I've been there (and back again)
McKean, J. (2012). I've been there (and back again). Sydney: Hachette Australia.
ISBN: 9780733629310 0733629318
Review:
Slim Dusty would have been 93 today, as I write this entry. He was a consummate showman; but it was his wife and talented musical partner Joy McKean who is the consummate story teller. Possibly my alltime favourite song Lights on the Hill was written by Joy and made famous by Slim. (Joy says Slim liked The Biggest Disappointment best...)This book is one of a number written by Joy about their life and times from Slim's early days trying to get a break into what would become the Australian Country Music business, to becoming the King of the Aussie Country Music; and of the ongoing travelling roadshow that made them famous. It's an easy read, because Joy writes in short, episodic chapters: with a great collection of accompanying photographs and selections of lyrics appropriate to the story.
Other reading of related texts
Reference List / In-Text Citation Styles in APA 6th
Please Note: I do not strictly follow APA style in these citations as I would like various technology and media to be able to access these pages.
Kernaghan, L., & Buchanan, C. (2017). Boy from the bush. Sydney, N.S.W. : HarperCollins Australia.
ISBN: 9780733338076 0733338070
Lee Kernaghan was destined to follow in the footsteps of his father Ray Kernaghan who, like Slim and Joy, seemed more at home as an entertainer in a travelling roadshow than putting down roots in a suburban quarter-acre block. With his musical collaborator and book co-author Colin Buchanan (who has also found a niche in writing for children!) and hyper-talented writer and production stalwart Garth Porter, Lee is an excellent story teller in a rocking four-minute song; and his book contains many of the lyrics from his first dozen albums (including the original Greatest Hits compilation). And I should mention, my favourite Kernaghan-Porter-Buchanan song: Baptise the Ute! (also on Ultimate Hits - worth tracking down as your first LK album if you don't have one.). It used to play on my Peugeot 306 CD player just as I hit the Hume Freeway heading south past Yass, when I drove out of Canberra; good memories
Jones, T. (2016). Over the Top and Back. London : Michael Joseph
ISBN 9781405920483 1405920483
Sir Tom loves nothing more than to sit back in a comfy pub with a good cigar, a pint of lager, and good company. “…Tom revisits his past and tells the tale of his journey from wartime Pontypridd to LA and beyond…” and he does it in a way with short, articulate chapters that make you feel as if you are with him in that pub enjoying each others' company. And the man is funny: laugh out loud funny; he no longer takes himself too seriously. I will keep passing around my copy until it needs replacing. (As of April 2021 it looks like that copy has a new home!) Probably my best read of the past year...
Nelson, W. (2003). The facts of life: And other dirty jokes. London: Metro. ISBN: 1843580616 9781843580614
Willie Nelson is another songwriter who has captured my imagination with some of my favourite albums and excellent compilations.
Nelson, W. (2015). My Life: It's a Long Story. London: Little, Brown Book Group.
ISBN: 9780751561746 0751561746
I just happened to buy this book today and am already enjoying it.
Walker, C.(2000). Buried country: The story of Aboriginal country music. Sydney: Pluto Press.
See my earlier review of this book.
ISBN 9781864031522 (1864031522)
Smith, J. (1984). The Book of Australian Country Music. Gordon, N.S.W: Berghouse Floyd Tuckey Pub. Group.
Latta, D., & Brennan, P. (1991). Australian country music. Sydney: Random House Australia.
Smith, G. (2005). Singing Australian: A history of folk and country music. North Melbourne, Vic: Pluto Press Australia. An interesting read from the same publishers who gave us Buried country: The story of Aboriginal country music: Pluto Press Australia.
Russell, T. (2010). Country music originals: The legends and the lost. NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 9780195325096 0195325095
Tony Russell has done an outstanding job of highlighting a range of USA country music artists from the early days of the genre. A great find in our local library that, sadly, seems to have been cancelled from the catalogue (read c2019 May-June).
Seal, G., & Willis, R. (2003). Verandah music: Roots of Australian tradition. Fremantle, W.A: Curtin University Books. An incredible resource; in 128 pages there are 47 articles on individual musicians, bands, and communities of musical talent from throughout Australia, who played from the early 1900's until the early 2000's and beyond. Verandah music is one of those rare op-shop finds I previously knew nothing about, that has now become a valuable resource. It contains two audio CDs to complement the written pieces. It is interesting to note, though, that many of musicians highlighted in this book played accordian or piano-accordian. I only realised this fact after reading books on modern drummers, Hawaiian steel guitar players, and USA blues musicians: where drum and fife had a major early influence.
Travers, J., & Muhoberac, L. (Arr.) Travers, J. (2003). The best of Australian country music (Piano, vocal, guitar). Crows Nest, N.S.W: Warner/Chappell Music.
A good selection of 23 contemporary songs by 16 Australian performers (non-Indigenous) from the early 2000s.
Archer, R. (1980). The Robyn Archer Songbook. Melbourne: McPhee, Gribble Publishers.
Besides the songs the book gives some insight into Ms Archer's life and journey as an iconic Australian performer.
Small, J. (1986). The Judy Small Songbook. Sydney: Orlando Press.
I picked the Archer and the Small songbooks up in very good condition from a local thrift shop in Nov 2020. Note that the ISBN on the back cover of the Small book is wrong...
Ruymar, L., & Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association. (1996). The Hawaiian steel guitar and its great Hawaiian musicians. Anaheim Hills, CA: Centerstream Pub.
I would love to see further work in this niche of musical history and sociology. It is a book written from the author's heart.
Poore, B., & Eicke, J. (1998). Rockabilly: A forty-year journey. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard. Billy Poore's personal history of Rockabilly: A forty-year journey is an interesting and possibly unique book. It has a quirk in the style of writing, though, as it looks like someone may have transcribed long passages directly from audio recordings; I mention this because the style of these passages is more akin to a spoken style with local idioms, rather than journal-style written reflection.
Burt, R. (1986). Surf City / Drag City. Poole [Dorset, UK]: Blandford. This is an era I grew up in...
ISBN 9780713718911
See also A desktop reference of hip vintage guitar amps to understand my interest in folk and popular music and technology.
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McKean, J. (2012). I've been there (and back again). Sydney: Hachette Australia.
Unless otherwise noted all books listed were in my personal library at the time of the first blog posting about the book.
Some titles were borrowed from RMIT University libraries during the period 2006-2016, or from Hobsons Bay City Council library.
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