 'The Songs of Charcoal Lane' (2020)". Stack. 2 July 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
9. "Archie Roach's Took the Children Away: how one heartbreaking song galvanised a nation". The Guardian. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
10. "Album Review: Charcoal Lane by Archie Roach". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
11. "Songlines Archie Roach". Retrieved 8 October 2018.
12. "Winners by Year 1991". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Retrieved 28 September 2018.
13. "About Archie Roach". Archie Roach. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
14. "Charcoal Lane (25th Anniversary Edition)". JBHiFi. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
15. "Archie Roach album Charcoal Lane re-recorded on its 25th anniversary and national tour". news.com.au. November 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
16. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (pdf ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 237.
17. "Charcoal Lane by Roach (2004)". JBHiFi. Retrieved 8 October 2018.