Over the course of his career, he collected more gold and platinum albums than any other Australian artist.
Dusty not only recorded songs written by himself and other fellow Australian performers, but also recorded classic Australian poems by Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson with new tunes, to call attention to the old 'Bush Ballads.' An example is The Man from Snowy River by Paterson.
In 1970, he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to music. In 1971 he won Best Single at the Australian Country Music Awards at the Tamworth Country Music Festival (Slim's wife Joy McKean won Song of the Year as writer of the song for which he won best single). In all, he won a record 35 "Golden Guitars" over the years.
He died at home in St Ives, New South Wales on 19 September 2003 after a protracted battle with cancer, at age 76.
The Slim Dusty Story started back in the 1940s on a remote dairy farm in the hills behind Kempsey, NSW, when a 10-year-old boy dreamed of being a country music singer. His name was David Gordon Kirkpatrick... he called himself "Slim Dusty" and began to live that dream.
But even the most optimistic farm boy would never have imagined the life that was to unfold... a life that would establish Slim as the voice of the nation, the chronicler of Australian history in song.
Slim managed to hold on to those early visions of writing and singing about the bush because during his lengthy career, he always stayed in touch with his audience. And he did this in a very real and meaningful way, so much so that his fans would feel that Slim was one of their mates and his songs "just a good yarn you might hear from a mate at the pub, around a campfire in the bush or at a back yard barbie".
He described his music as "songs about real Australians... "I have to be fair dinkum with my audience. I can't see any other way of doing it," he said. "You have to believe in what you are singing about."
Slim Dusty was the first Australian to have a number one hit record and the only Australian to ever receive a 78rpm Gold Record (for A Pub With No Beer in 1958)...
He was the first Australian to have an international record hit and the first singer in the world to have his voice beamed to earth from space (astronauts Bob Crippen and John Young played Slim's recording of Waltzing Matilda from the space shuttle "Columbia" as it passed over Australia back in 1983).
During an amazingly successful career spanning over six decades, Slims' continued popularity saw him rewarded with more Gold and Platinum Awards for sales of his singles, eight-tracks, cassettes, CD's, videos and DVDs... more than any other Australian artist!
He received an unequaled 37 Golden Guitar Awards, two ARIA's (Australian Recording Industry Association awards), inductions into the ARIA Hall of Fame and the Australian Country Music Roll of Renown.
Slim was recognized for his long time services to Australian entertainment with an MBE and an Order of Australia. In 1999, Prime Minister John Howard named Slim Dusty Australia's Father of the Year and Senior Australian of the Year. There were many other awards and honors... too many to name here!
Dusty died at his home in St Ives, New South Wales on 19 September 2003 at the age of 76, after a protracted battle with cancer.
redwing
Slim Dusty Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A shy little prairie maid,
Who sang a lay, a love song gay,
As on the plain she whiled away the day;
She loved her warrior bold,
This shy little maid of old,
Who brave and gay, one day rode away
To a battle far away.
Now, the moon shines tonight on pretty Redwing
The breeze is sighing, the night bird′s crying,
For afar 'neath the stars her brave is sleeping,
While Redwing′s weeping her heart away.
Instrumental
She watched for him day and night,
She kept the campfires bright,
As under the sky, each night she would lie,
And dream about his coming by and by;
But when the braves returned,
Oh the heart of Redwing yearned,
For far, far away, her warrior gay,
Fell bravely in the fray.
Now, the moon shines tonight on pretty Redwing
The breeze is sighing, the night bird's crying,
For afar 'neath the stars her brave is sleeping,
While Redwing′s weeping her heart away.
Now, the moon shines tonight on pretty Redwing
The breeze is sighing, the night bird′s crying,
For afar 'neath the stars her brave is sleeping,
While Redwing′s weeping her heart away
"Redwing" is a song that was written in the 1900s by Kerry Mills and Thurland Chattaway. The song is about a young Native American woman who is in love with a brave warrior. She spends her days singing and dreaming of her lover, who has gone off to battle. Redwing continues to wait for him, keeping the campfires burning every night as she watches and waits for his return. However, when the braves return without him, Redwing's heart fills with sorrow, as she learned that her warrior had died in battle.
The lyrics are powerful and evoke strong emotions of sadness, longing, and loss. The use of nature and the moon in the lyrics further emphasize the sorrowful mood of the song. The moon symbolizes the passage of time and highlights Redwing's loneliness in waiting, while the breeze and night bird's cries represent the natural world mourning with her. The song serves as a tribute to the love and sacrifice of many Native American women who waited for their loved ones to return from battle, and mourned when they did not.
Line by Line Meaning
There once was an Indian maid,
This story is about an indigenous woman
A shy little prairie maid,
She was timid and reserved
Who sang a lay, a love song gay, As on the plain she whiled away the day;
She enjoyed singing love songs while spending time on the prairie
She loved her warrior bold, This shy little maid of old, Who brave and gay, one day rode away To a battle far away.
She was in love with a brave warrior who went off to fight a distant battle
She watched for him day and night, She kept the campfires bright, As under the sky, each night she would lie, And dream about his coming by and by;
She anxiously waited for his return, keeping the fires burning and dreaming of his arrival
But when the braves returned, Oh the heart of Redwing yearned, For far, far away, her warrior gay, Fell bravely in the fray.
When the warriors returned, she learned that her lover had died honorably in battle
Now, the moon shines tonight on pretty Redwing The breeze is sighing, the night bird′s crying, For afar 'neath the stars her brave is sleeping, While Redwing′s weeping her heart away.
Redwing is grieving her lost love, while the moon, breeze, and night birds witness her sorrow
Now, the moon shines tonight on pretty Redwing The breeze is sighing, the night bird's crying, For afar 'neath the stars her brave is sleeping, While Redwing′s weeping her heart away.
Her sorrow continues through the night, as she remains inconsolable
Writer(s): Kerry Mills (dp), Sammy Rimmington, Thurland Chattaway (dp)
Contributed by Sophie G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Sandra
on One Truckie's Epitaph
My brother Terry Radke was the man Slim wrote the song for after he received a letter from Terry's youngest son, Lync. Thank you
Charley Boyter
on Axe Mark On a Gidgee
With horsebells to keep me company
Jake
on Your Country's Been Sold
You say you belong to Australia my friend
And rightly you’d die for this land to defend
But let us be honest, it’s sad but it’s true
Australia my friend doesn’t belong to you
Our country’s been sold by the powers that be
To big wealthy nations way over the sea
We couldn’t be taken by bayonets or lead
And so they decided to buy us instead
And talking of wars and the blood that was spilled
The widows, the crippled, the ones that were killed
And I often wonder if their ghosts can see
What’s happening now to their native country
I wonder if ghosts of the fallen can see
The crime and corruption and vast poverty
With a lost generation of youth on the dole
Who drift on life’s ocean without any goal
I once had a dream of our country so grand
The rivers outback irrigated the land
With towns and canals in that wasteland out there
And big inland cities with work everywhere
With profit from farming and factory and mine
Was used to develop a nation so fine
Then I woke from my dream into reality
That the wealth of our nation goes over the sea
Yeah you say you belong to Australia my friend
And rightly you’d die for this land to defend
But let us be honest, it’s sad but it’s true
Australia my friend doesn’t belong to you