HOW MANY TIMES by MICKEY NEWBURY. Story by Luke Davies.

Sydney, Sometime in the 1970s

A Sydney radio station that was not playing much music. More of a late-night talk back kind of show, the odd bit of music thrown in.

Why a teenage boy doing was listening in, I’m not sure.

The announcer played an artist who was totally new to me.

A song by Micky Newbury. I had never heard of him.  I suppose looking back I had never heard a singer songwriter like this before.

Yes, I knew of artists like Johnny Cash, even a bloke like Slim Dusty, he wrote songs and sung them. My stepfather was a big fan of his, played his songs. He liked country and western as it was labelled back then. He listened to acts from Tex Morton to Hank Snow, but nothing like Mickey Newbury.

The song was different and to a young person who would learn to strum a few chords on the guitar, put some words together to form a song, it was a powerful moment.

I can’t recall that exact first song I heard to be honest, but I do know it was from the Frisco Mabel Joy album released in 1971. I bought that record and play it often – so many great songs, interesting production ideas long ago fallen out of favour.

There are heaps of Mickey Newbury songs on You Tube to go down that rabbit hole. Many are dark and sad so beware, but not all. Newbury said that “I write my sadness” and he can indeed.

In my younger days I liked the blues and country music; still do, I didn’t know what was popular amongst my peers, didn’t really care. It didn’t bother me if I was considered weird.

I can remember seeing someone’s pencil case at school with the word ‘Kiss’ scrawled upon it, wondering What is that all about?

Having different tastes and ideas than your peers I imagine would be harder today, not to be sucked into the social media vortex. The ‘I want it too’ virus that seems more prevalent and toxic than ever before.

It has become far easier for people young or old, to just tick the box don’t think outside the box; go along to get along.

Stereo Story 853