John Edmond - THAT'S WHAT I CALL COUNTRY!
SA - R 150.00 including Vat & Postage
US $ 40.00 - UK £ 20.00 - AUS $ 50.00 - NZ $ 55.00
Ref no 032 That's What I Call Country!
There is no doubt that the late, great Charles Jacobie pioneered true Country music in South Africa in the 50's and 60's. Dubbed as “The Singing Cowboy” or “Die Singende Beesboer”, his recordings, in both English and Afrikaans, swept the best seller charts of the era. What an honour when Charles recorded three of my songs on the last album he recorded - “Charles Jacobie sê Dankie”. The songs were “Droomverlore”, “My Mooiste lied” and “Oorkant die Vaalrivier”.
When my first agents, “The Petersen Brothers”, gave me my first professional break on the big stage in 1965, they asked me: “What do you want us to bill you as?” I said “A Country and Western Artist” and on my first show I sang “Detroit City”. Although it went down fairly well, it was before the Country explosion in South-Africa in the late seventies, and nobody took much notice. I then switched to Folk and Pop-folk and joined the Country scene when it finally “happened.”
In 1977 I visited the Country Hall Of Fame in Nashville and was awestruck by the way in which the American people honour and cherish their great Country music artists and heritage. In 2004, I was admitted to the South African Country Hall Of Fame, the brainchild of dedicated music man, Lourens Fourie who thought it was high time the local Country artists were recognized for their dedication to the genre.
I love to sing any good song, be it in the style of Ballad, Rock, Pop, Folk or Country and this album contains the Country songs I love to sing most. They are a salute to the Country giants of the world; not forgetting our local Country artists; especially our own legend, Charles Jacobie.
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