Dougie Young was a singer and songwriter from South West

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. Young had a white father (Frank Young) and a Gurnu mother (Olive Kathleen née McCarthy). Earlier in his life he worked as a stockman, during which he learnt the guitar and started writing songs. He married Christina Johnson on 11 December 1955 at St Therese's Catholic Mission Church at

Wilcannia Wilcannia is a small town located within the Central Darling Shire in north western New South Wales, Australia. Located on the Darling River, the town was the third largest inland port in the country during the river boat era of the mid-19th ce ...

. A riding accident in 1957 ended his working as a stockman. In 1963 or 1964

Jeremy Beckett Jeremy may refer to: * Jeremy (given name), a given name * Jérémy, a French given name * ''Jeremy'' (film), a 1973 film * "Jeremy" (song), a song by Pearl Jam * Jeremy (snail), a left-coiled garden snail that died in 2017 * ''Jeremy'', a 1919 ...

, an

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

made field recordings of Young, many of which were released in 1965 as an EP called ''Land Where the Crow Flies Backwards'' (Wattle). The title track has since been covered by

Gary Shearston Gary Rhett Shearston (9 January 19391 July 2013) was an Australian singer and songwriter and Anglican priest. He was a leading figure of the folk music revival of the 1960s and was notable as a performer of Australian traditional folk songs in ...

Athol McCoy Athol may refer to: Places Scotland * Atholl, Scotland, a district in central Scotland Canada * Athol, Nova Scotia, a small community * Athol, Prince Edward County, Ontario, a municipality and census division * Athol, a rural community in North ...

Chad Morgan Chadwick William "Chad" Morgan OAM (born 11 February 1933) is an Australian country music singer and guitarist known for his vaudeville style of comic country and western songs, his prominent teeth and goofy stage persona. In reference to his ...

and

Roger Knox Roger Knox (born 1948) is an Australian country singer, known as the Black Elvis and the Koori King of Country. Early life Knox is from the Gamilaroi nation, part of the Aboriginal Australian community, and was born in Moree, New South Wales. ...

. He was recorded twice more, first in

Walgett Walgett is a town in northern New South Wales, Australia, and the seat of Walgett Shire. It is near the junctions of the Barwon and Namoi Rivers and the Kamilaroi and Castlereagh Highways. In 2016, Walgett had a population of 2,145. In the 2 ...

in 1969 and then in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1979 (soon after a report of his death). Songs from these three recordings were released by

AIATSIS The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), established as the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies (AIAS) in 1964, is an independent Australian Government statutory authority. It is a collecting, ...

in 1993 as ''The Songs of Dougie Young''. Young sang "Cut A Rug", a drinking song from his troubadour days in

in the 1950s and 1960s, in both the SBS documentary and accompanying CD, Buried Country: The Story of Aboriginal Country Music. Young's song ''The Land Where the Crow Flies Backwards'' was added to the

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

Sounds of Australia The Sounds of Australia, formerly the National Registry of Recorded Sound, is the National Film and Sound Archive's selection of sound recordings which are deemed to have cultural, historical and aesthetic significance and relevance for Australi ...

registry in 2013.

Discography

* ''Land Where the Crow Flies Backwards'' (1965) Wattle * Dougie Young songs featured in the film "Backroads" (dir: Phillip Noyce 1976) * ''The Songs of Dougie Young'' (1993)

Music Australia
The songs of Dougie Young

References

* * * *

External links

Green Left Weekly 11 May 2004
An oral history of the outback
National Library of Australia
Dougie Young sings own folk songs . 1963 recording by Dr. Jeremy Beckett
National Library of Australia
Dougie Young singing. 1979 recording by Glen Vallance {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Dougie 1930s births 1991 deaths Australian songwriters Indigenous Australian musicians 20th-century guitarists 20th-century Australian male singers Australian male guitarists