Gordon Parsons (singer-songwriter)

Gordon Parsons was an Australian country music singer-songwriter, best known as the composer of Slim Dusty's 1957 hit song "A Pub With No Beer". In 1982, Parsons was inducted into the Australian Roll of Renown.[1]

Gordon Parsons
Born(1926-12-24)24 December 1926
Paddington, Sydney, Australia
Died17 August 1990(1990-08-17) (aged 63)
GenresCountry
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, musician
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar
Years active1946–1980s
LabelsRegal Zonophone, EMI

Early life and career

He was born in Paddington, an Eastern suburb of Sydney in 1926, and moved with his parents to Cooks Creek near Bellingen, New South Wales, in 1929.[2] At age 14, he left his parents' farm and subsequently worked as a sleeper-cutter. Around this time, he entered a well-known radio talent quest, "Terry Dear’s Australian Amateur Hour", and was awarded second prize. Regal Zonophone Records, as a result of hearing him on "Amateur Hour", recorded six songs with him in 1947.[2]

As a performer, he then toured widely in rural Australia with a number of travelling shows, including Goldwyn Brothers Circus. While touring he met and married his first wife, Zelda, of the Ashton's Circus family. They had a daughter (Gail) in 1949, but the marriage soon ended.[2]

He continued to tour regularly with major country acts such as Slim Dusty, Chad Morgan, and Tex Morton, and between tours "went bush" to write more songs, fish, and do menial farm work. He continued to record for Regal Zonophone, and later for various other labels, including Mystery (1950s), Hadley (1960s), CM Records (1970s), and Columbia and Selection (1980s).

"The Pub With No Beer"

In 1956, someone handed Parsons a scrap of paper with the words of a poem, "A Pub Without Beer" (written in 1943 by Queensland farmer Dan Sheahan, on finding that his local pub, the Day Dawn Hotel in Ingham, Queensland, had been drunk dry by US servicemen stationed in the area), and suggested that it might be a basis for a song. Parsons wrote "A Pub With No Beer", fleshing the poem out with word-portraits of patrons of his own local pub, the Cosmopolitan Hotel at the tiny settlement of Taylors Arm, about 25 km inland from Macksville, New South Wales. Slim Dusty heard the song while touring with Parsons, and he asked if he could record it as a novelty filler for his upcoming 1957 recording date, as he was one song short of the required four. Dusty's recording was released as the B-side of his 78 rpm release, "Saddle Boy",[3] and much to Slim's surprise, the B-side was soon getting huge air-play, particularly on Sydney radio station 2UE.[4] In 1958 it became a massive hit all over Australia, and remains the first and only 78 to be certified an Australian gold record.[5] In 1959, it reached No. 3 in the UK and No. 1 in Ireland, as well as becoming popular in Canada and the USA.

Later career

Parsons wrote numerous other songs, and also contributed the hook and chorus for Chad Morgan’s classic "The Fatal Wedding", but made only a few records in the 20 years after his 78-rpm discs of the 1950s. In 1978, he married his third wife, Jeanette, and they settled in Sydney.

Parsons died on 17 August 1990, at age 63, and is buried in Pinegrove Cemetery.[2]

Discography

Charity singles
List of singles as featured artist, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions
AUS
[6]
"The Garden"
(as Australia Too)		 1985 22

Honours and awards

Australian Roll of Renown

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.[7]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
1982 Gordon Parsons Australian Roll of Renown inductee

There is also a bust of Parsons in Tamworth.[8]

References
  1. "Roll of Renown". TCMF. Archived from the original on 21 August 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  2. "Australian Country Music Roll O". Archived from the original on 22 January 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  3. "Slim Dusty on Apple Music". iTunes.
  4. "Pub with No Beer, Slim Dusty - Australian Song". Archived from the original on 14 December 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  5. "Curator's notes a Pub with No Beer (1957) on ASO - Australia's audio and visual heritage online".
  6. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 22. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and 19 June 1988.
  7. "Roll of Renown". Tamworth Country Music Festival. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
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