Biography
Born on 24 December 1926 in Sydney’s Paddington suburb, New South Wales, Australia, the future performer died on 17 August 1990. When he was three the household moved to the isolated bush settlement of Cooks Creek, where radio broadcasts became his chief diversion. At eleven he acquired his first guitar and, drawing early inspiration from Jimmie Rodgers discs, soon gained local notice at dances for his singing, yodelling and guitar work. Formal education held scant appeal; at fourteen he left home to cut railway sleepers after his father reportedly told the prospective employer, “You might as well take the mongrel—he’s no use here.” He developed into a skilled axeman and later collected several prizes for the craft. Additional influence came from Wilf Carter records and the work of fellow Australians Tex Morton and Buddy Williams, helping him build a reputation as an entertainer. A talent-show appearance resulted in six sides cut for Regal Zonophone Records in May 1946, among them “Where The Bellinger River Flows” and “The Passing of Cobber Jack.” While touring with Goldwyn Bros Circus he met and married Zelda Ashton of the Ashton circus family; their daughter Gail arrived in 1949, though the couple eventually separated. He later shared stages with Slim Dusty and Tex Morton, yet steady employment proved elusive. Preferring solitude, he once remarked, “I never could handle anything long and drawn out,” and withdrew into the bush to compose, occasionally taking farm work or simply fishing.
Throughout the 1950s he continued to record, though his catalogue remained modest—twenty-one singles and seven albums in total. The song most closely linked to his name, “A Pub With No Beer,” became an international success for his close friend Slim Dusty in 1957. Questions later arose about authorship after a 1944 newspaper poem by Dan Sheahan titled “A Pub Without Beer” surfaced with similar phrasing. Slim Dusty, who befriended Sheahan and recorded several of his pieces, maintained that Parsons had believed the supplied lines were anonymous. Writer Eric Watson observed that Sheahan’s version was the stronger poem while Parsons’s was the stronger song. Acquaintances who knew Parsons’s fondness for beer sometimes joked that he had not only written the piece but had also lived it. The recording is credited as Australia’s sole gold 78, though it does not appear among the million-sellers listed in Murrells’ The Book Of Golden Discs.
Further sessions in the 1960s included his own reading of “The Pub,” yet his unwillingness to sustain regular appearances frustrated followers. He largely stepped away from the stage, limiting himself to sporadic shows, and at one point served as warden at a wildlife sanctuary. In 1978 he married for the third time and settled in Sydney, keeping a caravan near Gosford for quick escapes to quieter waters. The 1980s brought three albums on the Selection label. Over the decades he received several major honours for his role in Australian country music, among them a wax effigy at the Tamworth museum. In 1982 he became only the seventh artist inducted into the Country Music Roll Of Renown, the Australian counterpart to Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame. His compositions spanned the humour of “The Pub,” the scenic portrait “Ellenborough Falls” and the melancholy of “The Passing Of Cobber Jack.” Affectionately known as the Old GP or simply Ned, he earned recognition as a pioneer of Australian country music. Many observers believed that, as a singer-songwriter and yodeller, he might have reached the stature of his contemporaries had he chosen that path. When pressed about his sparse recording activity he typically replied, “I dunno, Mate. I’d just as soon poke around the bush and split a few posts,” or “I’d rather be fishing than anything else.”
Throughout the 1950s he continued to record, though his catalogue remained modest—twenty-one singles and seven albums in total. The song most closely linked to his name, “A Pub With No Beer,” became an international success for his close friend Slim Dusty in 1957. Questions later arose about authorship after a 1944 newspaper poem by Dan Sheahan titled “A Pub Without Beer” surfaced with similar phrasing. Slim Dusty, who befriended Sheahan and recorded several of his pieces, maintained that Parsons had believed the supplied lines were anonymous. Writer Eric Watson observed that Sheahan’s version was the stronger poem while Parsons’s was the stronger song. Acquaintances who knew Parsons’s fondness for beer sometimes joked that he had not only written the piece but had also lived it. The recording is credited as Australia’s sole gold 78, though it does not appear among the million-sellers listed in Murrells’ The Book Of Golden Discs.
Further sessions in the 1960s included his own reading of “The Pub,” yet his unwillingness to sustain regular appearances frustrated followers. He largely stepped away from the stage, limiting himself to sporadic shows, and at one point served as warden at a wildlife sanctuary. In 1978 he married for the third time and settled in Sydney, keeping a caravan near Gosford for quick escapes to quieter waters. The 1980s brought three albums on the Selection label. Over the decades he received several major honours for his role in Australian country music, among them a wax effigy at the Tamworth museum. In 1982 he became only the seventh artist inducted into the Country Music Roll Of Renown, the Australian counterpart to Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame. His compositions spanned the humour of “The Pub,” the scenic portrait “Ellenborough Falls” and the melancholy of “The Passing Of Cobber Jack.” Affectionately known as the Old GP or simply Ned, he earned recognition as a pioneer of Australian country music. Many observers believed that, as a singer-songwriter and yodeller, he might have reached the stature of his contemporaries had he chosen that path. When pressed about his sparse recording activity he typically replied, “I dunno, Mate. I’d just as soon poke around the bush and split a few posts,” or “I’d rather be fishing than anything else.”
Albums