DON HENDERSON

 

Born in 1937, Don Henderson picked up a guitar after being inspired by blues legends like Blind Lemon Jefferson and Josh White. Growing up in the middle-class Melbourne suburbs of Essendon and Moonee Ponds, he trained as a fitter and turner but worked various jobs, most often as a carpenter. His time on the Snowy Mountains hydro-electricity scheme inspired one of his earliest and most popular songs, the upbeat ''Put a Light in Every Country Window''. A BLF member, Henderson moved to Sydney, where he repaired instruments and eventually began crafting his own guitars. Folk musician Gary Shearston recalled that Henderson’s Woollahra workshop became a hub for one part of the pre-boom Sydney folk scene, overlapping with groups like the Push and the Bush Music Club; later, Alex Hood established his Folk Arts Centre in the same space.

In the mid-60s, Henderson settled in Brisbane and became a key figure in the early folk scene, performing both solo and with the Union Singers. While his singing voice was limited, he quickly gained national recognition for his songwriting. Influenced by the “libertarians” he met at the Royal George Hotel, he focused on writing about the Australian labour force, blending the “hillbilly idiom” from his youth with an “American finger-picking technique.”

The first recording of Henderson’s singing was an album, 'The Ballad of Women', a record he made in 1964 with the Brisbane Union Singers that featured his songs ''Talking Carpenter'', ''The Happy Song'', and ''Wittenoom Gorge''. The EP 'Basic Wage Dream' (1964), released by the Australian Council of Salaried and Professional Associations featured his songs ''The Basic Wage Dream'' sung by Alex Hood and ''Talking Basic Wage'' sung by Don Ayrton, and formed part of the 1964 basic wage campaign. In 1966 Henderson and the Brisbane Union Singers released 'One Out', featuring thirteen of his songs including ''Hooker Rex'', the anti-war song, ''Boonaroo'', and ''Peace Is Union Business''. On 28 April 1967 at the registrar general’s office, Sydney, Henderson married Sally Watson, an English-born nurse.

In 1970 Henderson released a songbook, 'I Can Sing', which contained twenty-seven songs and a poem. In the introduction he wrote, ''I have seen a few things and met a few people . . . they are my life, and no man wants his life to go for nothing''. His album 'Ton of Steel' (containing thirteen original songs), released in 1971, featured ''The Westgate Bridge Disaster'', written by Henderson at union request as a memorial to the thirty-five men who died when the bridge collapsed during construction. Although Melbourne-born, Henderson had little fondness for its folk venues, admitting, “I never liked Melbourne audiences… never liked singing there… never liked Melbourne as a town.” 

Henderson moved with his family to England in 1971, living in London and in Sussex where he wrote, performed, and continued to make and repair guitars. Together with Craig McGregor and John ‘Poli’ Palmer, he co-wrote songs for the rock opera 'Hero', which was performed by the Australian Opera in Sydney in 1976—extracts of two of the songs were included in the compilation 'The Songs of Don Henderson', released posthumously in 2009. The Hendersons returned to Australia in 1979 and after a brief stay in Melbourne they moved to Brisbane, where Don became actively involved in the Queensland Folk Federation. He continued to organise folk concerts and perform at clubs, including the 291 Folk Club, and he contributed to the 1979 album 'Flames of Discontent'. In 1986 he released 'In My Time', containing songs he had written between 1961 and 1979. Henderson’s music is difficult to categorise; many considered him to be an Australian Woody Guthrie. In his own words he was ‘a rake and a rambling man and an anarchist’. He died in 1991.

ALBUMS
'Ballad Of Women' [with The Union Singers] 1964 Union Records

'One Out' [with The Union Singer] 1966 Union Records

'Ton Of Steel' 1971 Union Records
'Flames of Discontent' 1979 Seamen's Union of Australia 
'In My Time' 1988 Hot to Trot 






References

Sydney Folk Clubs - Warren Fahey

Biography - Donald James (Don) Henderson - Australian Dictionary of Biography