Stan Coster
Encyclopedia
Stan Coster OAM was an Australian country music
singer-songwriter. His songs were regularly performed by Slim Dusty
and other singers. He is the father of country music
singer Tracy Coster
.
, Australia in 1930. One of seven children, each of whom were musically talented. He left school at the age of 14 and worked for a local butcher in Woolgoolga, NSW. By the age of 16 he was cutting sleepers for train tracks and at 18 years of age he went to work as a station hand before moving to Sydney and in 1948 moved to Cooma, New South Wales
, to work on the Snowy Mountains Scheme
.
In 1950, at 20 years of age, Coster joined a travelling rodeo
as a rough rider and in 1951 he married Dorothy Aileen Milto, with whom he had three children, including country music singer Tracy Coster
.
In 1956, Coster began writing songs and met Slim Dusty
in 1960 at Longreach, Queensland. Dusty recorded his first Coster song, “Return of the Stockman” in 1962. Dusty went on to record another 70 of Stan Coster tracks. In 1977, Coster won the Golden Guitar
for APRA Song of the Year with his composition “Three Rivers Hotel”, recorded by Slim Dusty. While on the land Coster worked as a ringer, fencer, slaughterman, horse-breaker, kangaroo shooter, and shed hand and was able to draw these experiences into his bush ballad
s. Popular compositions such as his "Three Rivers Hotel", which tells the story of building a train line into a remote nickel mine, were based on his own life experiences and brought to popular attention through performances and recordings by Slim Dusty
and other artists.
In later life, Coster moved to Tamworth, New South Wales
and then to nearby Manilla. In the late 1970s, where he began his singing career at Joe Maguire's Pub (now known as the Tatersall's Hotel). He appeared in the 1984 feature film The Slim Dusty Movie
and in that year formed his own record label, “Gidgee Records”.
In 1987, Coster won another Golden Guitar for APRA Song of the Year for “He’s a Good Bloke When He’s Sober”. In 1989 he was awarded an OAM for "Services to Country Music" and was in 1990 inducted into the Roll of Renown at Tamworth. He won the 1995 Golden Guitar (Heritage Award) for Bush Ballad Song of the Year with “Lawson’s Loaded Dog” and in 1996 released his last album “Come Back to the Bush”.
Stan Coster died from cancer on 25 March 1997 at Manilla. A Bronze bust featuring his image was unveiled in Tamworth’s Bicentennial Park in 1999.
Other than Dusty - Buddy Williams
, Joy McKean
, John Williamson
, Gordon Parsons and many other music artists have performed Stan Coster songs. Coster's daughter, Tracy Coster
released a tribute album to her father in 2004, entitled "Coster Country" which also featured duet performances with John Williamson, Adam Harvey
, Lee Kernaghan
and Anne Kirkpatrick
.
In 2005, a statue of the "Cunumulla Fella" was unveiled in Cunnamulla, Queensland
in tribute to Dusty and Coster and to the iconic song of that name performed by Dusty with lyrics by Coster. The song recalls Coster's days working as a sheep-shearing "ringer" around Cunnamulla in the 1950s. Dusty recorded the song and it became an enduring country music hit, later covered by Lee Kernaghan
. The statue was unveiled by country music personalities Anne Kirkpatrick
(Dusty's daughter), Jayne Kelly and Tracy and Russell Coster.
Australian country music
Australian country music is a part of the music of Australia. There is a broad range of styles, from bluegrass, to yodelling to folk to the more popular. The genre has been influenced by Celtic and English folk music, by the traditions of Australian bush balladeers, as well as by popular American...
singer-songwriter. His songs were regularly performed by Slim Dusty
Slim Dusty
David Gordon "Slim Dusty " Kirkpatrick AO, MBE was an Australian country music singer-songwriter and producer, with a career spanning nearly eight decades. He was known to record songs in the legacy of Australian poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson that represented the Australian Bush...
and other singers. He is the father of country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer Tracy Coster
Tracy Coster
Tracy Coster is an Australian country music singer and songwriter. She was born on 12 April 1966. Her father Stan Coster was an acknowledged songwriter.- Early life :It is hard to determine the time Tracy Coster started her career...
