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 letters "X," "Y" and "Z."
Brian Young "Brian Young!" (W&G Records, 1962) (EP)
Like many Australian country stars, Queenslander Brian Young (1935-2016) had a long run-up to solo stardom... In his teens he was a rodeo champion, though like many rodeo riders he was eventually sidelined by injuries, and took up a musical career instead. This was back in the 1950s, mind you. Young toured for several years as one of many artists in a package show that included Nev Nicholls, The Careys, and others, and didn't get a chance to record until 1962, when he cut the first of a string of singles... and it wasn't until fourteen years later(!) that he cut his first album. They really made you pay your dues back then! This is one of many early recordings that are doubtless anthologized elsewhere, with musical backing by Paul Lester And His Stringdusters, as well as a duo known as the Woolhouse Twins. It was just a 7", but it's certainly worth noting here... I'm not sure how many other singles and EPs followed, but there were quite a few.
Brian Young "Young Country" (Opal Records, 1976) (LP)
(Produced by Ross Murphy)
Rarely has their been a more ironic album cover than this, with singer Brian Young's grizzled, well-worn, deeply lined, dirt-road mug scowling at us from a rugged Australian landscape... Nothing "young" about this picture! Except, maybe, the songs themselves: a lot of original Aussie content on this one, including four songs credited to Brian Young, several more by bush balladeer Stan Coster, along with a few strays from the likes of Brendan Hanley, Merv Gleeson and Merv Maltman, with the only American twangtune being a cover of the Waylon Jennings classic, "Anita, You're Dreaming," which admittedly is pretty hard to resist. The album is refreshingly light on bush ballad material -- it's there, but the set tilts more towards broken-hearted gloom-and-misery songs, the way we like 'em. The backing band is credited as "The Capital Three Ranch Band," though really it seems like the usual suspects studio crew from Tamworth: Norm Bodkin on steel, Lindsay Butler (guitar), Bob Clark (rhythm guitar and vocals), Michael Betts (drums), Brian Kelly (bass), John Minson (harmonica, and harmony vocals by Christine Dening. As noted above, this was Bran Young's first full album, though he'd been playing professionally for about two decades before this came out... The following year, Young formed his own touring show, and in 1978 reached a career peak when he was inducted into Australia's Country Music Hands of Fame. Long time coming!
Brian Young "Gotta Wander, Gotta Travel" (Opal Records, 1978) (LP)
Brian Young "I'm Gonna Make It After All" (Opal Records, 1979) (LP)
Brian Young "Pull Up A Stump" (Opal Records, 1983) (LP)
Brian Young "Tribute To Coster The Man" (Opal Records, 1985) (LP)
Brian Young "Tjilpi" (LBS Records, 1990)
Just for the record, I had no idea what "TJILPI" meant, when I saw it in all caps elsewhere in the cyberverse... Turns out it's not some hip internet acronym, but rather an actual word, meaning "old man," in Australian aboriginal English. Now we all know. (I'm not sure, but this may have been a cassette-only release, though many other albums on Lindsay Butler's LBS label came out on CD.
Brian Young "Voice Of The Outback" (LBS Records, 1992)
Brian Young "People And Places I've Known..." (Nashgrill Recording Studio, ??) (CD)
Brian Young "The Last Of The Travelling Showmen" (LBS Records, 2007)
