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 Buddy
Williams - The Pioneer
The man destined to become known
to country music fans around
Australia as Buddy Williams was
born Harry Taylor in the Sydney
suburb of Newtown on September 5,
1918. He never knew his parents,
and by the time he was six he had
tried to escape from the
orphanage at Glebe Point, where
the government placed him. Soon
after that he was given into the
custody of a couple from Dorrigo,
inland from the NSW central
coast, an area that produced some
of Australia's finest country
performers. However, this was out
of the frying pan, into the fire.
As so often happened then, the
dairy farm family were more
interested in an unpaid farmhand
than a son. An old .22 rifle he
found in the bush became young
Harry Taylor's escape from farm
chores.
Ostensibly hunting rabbits, he
would head to the freedom of the
Dorrigo hills and visit
neighbours, where he would yarn
away his time, share a smoke and
if lucky, listen to some of the
early country recordings of
Jimmie Rodgers.
It was here that was kindled, the
musical spark that was to launch
Buddy Williams to one of of the
greatest musical careers in
Australian Country music.
At fifteen Harry took work
digging potatoes and dairying. He
was working at a quarry in the
Coffs harbour area, when one of
his work mates dared him to try
singing in the street. He took up
the bet and to his amazement
collected 13 pounds/ 10 shillings
($27) for his effort - a small
fortune in prewar depression
ridden Australia. His first radio
appearnce was an unaccompianied
vocal on 2GF Grafton, but the
first time he sang professionally
was at the Jacaranda festival in
1936 when he was eighteen - he
literally stopped the show. The
ABC staged concerts at the
festival under the guidence of
Bryson-Taylor. From here he
busked his way from the North
Coast to Newcastle, to make a
living singing outside theatres
at intervals. It was about this
time he got his first Gibson
guitar, and the Page family, who
ran a taxi service in Newcastle,
befriended him and had welcomed
him into their home almost as a
son. Even in these early days of
his career, the orphan boy had
had major problems with dishonest
managers, as a result he had lost
his own guitar, but the Pages
bought him a replacement -his
treasured black Gibson.
In 1935 he cut his first
recording (a process disc that
was not generally distributed) to
see for himself how he would
sound. The titles were, 'Where
The Jacarandas Bloom', and, 'They
Call Me The Clarence River
Yodeller'. After much soul-searching
he had
determined on the name Buddy
Williams and as such he headed
for Sydney, busking his way down.
Busking in the thirties was a
pretty precarious existence,
especially if you couldn't afford
a licence - the police were
really tough on offenders. The
bush boy whose favourite (and
sometimes only meal a day) was a
meat pie and a bread roll,
couldn't spare the 2/6d licence
fee, so often he had to pack up
and run, in the middle of a
performance.
Williams finally gained an
audition with EMI legend. Arch
Kerr, boss of Regal Zonophone
records, doing several of his own
compositions. The result, two
days after his 21st birthday, was
a session that made him the first
Australian-born solo country
recording artist. That session on
September 7, 1939, produced three
Regal Zonophone releases - 'That
Dapple Grey Bronco Of Mine',
'They Call Me The Rambling
Yodeller', 'Lonesome For You
Mother Dear', 'Give A Little
Credit To Your Dad" and
"The Orphan's Lament/My
Moonlight Lullaby.
It got him work in the Sydney
show business scene, working
alongside people like Evie Hayes,
Roy Rene and Jack Davey. Buddy
met Jack Davey in a round about
sort of way. He was busking
outside a pub one afternoon when
he saw a policeman approaching,
but the law was right on him so
he didn't have time to run.
Luckilv the friendly copper was a
frustrated entertainer, who
played flamenco guitar as a
hobby, and he invited Buddy back
to the police barracks in Sydney
to entertain. One Constable
Barnard gave him the name of
Harry Kitch, manager of the
Theatre Royal. Barnard told him
not.to waste his time and talent
busking: "Tell Kitchy I sent
ya," Barnard said. This was
enough to get Williams started at
the theatre under the guidance of
promoter Dicky Butler. Butler's
shows were called "Community
Concerts"- and featured all
kinds of artists and acts. One
show at Burwood Town Hall had the
increasingly popular radio man
Jack Davey as the star and the
yodelling cowboy support act.
Nervous at the thought of sharing
a stage with Davey, Buddy
stumbled his way through his
performance, but his openness and
his songs and stories about his
missing mother and family started
the audience's tears flowing.
