Biography
Australian singer Ronnie Burns rose to prominence through a series of mid-1960s singles composed for him by the Bee Gees, building a durable career across Australia during that restless decade and into the early 1970s by interpreting material that stretched from Baroque pop to understated protest ballads.
His first steps in music occurred inside the Beatles-inspired band the Flies, which secured a contract with RCA, issued several singles, and earned an enviable support slot on the Rolling Stones’ 1965 Australian tour. Burns soon struck out alone in search of a more pop-centered direction than his bandmates wished to pursue. Spin Records signed the singer and issued his debut single, a cover of Peter, Paul and Mary’s “Very Last Day,” in 1966. After a follow-up that reworked Cliff Richard’s “True, True Lovin’,” the label encouraged him to collaborate with the Bee Gees. Burns initially felt the youthful Gibb brothers and their rocker hairstyles would prove an awkward match, but one hearing of their demo tape erased those concerns and convinced him their Beatlesque songs suited him perfectly. At their first session he recorded four numbers written and produced by the Gibbs; these appeared on the 1967 singles “Coalman”/“All the King’s Horses” and “Exit Stage Right”/“In the Morning.” Plans for a complete album collapsed when the Gibbs departed for the U.K. Burns kept releasing singles for the rest of the decade, working with the Twilights’ Terry Britten and former pop singer Johnny Young, and in 1967 he issued a self-titled album that collected those singles with additional tracks. His biggest success came in 1970 with the anti-war ballad “Smiley,” prompted by the conscription of Australian pop star Normie Rowe. In 1971 he followed it with “The Prophet,” another socially conscious song, and Spin released his second album, Virgo. Burns gradually stepped back from music soon afterward, founding a building company and hosting television game shows. The lure of performance persisted, however, and a 1996 one-off show with former Zoot member Darryl Cotton led to the formation of the band Burns, Cotton & Morris. After five years with the group he retired from the stage once more to concentrate on his charity, the Appin Hall Children’s Foundation. In 2019 RPM Records issued This Is Ronnie Burns, the first anthology of his 1960s singles.
His first steps in music occurred inside the Beatles-inspired band the Flies, which secured a contract with RCA, issued several singles, and earned an enviable support slot on the Rolling Stones’ 1965 Australian tour. Burns soon struck out alone in search of a more pop-centered direction than his bandmates wished to pursue. Spin Records signed the singer and issued his debut single, a cover of Peter, Paul and Mary’s “Very Last Day,” in 1966. After a follow-up that reworked Cliff Richard’s “True, True Lovin’,” the label encouraged him to collaborate with the Bee Gees. Burns initially felt the youthful Gibb brothers and their rocker hairstyles would prove an awkward match, but one hearing of their demo tape erased those concerns and convinced him their Beatlesque songs suited him perfectly. At their first session he recorded four numbers written and produced by the Gibbs; these appeared on the 1967 singles “Coalman”/“All the King’s Horses” and “Exit Stage Right”/“In the Morning.” Plans for a complete album collapsed when the Gibbs departed for the U.K. Burns kept releasing singles for the rest of the decade, working with the Twilights’ Terry Britten and former pop singer Johnny Young, and in 1967 he issued a self-titled album that collected those singles with additional tracks. His biggest success came in 1970 with the anti-war ballad “Smiley,” prompted by the conscription of Australian pop star Normie Rowe. In 1971 he followed it with “The Prophet,” another socially conscious song, and Spin released his second album, Virgo. Burns gradually stepped back from music soon afterward, founding a building company and hosting television game shows. The lure of performance persisted, however, and a 1996 one-off show with former Zoot member Darryl Cotton led to the formation of the band Burns, Cotton & Morris. After five years with the group he retired from the stage once more to concentrate on his charity, the Appin Hall Children’s Foundation. In 2019 RPM Records issued This Is Ronnie Burns, the first anthology of his 1960s singles.
Albums