Harry and Wilga Williams

Harry and Wilga Williams
Associated acts	The Country Outcasts

Harry and Wilga Williams were an Indigenous Australian husband and wife duet who performed professionally between the 1960s and 1980s. Harry Williams was called the godfather of Koori country^[1][2] and Wilga the first lady.^[1] They led the Country Outcasts, a band remembered as the first professional Koori band.^[2]

Harry Williams

Harry Williams was born in 1927 on the Erambie Mission near Cowra, New South Wales and died in 1991.^[1][2] His father "Knocker" Williams led a travelling tent show in which Harry played. In his 20s he started playing with Alan Saunders.^[1] Williams also worked as an actor, appearing in films and on TV, including Blackfire (1972, the first known film by an indigenous Australia) and Matlock.^[3]

Wilga Williams

Wilga Williams was born Wilga Munro in Tamworth, New South Wales in 1940.^[1][3] She was named after the wild orange tree she was born under. After serving in the Air Force she returned to Tamworth and started performing.^[1]

Music

Harry and Wilga Williams started performing together in a band called The Tjuringas (meaning sacred object) around Newcastle in 1969. Other members were Alan Saunders and Keith Saunders. after this band broke up Harry and Wilga performed as a duo and then moved to Melbourne and in 1972 formed The Country Outcasts with Ian "Ocker" Mackay and Bert Williams.^[4] They toured widely throughout Australia and New Guinea and released two full length albums. Other Country Outcast members included Bill Brunswick, Debbie Williams, Ian Johnson, Harry Thorpe, Laurie Ingram, Claude "Candy" Williams, Mac Silva and Auriel Andrew.^[1][2][3]

Harry and Wilga Williams started a national Aboriginal Country Music Festival in Canberra in 1976^[2] and a radio show, Country Music Shindig, for 3CR.^[1]

In 1981 they were recognised in the Country Music Hands of Fame in Tamworth.^[5]

Discography

• "Home-Made Didgeridoo"/Arnhem Land Lullaby" (1974)
• "Nullabor Prayer" (1975)
• Harry Williams and the Country Outcasts (1979, RCA)
• Harry and Wilga Williams and the Country Outcasts (1981, Hadley)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Walker, Clinton (2000). "Stand by your man". Buried Country: The Story of Aboriginal Country Music. Pluto Press. pp. 164–183. ISBN 1864031522. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Ryan, Robin (2003). "Gumleaves or Paper Roses: Australian Aboriginal country". In Philip Hayward. Outback & Urban: Australian Country Music. volume 1. aicmPress. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} Warren Bebbington, ed (1997). The Oxford Companion to Australian Music. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0 19 553432. 
4. ^ Hayward, Philip (1998). Sound alliances: indigenous peoples, cultural politics, and popular music in the Pacific. Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 13. ISBN 0304700509. 
5. ^ "Australian Country Music Hands of Fame". Australian Country Music Hall of Fame. http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com.au/handsoffame.html. Retrieved 2009-07-08. ^{[dead link]}