Some treasures from ScreenSound Australia's wonderful music collection
DICK PARRY - Tasmania's Yodelling Hillbilly
Dick Parry was born in Launceston on 1 January 1923. Like most of his contemporaries, he learnt to play guitar and yodel by listening to records by Tex Morton, Wilf Carter and Jimmy Rodgers, and practised his yodelling while taking the family cow to the milking shed. |
 Entertaining listeners with his half hour show
at 7 LA Launceston, Tasmania (1947) |
On his 14th birthday, New Year's Day 1937, he first performed on the Boys Club Program from Radio 7LA Launceston, Tasmania. He was so successful he was offered his own weekly program, which ran for three years.
During WWII he was in the navy, but returned to Tasmania on his discharge and convinced the management at 7LA to reinstate his regular half hour program, which lasted for two years. In 1948 he won the first ever Tasmanian presentation of The Australian Amateur Hour, and as a result was offered a spot on Frank McFarland's Wild West Show in Victoria, where he was billed as Tasmania's Own Hillbilly. He settled in Melbourne and appeared on all of the major radio shows there. Dick travelled in country shows with his idol Tex Morton, Frank Ifield, fellow Tasmanian Athol McCoy, Les Partell and English comedy duo Edgely and Dawe. He returned to Tasmania in 1972, where he continued to perform up to his death on 2 May 1980. |
Recordings.
He made his first process record, "Clarabella Lambo" and "Tasmania way down yonder" in Melbourne in 1954.In 1955 he recorded a 10" - 8 track LP for Cyril Steven's Spotlight Records "Hillbilly Cowboy." The record had the distinction of being one of the first Microgroove recordings of Australian country music recordings made in Australia, and featured Spotlight's special patented (and distinctive) echo effects.
His next recording for Spotlight (released on its subsidiary, Roundup) was a four-track EP, "Down the Old Bush Road" followed by another 8-track album on Spotlight "Dick Parry sings Hillbilly Favourites" and three 4-track EP's, "Dick Parry sings Hillbilly favourites" Vol 2, Vol 3 and Vol 4.
Astor Records, which had acquired the Spotlight Label when it bought W & G, re-released the contents of the second and third LP's as EP's in 1970, also entitled "Dick Parry Sings Hillbilly Favourites", but without volume numbers.
Dick later re-recorded many of his songs, as well as new songs, on two 12" LP's for Candle Records in Hobart, "Down Hill-billy Trail" and "Country Memories."
Dick wrote much of his own material, drawing on his beloved Tasmania. His best-remembered song is "Goodbye Tassie", and he also had a hand in writing Athol McCoy's hit song, "Tassie Tears".
This new CD features Dick's Spotlight recordings from the 1950s, many of which have been unavailable for years, some never released. The CD includes the original version of his song "Goodbye Tassie".
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