crystal voyager
Paul Byrnes on the Australian Screen describes the film Crystal Voyager as " one of the most beautiful surfing movies ever made, and one of the most successful".
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After the unexpected success of "Morning of the Earth", Albert Falzon and David Elfick were able to secure funding from the Australian Film Commission for another surfing movie. The new movie would concentrate on George Greenough a Californian kneeboard rider who pioneered the earliest water shots by adapting a fibreglass housing to fit his movie camera. With a surfer/traveller theme "Crystal Voyager" would track Greenough as he finished making his own sailing boat and sailed off to find the perfect wave!
It was very late in the day when Albe Falzon & David Elfick approached G.Wayne Thomasto write and produce the soundtrack for their new movie “Crystal Voyager” 1973, reluctant at first he eventually agreed. The timing was crucial as the movie was already towards the final edit and had to be finished for release by a specific date to fit with government funding arrangements.
The whole soundtrack was written, performed and produced in TEN DAYS, with the help of the specially formed Studio Band consisting of Bobby Gibbert (piano), Mick Liber (guitar), Rod Coe (bass), and John Proud (drums) with assistance from Michael Carlos (keyboards), and Wayne sang and played rhythm guitar.
Crystal Voyater has been described as one of the "greatest concept albums of all time". In 1974 G. Wayne Thomas was presented with Best Soundtrack by the then Minister for Arts and Communications the Honorable Doug McClelland. (this Awards ceremony was a forerunner of today's spectacular ARIA Awards.)
This album was released on license by PolyGram on the Warm & Genuine label which was set up by G. Wayne Thomas and singer/actor Jon English. At the time PolyGram was installing a new computer system and sales records for an 8 month period were accidently erased. However “Crystal Voyager” is reputedly the highest grossing surf movie of all time due to its sustained popularity throughout Europe .
The soundtrack on the Crystal Voyager DVD features eight minutes from Pink Floyd's 1971 album Meddle, the visual/music combination becoming a feature of Floyd's stage shows from the mid to late 70s.
The movie featured the amazing and talented George Greenough surfing on "surf mats" and kneeboards along the far north coast of NSW particulary Lennox Head and Byron Bay. Greenough had moved to Australia on a semi permanent basis and was known for his radical political views and eccentric lifestyle and interest in movie making. The other surfer featured in the film is Richie West who also went on to star in the "Forgotten Island Of Santasha" with Joey Cabel.
Grant Drinkwater