It wasn't long before the band came to the notice of Go-Set staff writer Ian Meldrum and the group had a local hit version of the Joe South song "Hush", which peaked at number 15 on the national chart.

[8] Morris' debut solo single was a near seven-minute production extravaganza around a song called "The Real Thing", released in March 1969.

"The Real Thing" was written by Johnny Young, produced by Molly Meldrum and engineered by John L Sayers.

[9] The backing track was performed by members of Melbourne soul band The Groop, which included Brian Cadd, Richard Wright (drums) and Don Mudie (bass) as well as Zoot guitarist Roger Hicks (who composed and performed the acoustic guitar hook) and backing vocalists Ronnie Charles (The Groop), the Chiffons (including Maureen Elkner) and Marcie and The Cookies' Sue Brady and Judy Condon.

"Morris Mania" was in full swing, with a demanding schedule of live appearances and the continued invaluable support from Uptight and Go-Set.

[8] Morris, in the meantime, travelled to the United Kingdom to help promote "The Real Thing" but the song didn't perform well.

Morris returned to Australia in December 1969 and performed a concert in Brisbane which was attended by 5,000 people, of which more than 100 were taken off in an ambulance due to 'advanced hysteria'.

Coupled with the equally strong self-penned B-side, "Stand Together", the single returned Russell to the charts, hitting the national Top 10 in January 1971.

"Mr America" also won Morris the TV Week's Music Awards accolade for "Composer of the Year".

Morris concentrated on his own songwriting and with the cream of Australian musicians including Brian Cadd, Rick Springfield, Beeb Birtles and Marcie Jones, spent almost a year painstakingly recording and re-recording what became the Bloodstone album.

The Rubes achieved critical acclaim but mainstream radio refused to play their tracks.

By 1983 the five Rubes made a decision, if their single "Get It Right", which they rated highly, wasn't picked up by radio, they’d call it quits, which they did.

[11] Morris also fronted The Lonely Boys throughout the 1980s and he also branched out onto the musical stage, appearing as 'Riff Raff' in a Melbourne production of The Rocky Horror Show and a few years later taking on the role of Simon Zealotes in the hit 1992 arena production of Jesus Christ Superstar alongside John Farnham, Kate Ceberano, Angry Anderson and Jon Stevens.

[13] In 2002 he took a place of honour among his peers as part of the hugely successful Long Way to the Top concert tour.

Rouseabout Records released the definitive 2CD Russell Morris anthology, called The Real Thing, covering his entire career.

The duo performed irregularly for the next three years and released a studio album in 2011 titled Wild Bulls and Horses.

[15] According to Andrew Murfett of The Age, "Russell Morris, whose classic "The Real Thing" was performed with a supergroup comprising members of The Church, The Whitlams and Powderfinger, was inducted with a tribute from Midnight Oil drummer Rob Hirst.

Sharkmouth is a collection of tracks about the Australian of the 1920s and 30s and includes songs about Phar Lap, Les Darcy and The Great Depression.

[18] In April 2014, Morris released Van Diemen's Land which focused on larger events rather than individuals, from the prison ships that began Australia as a penal settlement to the union strikes, the First and Second World Wars as well as paddle steamers on the Murray River.

In February 2019, Morris confirmed the release of his next studio album Black and Blue Heart on 5 April 2019.

The Morris Springfield Project released Jack Chrome and the Darkness Waltz in October 2021 which debuted at number 34 on the ARIA Charts.