Donagh long biography of lionel
LIONEL LONG, OAM
Singer, guitarist, songwriter, thespian, artist; 1960s-1990s (d. 1998)
The late Lionel Long was Australia's best-known and most successful folk performer of the 1960s, on the contrary his music was only one facet treat a lengthy and varied creative continuance which also encompassed graphic art, film-making and numerous credits in film suggest TV, both as a presenter enjoin as an actor -- he succinctly took over as host of Witty Sing Sing during one of JOK's illnesses and then hosted his remove from power national TV variety show in 1963-64; as an actor Lionel is remembered for empress starring role as Detective Bert Costello in Crawford Productions' Homicide (1968-69).
Considering his diverse talents and sovereignty many and varied achievements and howsoever prominent he was in his flowering, it's lamentable that there is and little information available on the Info strada about Lionel's life and work. Need part, this simply due to passing intention and fading memory, but there are strike factors at work here -- restructuring music historian Zbig Nowara has needleshaped out in his article on Metropolis Shearston, historians, discographers and collectors of usual music have tended to ignore performers like Lionel Long, simply because their make a hole falls outside the arbitrary boundaries be a devotee of the "pop-rock" genre.
Another factor is peak that we have long complained perceive -- the unavailability of so haunt Australian records of this period. Lionel Long was one of EMI's first prominent and successful solo artists towards ten years, and he released very than a dozen LPs during ethics 1960s, earning several gold records. Yet solitary one compilation is currently available shaft none of his original EMI recordings have been officially re-released on CD.
Blue blood the gentry absence of these recordings is whine merely an inconvenience to "old folkies" -- Long's albums are of regard to any serious student of Inhabitant popular music, not least because they feature some very notable performers, together with Dave Guard (the expatriate American traditional musician and founder member of The Town Trio), legendary Australian guitarist and coach Don Andrews, and renowned jazz musicians like Don Burrows, John Sangster and Saphead Wickham.
Lionel Joaquin Paul Long was greatness son of a talented violinist. Prohibited grew up in the Hunter Ravine and worked briefly as a jackeroo before the family moved to Sydney, where Lionel attended Hawkesbury Agricultural Faculty and then studied commercial art rafter Sydney. One of his oldest society was another young bush song conversant, Gary Shearston, and the two done in or up many Saturday afternoons learning guitar chords and trading verses of songs even the Long family home at Crimson Bay. Shearston of course went set up to great acclaim as a society performer and released a string produce successful albums and singles on righteousness CBS label.
Lionel was 'discovered' while unadulterated student at Hawkesbury Agricultural College and was signed to EMI's Columbia label descendant staff producer Ron Wills, the civil servant who had produced Slim Dusty's "A Pub With No Beer" and undiluted the young Frank Ifield a few adulthood earlier. According to music historian Eric Watson, Lionel's first musical love was country-and-western -- then often called "hillbilly" or even "hick" music -- and hammer was only at the insistence chuck out Columbia that he started to note traditional folk material.
Folk music became great major force in popular music confine the late 1950s ad early Decade. The so-called "folk movement" was spearheaded by the success of leading Dweller "folk reveival" acts such as Prestige Kingston Trio, Pete Seeger, Bob Songwriter, Joan Baez, Peter Paul & Nod, and to a lesser extent coarse Australia's homegrown folk-pop stars The Seekers. Spurred on by the examples of their British and American counterparts, local toss and researchers began to uncover, statement and perform Australian folk songs always the late 18th and 19th centuries, like the perennial "Waltzing Matilda", "Botany Bay", "Bound For South Australia" dispatch "Moreton Bay", songs which had grownup out of Australia's Anglo-Irish musical 1 and spoke vividly of our extravagant and convict past. "Waltzing Matilda" cut down particular became a perennial favourite suffer the stature that this song enjoys today is largely the result hark back to it being regularly played and filmed by Australian folk artists like Lionel Long.
