Lionel Joaquin Paul Long OAM (1939 – 1 January 1998) was an Australian country and folk singer, songwriter, guitarist, actor and artist.
Long became one of Australia's most successful and popular country and folk artists in the 1960s, releasing over a dozen albums for EMI. He was also well known for his acting appearances on television programs such as Homicide.
Early life
Lionel Long was born in Burwood, New South Wales to Ernest Sydney and Aileen G.H. ( Ellis-Lynch) Long. He grew up in Bondi with his mother Aileen and father Ernest who was an accomplished violinist. He went to Christian Brothers School where he was an A-grade student and won many scholarships to continue his education. On completion of his high school years, Long decided to go and work as a jackaroo in the Hunter Valley and then into the expansive outback of Queensland where he also honed his skills in singing and playing guitar.
Long returned with his family to Sydney, where he attended Hawkesbury Agricultural College, studying commercial art and marine biology. He learned to play the guitar with his long-time friend Gary Shearston. Both young men had a fondness for country and folk music and shared song verses at the Long family home at Rose Bay. It was here where the idea arrived to pen their book Australian Bush Songs.
Career
While studying at Hawkesbury Agricultural College, Long's musical talent was recognised by Ron Wills of EMI Columbia and he was signed to the music label. Wills had previously produced the breakthrough Australian country hit "Pub With No Beer" by Slim Dusty and had also signed Frank Ifield to the label. Long's friend Gary Shearston also went on to fame, recording on the CBS records label.
The 1950s and early 1960s saw folk music become popular in Australia with the success of American folk revivalists such as the Weavers and the Kingston Trio and, later, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Peter Paul and Mary. The Australian folk music scene's popularity was aided by the international success of the Australian group the Seekers. Australian musicians and producers started to research and rediscover Australian folk music from the 18th and 19th centuries, such as "Botany Bay", "Bound For South Australia" and the most famous of all Australian folk songs, "Waltzing Matilda". It was this folk music revival that made EMI Columbia insist that Long move away from his love of country music and record folk music.
In 1958, Long released his first singles. Through the EMI Columbia label, he released almost a dozen albums from 1961 to 1970, meeting critical acclaim and becoming Australia's most popular performer of traditional "bush music". After his first LP in 1961, Waltzing Matilda, and his second in 1962, Wild Colonial Boy, Long had established himself as a household name. In 1963, he released his third LP, The Bold Bushrangers: Songs of Wild Colonial Days, which featured Australian artist Sidney Nolan's Ned Kelly on the sleeve. In 1964, he was presented with a gold record by EMI Records for his first LP Waltzing Matilda.
Many of Long's albums featured accompaniment by other musicians, including Dave Guard of the Kingston Trio (who emigrated to Australia in the early 1960s), guitarist and teacher Don Andrews and jazz legend Don Burrows.
Television
During the 1960s, Long's profile was boosted by appearances on many TV shows, including the Channel 9 music program Bandstand. In 1962, the rocker Johnny O'Keefe suffered a breakdown after disagreements with the producers of his Johnny O'Keefe Show. While O'Keefe convalesced, Long took over as host of the show, retitled Sing, Sing, Sing, for a year. Soon after O'Keefe returned to host the show in early 1963, Long's popularity was so strong that he was given his own TV program titled Music Time, which aired for a year. Around this time, Long married Carole Newgrosh.
In 1964, Lionel Long released another LP, this time not entirely Australian folk songs, Songs of the Sea. This album was dedicated to Lionel's early memories of fishing off the coast of New South Wales near Port Macquarie and his boyhood adventure of trying to sail from Sydney to Newcastle (130 km) in a rubber dinghy at the age of 10. Lionel was a keen sailor, having owned boats and spent much time sailing and fishing with friends, many of whom were famous recording artists in their own right.
Lionel Long appeared on TV again on 1 August 1964, as one of the stars of This Is It, a show to inaugurate Channel 0, the for-running of Network 10, Melbourne's third commercial TV station.