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* [http://bushmusicclub.blogspot.com/2013/04/alex-hoods-reminiscences-of.html Alex Hood's reminiscences of the Bushwhackers, at the National Folk Festival 2012] - includes photos plus mp3 audio file of brief talk (2.5 mins)
* [http://bushmusicclub.blogspot.com/2013/04/alex-hoods-reminiscences-of.html Alex Hood's reminiscences of the Bushwhackers, at the National Folk Festival 2012] - includes photos plus mp3 audio file of brief talk (2.5 mins)
* [http://pg.webring.com/people/tp/pljones/Harry_Kay_Interview.htm Transcript of interview with Harry Kay, ex Bushwhackers and Rambleers] conducted 17 March 2004 (covers early history of the Bushwhackers, ''Reedy River'', the Rambleers, etc.)
* [http://pg.webring.com/people/tp/pljones/Harry_Kay_Interview.htm Transcript of interview with Harry Kay, ex Bushwhackers and Rambleers] conducted 17 March 2004 (covers early history of the Bushwhackers, ''Reedy River'', the Rambleers, etc.)
* Entry for [http://newtheatrehistory.org.au/wiki/index.php/Person_-_John_Meredith John Meredith] on the "New Theatre History Wiki"
* Entry for [http://newtheatrehistory.org.au/wiki/index.php/Person_-_Brian_Loughlin Brian Loughlin] on the "New Theatre History Wiki"
* Entry for [http://newtheatrehistory.org.au/wiki/index.php/Person_-_Cec_Grivas Cedric (Cec) Grivas] on the "New Theatre History Wiki"
* Entry for [http://newtheatrehistory.org.au/wiki/index.php/Person_-_Harry_Kay Harry Kay] on the "New Theatre History Wiki"
* Entry for [http://newtheatrehistory.org.au/wiki/index.php/Person_-_Chris_Kempster Chris Kempster] on the "New Theatre History Wiki"


==Notes==
==Notes==

Revision as of 21:30, 3 November 2019

This article is about the Australian 1950s bush band. For the Australian 1971-current electric folk/bush band, see The Bushwackers (band). For the New Zealand wrestling tag team, see The Bushwhackers.

Australia's first bush band The Bushwhackers, initially named "The Heathcote Bushwhackers", were arguably the catalyst for Australia's folk revival of the 1950s. They performed from 1952 to 1957, when founder John Meredith disbanded the group and its members dispersed into other activities. (An unrelated group with a similar sounding name, "The Bushwackers", formed in Victoria, Australia in 1971 and continues to the present day.)

Band history

The Bushwhackers in 1955, from the rear cover of their 1957 "Australian Bush Songs" EP. L-R: Chris Kempster, guitar; John Meredith, accordion; Alex Hood, bones; Harry Kay, harmonica; Alan Scott, tin whistle; John Barrie, tea chest bass; Cec Grivas (in place of Brian Loughlin), lagerphone.

The group was originally formed as "The Heathcote Bushwhackers" in Sydney in 1952 by folklorist John Meredith together with his neighbours Jack Barrie and Brian Loughlin, to perform and popularise "bush music" and Australian songs that Meredith had started to collect in the field from traditional performers;[1] in Australia, the term "to bushwhack" most commmonly means to make one's way through the scrub or forest ("bush") by "whacking" (cutting) a trail where none currently exists (a "bushwhacker" can also mean a person who lives in such country, that is, off the beaten track).[a] In their initial lineup their instrumentation was button accordion and tin whistle (played by Meredith), "bush bass" or tea chest bass played by Barrie, while Loughlin played the lagerphone, a traditional home-made percussion instrument constructed by loosely nailing bottle tops to a broom handle to make a rattling sound when struck upon the floor, this example being constructed and named by Meredith's brother Claude and copied from something he had seen played by "an old rabbitter".[2] Years later, Meredith gave the following account of their formation:

In June 1953 [sic: probably an error of recollection on Meredith's part; the year is given as 1952 in most other sources] a literary and musical evening held at Jack Barry's [sic] house at Heathcote was to have an "Australian Night" - something unique in those days when our own culture appeared in danger of being engulfed in the flood of second-rate canned American music. Jack, Brian Loughlin and I got together with button accordeon and two of our recent discoveries; a tea chest bass and a lagerphone. We stuck on false whiskers, dressed rough and gave out with our entire repertoire; Click Go The Shears, Botany Bay and Nine Miles From Gundagai. In spite of my whiskers falling off, or maybe because of them, we were an immediate success - as a comedy act! Chris Kempster joined us after that performance and then Harry Kay.[3]

They group gave its first public performance at the Rivoli Hall in Hurstville in late 1952, deciding to shorten its name to just "The Bushwhackers" at the same time.[1]

In 1953 "Reedy River", an Australian musical written by Dick Diamond featuring bush and Australian folk music, some of which had been collected by Meredith, opened first in Melbourne and then as an amateur production at the Sydney New Theatre, and the Bushwhackers were engaged to provide the musical accompaniment for the Sydney version.[4] Performing as singers in the musical were Chris Kempster and Harry Kay, joined later in the season by Cecil Grivas, Alex Hood and Alan Scott, all of whom subsequently became assimilated into the band.[5] Around this time, the group also supplied the songs and music for several historical radio features written for the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) by Nancy Keesing.[3]

