Don Walker (musician)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Don Walker | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Donald Hugh Walker |
| Born | November 29, 1951 |
| Origin | Ayr, Queensland, Australia |
| Genre(s) | Rock Hard Rock Pub Rock Blues Alternative Country |
| Occupation(s) | Musician Songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Piano Keyboard |
| Years active | 1973 - |
| Label(s) | Mushroom Records Universal Music Group |
| Associated acts | Cold Chisel Tex, Don and Charlie |
| Website | Official Site |
Don Walker (born November 29, 1951) is an Australian musician and songwriter most famous for writing many of the hits for legendary Australian pub rock band, Cold Chisel. He played piano and keyboard with the band from 1973 to 1983, when they disbanded.
Donald Hugh Walker was born in Ayr North Queensland and his family later moved to Grafton.
From the earliest days Walker was the creative songwriting force for Cold Chisel. He became known for his passionate and raw lyrical observations on the Australian society and culture of the time. His songwriting credits include the hit singles "Flame Trees," "Saturday Night," "Choirgirl," (a teary ballad about abortion) "Breakfast At Sweethearts," "Cheap Wine," and the iconic Australian Vietnam war song "Khe Sanh" (voted the 8th greatest Australian song of all time by the Australian Performing Rights Association). Many of these songs still receive airplay on Australian radio to this day and have become somewhat ingrained in Australian music culture.
During his time with Cold Chisel he produced his first work outside the band, the soundtrack to the Australian movie "Freedom", directed by Scott Hicks. The soundtrack was released as an album and featured members of Cold Chisel and Michael Hutchence.
After Cold Chisel disbanded in 1983, Walker had a five year hiatus before resuming recording and performing using the name "Catfish." Ostensibly a band, Catfish was in effect a solo project, featuring Walker on vocals, keyboards and penning all the songs. Catfish featured various backing musicians, such as Charlie Owen, Ian Moss and David Blight, a much-admired harmonica player. The first album, Unlimited Address, released in 1989, showed a jazzier, European side to Walker's songwriting, probably reflecting his travels during the previous years. Despite being critically lauded, and containing many songs that are much loved by fans, sales were moderate. The next album, "Ruby," was a return to Australia in sound and lyrical subject matter. Again, it was well received by critics but sold relatively poorly. The track "Charleville" was later to receive country music awards when covered by Slim Dusty.
In early 1992 Don performed an acoustic live performance for alternative radio station JJJ with Charlie Owen and Tex Perkins. In 1993 Tex, Don and Charlie released their first album, "Sad but True" on Red Eye Records. The record, an acoustic country-tinged affair, returned Walker to some level of popular awareness and received rave reviews in magazines like Australian Rolling Stone. About half the songs were written by Walker, including the perennial crowd favourite, "Sitting in a Bar." The band toured strongly on the back of the album, later releasing a live album "Monday Morning Coming Down," featuring the best tracks of "Sad but True" plus some covers of standards. 2005 saw the release of a third Tex, Don and Charlie album, "All is Forgiven," similar in style to the first. Again, Walker wrote about half the songs, including the long-anticipated, "Harry was a Bad Bugger."
1994 was the year of Walker's first full release under his own name, "We're All Gunna Die." It was recorded almost live in the studio over a period of 4 days with a band featuring David Blight, Garrett Costigan on pedal-steel guitar and Red Rivers on guitar. The music is a ragged mix of country, impassioned blues and balladry, and features the song "Barrel of Eternity." It would be another 12 years before Walker was to produce another solo recording, the well-received "Cutting Back." As of mid-2006 he was touring Australia with his current backing band, the Suave Fucks.
Walker has worked with many other artists, most notably with song writing credits on Ian Moss's hit album, "Matchbook" and Jimmy Barnes's single "Stone Cold." He has had songs recorded by TOFOG, Jimmy Little, Slim Dusty, Kate Ceberano, Wendy Matthews, Troy Cassar-Daley, Graeme Connors, Jeff Lang, and Adam Brand. He also produced Moss's album "Petrolhead."
He is the brother of the Australian novelist, Brenda Walker.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- O'Grady, Anthony; ""The Pure Stuff""; published 2001 by Allen & Unwin, 83 Alexander St, Crows Nest, NSW, 2065
- Lawrence, Michael; ""Showtime, The Cold Chisel Story""; self-published 1998, PO Box 156, Belmont, Vic., 3216
[edit] External links
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