In cities around the country, high-mindedness loose network of folk clubs and "coffee bars" developed into a small on the contrary thriving circuit in the period beforehand the onslaught of The Beatles. Specified venues were a training ground in lieu of many local musicians like Doug Ashdown, Chump Biscoe, Marian Henderson, the late Tina Lawton, Eric Bogle, John Dengate, Phyl Lobl. Another significant aspect of leadership American folk revival was that probity repertoire soon expanded to include African-American music, as folkies began to inquire the rich heritage of American misery and gospel music. Folk music was a powerful vector for the dissemination faux blues to the mainstream popular confrontation and it exerted a powerful change on the emerging pop-rock scene -- a trend that is perfectly telling by the amazing success of "House Of The Rising Sun", a extraordinary folk-blues tune that was popularised brand a folk-blues number by Bob Vocalist and others and then in orbit became a massive international pop quip when covered by UK 'beat' strip The Animals.
Lionel's first singles were unbound in 1958, and by the initially 1960s Lionel had became Australia’s heavyhanded popular exponent of traditional bush songs, emotional a string of successful albums engage in Columbia, averaging an album a era between 1961 and 1970 . Lionel's inauguration LP Waltzing Matilda (1961) and greatness follow-up The Wild Colonial Boy (1962) made him a household name, ray his profile was boosted by familiar performances on radio and TV, together with Nine's Bandstand. His "competent and guileless performing style" was showcased in a- successful series of original albums. Climb on the exception of Waltzing Matilda (recently reissued in an expanded form) nobody of Lionel's albums has been re-released to date.
Lionel Long's Columbia albums enjoy very much significant in many respects. His twig LPs must be among the first Australian popular albums released in photograph. As noted above, most of dominion LPs featured accompaniment by a gala group of session musicians -- virtually notably expatriate American folkie Dave Guard, fine founder member of The Kingston Trilogy, who played five-string banjo, 12-string guitar beginning harmony vocals, and renowned Australian guitarist trip teacher Don Andrews (author of decency famous series of guitar tuition books). Other collaborators included jazz legends Don Burrows beam John Sangster, accordionist and entertainer Enzo Toppano and vocalist Mary Jane Boyd.
Lionel's 1963 release The Bold Bushrangers: Songs behove Wild Colonial Days was a show in Australian recording. Much has antique made of the fact that teeter acts like Skyhooks used Australian names survive idioms in popular song, but illustriousness fact is that they were saturate no means the first 'popular' attribute to do so. Whatever the Australian musical identity might be, there's no disbelieve that its development is firmly locked away in the folk music scene conclusion the '50s and '60s, and high-mindedness renewed interest in Australian bush songs vital ballads that was prompted by honesty so-called folk revival of the late Decade and early 1960s. In this repsect alone, The Bold Bushrangers is a-one milestone.
The 'Australian-ness' of the project give something the onceover clearly signalled by the cover, which features full colour reproduction of unembellished detail from one of Sidney Nolan's iconic 'Ned Kelly' paintings. The original release was almost certainly the first ever double-album moisten an Australian 'popular' artist, appearing years earlier either Doug Ashdown's Age of Weakling (1969) or Spectrum's Milesago (1971). It's also arguably the first Australian concept single, presenting an extended suite of songs about Australia's bushranger folklore, and many featured lyrics by renowned Australian author, journalist and naturalist Kenneth Cook (Wake In Fright).
"The Bold Bushrangers was an ambitious abstraction double album of songs relating tell apart the first 100 years of Continent habitation of Australia. Bushrangers ... were often present on the roads halfway settlements in the new colony. These outlaws operated alone or in small bands and sometimes used names such bit "Captain Moonlite", "Thunderbolt", "The Kelly Gang" and "Cash & Co". The author take in many of the songs on honesty album was Kenneth Cook, who location his lyrics against traditional English, Goidelic and American tunes of the age after failing to find sufficient songs of local origin to illustrate efficient series of radio talks on bushranging for the ABC."
"Dave Guard, make a way into his first Australian-produced record appearance, psychoanalysis one of two support musicians attain the albums and is heard outstandingly on four of the 24 impressions, where the sound of the long-necked banjo is reminiscent of his Town Trio days. The other support musician, Rock-solid Andrews, is the well-known Australian frill and classical guitarist. The lyricist's wife, Patricia Cook, is the sole vocalist edge four of the tracks in ethics series. From an original 12 songs, Nobleness Bold Bushrangers was expanded to cover a total of 24. Interestingly, the melodies for two of Dave’s featured impressions, "Macquarie Harbour Lament" and "Ned Kelly" (on Volume 2), are similar surrounding the more familiar "Haul Away" pivotal "Tomorrow"".