When the curtain fell and the
entertainers were taking their
bows, Buddy was amazed to find
the applause for him overshadowed
even the great Jack Davey. It was
a situation that was to be
repeated over and over again as
Buddy Williams' sincerity won the
hearts of people wherever he
performed.
His second Regal Zonophone
recording session was in May of
1940. This session produced three
singles - "Happy Jackeroo",
"Dreaming Of My Mother",
"A Cowboys Life Is Good
Enough For Me", "Under
The Old Wattle Tree" and
"The Australian Bushman's
Yodel" "There's An
Empty Bunk In The Bunkhouse".
Soon after he took a lease on a
property at Walcha, where he ran
a sawmill. A bushman to the
backbone following his earlier
days in the Dorrigo scrub, he got
a war contract from the army to
supply hardwood for bridges and
construction work. Then Williams
enlisted and due to his skill
with a rifle was sent to a front-line
infantry battalion rather than an
entertainment unit. He was
however able to record at times,
and by 1945 eight recording
sessions had taken place,
producing classics like "Under
The Old Wattle Tree", "The
Shearer's Goodbye", "Heading
For The Warwick Rodeo",
"Where The White Faced
Cattle Roam", (18/5/ 1942),
"Music In My Pony's Feet"(22/12/
1943), and a session on 16/3/1945
which produced "Where The
Lazy Murray River Rolls Along",
"The Bushman's Rodeo"
and "Bushland Paradise".
Many country music commentators
have suggested that the 48 sides
made by Buddy Williams, the
Yodelling Jackeroo, in this
period - when the style was known
as hillbilly music - are the
finest examples of a yodeller
with guitar accompaniment.^ Back to Top |
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But with the 2/31
St Battalion at Balikpapan Borneo
Williams was badly wounded only
weeks before the war ended. He
wasn't expected to live, but iron
will pulled him through, although
he still had shrapnel in his body.
He met Grace Maidman in 1945,
when Buddy called into the cafe
in Atherton in Queensland, where
she worked as a waitress, to pass
on a message-from an army mate.
The mate was soon forgotten as
they saw each other quite a bit
and eventually married in
Brisbane on January 31, 1947.
Their first child, Donita
Carolyn, was born in Brisbane
late in 1947, but died tragically
in Scottsdale Tasmania 21 months
later when one of Buddy's rodeo
riders accidentally backed a
truck over her. Two heart-tugging
Buddy Williams songs came from
that - "Another Angel In
Heaven", and "Little
Red Bonnet". Their other
children are Harold George, born
in Rylstone (NSW) on June 23,
1948, Kaye Elizabeth, born at
lvanhoe (Vic) on January 31, 1950;
and Karen Anne, born in Brisbane
on May 20, 1957. In 1946 Buddy
Williams made his first film
appearance in "He Chased A
Chicken" and recorded the
hit "Overlander Trail"
backed with "Over Hilltop
and Hollow". By that time he
and wife Grace were running some
of the largest rodeo tent shows,
circuses and variety concerts
Australia had ever seen. On the
bill were famous rodeo
buckjumpers Ray Crawford, the
Woods Brothers and Billy Meades,
Allan Cook, Basil Cotton and
Billy Bargo. There were
contortionists and trapeze
artists, clowns and magicians,
with Buddy singing and putting on
his sharpshooting and whip
cracking act.
Sessions in 1948 saw "Pioneering
Days" and "My Sunny
Southern Home", 1950 "Dear
Old Aussie Blues", and
"Beneath The Queensland Moon".
In 1951, "Wedding Bells,
"Murrumbidgee Blues"
and "The Flying Doctor".
In November, 1952, Williams cut
the. first country session for
Regal Zonophone at the new
Castlereagh studios after the
company moved from Homebush. On
July 3, 1953 Buddy recorded
"Missing In Action"
which still rates as one of his
most successful recordings.
"The Kelly Gang"
followed later in 1953. All this
time he continued to tour. But,1955
saw him in the studios again for
"I've Mortgaged The Farm
Again" and "Sunshine On
My Side Of The Street". On
October 5, 1956, Buddy cut a
session of 12 songs for Regal
Zonophone including "Mareeba
Rodeo", "Little Red
Bonnet" and "Poison
Darts". This was his last
session for the company due to
the arrival of 45 and 33 ½
recordings, but in all he had
recorded 120 sides for the label.
In August 1958, Buddy Williams
cut his first 45 rpm recordings
for EMI's Columbia label,
including the very popular "I'll
Stroll Down Memory Lane With You".
