John Howard Chester (born 26 December 1941) is an Australian singer-songwriter, who started his career in October 1959 with group The Jaywoods singing

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

and in 1969 changed to

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

. He toured nationally with

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

the Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 1939 ...

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particularly popular with country audiences but also charted mo ...

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music artist, as well as an actress and author. She is considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Ly ...

and

Charley Pride Charley Frank Pride (March 18, 1934 – December 12, 2020) was an American singer, guitarist, and professional baseball player. His greatest musical success came in the early to mid-1970s, when he was the best-selling performer for RCA Reco ...

. During his career he has led various groups including Johnny Chester and The Chessmen, Johnny Chester and Jigsaw, Johnny Chester and Hotspur. With

Jigsaw Jigsaw may refer to: * Jigsaw (tool), a tool used for cutting arbitrary curves * Jigsaw puzzle, a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of interlocking pieces Arts and media Comics * Jigsaw (Marvel Comics), a supervillain and arch-enemy of ...

he had five top 30 hit singles, "Gwen (Congratulations)" (1971), " Shame and Scandal", "Midnight Bus" (both 1972), "World's Greatest Mum" (No. 9, 1973) and "She's My Kind of Woman" (1974). Chester hosted various TV series: ''Teen Time on Ten'' (GLV-10, Gippsland, 1963–64), '' Teen Scene'' ( ABC TV, 1964–65) and ''Country Road'' (ABC TV, 1977–78). He also worked as a radio announcer on commercial Melbourne radio station 3UZ and

ABC Radio Australia ABC Radio Australia, also known as Radio Australia, is the international broadcasting and online service operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Australia's public broadcaster. Most programming is in English, with some in Tok ...

. He wrote a musical comedy, ''Rebound'', that opened in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

. Chester has won Golden Guitars at the

Country Music Awards of Australia The Country Music Awards of Australia also known as the Golden Guitar Awards (originally named Australasian Country Music Awards) is an annual awards night held in January during the Tamworth Country Music Festival, in Tamworth, New South Wales ...

for best selling track in 1975 and for Male Vocalist of the Year in 1981, 1982 and 1983. In 1994 he was awarded the Songmaker of the Year Award from the Tamworth Songwriters Association. According to Australian rock music historian

Ian McFarlane Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the '' Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017. As a journalist ...

, he is "one of Melbourne's first and best rock'n'roll singers of the early 1960s." Music journalist

Ed Nimmervoll Edward Charles Nimmervoll (21 September 1947 – 10 October 2014) was an Australian music journalist, author and historian. He worked on rock and pop magazines ''Go-Set'' (1966–1974) and ''Juke Magazine'' (1975–92) both as a journalist a ...

acknowledges Chester's "essential inclusion on any major national rock package coming into Melbourne" and later he "helped bring Australian country music to pop respectability."

Biography

John Howard Chester was born on 26 December 1941 and grew up in Melbourne's suburb of Preston. His father, Jack, was a mechanic who had a garage in

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

, and his mother was Norma. He has two younger sisters, Jill (born ca.1945) and Margaret (born ca. 1951). Chester attended, North Fitzroy Primary School, Tyler Street Preston Primary school and Bell Primary, and followed with Preston Technical School. At the age of 14, he left school and worked as a brake specialist for his father. From the age of six, he learned to play the drums and guitar. In October 1959, Chester formed a band, The Jaywoods, and organised dances at a West Preston church hall: "I could play the guitar ... but I was pretty useless at it. So I started singing – and the kids seemed to like my voice ... We used to get about 200 kids to these dances ... We had an old amplifier that distorted everything, but we thought we were mighty". His idols were

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

Eddie Cochran Ray Edward Cochran (; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. Cochran's songs, such as "Twenty Flight Rock", "Summertime Blues", " C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire ...

Gene Vincent Vincent Eugene Craddock (February 11, 1935 – October 12, 1971), known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rockabilly and rock and roll. His 1956 top ten hit with his backing band the Blue Caps, " Be-Bop-a-Lula ...

and locally

Johnny O'Keefe John Michael O'Keefe (19 January 1935 – 6 October 1978) was an Australian rock and roll singer whose career began in the 1950s. Some of his hits include " Wild One" (1958), " Shout!" and "She's My Baby". In his twenty-year career, O'Keefe rel ...

