:: Gary Shearston - Hear & There Now & Then: An Anthology of Gary Shearston

Gary Shearston

Gary Shearston first came to light during the folk revival of the 1960’s as an authentic interpreter of the traditional Australian bush song. Record contracts, television shows, and international touring were all to follow as his career took off. This two CD retrospective covers Shearston’s entire career right up to his most recently recorded work in 2001. Being such a wide ranging collection, it is a bit of a mixed bag. CD One takes in his distinctly easy-listening work of the 70’s such as his bland reworking of Cole Porter’s classic I Get A Kick Out Of You with it’s saccharine production aesthetic, and worse still a painfully upbeat country take on Procul Harem’s A Whiter Shade Of Pale. Much better is the cosy nostalgia of Shopping on a Saturday which won him the Tamworth Songwriters’ Association’s Bush Ballad of the Year in 1990, and his recent work, informed by his current occupation as an Anglican minister, shows he hasn’t lost his muse. The second CD contains the best stuff by far, old mono recordings of the mid sixties in which the bush balladeer displays what made him famous in the first place. These are uncluttered recordings in which Shearston sings tales of working-class country folk and their inner-city counterparts. Folk fans will find plenty to enjoy here and Shearston fans will love it all.