In 1954 the Bushwhackers, along with other folklore enthusiasts, established the Sydney Bush Music Club to encourage members of the Club and the general public to learn about and perform Australian folk and traditional music. The band travelled throughout rural Australia and Meredith and Scott often used their performances to scout out local bush musicians and singers for field recordings. In 1955 the group played for Dame Mary Gilmore's ninetieth birthday[5] and recorded The Drover's Dream, released as a 78 rpm record on the newly established "Wattle" label, selling thousands of copies, followed by a number of other 78 recordings, as well as two 33 rpm EP releases, Australian Bush Songs and Nine Miles from Gundagai (both 1957). Their performances around the country also inspired local musicians to form similar groups in some cases, such as "The Moreton Bay Bushwhackers" in Brisbane, featuring Stan Arthur and Bill Scott, who recorded in 1959, and others. Other local groups taking inspiration from the Bushwhackers and/or the Bush Music Club around that time, performing similar music, included "The Overlanders" (from Leichhardt), "The Spraggers", "The Rouseabouts", and "The Drovers".[6]

Citing musical and personal differences between the older and younger members of the band (for example Kempster and Hood aspired to harmony singing, occasional solo vocals and more variety in the arrangements, Meredith's conception only involved solo singing in the verses, unison singing in the choruses, plus all the instruments playing all of the time), Meredith disbanded the group in 1957.[4][5] Various of its members continued to perform in bush bands such as Kempster, Hood and Kay's "The Rambleers" and Grivas' "The Galahs" with his brothers Roland and Milton, while Meredith continued to collect field recordings of Australian traditional and folk music, as well as occasionally performing with "The Shearers" and the Bush Music Club's "Concert Party".

There were no reunions of the group during Meredith's lifetime, but a year after his death in 2001 the band played two 50th anniversary reunion concerts at the 2002 Australian National Folk Festival and the National Library in Canberra, plus there was an anniversary performance of Reedy River. Original members Cecil Grivas, Alex Hood, Harry Kay and Chris Kempster all took part, together with Rob Willis who took the musical part of Meredith; Jack Barrie was unable to attend but sent his best wishes,[7] Brian Loughlin having passed away already, in 1974. Subsequently, Kempster died in January 2004 aged 70, and Grivas in August 2019 aged 88.

Unrelated group

An unrelated group with a similar sounding name, "The Bushwackers" (note slightly different spelling), initially "The Original Bushwackers and Bullockies Bush Band", formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1971 and continues to the present day.

Discography and filmography

78 and EP releases

Wattle Records "A Series" 78s

  • A1 The Bushwhackers: The Drover's Dream / The Bullockies' Ball (1956)
  • A2 The Bushwhackers: Travelling Down the Castlereagh / Australia's on the Wallaby (1956)
  • A3 The Bushwhackers: Old Bullock Dray / Nine Miles from Gundagai (1956)
  • A4 The Bushwhackers: Give a Fair Go / Rabbiter (not issued?)
  • A5 The Bushwhackers: Botany Bay / Click Go the Shears (1956)
  • A11 The Bushwhackers: Black Velvet Band / The Hut That's Upside-Down (1956)

"B Series" 7" 33rpm EPs

  • B1 The Bushwhackers: Australian Bush Songs (1957)
  • ?? The Bushwhackers: Nine Miles from Gundagai (1957)

Short films

Notes

  1. ^ Whether or not the original name was intended to be ironic is not clear: clearly there would have been no need to "bushwhack" in the surburban confines of Heathcote; compare also the concept of naming the "Beverly Hillbillies" a decade or so later. At any rate, with the subsequent shortening of the name, any connotations of irony would be lost although, as indicated by the quote from Meredith reproduced above, there was certainly an element of pastiche in their early presentations.

References

  1. ^ a b National Library of Australia: Trove: Bushwackers Musical group.. Note, the NLA mis-spells Loughlin's surname as "Loughlan"; "Loughlin" is correct according to other sources.
  2. ^ Mulga Wire, April 2002, p. 12.
  3. ^ a b In The Beginning … The formation and early history of the Bush Music Club, by John Meredith
  4. ^ a b McKenry, Keith. 2014. "More than a Life: John Meredith and the Fight for Australian Tradition." Rosenberg Publishing, 488 pp.
  5. ^ a b c Australian Folk Songs: The Bushwhackers: Some recollections - Chris Kempster, February 2002
  6. ^ Minutes of the Bush Music Club, 14th October 1954 to 11th March, 1955. Reproduced at http://bushmusicclub.blogspot.com/2017/01/minutes-of-bush-music-club-14th-october.html.
  7. ^ Mulga Wire, April 2002, pages 12 & 13; reports reproduced at http://bushmusicclub.blogspot.com/2019/01/50th-anniversary-reunion-of_4.html and http://bushmusicclub.blogspot.com/2019/01/50th-anniversary-reunion-of.html, together with photographs of the performances,
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