Beginning as a loose Melbourne pick-up band playing mostly covers of R&B, zydeco and blues songs, The Black Sorrows eventually evolved into a unit that scored several top 40 Australian hits with original material. In the beginning, though, The Black Sorrows were simply a way for singer Joe Camilleri to play some fun, low-pressure gigs after the dissolution of Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons. From 1983-1988, Camilleri adopted the psuedonym 'Joey Vincent' for his performances with the band.
Membership in the band has always been loose and fluid. Most of The Falcons were (at one point or another) members of The Black Sorrows; several dozen other Australian vocalists and musicians have drifted in and out of the line-up over the years, with Camilleri being the only constant.
The band's most recent album is Roarin Town, released in October 2006. For this release, The Black Sorrows were Camilleri, Hadley, Black, Floyd, and the returning Carranza. Carranza had also played with Camilleri in yet another side-project band, Bakelite Radio, which released two albums in 2003/04.
The Black Sorrows are currently as a seven-piece band consisting of Joe Camilleri (lead vocals, sax), James Black (keyboards), Joe Creighton (backing vocals), Claude Carranza (guitar), Tony Floyd (drums), Annette Roche (backing vocals), and Troy McMillan (bass).