In all he recorded 46 sides for
release on singles and 10 tracks
for release on an LP for Columbia
between 1958 and 1964. Not until
late 1961 did he record with
other than his own guitar
accompaniment.
In 1965, Buddy's old friend and
A&R manager at EMI, Ron
Wills, moved to RCA and Buddy
went with him, his first session
cut for this label on January 15,
1965. By this time the Williams'
children were showing lots of
musical talent and on January 19,
1965, their daughter Kaye joined
him for her first record release.
Shortly after Harold joined and
from then on there were a series
of RCA family albums - "Family
Affair", "Family LP",
and "The William's Family".
Harold. launched into his own
recording career with a vengeance
with the release of "Truck
Drivin' Man" EP, and "Heartline
Special" in 1965 and then
"Young Man About The Country".
In 1972 daughter Karen also
joined Buddy on record, making
them the first family unit to
record and tour together.
Some 13 albums were released on
RCA between 1965 and 1972, along
with numerous singles and EPs. By
this time Buddy's show had
settled into the form of a
variety show featuring singers,
instrumentalists, and comedy acts
and he travelled 30,000
kilometres a year touring. At
this stage successes like "Les
Dingo", "Sounds Of The
Bush At Night", and "The
Big Banana Land" had been
recorded.
During 1972 Williams teamed up
with Tex Morton and they toured
the eastern States with a very
successful show, and cut one
side, "I Love Country Music"
together. ^ Back to Top |
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In between touring, Williams
completed a documentary in 1979,
"The Last Fair Dinkum Aussie
Out-back Entertainer", which
looked at life on the road with
the troupe.
Buddy Williams finally stopped
touring after heart attacks in
1977 and 1978, but his show
toured extensively in 1979 an
1980. Just about every major
Australia country musician has at
one stage or another formed part
of the Buddy William troupe. In
1977 he was elevated to the
Australian Country Music Roll Of
Renown and with Tex Morton and
Smoky Dawson was the first
inductee in the Hands Of Fame
cornerstone in Tamworth. In 1980
he won the Heritage Award for his
"What a Dreary Old World it
Would Be" and three of his
compositions have been listed
amongst the 50 most popular
country songs in Australia -
"Where the White Faced
Cattle Roam", "Heading
For The Warwick Rodeo" and
"Music In My Pony's Feet".
He also received Queensland's
Modern Country Music
Association's first award for
service to country music - an
award that will be presented only
every 10 years. In 1979 RCA
presented Buddy with a gold-plate
map of Australia to celebrate his
40 years of recording country
music. In October 1981 Buddy
Williarns was made the first
honorary citizen of Warwick for
his contribution to the success
of the annual rodeo - he had
written and recorded "Heading
for The Warwick Rodeo", 40
years before and the song had
been used to promote the event.
Buddy Williams paid tribute to
Arch Kerr of Columbia Records (which
later became EMI, the man
responsible for putting him on
disc in the old 78 rpm days, and
Garry Coxhead (who used to sit in
on every recording session when
he was only 11 and who was later
the producer of Williams' records.
He also mentioned the support of
Nick Erby, John Minson, Bob
Corbett, Gary Robertson, Kevin
Knapp, Max Ellis, Eric Scott,
Donny McGuire and many other
radio people.
He also praised Bill Robertson,
of EMI, Ron Wills of RCA, and (of
course) his wife Grace. "She
is my mainstay -,the one who has
stuck with me through the good
times, and bad. I could not have
done it without her. And
certainly I owe it to the fans
for their support. I believe they
deserve all the time I can give
them when we meet. I say a very
special thanks to them all".
Buddy Williams died December 12
1986.
Ten years after his death the
1997 Tamworth festival honoured
Buddy with a number of activities
revolving around his music.
A display of some memorabilia
took place in the Tamworth Arcade.
BMG/RCA, released a compilation
of some of Buddy's bush ballads,
and Pixie Jenkins played tribute
to Buddy and his music,
performing "Under Western
Skies" - A Multi-Media Buddy
Williams Tribute" with 8
shows during the festival.
A bronze bust of Buddy is also on
display in the Tamworth Bi-Centential
Park, and he is also on display
at the wax works museum.
Buddy is gone, but his music will
always live on, as one
Australia's finest pioneer legend
recording, performing and touring
artists.
Article courtesy of The
Australian Country Music Book,
and Garry Coxhead. . Compiled by
Peter Coad.
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