Buddy Williams (country musician)
Buddy Williams (5 September 1918 – 12 December 1986),[1] born as Harry Taylor and also known as Harold Williams, was a pioneering Australian country music singer-songwriter, known as "The Yodelling Jackaroo".[2]
Not to be confused with Buddy Williams (jazz drummer).
Buddy Williams
Harry Taylor
The Yodelling Jackaroo
5 September 1918
Sydney, Australia
12 December 1986 (age 68)
Queensland, Australia
- Singer-songwriter
- travelling showman
- rodeo rider
Guitar
1938–1986
Private Recordings (1935), Regal Zonophone, EMI (1939–1964), RCA (1964–1986)
Country Music was conceived in the southern USA, but Williams was the first Australian to record country music in Australia, three years after the New Zealander Tex Morton made his first recording in Australia.
Williams recorded his songs about life and times in the Australian bush and it was with Williams that the bush ballad was first born. Williams's recording of "Give A Little Credit To Dad", complete with trademark yodel, was added to the Sounds of Australia project by the National Film and Sound Archive.
Williams was an inspiration for numerous country stars that followed like Slim Dusty.
Early life[edit]
Buddy Williams was born Harry Taylor[1] in the Sydney suburb of Newtown and was soon placed in Glebe Point Orphanage. After many failed escape bids as a child, he was fostered out as a young boy to a dairy-farming family at Dorrigo on the north coast of New South Wales (NSW). It soon became apparent that rather than looking for a new child to bring up, the family was more interested in an unpaid laborer. This was not uncommon in the Depression and post-Depression era where rural child slavery was a fact of life. Times were hard, and life on the farm was tough for young Williams, but it also allowed freedom he never had in the orphanage. He would listen to recordings on an old gramophone of his favourite singers such as Jimmie Rodgers and fell in love with this new music that would become known as country music. At age 15, he ran away from his foster home and began working for other families in the district. He worked at many jobs and started busking around the north coast of NSW, dodging the police who at the time frowned upon such activities.[3]
Personal life[edit]
Williams married Bernie Burnett in 1940.[6] They met at the Grafton Jacaranda Festival when Burnett was 13 and Williams was 17. They made several recordings together, including "Stockmen in Uniform" and "Let's Grow Old Together". They later divorced.[7][8]
He died on the 12th of December, 1986, and was laid to rest beside his infant daughter in the Lutwyche Cemetery, Brisbane.
Awards and nominations[edit]
Australian Roll of Renown[edit]
The Australian Roll of Renown honours Australian and New Zealander musicians who have shaped the music industry by making a significant and lasting contribution to Country Music. It was inaugurated in 1976 and the inductee is announced at the Country Music Awards of Australia in Tamworth in January.[9]