David Gordon Kirkpatrick, known professionally as Slim Dust, was an australian singer,one of the most prolific and best-selling recording artists in his native land. His music celebrates the lives and spirit of Australian rural people. He has written more than 1,000 songs, has recorded more than 100 albums, and has sold more than five million copies of those albums during the six decades of his career.
Background
Born David Gordon Kirkpatrick on June 13, 1927, in Kempsey, New South Wales, Dusty grew up on a remote dairy farm in the hill country near Nulla Nulla Creek.
Dusty married Joy McKean, a country singer and songwriter, in 1951, and the couple had their first child, Anne, in 1952; in 1958 they had a son, David.
Career
As a boy, he dreamed of becoming a country music singer, and when he was ten years old, he wrote his first song, "The Way the Cowboy Dies." In 1938 he began calling himself Slim Dusty. In 1942 Dusty made his first recording, at his own expense, and by 1946 he had signed his first contract with Columbia Gramophone on the Regal Zonophone label. He recorded six titles, including When the Rain Tumbles Down in July.
He has remained with Columbia, which later became EMI, ever since.
He was known to record songs in the legacy of Australian poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson that represented the Australian Bush Lifestyle, and also for his many trucking songs.
Dusty was the first Australian to have a No. 1 Hit song with Gordon Parsons (A Pub With No Beer)