. Music journalist,

, noted "without really trying the Jaywoods' rehearsals were attracting a crowd to St. Cecilia's Hall in West Preston, which turned into regular Saturday night dance". By 1960, The Jaywoods became Johnny Chester and The Chessmen, with Chester on lead vocals, Jeff Cason on Upright Acoustic Double bass, Huey Fry on lead guitar, Albert Stacpool on piano, Les Stacpool on saxophone, and Len Woodhouse on drums. The following year the line-up was Bert Stacpool, Les Stacpool (then on guitar), Frank McMahon on bass guitar, and Graeme Trottman on drums. Chester was also backed by The Thunderbirds, which were an instrumental group formed in 1957 and, by the end of 1960, consisted of Henri Bource on saxophone and flute, Harold Frith on drums, Charles Gauld on guitar, Gordon Onley on bass guitar and Murray Robertson on piano. Both backing bands maintained independent careers, released their own material and backed other artists. In April 1961 Chester's first stadium performance was supporting

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...

and

Johnny Burnette John Joseph Burnette (March 25, 1934 – August 14, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter of rockabilly and pop music. In 1952, Johnny and his brother, Dorsey Burnette, and their mutual friend Paul Burlison formed the band that became k ...

. One of his early fans was radio DJ,

Stan Rofe Stanley Rofe (30 May 193316 May 2003) was an Australian rock'n'roll disc jockey and music news reporter. Often referred to as Stan the Man, he presented the first rock and roll music on Melbourne radio from 1956, on 3KZ, and was a champion of ...

, who promoted the artist on the 3KZ program, ''Platter Parade''. Rofe was highly supportive and introduced Chester to W&G Record's

Ron Tudor Ronald Stewart Tudor MBE (18 May 1924 – 21 August 2020) was an Australian music producer, engineer, label owner and record industry executive. He started his career with W&G Records in 1956 as a sales representative; he became their in-house ...

. Chester signed with the label and issued his debut single, "Hokey Pokey", in May 1961 with backing by The Thunderbirds. The track became a top 10 hit in Melbourne. His second single, "Can Can Ladies", appeared in July and reached the local top 5 in July. In January 1962 a third single backed by The Thunderbirds, "Shakin' All Over", reached No. 4. Johnny Chester and The Chessmen toured to Brisbane and Hobart but had less popularity in Sydney. From 1962 to 1964 his next eight singles for W&G were all recorded with backing by The Chessmen. Of these, the highest charting was a cover version of Cochran's "

Summertime Blues "Summertime Blues" is a song co-written and recorded by American rock artist Eddie Cochran. It was written by Cochran and his manager Jerry Capehart. Originally a single B-side, it was released in August 1958 and peaked at number 8 on the ''B ...

", which appeared at No. 6 in December 1962. He had also issued his debut album, ''Wild and Warm'' in 1963 and two extended plays, ''Johnny Chester's Hit Parade'' and ''My Blues and I'', with W&G. In February that year he took over as host of ''Teen Time on Ten'', on regional

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers ...

channel GLV-10. ''

Australian Women's Weekly ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known as simply ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Mercury Capital in Sydney. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before being outsold by th ...

''s Ainslie Baker declared he had "proved himself an easy, friendly talker" and predicted this could lead to his "having Melbourne's first teenage TV show". In June 1964, Chester supported the Australian tour by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

with his backing by The Phantoms. According to Chester "my only worry is that I mightn't live up to this honour and obligation to give the kids a good performance". He was disappointed that The Chessmen were unavailable for the 19 gigs, through state capitals and to New Zealand, "As all the boys have day jobs ... they would not be able to get the time off". The Phantoms were another instrumental group, which had formed in 1960, and by 1964 had the line-up of Alan Fenton on drums, Bob Garde on rhythm guitar, Dave Lincoln on lead guitar, and Pete Watson on bass guitar. From October for two seasons, Chester was the host of ABC TV program, ''Teen Scene'', with The Chessmen as the resident band. He recorded further material for W&G on their sub-label, In Records, but none charted, and by mid-1966 he parted with the W&G and The Chessmen. Retaining Bert Stacpool, he formed the Johnny Chester Four with Johnny Marco on guitar and Tom Vigushin on bass guitar. As well as maintaining his musical career, Chester was a DJ for eight years on Melbourne radio station, 3UZ. In May 1968, Chester joined with a new backing band, Jigsaw, with Fenton, Ray Eames on lead guitar (ex-Tony Worsley and the Fabulous Blue Jays), Ron Gilby on rhythm guitar, Dennis Tucker on bass guitar (both

Merv Benton Merv Benton (born Mervyn Bonson, 12 August 1942) was an Australian pop singer from the mid-1960s. His most popular singles were "Baby Let's Play House" (1964), "I Got Burned", "Yield Not to Temptation", "Don't Destroy Me" (all in 1965) and "Y ...

and the Tamlas), and later in 1968, they toured

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

performing for the Australian and American Forces.

also had an independent career. Chester's last pop single, "Heaven Help the Man", appeared in 1968 on Astor Records. According to Australian rock music historian,

, Chester is "one of Melbourne's first and best rock'n'roll singers of the early 1960s". Music journalist, author and historian,

