This is a look at Australian country music, from bush ballads and yodeling oldies to country-rock and outlaw twang, and even some more modern Top Forty artists. This includes artists from both Australian and New Zealand, though there's a separate Kiwi Country section which has a lot of overlap. There's a ton of twang Down Under, and I'm pretty sure I'm only scratching the surface, so I welcome any recommendations, additions or corrections.
This page covers the letter "S."
Alec Saffy/Various Artists "MOVIN' OUT WEST" (CM/Country Music Records, 1973) (LP)
This three-artist sampler was the first full LP from CM ("Country Music") Records, an indie label based in Dubbo, New South Wales that was an ancestor of Opal Records. CM started in in 1969 and released a few dozen albums along with numerous singles. All three of the guys on this disc -- Terry Gordon, Alec Saffy and New Zealander Dusty Spittle -- went on to record solo albums, with Mr. Saffy being perhaps the most obscure of the three. The back cover lists three separate studio crews for their various sessions, though it's the same basic set of Tamworth-affiliated pickers, with a few variations -- folks like Norm Bodkin, Lindsay Butler, Hec Davies, and Ken Kitching, as well as a few less well-known musicians, such as pianist Valda Ross and bass player Ralph Tribe.
Alec Saffy "...Sings Country Old And New" (CM/Country Music Records, 1976) (LP)
Saltbush "At Twin Rivers" (Rainbird Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Ian McKenzie & Larry Murray)
Saltbush "Saltbush" (EMI Records, 1978) (LP)
(Produced by Mark Moffatt, Jerry Nixon & Graham Owens)
Kevin Shegog "Today" (W&G Records, 19--?) (LP)
Kevin Shegog "Great Country And Western Songs" (W&G Records) (LP)
(Produced by Russ Thomson)
Kevin Shegog "Ballad Of A Hillbilly Singer" (W&G Records) (CD)
Sister Dorrie & Tex Morton "I'll Be Hanged If They're Gonna Hang Me!" (Larrikin Records, 1997)
One of a small band of trailblazing Australian country gals from the Great Depression, singer-accordionist Dorothy May Ricketts (aka Sister Dorrie, 1910-1992) was born into a vaudeville family troupe and had years of onstage experience before she teamed up with country star Tex Morton. She is credited as the first female country singer in Australia to make a studio recording, cutting a handful of duet singles with Morton back in 1941; she had been part of his road show for several years before then. The act broke up in the 1950s when Morton went abroad to seek a wider audience, although they briefly toured together for a while in in 'Seventies. This disc is part of an archival series curated by Larrikin label founder Warren Fahey, drawing on numerous radio transcription recordings made during the duo's 1940's heyday -- fun stuff, though sometimes the sound quality is a bit rough. Sister Dorrie sings on nearly half the tracks; she's also featured on another Larrikin collection, but only credited on a couple of tracks.
Sister Dorrie & Tex Morton "You And My Old Guitar: The Original Tasman/Rodeo Recordings, New Zealand 1949" (Rodeo Records, 1981) (LP)
An earlier archival set, this originally came out as a double-LP in 1981 and was later released on CD. This late 1940's set was recorded towards the end of their partnership, apparently during a stint working in New Zealand, which shared a pretty similar country scene to that of Australia. The later date provides some distance from the regional parochialism that dominated early Aussie twang, with covers of many postwar American country hits, including heartsongs and honkytonkers such as "Slippin' Around," "Just Because," "This Cold War With You," and "Treasures Untold." Dorrie is credited on ten of the tracks, though apparently never as a solo vocalist.
Sister Dorrie "First Lady" (Kingfisher Cassettes, 1993) (LP)
Sadly, this cassette-only release was the only full album I could find that bills Sister Dorrie as the primary artist, and appears to drawn on the same trove of radio transcription discs as the Larrikin collections above, in this case some 1942 airshots that also feature Tex Morton and his Rough Riders band. Sure seems like this gal could deserve a CD of her own, perhaps mixing in a few of their studio recordings as well. (And does anyone know if she made any solo records, or recorded material after she and Morton broke up their act? I'd love to know!)