.
Life and career
Stan Coster was born at Casino on the north coast of New South WalesNew South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia in 1930. One of seven children, each of whom were musically talented. He left school at the age of 14 and worked for a local butcher in Woolgoolga, NSW. By the age of 16 he was cutting sleepers for train tracks and at 18 years of age he went to work as a station hand before moving to Sydney and in 1948 moved to Cooma, New South Wales
Cooma, New South Wales
-Education: is Cooma's only public high school, it serves the town and seven of the neighbouring rural towns and villages such as Berridale, Jindabyne, Nimmitabel, Bredbo and Dalgety....
, to work on the Snowy Mountains Scheme
Snowy Mountains Scheme
The Snowy Mountains scheme is a hydroelectricity and irrigation complex in south-east Australia. It consists of sixteen major dams; seven power stations; a pumping station; and 225 kilometres of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts and was constructed between 1949 and 1974. The Chief engineer was Sir...
.
In 1950, at 20 years of age, Coster joined a travelling rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
as a rough rider and in 1951 he married Dorothy Aileen Milto, with whom he had three children, including country music singer Tracy Coster
Tracy Coster
Tracy Coster is an Australian country music singer and songwriter. She was born on 12 April 1966. Her father Stan Coster was an acknowledged songwriter.- Early life :It is hard to determine the time Tracy Coster started her career...
.
In 1956, Coster began writing songs and met Slim Dusty
Slim Dusty
David Gordon "Slim Dusty " Kirkpatrick AO, MBE was an Australian country music singer-songwriter and producer, with a career spanning nearly eight decades. He was known to record songs in the legacy of Australian poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson that represented the Australian Bush...
in 1960 at Longreach, Queensland. Dusty recorded his first Coster song, “Return of the Stockman” in 1962. Dusty went on to record another 70 of Stan Coster tracks. In 1977, Coster won the Golden Guitar
Golden Guitar
The Big Golden Guitar is one of the many "big" attractions that can be found around Australia. Located in Tamworth, New South Wales, the monument is one of the best-known points of interest in New England New South Wales...
for APRA Song of the Year with his composition “Three Rivers Hotel”, recorded by Slim Dusty. While on the land Coster worked as a ringer, fencer, slaughterman, horse-breaker, kangaroo shooter, and shed hand and was able to draw these experiences into his bush ballad
Bush ballad
Bush songs or bush ballads are a folk music and poetry tradition in Australia's outback. The rhyming songs, poems and tales often relate to the itinerant and rebellious spirit of Australia, a young country. The lyrical tradition of bush songs was born of settlers and influenced by Aboriginal...
s. Popular compositions such as his "Three Rivers Hotel", which tells the story of building a train line into a remote nickel mine, were based on his own life experiences and brought to popular attention through performances and recordings by Slim Dusty
Slim Dusty
David Gordon "Slim Dusty " Kirkpatrick AO, MBE was an Australian country music singer-songwriter and producer, with a career spanning nearly eight decades. He was known to record songs in the legacy of Australian poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson that represented the Australian Bush...
and other artists.
In later life, Coster moved to Tamworth, New South Wales
Tamworth, New South Wales
Tamworth is a city in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Peel River, Tamworth, which contains an estimated population of 47,595 people, is the major regional centre for southern New England and in the local government area of Tamworth Regional Council. The city...
and then to nearby Manilla. In the late 1970s, where he began his singing career at Joe Maguire's Pub (now known as the Tatersall's Hotel). He appeared in the 1984 feature film The Slim Dusty Movie
The Slim Dusty Movie
The Slim Dusty Movie is a 1984 Australian feature film directed by Rob Stewart and starring Slim Dusty, Joy McKean, Jon Blake and Mary Charleston.-The Film:...
and in that year formed his own record label, “Gidgee Records”.
