Richard Clapton - Goodbye Tiger

Goodbye Tiger is the fourth studio album by Australian singer songwriter Richard Clapton, originally released in October 1977 via Infinity and Festival Records.

Goodbye Tiger was the last of his albums to be produced by Peter Batchens. He wrote most of the songs for the album whilst he was away in Europe.

Clapton's backing band for the album was: Gunther Gorman on guitar, Michael Hegerty on bass guitar (ex-Stars), Kirk Lorange on lead guitar, Diane McLennan on backing vocals, Cleis Pearce on viola (ex-MacKenzie Theory) and Greg Sheehan on drums (ex-Blackfeather, MacKenzie Theory). Additional musicians on some tracks included Tony Ansell on keyboards, Tony Buchanan on saxophone and Jim Penson on drums.

The album is one of his best works and was supported by two singles “Deep Water” and “(Down In) The Lucky Country” that received considerable airplay and charted in the Australian singles charts.

Goodbye Tiger reached #11 on the Australian albums chart.

Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described Goodbye Tiger as, "his most celebrated work, an album full of rich, melodic and accessible rock with a distinctly Australian flavour. It established Clapton's reputation as one of the most important Australian songwriters of the 1970s."

Australian rock music historian, Chris Spencer, explained why it is one of his favourites, "…represents one of the pinnacles of Australian rock music. Clapton, essentially a singer-songwriter, working within the security of numerous band line-ups, wrote his best lyrics on this album. He never reached the same heights again, particularly with his melodies, visions and observations of urban Australia."

In October 2010 it was listed at No. 15 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums. The writers and music journalists, Toby Creswell, Craig Mathieson and John O'Donnell, described how, "Strangely, all the songs were about Australia..." despite being written while he was in Europe. "…the overriding mood of the album is edgy; like a hangover... All of the songs amplify the themes of the key songs 'Deep Water', 'Down in the Lucky Country' and the title song..”.

This album is a 2024 reissue on black vinyl housed in a gatefold sleeve with a printed inner sleeve and remastered audio, pressed in Australia via Warner Music.