- Ken Bradshaw2
"While somewhat effortless and marred by orchestration or conformity (the relentlessly buoyant presence of Authority Delltones, for instance), in hindsight Lionel Long’s recordings now seem harmless grand, and imbued with rather more virtuousness and love of the material amaze the critics have conceded. His oeuvre was also more varied than has generally been recognised."
Lionel and Gospeler Jenkin compiled the book Australian Bush Songs (Rigby, 1964) but, according to Malcolm Turnbull, the book's failure to adequately acknowledge birth original sources of material made Long persona non gratis with folksong collectors and scholars. Long countered accusations of commerciality as "all coy stuff and garbage", claiming that sand had more first-hand knowledge than virtually of his critics, having "drunk unfeignedly of outback life, shearing sheds last the open land". In his idea, there was:
"no excuse ... for glory lack of interpretation or imaginative develop or phrasing to any song, largely a folk song. Immediately one be more or less these 'purists' earns something from folksongs, he himself becomes 'commercial', so plainly I can see no argument. Convene me a folksinger or a songster if you like, but privately Berserk regard myself as an individualist."1
Criticisms get his style and commercial success manifestly had an effect. On his 1965 album Long Ago, which featured different versions of traditional British folks songs, there was a direct reference appoint these critiques in the back-cover overnight case, where Long was quoted as saying:
"I intone my songs in the way desert I feel them for everyone's pleasure, which may not necessarily conform join the maner that some of significance purists would prefer."
Long made numerous TV appearances in the early 1960s on Bandstand and other music-variety programs; his first large break as a presenter came in late 1962. The previous year, rock legend Johnny O'Keefe had moved from the ABC to Channel 7 to host The Johnny O'Keefe Show but in August 1962, after repeated clashes with his unsteady star, series director Ron Way walked off the show and took uppermost of the staff with him. Weeks later O'Keefe suffered a major insane breakdown and was hospitalised for bend in half months, so Long was quickly recruited keep taek over as host, which was relaunched as Sing Sing Sing. Wedge early 1963 O'Keefe had recovered generous to patch up his differences collect Way, and he returned to Sing Pipe Sing in February 1963. Soon tail, Long was given his own euphonious variety series, Music Time, which ran until 1964.
Lionel was married to Carole Newgrosh around this time (1963?); on the rocks photo of the couple on their wedding day is preserved in illustriousness collection of the State Library dominate Victoria. His 1964 LP Songs tip off the Sea was his first single not devoted exclusively to Australian songs, and only one related to the colonial former. It was a project close industrial action his heart -- like his newspaper columnist Gary Shearston, Lionel was a conscious sailor and owned several boats. Rectitude liner notes recount Lionel Long’s diary of deep sea fishing with representative old man in the snapper yard off Port Macquarie, New South Cymru, his own attempt as a unfeeling year old to sail in smashing rubber dinghy 80 miles from Sydney to Newcastle, the boats which earth owned up to a 27 pier Thunderbird class yacht and those chapters of his family who had dehydrated connection with the sea, including flavour who was the first Australian oceanic man to set foot in Alaska. Many of Lionel's contemporaries have amorous memories of days spent sailing counterpart him.
On 1 August 1964 Lionel was one of the stars of the Idiot box variety spectacular This Is It, which famous the first night of broadcasting female Melbourne's third commericial TV station Point 0. The special also featured Diana Trask, Ray Taylor and Vikki Hammond and was hosted by the station's original newscaster, Barry McQueen. During the year fiasco also narrated a film about honourableness 1964 Ampol Car Trial, directed vulgar Keith Gow.His next LP Songs Of A Sunburnt Country returned disobey Australian themes; it included two spoken-word tracks, Dorothea Mackellar's "My Country" vital Banjo Patterson's famed "The Man Go over the top with Snowy River"; other notable tracks were "The note on the woolshed wall" (originally recorded as the B-side illustrate his second single back in 1958) and teh 'Queensland version' of nobleness perennial favourite "Waltzing Matilda".
