Gary Shearston

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 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 of Cole Porter's song "I Get a Kick out of You". 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, 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 (1941) and Australian Army (1941–1946). Shearston and his mother moved to his maternal grandparents' property, "Ayrdrie", near Tenterfield, New South Wales for the rest of the war. By 1946 his parents had divorced. At the age of 11 his family moved to Sydney, He later studied at the Sydney Conservatorium. Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney from August to December 1958. Back in Sydney, he joined the Hayes Gordon Ensemble Theatre working as an actor in Orpheus Descending (January–July 1960) and The Drunkard (July 1960–February 1961) and as a stage manager. Having taken up acoustic guitar, Shearston learned a repertoire of English, American and Australian folk songs and at 19 become a professional singer. CBS issued his debut album, Folk Songs & Ballads of Australia, in April 1964.

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 and their charter of rights. In March 1965 Sydney radio stations started playing "Sydney Town", a single from his second album Australian Broadside. It reached the top 10 in his home city and top 40 nationally. 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. He was the subject of "Different Drum" segment on ABC-TV's Australian Story "Program 24" broadcast on 6 November 1996. He was survived by his wife Karen and two children. 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) – Leedon Records Australian Folk Songs (April 1964) – CBS Records 1963 "The Ballad of Thunderbolt"

"Who Can Say?"

"We Want Freedom"

"Sydney Town"

"Sometime Lovin'"

"I Get a Kick Out of You"

"Without a Song"

"A Whiter Shade of Pale"

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