[...cont.]

The next twenty-five years blurs considerably. So many things happened including the establishment of Folkways Music and the Larrikin Record label. Somehow-or-other I maintained my interest in folklore, collecting and performing. I was a Jack-of-all-trades and, I suspect, occasional master of some. I want to concentrate on my performing side in this essay (I keep getting distracted) so it's back to the first LP that the Larrikin label released. 'Man of the Earth' was an album of songs from the coal and gold mining industry in Australia and has the distinction of being LRF001 (LRF = Larrikin record full-price). It was recorded on a shoestring budget and recorded at the end of 1973 and released in 1974. The singers included Phyl Lobl, Tony Suttor, Mike Jackson, Andy Saunders, Dave De Hugard and myself. This album mostly featured songs I had collected including 'When You Give That Tuppence Back, Charlie Dear', 'Man of the Earth', 'Pint Pot & Billy', 'Brocklebank Engineers' and 'Mines of Australia'. It became the first of several Australian themed albums that I would sing on including 'Limejuice & Vinegar' (sea songs), 'On The Steps of the Dole-office Door' (Songs of the Great Depression), 'Diggers' (WW1 & WW2 songs) and 'Game As Ned Kelly' (Kelly Gang songs).

The Larrikins continued to perform for the next thirty or so years (1968 onwards) with several changes in line-up and included many of Australia's most respected interpreters of traditional music; Dave de Hugard, Jacko Kevans, Declan Affley, Cathie O'Sullivan, Bob McInnes, Tony Suttor, Chris Kempster, Gordon McIntyre, Kate Delaney, and Peter Hobson. I think I can safely say that the group provided a new benchmark for the interpretation of Australian bush song and dance music. I certainly do not take full credit for this as the sound was very much a team effort and in particular the strong musical leadership of Dave de Hugard and Jack Kevans. What I did contribute was the way we performed. I was determined the group would be as faithful to the tradition as possible and that we would introduce new material on a regular basis. I never had a thumpity thump bush band sound in my head and I always believed the group had a role to play in educating Australians to their own music. Diction was also important as we were telling stories rather than 'just singing songs'.

ABC Radio was a powerful partner in my determination to introduce new songs to the folk revival and there's many the singer I persuaded to learn some tongue-twisting song for a special radio project. Anyone who has had to learn any of Charles Thatcher's goldrush songs like 'Shepherding' or 'Green New Chum' will know what I am talking about! Or try singing 'The Nugget Family' (Coxon Comic Songs) as an exercise in tongue-twisting lyrics. Anyway, over the years I scripted, presented and performed in countless hours of radio programs and this allowed me to record versions of many songs that would normally never see the light of day. I always found it exciting to record songs from the Edwards, O'Connor, Meredith or my own collection. Sometimes other singers picked up on these recordings and performed their own versions.

I have to say that overall I am disappointed how few singers have actually taken-up and introduced traditional songs from the available resources. I know this is also a beef from Ron Edwards and Hugh Anderson. Both Hugh and Ron have delivered wonderful books chock full of early broadside and ballad treasures that cry out to be sung – most remain on the page.

Whilst I have avoided singing the 'folk top 20' including 'Click Go The Shears', 'The Catalpa' and 'Botany Bay' for umpteen years I recently decided to add them to my repertoire, out of sheer perversity.

My song repertoire is a study in itself. I divide my repertoire into the following categories:
     Transportation/Convict
     Bushranging & Bolters
     Colonial cities
      Gold and mining
     Emigration
     Colonial rural growth including the Land Acts
     Maritime
     Shearing
     Droving
     Drink
     Sport
     Transport
     Miscellaneous rural
     Old Bush Songs & Songsters
     On the Wallaby
     Australia at war
     Great Depression
     Political Parody
     British ballads and lyric songs found in Australia
     Children's songs
     Bawdry

I also maintain a register of poetry, drinking toasts, ditties and yarns associated with the above song categories, plus curious lore and history that can be used to illustrate the songs. In performance I usually choose some material that I have collected as I find this provides a solid link to the audience – as I am sharing a song that someone has shared with me.

Singing is a powerful experience and one that is difficult to explain to non-singers. It's strange but this is the first time that I have ever tried to explain it in writing and, I suspect, any local singer of traditional material has done so. Ewan MacColl had a theory that traditional singing is closely related to speech patterns and he developed various styles of interpretation based on the song subject and how he saw it in his head. For example, some people speak with a thrusting motion, some hold the speech in their chest whilst others seem to project the speech through the top of their head. He developed singing styles based on these and other patterns. I'm not sure if I am making sense here but it is a characterization method used by actors and it does work with songs. The trick, of course, is to pick the right style for the song subject. MacColl was a professional actor and singer and also emphatic about preparation before going on stage, especially major concerts. He would undergo deep breathing and shoulder relaxation techniques. I must admit that all these make good sense for anyone singing and I have taken many of his suggestions on board.

Familiarity with ones song subject is vitally important to me. I do not see myself as 'an entertainer' in the much-abused sense of the word. I see myself as part of a continuing tradition and in a privileged position to share the songs with an audience. Truth be known, if I had to hit the stage as a popular singer I would probably die of starvation! Familiarity with the subject allows the singer to provide the background to the song's story and the song, in turn, to use a cliche, brings history alive.

 

[cont. ...]