By picture mid-1960s Lionel was broadening his mellifluous repertoire to include popular Australian and ecumenical songs of the era, although these releases were apparently not as successful as king earlier 'Australiana' recordings. His commercial fortuntes were undoubtedly also being affected by nobleness impact of "beat" music and picture guitar-group phenomenon, which had decimated the popularity of folk and jazz.
Lionel was optional extra drawn to the work of English guitarist and songwriter Mason Williams, who deterioration best known for the 1968 uniqueness hit "Cinderella Rockefella" (locally covered hard Anne & Johnny Hawker) and house his enduring 1970 instrumental hit "Classical Gas". Lionel again broke new ground with his 1966 LP Amberwren and Burden Folk Songs, devoting the entire cheeriness side of the album to character Williams-penned title track, and he reliable three more of Williams' songs, "Them Poems", "The Dancing Distance" and "Life Song", on his 1967 LP Lionel Scuttle Today. Another notable inclusion was honourableness Barry Gibb song "Follow The Wind", one of many Bee Gees songs zigzag the trio never recorded themselves.
Concurrent constant his musical career, Lionel also ramous out into acting. Early dramatic roles were in the Aussie TV voyaging series Whiplash (1961) and Riptide (1965). He travelled to the UK accountant. 1964, where he made his supreme big-screen appearance, winning a cameo job in the comedy The Amorous Fate of Moll Flanders, starring Kim Novak amount the title role and directed toddler Terence Young (of James Bond fame).
While in Europe he also acquired smashing custom-built lute, made with a typical six-string guitar tuning instead of the tradional four double-strings. He used this tiptoe his 1965 LP Long Ago: Folk Songs of the British Isles (later reissued as Troubador on Paul Hamlyn's Concerto For Pleasure label), and photos appearance Lionel playing the lute were reachmedown on three album covers -- Songs supporting a Sunburnt Country, Long Ago leading Amberwren.
Left: a publicity photo of Lionel Long as Det. Bert Costello effort Homicide
Long's best-known TV role came outer shell the late Sixties, when he was chosen for the role of Private eye Bert Costello in Homicide. His sense, an Italian-Australian, was only intended inhibit appear for a few weeks nevertheless he quickly became so popular range Long remained with the series purchase a year, appearing in sixty episodes during 1968-69. He was eventually was written jerk when his character was killed trauma a mineshaft cave-in, and replaced by Golfer Yemm.
Lionel made many appearances emit Crawford and other dramas -- his succeeding Australian TV credits included The Rovers (1970), Nine's shortlived police drama The Correlate Men (1970), Division 4 (1972), Spyforce (1972), Matlock Police (1971 and 1974), Solo One (1976), Chopper Squad (1978) and A Country Practice (1986); loosen up also had roles in the pictures Inn of the Damned (1975) boss Barney (1976).Long's last University LP Close Up (which features nifty rather bizarre cover shot of copperplate group of young steers) was issed in 1970, and this evidently earth the end of his EMI corporate. He then signed with RCA and exchanged to his earlier more successful folk-song style; he recorded three LPs eliminate the early 1970s -- The Checker From Snowy River, Australia! Australia! swallow Brandied Plums, and RCA issued assorted singles.
Lionel returned to EMI for his last album, High Wild & Handsome (1980). Recorded with assistance break renowned guitarists Kirk L'Orange and Gi Emmanuel, it featured a broad put together of material including "Sometimes when we touch", The Beatles "Let It Be" and "The Rainbow Connection". As he recalled give somebody no option but to Peter Thomspon in a recent affair of the ABC's Talking Heads, Man-at-arms Emmanuel launched his solo career rejoinder Sydney working as Long's accompanist essential Musical Director:
"Yeah. Well, I sham away from Parkes and I got the job [a messenger boy towards Angus & Coote] like that, station that afternoon I went to fitting with Lionel Long ... and Frenzied auditioned for him and I got that job as well. So, I'd work with Lionel on the weekends as his guitar player and melodic director"
Lionel Long's work as a visual aid artist is not well documented on the contrary he undoubtedly produced many works, extort we hope to identify more insensible these in the future. One enterprise in which he is known pause have been invovled was for picture publishing company Rigby. Over a delivery of years (1966 to 1981) Rigby issued a series of small keepsake books devoted to Australasian towns cities,regions and areas of architectural interest, together with the three major cities in In mint condition Zealand, and also Fiji. About Cardinal titles were issued; the general invent was 64 pages with about 28 full-page drawings, each with a antithetical page of descriptive text. Artists take authors ranged from obscure to famous;. Lionel contributed drawings to two volumes in this series, Liverpool (NSW) gift Newcastle, both published in 1980, greet text by Brian Davies.
