This web site has been created by Graham Dodsworth
as part of the objectives of the National Library Folk Festival Fellowship 2004-2005
awarded by The National Library of Australia and The National Folk Festival.

Graham spent six weeks at the National Library of Australia trawling 1960s field recordings held in the Oral History and Folklore section of the NLA, for songs and versions of songs which have not remained in common usage. After selection the songs were reassembled (where required), arranged, recorded in the NLA studios and then performed at the National Folk Festival in 2005, for the purpose of reintroduction to the Australian public.

Below are compressed audio examples of extracts from these field recordings along side Graham's recorded arrangements of those examples. The sound files have been converted to mpeg layer 3 type files commonly known as mp3 files and should play comfortably in most audio media by clicking the 'mp3' link corresponding the song indicated. Sound quality varies from one example to the next, but are suitable for persons wishing to learn the tunes by ear from either the field recording or the reconstructed version.

Each of the field recordings selected were on tapes recorded in the 1950s by a number of oral history and song collectors in various locations within Australia. The people who sang the songs vary in ability and age.

Included with each example are notes about the known background of the song, known authors, lyrics and other contextual information.

It is hoped and expected that people will use this page as a resource, to enable them to perform these songs. Acknowledgement for the National Library of Australia, The National Folk Festival, the collectors, the performers and Graham Dodsworth is also expected upon each use of the material.

I personally would like to take this opportunity to thank the following people for their valuable help and advice:

Mark Cranfield, National Library of Australia Curator of Oral History and Folklore 1981 - 2005
Robyn Holmes, National Library of Australia Curator of Music and Dance
Dianne Dahlitz, National Library of Australia - Oral History and Folklore Branch
Shelly Grant, National Library of Australia - Sound Preservation & Technical services
Jenny Gall, Kevin Bradley, Mark Tandy, Greg Downton, Dave Rankin, Gwenda Davey, Edgar Waters, Hugh Anderson
. . also to Esme Russell Timbery and elder John Timbery for permission to sing Yamba.