Gary Rhett Shearston (9 January 19391 July 2013) was an Australian singer-songwriter and Anglican priest. He was a leading figure of the

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

revival of the 1960s and performed traditional folk songs in an authentic style. He scored a top 10 hit in the United Kingdom in 1974 with his

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of Cole Porter's song "

I Get a Kick out of You "I Get a Kick Out of You" is a song by Cole Porter, which was first sung in the 1934 Broadway musical '' Anything Goes'', and then in the 1936 film version. Originally sung by Ethel Merman, it has been covered by dozens of prominent performers, ...

". From the 1990s he also worked as a priest in rural New South Wales.

Early life

Shearston was born on 9 January 1939 in

Inverell Inverell is a large town in northern New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Macintyre River, close to the Queensland border. It is also the centre of Inverell Shire. Inverell is located on the Gwydir Highway on the western slopes of the ...

, New South Wales, Australia. He was the son of former equestrienne Audrey Lilian (née Petherick, later Manchee) and local shire councillor James Barclay Shearston. During World War II his father served both with the

RAAF The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the governor-general of Aus ...

(1941) and

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

(1941–1946). Shearston and his mother moved to his maternal grandparents' property, "Ayrdrie", near

Tenterfield, New South Wales Tenterfield is a regional town in New South Wales, Australia, situated at the junction of the New England and Bruxner highways, along the Northern Tablelands, within the New England, New South Wales, New England region. At the , Tenterfield ha ...

for the rest of the war. By 1946 his parents had divorced. At the age of 11 his family moved to Sydney, where he attended his father's

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

(1950–1955), commencing as a preparatory school student at Wyvern House.''Newington College Register of Past Students 1863-1998'' (Sydney, 1999) p. 178. He later studied at the Sydney Conservatorium.

Career

Shearston left school at age 16 to train as a press correspondent with

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

, while his first show business job was as a

puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the ...

with the Tintookies (named for their 1956 play '' The Tintookies''), an Australian travelling puppetry troupe. The company, with Shearston, performed '' Little Fella Bindi'' in theatres in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Melbourne,

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

and Sydney from August to December 1958. Back in Sydney, he joined the Hayes Gordon

Ensemble Theatre The Ensemble Theatre is an Australian theatre company and theatre, situated in the Sydney suburb of Kirribilli, New South Wales. History It is Australia's longest continuously running professional theatre group, having given its first perfor ...

working as an actor in '' Orpheus Descending'' (January–July 1960) and ''The Drunkard'' (July 1960–February 1961) and as a stage manager. By February 1963 he had also appeared on TV shows, ''

Bandstand A bandstand (sometimes music kiosk) is a circular, semicircular or polygonal structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts. A simple construction, it both creates an ornamen ...

'', '' Teen Time'' and ''

Name That Tune ''Name That Tune'' is an American television music game show. Originally created and produced by orchestra conductor Harry Salter and his wife Roberta Semple Salter, the series features contestants competing to correctly identify songs being p ...

'' (Australian version). Having taken up acoustic guitar, Shearston learned a repertoire of English, American and Australian folk songs and at 19 become a professional singer. He worked in hotels and sang at The Folksinger and with the American

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

singer Brother John Sellers. In 1962 Shearston signed with

Leedon Records Leedon Records was an Australian record label active from 1958 to 1969. It was founded by United States, American Australian entrepreneur Lee Gordon (promoter), Lee Gordon in early 1958. Establishment and early releases In Australian in the 195 ...

, which issued his debut single "The Ballad of Thunderbolt" (May 1963) and a three-track extended play, ''The Man from Snowy River'' (1963). Neither release sold well but they raised his local profile. Late in 1963 he was signed to the Australian division of CBS Records by A&R manager Sven Libaek. CBS issued his debut album, ''Folk Songs & Ballads of Australia'', in April 1964. For the album Shearston sang and played guitar and harmonica; he was accompanied by Les Miller on guitar and banjo. With political activist and poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal ( Kath Walker) he co-wrote "We Want Freedom" (or "Aboriginal Charter of Rights") in 1964 to advocate for constitutional recognition of

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

and their charter of rights. In March 1965 Sydney radio stations started playing "Sydney Town", a single from his second album ''Australian Broadside''. It was co-written by Shearston with Australian writer Frank Hardy. It reached the top 10 in his home city and top 40 nationally. In 1966 and 1967, he was Australia's biggest record seller of folk music. Rather than adopting an English or American singing style, "What distinguished his records and performances was the Australian 'voice' Shearston chose to sing in." Shearston had his own national television show, ''Just Folk'' (). United States folk trio Peter Paul and Mary toured Australia in mid-1964 and got a copy of a Shearston album – they later recorded a cover version of his track "Sometime Lovin'" (see '' The Peter, Paul and Mary Album'', 1966). The group also invited him to the US. In 1967 he spent a year in London, while his US visa application was investigated, due to

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO ) is the Intelligence agency, domestic intelligence and national security agency of the Australian Government, responsible for protection from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign inte ...