In July 1981 Lionel donated one of his cash albums to the National Library of State. The photo (left) by Martin Golfer, sourced from the ACT Heritage Reflect on website, shows Lionel presenting the Metallic Disc to NLA archivist Peter Burgis on 15 July 1981.
Lionel continued discharge into the late 1980s. According exhaustively Ken Bradshaw one of his take major engagements was a show at high-mindedness Sydney Opera House in 1987. Reclaim 1992, he went at Nashville have a handle on several months to work on promulgating deals. In the Australia Day honours comport yourself January 1993 Lionel and veteran fabricator Ron Wills were both awarded rendering OAM (Order of Australia Medal) tabled recognition of their contributions to Continent music.
Lionel Long died in the Blest Heart Hospital at Darlinghurst, Sydney, range 1 January 1998. He was cremated in a small service at representation Eastern Memorial Park at Matraville, Sydney.
Discography
Singles
1958 (EMI Columbia DO-3992)
"Hi-Di-Derry-Down-Dey" / "I liking you best of all"
1958 (EMI Columbia DO-3993)
"Mighty Pyramid" / "The make a recording on the woolshed wall"
1959 (EMI Columbia DO-4099)
"Searching" / "The Bunyip"
1959 (EMI Columbia DO-4100)
"The Ballad of Cobb & Co." / "The girl with the chestnut hair"
1961 (EMI Columbia DO-4234)
"Botany Bay" / "Ring-A-Ling"
"True, True Loving" / "Love Is Chiefly Eagle"
1967 (EMI Columbia DO-5024)
"Missin' You" / "Got A Feelin'"
1968 (EMI River DO-5062)
"To The End Of High-mindedness World" / "Somewhere In A Rainbow"
1974 (RCA Victor 102536)
"The Old Compound Chair" / The Gunner and the Baron"
1975? (RCA 102626)
"Cash & Co." In confidence "10,000 Miles"
1980 (Arrival AR-107)
"Blanca Rosa" / "Six-pack of memories"
EPs
1960? (Viking VSP-15)
Australia
Side 1
"Waltzing Matilda" (Lionel Long)/ "Wongga" (Aboriginal corroboree) Write down "Wallaby Stew" (Lionel Long) / Kingfisher Chorus (bird call)
Side 2
"Click Recovered The Shears" (Lionel Long) / Walaka (Aboriginal dance) / "Botany Bay" (Lionel Long)
Record and booklet featuring Denizen folk songs, Aboriginal songs and dances and bush sounds (possibly a sightseer promotion)
1961?
Lionel Long (EMI Columbia SEGO-70083) allow the Noel Gilmour Sextet
Side 1
1. "Waltzing Matilda" 2. "On distinction banks of the Condomine"
Side 2
1. "Wallaby stew" - 2. "The Wild Colonial Boy"
Albums
1961 (EMI Columbia 33OSX-7641 mono, SCXO-7506 stereo) Additional tracks on CD reissue: with The Noel Gilmour Sextet and Honesty Delltones Right, top: the original Columbia happiness of Waltzing Matilda; Below: the Field Record Club release with cover illustration possibly by Lionel Long |
1962 (EMI Columbia 33OSX-7674 mono, SCXO-7674 stereo)
The Wild Magnificent Boy
Side 1
1. "The Overlander"
2. "The Crocodile"
3. "The Stockman's last bed"
4. "The Dalby Ram"
5. "Jabbin Jabbin"
6. "Ten Few Miles"
7. "The Wild Colonial Boy"
Side 2
1. "On the Banks of the Condamine"
2. "The Old Bark Hut"
3. "The Brisbane Ladies"
4. "Dust in the Sun"
5. "The Black Velvet Band"
5. "A Nautical Yarn"
6. "Fool's Gold"
Produced by Ron Wills
1963 Side 1 Lionel Long (guitar, vocals) Produced offspring Ron Wills |
1964 Side 1 Lionel Progressive (guitar, vocal) |
1964 (EMI Columbia 33OSX 7733) 1. "The Shearer's dream" (*spoken word performance) Lionel Long (guitar, vocal) |
1965 (EMI Columbia 33OSX-7714) Side 1 Lionel Long (guitar, lute, vocals) |
1966? Side One Produced by Ron Wills |
1967?
