Yodeling is a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch chest register and the high-pitch head register or falsetto. The English word yodel is derived from the German word jodeln, meaning "to utter the syllable jo". This vocal technique is used in many cultures worldwide. Recent scientific research concerning yodeling and non-Western cultures suggests that music and speech may have evolved from a common prosodic precursor.
Slim Dusty, AO MBE was an Australian country music singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He was an Australian cultural icon, referred to universally as Australia's King of Country Music and one of the country's most awarded stars, with a career spanning nearly seven decades and producing numerous recordings. He was known to record songs in the legacy of Australia genre, particularly of bush life, including works by renowned Australian bush poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Paterson, who represented the lifestyle. The music genre was coined the "bush ballad", a style first made popular by Buddy Williams. Dusty was also known for his many trucking songs.
Australian country music is a part of the music of Australia. There is a broad range of styles, from bluegrass, to yodeling to folk to the more popular. The genre has been influenced by Celtic and English folk music, the Australian bush ballad tradition, and popular American country music. Themes include: outback life, the lives of stockmen, truckers and outlaws, songs of romance and of political protest; and songs about the "beauty and the terror" of the Australian bush.
Chadwick William Morgan OAM is an Australian country music singer and guitarist known for his vaudeville style of comic country and western and folk songs, his prominent teeth and goofy stage persona. In reference to his first recording, he is known as "The Sheik of Scrubby Creek".
Rosalie Allen was an American country singer, songwriter, guitarist, columnist and television and radio host who was noted for her yodeling. She was known as the Queen of Yodeling and was the first woman inducted into the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame.
Raymond LeRoy Clark known professionally as Yodelin' Slim Clark was an American musician known for his yodeling.
Mary Schneider AM is an Australian singer and performer, known as "Australia's Queen of Yodelling", she is a master at the classic Swiss Alpine style and is best known for yodelling the works of various standards by many a classic composer. Her repertoire has covered everything from yodelling of classical music pieces to marches and European folk music tunes and big band. As a performer, she started her career establishing duo "The Schneider Sisters", with her sister Rita, and the sisters, although most known for the country music genre, wrote and performed Australia's first original rock 'n' roll single.
John Lewis Ashcroft FAIHA was an Australian country music and folk entertainer, singer, songwriter, and musician, who also recorded pop, skiffle, jazz, and disco as his alter ego, the Baron. He was married to fellow performer Gay Kayler, with whom he recorded on numerous occasions.
The bush ballad, bush song, or bush poem is a style of poetry and folk music that depicts the life, character and scenery of the Australian bush. The typical bush ballad employs a straightforward rhyme structure to narrate a story, often one of action and adventure, and uses language that is colourful, colloquial, and idiomatically Australian. Bush ballads range in tone from humorous to melancholic, and many explore themes of Australian folklore, including bushranging, droving, droughts, floods, life on the frontier, and relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
Buddy Williams, born as Harry Taylor and also known as Harold Williams, was a pioneering Australian country music singer-songwriter, known as "The Yodelling Jackaroo".
Francis Edward Ifield OAM was a British-born Australian country music singer and guitarist who often incorporated yodelling into his music.
Mildred Geraldine Joy Kirkpatrick, known professionally as Joy McKean, was an Australian country music singer-songwriter and wife and manager of Slim Dusty. Her daughter is country singer and musician Anne Kirkpatrick.
Shirley Thoms-Bystrynski, was an Australian country music singer and pioneer of Australia's country music industry. She was known as Australia's Yodelling Sweetheart.
Gordon Parsons was an Australian country music singer-songwriter, best known as the composer of Slim Dusty's 1957 hit song "A Pub With No Beer". In 1982, Parsons was inducted into the Australian Roll of Renown.
Stanley Beresford "Donn" Reynolds was a Canadian country music singer and yodeler most widely known for his Bavarian style of yodeling. Often referred to as Canada's "king of the yodelers", Reynolds established two yodeling world records. He recorded 38 singles and six albums throughout a performing career spanning over 40 years.
Rex Dallas born as Frederick Amos Doble, is an Australian country musician, singer, songwriter, yodeller and bush balladeer. His albums also include selections of horse songs, war songs, mother songs and even one on the theme of coalmining.
Timothy Edmund McNamara was an Australian country music performer, radio presenter and talent scout.
Arthur Lesle Wilson was a New Zealand musician and singer–songwriter who performed as Les Wilson and "The Otago Rambler". He began performing on stage at the age of nine, and from the 1950s was a country-music singer and songwriter, often performing with his wife, Jean Calder (c.1929–2019). He was billed as "Dunedin's own Tex Morton".
Harold Ian Spittle, better known by his stage name of Dusty Spittle, was a New Zealand country singer and songwriter.
Blue yodeling is a musical style that essentially consists of a combination of elements of blues and old-time music, enriched with characteristic yodelings. Initially sometimes referred to as yodeling blues, it reached its greatest popularity during the 1920s and 1930s in the United States, Canada and Australia.