Jean Stafford "Flowers For Mama" (Hadley Records, 1974) (LP)
(Produced by Eric W. Scott)
An excellent debut album from a rootsy country traditionalist who really won me over... On the opening tracks, she seems like a Kitty Wells type, with a direct bridge to the persistently old-fashioned vibe of the bush-ballad scene, except that Stafford didn't cling to the western motifs and regionalisms that dominated early Aussie twang. Instead, she sang sentimental heartsongs, gospel tunes and Hank Williams covers, all with a plaintive simplicity and directness that becomes quite compelling. There's a strong vocal likeness to Loretta Lynn, though it's as if Loretta had never chosen to modernize, and instead stuck to a Depression-era repertoire; a more modern comparison might be to altie-auteur Gillian Welch. Born in Latrobe, Tasmania, Jean Stafford cut her first records as a teen, backing singer Dusty Rankin in the 1960s...She went on to become one of Australia's most popular singers of the 1970s and continued to record throughout the 'Eighties. She's crisply backed here by a studio band made up of "usual suspects" from the Hadley Records stable: fiddler Chris Bettle, Norm Bodkin (pedal steel), Bob Clark (lead guitar), Frank Jones (rhythm guitar), Alan Lisle (bass), John Minson (harmonica) and Tom Roach on drums... There are a few instrumental flourishes, but mostly they are content to lean back and keep it simple; it's kind of like having a half-dozen Norman Blakes backing Loretta Lynn. Nice stuff!
Jean Stafford "Jean Stafford" (Hadley Records, 1975) (LP)
Jean Stafford "I'll Sing You A Country Song" (Hadley Records, 1977) (LP)
Jean Stafford "Hello Love" (Hadley Records, 1979) (LP)
Jean Stafford "Born Again" (Hadley Records, 1980)
Jean Stafford "Burning Bright" (EMI Records, 1987)
Jean Stafford "Classic Jean Stafford" (Rich River Records, 1990)
Jean Stafford "That Says It All" (Dino Records, 1992)
Jean Stafford "Tassie's Got It All" (Sony Records, 1995)
Jean Stafford "Let The Dance Begin" (Peer Records, 2005)
Jean Stafford "The Golden Voice Of Country" (Universal Records, 2015)
Lucky Starr - see artist discography
Sue & Ian "The Perfect Match" (CM/Country Music Records, 1977-?) (LP, Album, Stereo)
Harold Ian Spittle (aka Dusty Spittle, 1939-2018) was a New Zealander, and presumably his duet partner Sue Archer was as well... Spittle made several treks to the Tamworth-adjacent CM Records studios in Dubbo, New South Wales, including this set which was recorded slightly outside of his "Dusty" persona, but was basically the same kind of material, with backing from many of the same Dubbo/Tamworth musicians who backed him on his other albums.
Swamp Salad "On The Country Line" (Ata Records, 1971) (LP)
(Produced by Bruce Brown)
Prefab "psychedelic rock" instrumentals and vocal tracks, including reverb-y covers of American country and roots-rock tunes, such as "Ode To Billy Joe" and "Wichita Lineman," as well as semi-original exploito permutations of the same kind of material, with many tracks veering off into riff-heavy blues-rock guitar... The leading force in this band was Dave Donovan, a New Zealander who emigrated to Sydney in the 1960s and became a prolific rock/pop session guitarist. He's joined by fellow kiwi superpicker Lennie Hutchinson, singer Christine Barnett, drummer George Adamson and bassist George Thompson. This group followed in the same footsteps as the shaggy proto- country-rockers of the 1960s Los Angeles club scene, the often-anonymous pickers who rotated through the house bands at the Palomino, Troubadour, and other nightclubs who found side hustles recording for budget labels such as Crown and Alshire Records, and who cranked out countless records like this one in order to score a little cash for their next beer run. Fans of Dennis Payne, The California Poppy Pickers, and the whole scene swirling around Gary S. Paxton will find a lot to cheer about here as well.
