The Drover's Boy
"The Drover's Boy" is a song by Ted Egan, copyright 1993 by Ted Egan Enterprises.
Songs on the album (all composed by Ted Egan):
| Song Title | Performer(s) |
|---|---|
| 1. The Drover's Boy | Ted Egan |
| 2. A Bunch of Damned Whores | Nerys Evans, Margret Roadknight, Geraldine Doyle, Margot Moir |
| 3. Mary Broad | Nerys Evans |
| 4. God's Police | Ted Egan |
| 5. Truganini | Nerys Evans |
| 6. Kitty Buchanan | Nerys Evans |
| 7. Alyandabu | Ted Egan |
| 8. A Song for Grace | Nerys Evans |
| 9. Bush Woman | Ted Egan |
| 10. The Shearer's Wife | Nerys Evans |
| 11. She's Australian | Ted Egan |
| 12. The Rouseabout | Nerys Evans |
| 13. Granny | Ted Egan |
| 14. Survivors | Ted Egan |
Book
Ted wrote a book based on the story of the song; The Drover's Boy (2000) ISBN 0-85091-840-5
The jacket description reads:
- "Based on a song of the same name and set in the 1920's, The Drover's Boy recalls the time when it was illegal for Caucasians and Aborigines to marry, and the death of an Aborigine went unnoticed by the white community. This popular and moving Australian folk song comes from a true story about a Caucasian drover (the Australian name for a cowboy or sheep herder) who is forced to pass off his Aboriginal wife as his "drover's boy". Ted Egan wrote this song as a tribute to the Aboriginal stockwomen, in the hope that one day their enormous contribution to the Australian pastoral industry might be recognized and honored. Ages 11+."
Compilations and cover versions
- Poole, Reg (1980), Women of the west, Selection Records, retrieved 21 January 2015 The Drover's Boy (Ted Egan singer) was one track on this compilation album.
- John Williamson performed The Drover's Boy on his 1989 album Warragul. This track won for him the 'Heritage Award' at the Country Music Awards of Australia in 1990.[1]
Bibliography
The Drover's Boy has been collected in:
- Newton, Dobe; Corbett, Roger; Bushwackers (Musical group) (1983), The Second Bushwackers Australian song book, A. O'Donovan, ISBN 978-0-908476-12-1
- Egan, Ted; Forrest, Peter, 1941-; Egan, Ted (1984), The Overlanders songbook, Greenhouse Publications, ISBN 978-0-909104-74-0 (text by Peter Forrest ; foreword by Dame Mary Durack; musical notation by Erik Kowarski ; cover illustration, Bill Gwydir on the Birdsville Track, by Robert Wettenhall, 1983.)
and inspired a series of paintings:
- Marchant, Bob; Evans, Nerys; Egan, Ted, 1932-. Drover's boy (1995), "The Drover's Boy" series of paintings, B. Marchant, ISBN 978-0-646-24821-9 Bob Marchant was winner of Sir John Sulman Prize in 1988 and joint winner in 1987.
and a stage production:
- The Drover's Boy, Athenaeum Theatre Two, Melbourne, VIC, 29 July 1998 [Event description], 1998, retrieved 21 January 2015
Movie
Ted saw a potential movie in the story of The Drover's Boy and commissioned Cinevest Limited to find potential backers. A prospectus was issued in 1995[2] The funds raised by Cinevest and Ted Egan personally, after pre-production costs were sufficient to capture extensive footage of outback cattle movements on high quality film, but insufficient to guarantee completion of the full-length movie, so the project was abandoned.
References
- ↑ "Country Music of Australia Awards - 1990s". Country Music Australia, Tamworth NSW 2340. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ↑ Cinevest Limited (1995), Ted Egan's the drover's boy : an Australian feature film. Prospectus, Cinevest Limited], retrieved 21 January 2015