G'day Charley,

I do remember John Greenway playing a bracket of his songs at the Bush Music Club in Sydney, Australia ... early / mid 1960s - before I scarpered off to Tasmania and assorted Hydro projects ... ~ late 1965. I also remember some indignation among Sydney & Melbourne folklorists - over material they had shown to Greenway appearing as "his research" back in the US of A.

His decided shift to 'right-wing' politics had, by the time I was involved, led to a 'revised' line in our sung version of Henry Lawson's poem "Texas Jack" (an acerbic Aussie view of an American "rough rider" act that toured around the late 1800s. The litany of 'unimpressing' foreign influnces foisted on us changed, in this specific, from: (~) " ... and generals and Admirals to learn us how to fight ..." to: (~) "... and doctors come from Frisco, to learn us how to skite!."

The late Chris Kempster ... a lifelong perormer of Henry Lawson's poems a songs ... told me, before his far too early death, that he had been impressed with the strong liberal views in Greenway's early singing ... but that he had an operation of some sort ... possibly affecting some brain affliction ... and afterwards underwent a 'polar shift' in his political stance.

I wasn't particularly aligned with anybody else's politics ... but I could appreciate that things had clearly changed with John Greenway! (Notwithstanding, when I sing my version of "Texas Jack" ... I stay with Henry's old words!

I'm not sure if I have submitted this one ( ... of two ... ). I may have to extract the proverbial digit ...

Regards,

Bob