Various Artists "2PK COUNTRY MUSIC JAMBOREE '74" (Strad Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Don McGuire)
This live set featured a slew of mostly-little known Australian artists, on a souvenir album recorded at a festival sponsored by radio station 2PK, in Parkes, New South Wales, roughtly a hundred miles west of Sydney. The 1974 2PK Country Music Jamboree was part of the station's eighth annual Labor Day celebration, held on October 6, 1974, with producer Don McGuire at the helm. The artists included George Anderson, Terry Bainbridge, Country Way, Coral Dasey, Double Dee, Lynette Guest, Ron Heycox, Karen Johns, Nettie Martin, Christine Niquet, Keith Pittman, The Red River Ramblers, Kim Sigg and the band Road Apple, who later condensed their name to Roadapple... (*Phew!* I got through it all!!) Some of these artists made albums that I already know about, others might be exclusive to this LP, or may have recorded stuff that remains off my radar, 7500 miles away... Many seem to have been clustered around a couple of smaller indie labels, and did not recorded elsewhere, or perhaps cut a few singles around the time this album came out.
Various Artists "ALL FIRED UP: THE LOST TREASURES OF AUSTRALIAN MUSIC, 1970-1990" (ScreenSound Australia, 2002)
Various Artists "THE BEST OF QUEENSLAND COUNTRY" (W&G Records, 1967) (LP)
(Produced by Ray Rumble)
Various Artists "BURIED COUNTRY: 1.5" (Festival Records, 2015) (CD)
Various Artists "DOWN THE TRAIL OF ACHIN' HEARTS" (Recurrent Records, 1999) (CD)
A collection of tunes from three pioneering Aussie cowgals, Lily Connors (1931-2018), Joan Ridgway (1932-2008) and Jacqueline Hall, whose careers spanned the 1950s and early '60s, and who each seem to have only released a few singles back in the 78rpm era. Sponsored by the National Sound And Film Archive, this disc offers nine songs from Lily Connors, six by Ms. Hall, and only four from Ms. Ridgway (though she recorded many more than that over the span of the 1950s.) All three women started their professional careers as pre-teens; each was a solo star for a while, and eventually quit touring as the country scene moved away from its old-school roots. Lily Connors tried her luck in America and was offered a gig with Spade Cooley in LA, but eventually chose to return to Australia, and toured nationally as a solo artist and later as part of Slim Dusty's road show. Joan Ridgway was also offered work in the United States, as a movie actor, but chose not to emigrate and instead concentrated on her musical career at home. Lily Connors also emerged from the world of regional talent contests and became a recording artist in the 'Fifties, leading her own band for several years and cut a total of a dozen songs. She was a member of Reg Lindsay's road show in the early 'Sixties, but eventually retired in 1965. This compilation does not include all the recordings of any of these three gals, but it sure is a cool resource for fans of this era in country music.
Various Artists "SILVER ROADS: AUSTRALIAN COUNTRY-ROCK & SINGER-SONGWRITERS OF THE '70s" (Warner/Festival Records, 2013)
A fascinating and richly rewarding plunge into Australia's homegrown 'Seventies country-rock, with plenty of slick stuff emulating the sounds coming out of Los Angeles, as well as some unique, eclectic material that will be unfamiliar to most country and pop fans worldwide. There is a tilt towards what many might call AOR or soft-rock material, but also plenty of legitimate twang and dozens of "new" bands to explore. If you enjoy well-researched compilations that can point you in multiple directions, this one's a doozy. Highly recommended!
Various Artists "WANDONG COUNTRY" (AMCO/Wandong Country Music Festival, 1979) (LP)
A spiffy double-LP set commemorating the Wandong Country Music Festival, held March 10-11th, 1979 in microscopic Wandong, Victoria, a tiny town due north of Melbourne. This was a charity album, sponsored by the Wandong Lion's Club, and they rounded up a real who's who of late 'Seventies Aussie and kiwi talent, including big stars such as Cash Backman, Lee Conway, The Hawking Brothers, Ray Kernaghan, John McSweeney, Col Millington, Tex Morton, Reg Poole and Kevin Shegog. Perhaps more significant, though, is the slew of lesser-known performers, including indie twangsters and country-rockers such as 1901, The Cobblers, Country Limited, The Country Outcasts, Gene Fisk, Gunslinger, Homestead, Indian Pacific, Lenore Somerset and about a dozen others... a real wealth of off-the-beaten-path Down Under twang.
Various Artists "YODELLERS FROM DOWNUNDER" (Birubi Records, 199--?) (LP)
Unless there's some researcher in Antarctica who put out an album I don't know about, Australian country music is literally the type of twang most distant from where I live, and among the hardest to track down. I am not an expert on the genre, but I'm learning. Australian country has a long pedigree, spanning back to the Great Depression, and was largely dominated by the "bush ballad" genre, a resolutely old-fashioned style that emphasized local and regional themes, and shares a common musical structure to pre-honkytonk American country. Although it has changed over the years, Australian country music was remarkably parochial and resistant to change, and shrugged off outside influences for much of the 1950s, '60s and to a lesser degree, the '70s and '80s. This included the gritty dynamism of honkytonk and the swank pop excesses of the Nashville Sound, though by the 'Seventies many Aussie artists made a concerted effort to keep more up to date. At any rate, the Australian country scene is pretty huge, and certainly deserves to be celebrated in its own right. I'm pretty sure I'm only scratching the surface here, and welcome any recommendations, additions or corrections.
