Tex, Don and Charlie | |
---|---|
Origin | Sydney, New South Wales Australia |
Genres | Folk blues, country [1] |
Years active | 1992 | –1994, 2004-2006, 2017-present
Members | Tex Perkins Don Walker Charlie Owen |
Tex, Don and Charlie are an Australian supergroup formed by Tex Perkins, Don Walker and Charlie Owen. Their first studio album Sad But True was released in 1993, two others were released in 2005 and 2017.
The band was founded in 1992 as Tex Perkins recalls "I saw Charlie and thought 'Jesus Christ'. He was easily the best rock guitar player I had seen. He was really dexterous, but gutsy. Not flashy. I think it had a lot of jazz in him as well. I made a mental note that I'd like to work with Charlie and about one year later I heard he was playing with Don Walker in Catfish. Then somebody suggested I do something with Don Walker and I said 'Sure, as long as Charlie Owen is there'." [2]
In early 1992, the as yet unnamed band performed an acoustic live performance for alternative radio station Triple J with James Cruickshank also contributing guitar. [3]
Six months later, Perkins proposed to Walker that they record an album together. Walker described the recording as a number of informal afternoons spent jamming in the studio. "It wasn't an album approached with any sort of seriousness. It wasn't until we had it all done that we started to realise we might have something special." [4] The trio released Sad but True in November 1993 and album peaked at number 40. A live album was released in February 1995 titled Monday Morning Coming Down... .
Over the next 10 years they all went their separate ways, but remained in contact.
In March 2005, Tex, Don and Charlie re-united and recorded All is Forgiven which was released in September 2005 and was supported by a tour. The song "Harry was a Bad Bugger", was described by Chris Johnston as, "the Australian song of the year", [5] and by Mess & Noise as, "one of the finest Australian compositions of the last 20 years." [6] The album was shortlisted for the inaugural Australian Music Prize. [7]
In October 2010, Sad But True was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums . [8]
In May 2017, Perkins announced via his Facebook page that new music from Tex, Don and Charlie would be coming in 2017. The following week, a national tour was announced alongside the news of a new album from the trio, You Don't Know Lonely . A new single, "A Man in Conflict with Nature," was released on the same day. The album, released in June, peaked at number 14 in the national charts.
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
AUS [9] | ||
Sad but True | 40 | |
All is Forgiven |
| 58 |
You Don't Know Lonely |
| 14 |
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
AUS [9] | ||
Monday Morning Coming Down... |
| 96 |
The Australian Music Prize (the AMP) is an annual award of $30,000 given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award. The commenced in 2005.
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2005 [10] | All Is Forgiven | Australian Music Prize | Nominated |
The Cruel Sea are an Australian indie rock band from Sydney, New South Wales formed in late 1987. Originally an instrumental-only band, they became more popular when fronted by vocalist Tex Perkins in addition to Jim Elliott on drums, Ken Gormly on bass guitar, Dan Rumour on guitar and James Cruickshank on guitar and keyboards. Their albums include The Honeymoon Is Over (1993), Three Legged Dog (1995) and Over Easy (1998). Some of their best-known songs are "Better Get a Lawyer", "Takin' All Day", "The Honeymoon Is Over" and "Reckless Eyeballin'" – an instrumental track from their debut album Down Below that became the theme of Australian TV police drama, Blue Heelers. The band has won eight ARIA Music Awards including five in 1994 for work associated with The Honeymoon Is Over.
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Gregory Stephen Perkins, better known by his stage name Tex Perkins, is an Australian singer-songwriter who fronted the Australian rock band The Cruel Sea, but has also performed with the Beasts of Bourbon, Thug, James Baker Experience, The Butcher Shop, Salamander Jim, and Tex, Don and Charlie. He has also released many solo records. In 1997, a portrait of Tex Perkins by artist Bill Leak won the Packing Room award at the Archibald Prize.
Beasts of Bourbon were an Australian alternative rock/blues rock band formed in August 1983, with James Baker on drums, Spencer P. Jones on guitar, Tex Perkins on vocals, Kim Salmon on guitar and Boris Sujdovic on bass guitar. Except for mainstays Jones and Perkins, the line-up changed over time as the group splintered and reformed several times. Their debut album, The Axeman's Jazz, was the best selling Australian alternative rock album of 1984. Their debut single, "Psycho", was a cover version of the Leon Payne original, and was the best selling Australian alternative rock single for that year. The group disbanded by mid-1985 and each member pursued other musical projects.
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The Drones were an Australian rock band, formed in Perth by mainstay lead vocalist and guitarist Gareth Liddiard in 1997. Fiona Kitschin, his domestic partner, joined on bass guitar and vocals in 2002. Other long-term members include Rui Pereira on bass guitar and then lead guitar; Mike Noga on drums, vocals, harmonica and percussion; and Dan Luscombe on lead guitar, vocals and keyboards. Their second album, Wait Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By, won the inaugural Australian Music Prize. In October 2010 their third studio album, Gala Mill was listed at No. 21 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums. Two of their albums have reached the top 20 on the ARIA Albums Chart, I See Seaweed and Feelin Kinda Free. The group went on hiatus in December 2016 with Kitschin and Liddiard forming a new group, Tropical Fuck Storm, in the following year.
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Donald Hugh Walker is an Australian musician and songwriter who wrote many of the hits for Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel. Walker is considered to be one of Australia's best songwriters. In 2012 he was inducted into the Australian Songwriter's Hall of Fame.
Charles Lothian Lloyd "Charlie" Owen is an Australian multi-instrumentalist and producer. He has been a member of The New Christs (1987–90), Louis Tillett and His Cast of Aspersions (1990), Tex, Don and Charlie, and Beasts of Bourbon. His solo album, Vertigo and Other Phobias, appeared in 1994 on Red Eye/Polydor.
Gone is the fifth studio album by the Australian rock band Beasts of Bourbon, released in 1996.
Little Animals is the sixth studio album by the Australian rock band Beasts of Bourbon, released in 2007. A video was released for "I Don't Care About Nothing Anymore". The album was dedicated to Ian Rilen.
Sad but True is the debut studio album by Australian rock band Tex, Don and Charlie. It was released in November 1993. It spent 6 weeks in the Australian charts, peaking at number 40. In 2010, it was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums.
You Don't Know Lonely is the third studio album by Australian rock band Tex, Don and Charlie. It was released in June 2017 and debuted at number 14 on the Australian charts.
Tunnel at the End of the Light is a studio album by Australian singer-songwriter Tex Perkins and the Dark Horses. The album was released in July 2015 and peaked at number 52 on the ARIA Charts.
All Is Forgiven is the second studio album by Australian rock band Tex, Don and Charlie. It was released in September 2005 and peaked at number 58 on the Australian albums chart.
Monday Morning Coming Down... is the first and only live album by Australian rock band Tex, Don and Charlie. It was released in February 1995 on the last day of their tour and peaked at number 96 on the Australian charts.
"Harry was a Bad Bugger" is a 2005 song from Australian band Tex, Don and Charlie. It was written by band member Don Walker