..
Layout Generator by MyspaceLayoutSpy.com
Barry Thornton is a true legend of Australian country music. The only specialist instrumentalist so far inducted to the Country Music Roll of Renown, Barry is credited with originating the distinctive lead guitar sound which set the style of practically all bush balladsÂAustralia's own unique form of country musicÂfrom the mid 1950s onward.He travelled with the Slim Dusty Show for 19 years, playing the on-stage comedy character of "Mulga Dan" as well as setting the path and style for so many lead players to come.Born in Junee, NSW, on June 14, 1934, Barry was the eldest of 16 children. At age 17, while living in Sydney with his grandparents and working in a glove factory, he bought his first guitar for 12 pounds. After learning a few basic chords, he entered his first talent quest at Eden Park near Sydney, sang a Wilf Carter song and came second.During his rounds of the talent quest circuit, Barry met Slim who ultimately offered him a three month job touring with the Slim Dusty Show... three months that turned into almost 20 years! Though he worked as a singer, gradually, the singing was overtaken by the "Mulga Dan" character and a shaky lead guitar began to emerge. In the years to follow, through the encouragement of Slim and Joy McKean and Barry's own natural talent, the "shaky guitar" developed into the sound now so recognisable and respected.Barry's first solo recording venture was in 1970 when he cut Talking Guitar, one of the first country EPs put down in Australia for EMI. Side two of the release was Shorty Ranger's classic Winter Winds, destined to become the most popular Australian country instrumental then recorded. He followed this with another EP, Country Guitar.His first full solo album came in 1981 when Selection Records released The Country Way featuring all the tracks that had made Barry so well known over the years. One track from the album  Brian's Tune  won him the Golden Guitar for Instrumental of the Year in 1982. His second (and all subsequent releases) was also on the Selection label and contained four original compositions together with a number of country standards.After moving to the Queensland Sunshine Coast with his wife Pauline and children Meryl and Brian, Barry began to take things a little easier though never stopped playing his beloved guitar. His recording career took off with the production of 10 or more albums in the last 20 years including Barry Thornton Plays Slim Dusty, two volumes of Barry Thornton's Country Music Dance, Buts 'N' Bazza (with Lindsay Butler), Country In The '90s The Thornton Way, Gospel Guitar, The Legends Of Country Guitar (with Charlie Boyter and Lindsay Butler), Lest We Forget, The Country Way & Somethin' Country and Tunes From Australia's Top End. Barry has also featured, of course, on numerous recordings as a session player, on compilation albums and as a guest artist (including several with Lindsay Butler).Inducted into the Country Music Hands of Fame in 1981, in addition to his touring and playing, Barry has been heavily involved in the Queensland Champion of Champions working, since their inception, to ensure the annual success of the event. Less than a year ago, a special tribute was made to Barry at Champs soon after he had returned home from hospital after becoming seriously ill. A number of performers he had influenced put together a moving presentation to say thank you for his encouragement and advice over many years. Despite his continuing ill-health, Barry took the stage and played one of his favourites, The Old Rugged Cross, with the assistance of his fellow performers, ending in a standing ovation and barely a dry eye in the house.Still in spite of his illness, Barry continued to travel and tour. In January, he visited Tamworth for the annual country music festival to catch up with friends and fans and Launceston just last week where, among other things, he was going to help a young artist with their CD launch. He knew his health was precarious, but, as he told his old mate Slim in January, "I'm not going to sit down and wait for it, mate. I'm going out to do everything I want to, and I'll keep on doing shows just the same." He became ill on Saturday, July 27, was admitted to hospital that evening and died at 6.30am on Sunday, July 28, at 68 years of age.But like a true legend, Barry leaves an enormous legacy to Australia and Australian country music  an inspiration to our instrumentalists over two generations.We acknowledge Jazzer Smith's Book of Australian Country Music in the compilation of this tribute.
And we also acknowledge the assistance of the Roll of renown for assistance with this informationNEWS FOR 2008........................................................
............................New bust of legendary Australian guitarist to be unveiled in January
The fifth bronze bust of an Australian country music pioneer, Barry Thornton, will be unveiled in Tamworth’s Bicentennial Park on Monday, January 21, 2008 at 11am.
Barry is widely regarded as the creator of the bush ballad style of guitar picking, a unique sound he conceived while touring Australia’s highways and byways with Slim Dusty. Who could forget that famous riff in Slim’s recording of the Shorty Ranger tune, Winter Winds?
This is the fourth bust in the park sculpted by Canberra artist Peter Latona, whose amazingly realistic images of pioneers Tex Morton, Stan Coster and Gordon Parsons stop many a tourist in their tracks while wandering through Tamworth’s leafy heart.
The first bust to be erected in Bicentennial Park was that of Buddy Williams, and is the only bust in the park not created by Peter.
The unveiling ceremony is set to be a major event of the 2008 Tamworth Country Music Festival, which the public is more than welcome to witness.
There will be speeches and formalities prior to the unveiling, as the Country Capital Bronze Bust Committee, chaired by tireless country music supporter Lorraine Pfitzner, officially hands over the bust to Tamworth Regional Council for safekeeping – and for posterity.
“To install a bust of this quality, which is so life-like, takes a lot of hard work and skill by the sculptor, but it also takes a lot of giving by the country music fraternity of Australia, who willingly donate to the cause,†Lorraine said.
“For the past four years we have been fundraising for this event. A number of individuals have donated sizeable amounts, while other money has come in via competitions and concerts.â€
Lorraine said how vital it was for the country music fans who come to this city to become familiar with the faces and stories of our pioneers.
“It was these hard-working entertainers who forged ahead and paved the way for the country music industry of today, so they should always be honoured. In that way, their memory lives on forever,†she said.
For further information, please contact Lorraine Pfitzner email: [email protected]