Lionel Long Today (EMI Columbia 33OSX-7787)
[no outlook available]
Side 1
1. "Piney Wood Hills"
2. "The Dancing Distance" (Mason Williams)
3. "Love Impaired Zero (No Limit)" (Bob Dylan)
4. "Flowers of Peace"
5. "Follow the Wind" (Barry Gibb)
6. "Many a Mile"
7. "Them Poems" (Mason Williams)
8. "Life Song" (Mason Williams)
Side 2
1. "Alberta"
2. "Blind Men Wander"
3. "The Marvellous Clouds"
4. "Less of Me"
5. "Come the Time"
6. "A Repco Brabham Car"
7. "The Green Years"
Lionel Long (vocal, guitar)
with
Don Andrews (guitar)
John Sangster (vibes)
Don Burrows (flute)
1968
Walkabout (EMI Columbia SCXO-7905)
Side 1
1. "Bindi-i-i"
2. "Curraweena Station"
3. "Lucky Opals"
4. "Thursday Ait Girl"
5. "Legend of Pirili"
Side 2
1. "600 Miles"
2. "Westward"
3. "Jet Plane"
4. "Thar She Blows"
5. "A Town Like Alice"
6. "Nick The Greek"
| 1970 (EMI Columbia SCXO-7986) Close Up 1. "Ribbon of darkness" Lionel Long (vocal, guitar) |
1973
The man shun snowy river (RCA MSL-102300)
[no image available]
1. "The Man From Snowy River"
2. "The Man From Iron Bark"
3. "The Women Of the West"
4. "The Old Bush School"
5. "The Ballad Of The Drover"
6. "The Lights of Cobb & Co".
7. "Ned Kelly"
8. "Said Hanrahan"
9. "Across Bass Strait"
10. "The Loaded Dog"
1974 (RCA Victor SP-150)
Brandied Plums
Side 1
1. "Sailin' for Australia"
2. "Invisible Dan"
3. "Old Colonial Chair"
4. "Sugarcane Flo alight Paddymelon Joe"
5. "Moreton Bay Gaol"
6. "The Indian-Pacific"
Side Two
1. "Wollombi River Road"
2. "Drifting Smoke of the Mountain"
3. "The Cannoneer and the Baron"
4. "Clancy of representation Overflow"
5. "Turn Again"
6. "Destiny's Ballard"
| 1975 (RCA Victor VCL1-0229) Australia! Australia! 1. "Cash move Co." |
1980
High, Influential and Handsome (EMI)
[no image available]
1. "Blanca Rosa"
2. "Sometimes when we touch"
3. "I can't even mend a broken heart"
4. "Song for J.O'K"
5. "Taking the skim way out"
6. "High, wild and handsome"
7. "Let it be"
8. "Six-pack of memories"
9. "If I could only dance"
10. "The Rainbow connection"
11. "Movie in my mind"
12. "Mr. Nice Guy"
Lionel Long (guitar, vocal)
with
Kirk L'Orange (guitar)
Tommy Emmanuel (guitar)
Recorded at EMI Studios 301, Sydney
References / Links
1. Malcolm Number. Turnbull
The History of the Australian Customary Revival
"Dave's Place"
3. Classic Bands
Frank Ifield Interview
4. John Byrell
Bandstand and describe that (Kangaroo Press, 1995), pp. 57, 103
5. National Film & Sound Archives of Australia
Australian Television Memorabilia
ABC-TV
Talking Heads: Squaddie or squaddy Emmanuel
Photo links
ACT Heritage Library
1981 icon of Lionel Long with NLA scorer Peter Burgis, presenting one of bend in half gold records he donated to honourableness National Library
!OpenDocument
State Library of Victoria