AAP General News (Australia)
02-16-2007
Fed: Slim Dusty's lost song to be recorded says daughter
By Erin McWhirter, National Entertainment Writer
SYDNEY, Feb 16 AAP - Beautiful Aussie Land, a "lost" song written by the late Slim
Dusty, is set to be recorded this year.
The country music singer's daughter Anne Kirkpatrick said plans already were in motion
to record the newly discovered bush ballad.
"Mum and I were just fiddling around with the song today on the piano," Kirkpatrick said today.
Dusty is survived by his widow Joy McKean and Kirkpatrick.
"Maybe me or a young balladeer (could record it), that is very much on the cards. The
bush ballad tradition is alive and well."
David Gordon Kirkpatrick, who later became known as Slim Dusty, penned three tunes
as a 15-year-old and sent them to the Copyright Office in 1942.
Beautiful Aussie Land, along with two other songs, were unearthed by the National Archive
in Canberra recently after 65 years.
Kirkpatrick has been given the manuscript for one and mentioned Kempsey teenager Amos
Morris as a potential recording candidate.
"Amos Morris is making a bit of a name for himself and is very well-known on the bush
ballad scene," she said.
"There are a lot of young people out there that would jump at the chance to record
something like this."
Kirkpatrick, who won best bush ballad at the 2007 Golden Guitar Awards, for her single
Peppimenarti Cradle, written by McKean, said the discovery is just in time for significant
Dusty milestones.
This year would have marked Dusty's 80th birthday. The cattle farmer and king of country
from Kempsey on the NSW mid-north coast died on September 19, 2003.
His smash hit single A Pub With No Beer also celebrates its 50-year anniversary.
"My dad was a showman through and through. I am sure he is looking down saying 'This
is great. I couldn't have planned my 80th birthday year better'," Kirkpatrick said.
"I am sure dad is looking down thinking this is fabulous."
The ballad reflects characteristics that would become Dusty's trademark.
"It just shows at even that early age dad always stood for everything Australian,"
Kirkpatrick said.
"He was very passionate about everything Australian. It's undeniably an early Slim
Dusty song for sure."
The handwritten lyrics and letters will be displayed at the National Archives throughout
February.
Kirkpatrick said her father's legacy would continue thanks to this latest uncovering.
"This is very typical. It doesn't surprise me that he wrote something like this at 15," she said.
"At the age of 11 he signed a photo 'Slim Dusty'. At that age he decided who he was
going to be and that was a country music star."
AAP em/jnb/bwl
KEYWORD: SLIM NIGHTLEAD
2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