In 1987, Coster won another Golden Guitar for APRA Song of the Year for “He’s a Good Bloke When He’s Sober”. In 1989 he was awarded an OAM for "Services to Country Music" and was in 1990 inducted into the Roll of Renown at Tamworth. He won the 1995 Golden Guitar (Heritage Award) for Bush Ballad Song of the Year with “Lawson’s Loaded Dog” and in 1996 released his last album “Come Back to the Bush”.
Stan Coster died from cancer on 25 March 1997 at Manilla. A Bronze bust featuring his image was unveiled in Tamworth’s Bicentennial Park in 1999.
Other than Dusty - Buddy Williams
Buddy Williams
Harold "Buddy" Williams was an Australian country music singer and songwriter. He was the first Australian born to record country music in Australia, three years after the New Zealand born Tex Morton had made his first recording session here in Australia...
, Joy McKean
Joy McKean
Joy McKean OAM, born 1930, is an Australian country music singer-songwriter and wife of the late Slim Dusty. Known as the "grand lady" of Australian country music, McKean is recognised as one of Australia's leading song writers and bush balladeers and wrote several of Dusty's most popular...
, John Williamson
John Williamson
John Williamson is the name of:* Jack Williamson , American science fiction writer* John H. Williamson , American, North Carolina politician and newspaper publisher* John N. Williamson , American, U.S...
, Gordon Parsons and many other music artists have performed Stan Coster songs. Coster's daughter, Tracy Coster
Tracy Coster
Tracy Coster is an Australian country music singer and songwriter. She was born on 12 April 1966. Her father Stan Coster was an acknowledged songwriter.- Early life :It is hard to determine the time Tracy Coster started her career...
released a tribute album to her father in 2004, entitled "Coster Country" which also featured duet performances with John Williamson, Adam Harvey
Adam Harvey
Adam Harvey is an Australian country music singer. Harvey has been nominated three times for an ARIA Music Award and is a multiple CMAA Award winner.-Biography:Adam Harvey got his start musically learning country classics on the guitar as a small boy...
, Lee Kernaghan
Lee Kernaghan
Lee Kernaghan OAM is an Australian country music singer and songwriter. He was the 2008 Australian of the Year.-Honours:Kernaghan received the Order of Australia Medal in 2004....
and Anne Kirkpatrick
Anne Kirkpatrick
Anne Kirkpatrick is an Australian country music singer. She is the daughter of country singers Slim Dusty and Joy McKean.Kirkpatrick has released thirteen albums. She won Golden Guitar Awards at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in 1979, 1991, and twice in 1992. She also won an ARIA Award for...
.
In 2005, a statue of the "Cunumulla Fella" was unveiled in Cunnamulla, Queensland
Cunnamulla, Queensland
Cunnamulla is a small town that lies on the Warrego River in south west Queensland, Australia, south of Charleville, and approximately west of the state capital, Brisbane....
in tribute to Dusty and Coster and to the iconic song of that name performed by Dusty with lyrics by Coster. The song recalls Coster's days working as a sheep-shearing "ringer" around Cunnamulla in the 1950s. Dusty recorded the song and it became an enduring country music hit, later covered by Lee Kernaghan
Lee Kernaghan
Lee Kernaghan OAM is an Australian country music singer and songwriter. He was the 2008 Australian of the Year.-Honours:Kernaghan received the Order of Australia Medal in 2004....
. The statue was unveiled by country music personalities Anne Kirkpatrick
Anne Kirkpatrick
Anne Kirkpatrick is an Australian country music singer. She is the daughter of country singers Slim Dusty and Joy McKean.Kirkpatrick has released thirteen albums. She won Golden Guitar Awards at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in 1979, 1991, and twice in 1992. She also won an ARIA Award for...
(Dusty's daughter), Jayne Kelly and Tracy and Russell Coster.