, felt that in the early 1960s, Chester was an "essential inclusion on any major national rock package coming into Melbourne", and during the 1970s he "helped bring Australian country music to pop respectability". In 1969, Chester's first two country music singles, "Green Green" and "Highway 31", were issued on Phillips Records. Johnny Chester and Jigsaw signed to Fable Records, owned by Tudor (ex-W&G Records). Fenton died in an industrial accident during the construction of the South Eastern Freeway in Melbourne and was replaced on drums by Eddie Chapel. At about that time, Eames was replaced by Jon Calderwood. In August 1970, Jigsaw, without Chester, had a number-one hit with a cover version of United Kingdom group, Christie's "

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

". It was co-credited with Sydney-based band Autumn which also covered the track. With Chester, Jigsaw had five hit singles on the ''

Go-Set ''Go-Set'' was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble. NOTE: This PDF is 282 pages. Widely described as ...

'' National Top 40: "Gwen (Congratulations)" (No. 26, October 1971), " Shame and Scandal" (No. 13, February 1972), "Midnight Bus" (No. 25, December), "The World's Greatest Mum" (No. 9, August 1973) and "She's My Kind of Woman" (No. 19, June 1974). Chester has won Golden Guitars at the

for best selling track in 1975. In 1977, he toured nationally, backed by the Blue Denim Country Band, and also compered ''Country Road'' for ABC-TV. In 1979, he formed Hotspur and continued to issue country music singles and albums into the 1980s. From 1981 to 1983, at three successive Tamworth Country Music Festivals, he won Male Vocalist of the Year. In 1994, he was awarded the Songmaker of the Year Award from the Tamworth Songwriters Association.

Personal life

In October 1964 Johnny Chester married Larraine "Liz" Isbister (born ca. 1944), a stenographer. Liz had attended the same primary school and their grandparents were neighbours. The couple had begun dating in September 1959, at the

Royal Melbourne Show The Melbourne Royal Show is an agricultural show held at Melbourne Showgrounds every September. It is organised by the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria and has been running since 1848. Each year Melbourne Royal Show attracts attendances of ...

. Chester lived in Greensborough, Victoria for eighteen years during the 1970s and 1980s. , they have three daughters and eight grandchildren and live in

Rosebud Rosebud may refer to: * Rose bud, the bud of a rose flower Arts * The name of Jerry Garcia's guitar from 1990 until his death in 1995. * In the 1941 film ''Citizen Kane'', the last words of Charles Foster Kane and an overall plot device. * "Ros ...

Discography

Studio albums

Soundtracks albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

Singles

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

are a set of annual ceremonies presented by

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...

(ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the

music of Australia The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, , ''There's a Shadow on the Moon Tonight'' , ,

ARIA Award for Best Country Album The ARIA Music Award for Best Country Album, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording Indus ...

, , , , ARIA Award previous winners.

Country Music Awards of Australia

The

(also known as the Golden Guitar Awards and originally named Australasian Country Music Awards) is an annual awards night held in January during the

Tamworth Country Music Festival The Tamworth Country Music Festival is an annual Australian music festival held for 10 days from Friday to Sunday in mid to late January each year, sometimes including Australia Day, in Tamworth, New South Wales. The festival is the second bigg ...

, in

Tamworth, New South Wales Tamworth is a city and administrative centre of the north-western region of New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the Peel River (New South Wales), Peel River within the local government area of the Tamworth Regional Council, it is the largest ...

, celebrating recording excellence in the

Australian country music Australian country music is a part of the music of Australia. There is a broad range of styles, from bluegrass music, bluegrass, to yodeling to Australian folk music, folk to the more popular. The genre has been influenced by Celtic and English ...

industry. Chester has won four awards (wins only). , - , 1975 , "My Kind of Woman" , Top Selling Track , , - , 1981 , "I Love You So Rebecca" , Male Vocalist of the Year , , - , 1982 , "Rough Around the Edges" , Male Vocalist of the Year , , - , 1983 , "Ad in the Weekly Times" , Male Vocalist of the Year , , -

Tamworth Songwriters Awards

The Tamworth Songwriters Association (TSA) is an annual songwriting contest for original country songs, awarded in January at the

. They commenced in 1986. (wins only) , - , 1994 , Johnny Chester , Songmaker Award , , -

References

;General * Note: Archived n-linecopy has limited functionality. * ;Specific

External links

*
Johnny Chester
3 June 1964, ''

'', p. 60, ''Supplement: Teenager's Weekly'', archived at

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

.
Johnny Chester
wedding photo, ''Herald and Weekly Times'', ca. October 1964, archived at

State Library of Victoria State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in the ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chester, Johnny 1941 births Living people Australian singer-songwriters Musicians from Melbourne Australian country singers Australian television presenters Australian male singer-songwriters People from Preston, Victoria