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Broderick Smith has been a clerk, storeman, soldier, advertising
copywriter, graphic artist and actor, as well as a singer-songwriter.
Broderick sings, plays harmonica and guitar. He writes his own material
and performs other songwriter’s material as well. His stage and TV
experience enables him to communicate with any audience.
Broderick started playing folk and blues music back in 1962. Leaving
school and having a variety of jobs, he joined legendary Blues outfit the
Adderley Smith Blues Band*. In 1968 Broderick was kidnapped by the
government of the day and press-ganged into the Australian Army for 2
years, in which he spent most of the time trying to stay out of trouble.
(Photographer unknown)
The band outside East
Studios (Camberwell ?)
Upon his eventual release after the collapse of the Liberal junta he
helped form a country roots type act called Sundown*. But his first
commercially recorded work was on Harvest EMI records in 1972 with Carson*, a boogie and
blues band. This was his first real taste of travelling the country and
playing music.
(Photographer
unknown)
Then in 1973 he helped form The Dingoes*, a legendary country rock group
that is a main inspiration behind the modern country rock explosion. The
Dingoes aim in life was actually to carry on the great work done by
another band called Country Radio and explore the possibilities of
blending Bush music with R’n’B.
(Photographer
unknown)
The
Dingoes, 1973 (L-R) John Bois, Kerryn Tolhurst, Brod Smith, Chris Stockley,
John Lee
The Dingoes were signed up to American management in 1976 and went over
there to live and work until the end of 1978.
(Photographer unknown)
Venue unknown -
possibly from a Leon Russell show
Broderick eventually came back home and formed the
Big Combo*. During this
time he was also a singer on the Andrew Durant Memorial concert album.
He’s released fifteen albums to date, nine under his own name, recording
both here and in Canada
and the US. He has recorded with Cat Stevens, Jimmy Barnes, Steve Cropper,
The Memphis Horns, Buffy Saint Marie, Phil Ochs, Ted Egan, Tommy and Phil
Emmanuel. The list goes on and on.
Musicians joining
Broderick on recent recordings have been known collectively as "The Guild".
Broderick is currently preparing a new cd with Matt Walker and Shannon Bourne.
And he also shares the harmonica chair with Ian Collard in the
Backsliders, a NSW act featuring Dom Turner on guitar and Rob Hirst from
Midnight Oil on drums.
Photo-shoot - Mossvale Music Festival, March 2008 - by
David Gilliver
Brod’s also held workshops on songwriting, vocals and harmonica. His
workshops have taken him all over his home state, into schools, prisons,
reformatories, as well as music stores.
Brod’s been involved in the writing of somewhere around 200 songs and his
solo albums have seen him writing virtually all the lyrics. He generally
starts off with the lyric in a prose form and then when the music is
written, tends to change the lyrics to suit the music. Broderick believes
lyrics should say something and not just be something to sing along to.
* For more details
about these bands check out Brod's
archives page
Check the Broderick Smith information at Milesago
(Australasian musicians, popular music, pop culture and social
history 1964-1975)
Check the Broderick Smith information at Wikipedia
(The free
encyclopedia)
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