I was sitting in my office at EMI Music on Friday, September 19th 2003 when my mobile phone rang and on the other end was journalist and friend Iain Shedden from The Australian. Iain asked me “Was the news true?” I instantly knew what he was talking about. And my heart broke.
Slim is one of those very rare people that you can, without hesitation or doubt, associate the word icon with even though Slim never bought into it nor promoted that term himself. He just saw him self as a singer, a bush balladeer telling songs about the country and people he loved, a man that when he said to his fans “I will be back” meant it and over 60 odd years he was welcomed with open arms where ever he went. Across this country he was, and still is, respected by all people - poor, rich, city dwellers, country folk, white, black, young and old. It is said that Slim and Joy know people in every town, outback post and backwater in this country and I wouldn’t bet against it.
The hundreds that came to pay their respects at Slim’s State Funeral in Sydney was simple proof that this was a man that had touched so many. Fellow artists, friends, music industry folk, politicians, media personalities and fans from all walks of life. That day I met an old man who had traveled from Western Queensland to simply stand out side St Andrews Cathedral so he could pay his respects. I asked him why he had come so far and the reply from this old man was as eloquent as it was simple - “It’s Slim”. I smiled and asked if he would like to sit inside. He politely said thank you but I could tell he was hesitant so I said “Slim would have wanted it”. And that is true. With Slim his fans always came first.
I discovered another Slim fan in 1999 on the other side of the world when I walked into a pub in Killarney, Ireland. As I was ordering a beer at the bar the old fella next to me asked me if I was from Australia and as soon as I said yes he stood back, put his Guinness down and started singing Pub With No Beer to me. Word for every single word. We talked and it turned out it was his families pub (free beer flowed) and he told me he had loved Slims music ever since a relative in Melbourne had sent him some old Cassettes and LP’s including Cattle Camp Crooner and Live At Wagga Wagga. But they were all pretty old so he couldn’t really play them any more. 4 hours later I left with the nick name ‘Skippy,’ the foundations of what was to become a terrible hangover and his address. When I got home I sent him every Slim CD EMI Music had available.
I met another more recently when I was at a school friends property out near Nyngan in Western NSW. His 19 year old son Tom was driving a large tractor doing endless circles planting crops and when he stopped to have a break I climbed up into the cabin and one of the CD’s he had for company during these long hours was Slim.
Slim was the real deal and I respected his no nonsense, down to earth way. I was fortunate that I got to spend so much time with a man who I’d grown up listening to as a kid. My grand father was man from the bush. He was not afraid of a hard days work, smoked a pipe, drove an old Massey Ferguson, rode a horse called Banjo, had an old cattle dog called Glen and he could give you a lesson in playing 500 as fast as he could crack his faithful stock whip. And he was a Slim Dusty fan and with that began my association with a man that I will never forget.
My first meeting with Slim was during the Tamworth Country Music Festival when I was working for CBS (now Sony Music). Late one evening we had loud music and drinks happening in our hotel room when I heard someone pounding on the door. When I opened it I realised 3 things. It was Slim, he was not happy & I was about to cop a gob full. I was correct on all 3 points and let’s just say in Slim’s way he told me to be quiet. About 3 years later I was doing promotions for EMI in Brisbane when I learnt Slim and Joy would be coming up to promote the Country Way Of Life album and I wondered if he would remember our first encounter. I certainly hadn’t! He arrived and 2 days later not a word. All good. That was until I dropped Slim and Joy at Brisbane airport. We said our goodbyes and away they went into the terminal. As I waited to pull out from the kerb I heard a tap on the passenger window. It was Slim. I lowered the window, he lent down, said “I remember,” chuckled, turned and walked away. It was classic Slim.
Slim’s achievements are vast and extraordinary. He was the first Australian to receive a Gold Record, the first Australian to have an international record hit (A Pub with No Beer), MBE, AO, he was first artist to be broadcast from space when Waltzing Matilda was played from the Space Shuttle Columbia as it passed over Australia on its maiden flight in 1981, the winner of an unequaled 37 Golden Guitar awards, the achiever of more Gold Record and Platinum Record Awards than any other Australian artist, Inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1988, awarded the ARIA Special Achievement Award in 2000 and Best Country Album in 2001, he performed at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Olympics and the list goes on and on and on. Not bad for a bushy who hailed from Nulla Nulla Creek.
Kasey Chambers said in 2003 “He is just as inspirational now as he was the first time my dad played his music to me when I was a child. He represents Australian country music like no one else.” I for one 100% agree.
It is worth noting that in the space of a week in September 2003 the world lost both Johnny Cash and Slim Dusty. Personally I have always thought that was appropriate given what they meant to a legion of fans and the unique and undeniable bench marks they both left on music. And I can only assume that the man upstairs likes country music because with these two hanging around, well, he’s kinda screwed if he doesn’t.
Slim Dusty. 13 June 1927—19 September 2003. Legend. Icon. Good bloke.
Chris O’Hearn
A Slim Dusty fan.