(ASIO) files regarding his protesting against Australian involvement in the Vietnam war and support for Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. He spent four years on the US east coast but was not allowed to perform due to visa restrictions. In 1972 Shearston returned to England and re-recorded tracks for an album, ''Dingo''. The single which attracted most attention was his deadpan interpretation of Cole Porter's "

" (1974), which reached No. 19 on the

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music historian David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July 19 ...

and No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart. Shearston returned to Australia in 1989 and later became a cleric in the

Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, originally known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. In 2016, responding to a peer-reviewed study ...

in rural New South Wales. In 1990 he received the Tamworth Songwriters' Association's Bush Ballad of the Year award for his autobiographical song "Shopping on a Saturday". He was ordained a deacon in 1991 and a priest in 1992. Shearston served as an assistant in Narrandera (1991) and Deniliquin (1992-1993). He was priest-in-charge in Hay (1993-1998), rector of Bangalow (1998-2003) and a locum in Stanthorpe (2005-2006) and Coleambally-Darlington Point/Deniliquin (2006).

Private life

In 1996 Shearston remarried. He was the subject of "Different Drum" segment on ABC-TV's ''

Australian Story ''Australian Story'' is a national weekly current affairs and documentary style television series which is broadcast on ABC Television (Australian TV network), ABC Television. It is produced specifically by the ABC News and Current Affairs, AB ...

'' "Program 24" broadcast on 6 November 1996.

Death

Shearston died on 1 July 2013, aged 74 years, at Armidale Hospital, New South Wales after having a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

at his home, "Ayrdrie", near Tenterfield earlier that day. He was survived by his wife Karen and two children.

Discography

Albums

* ''Folk Songs & Ballads of Australia'' (April 1964) – CBS Records * ''Australian Broadside'' (March 1965) – CBS Records * ''Sings His Songs'' (May 1965) – CBS Records * ''The Springtime It Brings On The Shearing'' (June 1965) – CBS Records * ''Bolters, Bushrangers & Duffers'' (November 1965) – CBS Records * ''Songs of our Time'' (July 1967) – CBS Records * ''Abreaction'' (On a Bitumen Road With Soft Edges) (Festival 1967) * ''Dingo'' (Charisma 1974) AUS #31 * ''The Greatest Stone On Earth and Other Two-Bob Wonders'' (Charisma 1975) * ''Aussie Blue'' (Larrikin 1989) * ''Only Love Survives'' (Rouseabout 2001) * ''Here & There, Now & Then Anthology 1964-2001'' (Rouseabout 2007) * ''Best of all Trades'' (Rouseabout 2009) * ''Renegade'' (Rouseabout 2011) * ''The Great Australian Groove'' (Rouseabout 2012) * ''Reverently'' (Restless Music 2013) * ''Hills of Assisi'' (Restless Music 2013) * ''Pathways of a Celtic Land'' (Restless Music 2013)

Extended plays

* ''The Man from Snowy River'' (1963) –

* ''Australian Folk Songs'' (April 1964) – CBS Records * ''Songs of Our Time'' (June 1964) – CBS Records * ''Australian Broadside'' (March 1965) – CBS Records

Singles

Awards

Tamworth Songwriters Awards

The Tamworth Songwriters Association (TSA) is an annual songwriting contest for original country songs, awarded at the

Tamworth Country Music Festival The Tamworth Country Music Festival is an annual Australian music festival held for 10 days from Friday to Sunday in mid to late January each year, sometimes including Australia Day, in Tamworth, New South Wales, Tamworth, New South Wales. The f ...

. They commenced in 1986. (wins only) , - , 1990 , "Shopping on a Saturday" by Gary Shearston , Traditional Bush Ballad of the Year , , -

References

External links

Official websiteReview of ''Best of All Trades'', double CD set 2009 (Simply Australia)Pop Archives – I Get A Kick Out of You feature

Moments of Synchronicity with Gary Shearston (Jim Low)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shearston, Gary 1939 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Australian musicians Australian folk singers Charisma Records artists People educated at Newington College Transatlantic Records artists