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VK2TV > BEER 28.01.07 23:22l 69 Lines 2826 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 450288VK2TV
Read: GUEST DG7GZ DL7NDR
Subj: Re: Slim Dusty, pub wi no beer
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<DB0SON<DB0HBN<DB0SWR<DK0WUE<DB0RES<TU5EX<F6BVP<VK2TV
Sent: 070128/2108Z @:VK2TV.#MNC.NSW.AUS.OC #:2560 [Kempsey, QF68JX] $:450288VK2
From: VK2TV@VK2TV.#MNC.NSW.AUS.OC
To : BEER@WW
G4EBT wrote:-
> Bob, VK6BE wrote:-
>
>> The singer was Slim Dusty. He died a year or so ago. Slim was
>> enormously popular as a singer of bush songs but he was not
>> everybody's cup of tea.
Absolutely correct, Bob. Country music isn't everybody's cup of tea. Even
though I have a reasonable collection of Slim's music, I find that after a
couple of tracks it all sounds the same.
> Slim had a number of "firsts":
One you missed, David, is that Slim Dusty was the first Australian to have a
number one hit at home. A Pub With No Beer went number one for the week of
6th September 1958. The surprise is that it only spent one week at the top
of the charts.
> Quite a guy.
He certainly had quite a following which came about for a couple of reasons.
Early in his career he took to the road with his family and band, and
travelled 20,000 miles per year throughout the Australian outback. The
people in small outback towns appreciated that. The other reason is that he
came across as everybody's mate, someone who would not put up with BS or
sprout BS, someone who grew up in a harsh environment, just like the rest of
the population.
> He died in 2003, aged 76.
And he had a State Funeral.
He was born David Gordon Kirkpatrick at Nulla Nulla Creek, about 50km "up
river" from Kempsey. The family home is still there, in trust these days.
Moves are afoot to build a Slim Dusty Country Memorabilia Museum in Kempsey.
They have the land but are a long way short of the $9,000,000 they need!
Slim's boyhood mate, Shorty Ranger (and wife Ruby), still lives at South
Kempsey, is still singing occasionally, and still writes songs - Shorty has
written near 600 songs. Slim and Shorty sang together, live, on the local
radio station, 2KM (then). They hung around outside the studio building
until they were invited in by the station manager. That move accelerated his
(their) career(s).
Slim first recorded for the Regal Zonophone label, part of EMI, and stayed
with EMI all of his recording career. He recorded his 91st album in his 50th
year with EMI. When Regal Zonophone was phased out with the demise of the
78RPM record, Slim appeared on the Columbia label.
Slim's daughter, Anne Kirkpatrick, took out a Golden Guitar award on
Saturday night at the Tamworth Country Music Awards and his wife Joy was in
the audience.
Both Slim and Joy were reasonably prolific songwriters. Most of the tracks
on Slim's early recordings (circa 1950, especially) were penned by Slim. His
popular Lights On The Hill (circa 1975) track was penned by Joy.
Joy was one half of the McKean Sisters. Her sister Heather married another
well known Australian contry singer, Reg Lindsay, whose song about man
landing on the moon, Armstrong, is probably his best knowm.
Cheers ... Ray
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