Cyril May (born 1929) is an Australian country music singer and songwriter who often performs with Mexican-American singer-songwriter, Jack McDonald.
Cyril May was born in 1929 and was raised on a farm on Hellhole Creek Road, near Kergunyah, Victoria. He was one of five children. [1] When 15 he would cycle 60 miles (97 km) to and from Albury where he participated in the weekly Air League parade as a cadet. [1] He aspired to be a jockey. [1] May's philosophy of life is reflected in the words and music he has been writing for more than 40 years. As a young man May left Australia to work his way through the South Sea Islands and Canada. He finally settled down in Long Beach, California with his American wife, Dorothy "Dottie" Frazier (née Reider, born 1921), [2] who contributes harmony to many of May's songs.
May's lyrics tell of his personal search for gold, feeling the freedom of hang-gliding, the purr of his motorcycle on the open road and his never ending love of Australia. In the early 1970s May's surfboard washed him onto the beaches of San Blas, Mexico where he met McDonald and introduced him to western style music. The two have since collaborated on several albums, with May performing vocals and guitar, and McDonald contributing various musical arrangements. McDonald, who now lives in Australia, collaborates long-distance with May, and the duo have recorded at least three albums together. [3]
May's first album, Off the Beaten Track, features the hit single "Gold Fever," which was used in the 1999 movie remake of Dudley Do-Right [4] and played as a lead-in to the American Outdoor Channel television show, "Gold Fever". [5]
The Beatles, also known as the White Album, is the ninth studio album and only double album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 22 November 1968. Its plain white sleeve has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed, which was intended as a direct contrast to the vivid cover artwork of the band's previous LP Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Beatles is recognised for its fragmentary style and diverse range of genres, including folk, British blues, ska, music hall and the avant-garde. It has since been viewed by some critics as a postmodern work, as well as among the greatest albums of all time.
The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band from San Jose, California. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, the group's current lineup consists of founding members Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons, veteran member Michael McDonald, longtime member John McFee, and touring musicians including John Cowan, Bill Payne (keyboards), Marc Russo (saxophones), Ed Toth (drums), and Marc Quiñones (percussion).
Donald Eugene Gibson was an American songwriter and country musician. A Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, Gibson wrote such country standards as "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", and enjoyed a string of country hits from 1957 into the mid-1970s.
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Business as Usual is the debut studio album by Australian new wave band Men at Work, which was released in November 1981 in Australia, and April 1982 in the United States. It spent nine weeks at the top of the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart from December 1981 through to March 1982. The Australian version had a black and white cover design; overseas releases had a similar design, but in a black and yellow colour scheme. Business as Usual was one of the most successful albums internationally by an Australian group. It spent an unprecedented 15 weeks at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 from late 1982 to early 1983; and five weeks at No. 1 in the United Kingdom Albums Chart in early 1983. Business as Usual was also one of the highest selling Australian albums in the early 1980s, with 6 million copies shipped in the US, Surprisingly, the disc also made it to #31 on Billboard's Black Albums chart.
The Marshall Tucker Band is an American rock band from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Noted for incorporating blues, country and jazz into its eclectic sound, The Marshall Tucker Band helped establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s. While the band had reached the height of its commercial success by the end of the decade, it has recorded and performed continuously under various lineups for 45 years. Lead vocalist Doug Gray remains the only original member still active with the band.
Dottie West was an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with her friends and fellow recording artists Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn, she is considered one of the genre's most influential and groundbreaking female artists. Dottie West's career started in the 1960s, with her Top 10 hit, "Here Comes My Baby Back Again", which won her a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance in 1965, the first female in Country Music to receive a Grammy.
This is a list of notable events in country music that took place in 1967.
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Jack McDonald is a Mexican-American musician best known for his collaborations with Cyril May. He has played guitar and co-written two albums with May, Off the Beaten Track and Travelin' On, and has also performed on The Great Australian Salute II.
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