AURIEL ANDREW

Auriel Andrew (born 1947 Darwin, Northern Territory) was an Indigenous Australian country musician of the Arrernte people of Central Australia. Auriel came from the Arrernte people in Alice Springs. Her skin name was Mbitjana and her totem was the hairy Caterpillar. The youngest of seven children, she started singing at the age of four, and began her professional career in the late 1960s working with Chad Morgan in the Adelaide and Port Lincoln areas, and appeared on live TV music broadcasts, including shows hosted by Roger Cardwell, Johnny Mac and Ernie Sigley, and then becoming a regular on Channel Nine’s Heather McKean & Reg Lindsay Show. In 1973 she moved to Sydney, and toured with Jimmy Little, performing at popular clubs and pubs around NSW.

In the 1970s, Andrew was a regular guest on The Johnny Mac Show, The Reg Lindsay Country Hour' and The Ernie Sigley Show. Her first record an EP, 'Auriel Andrew' (Nationwide 1970) was the second by an Indigenous woman in Australia. Her first album was: 'Just For You' (Nationwide, 1971), followed by 'Chocolate Princess' (Opal Records, 1982), Mbitjana (Imparja, 1985) and Ghost Gums (2013)

She performed at the Sydney Opera House for the venue's grand opening and sang "Amazing Grace" in Pitjantjitjara for Pope John Paul II during his Australian tour. Auriel's well-known recordings include the country classic "Truck Drivin' Woman" and Bob Randell's "Brown Skin Baby". She performed at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Woodford Dreaming Festival, and regularly performed at various clubs around the Newcastle area.

She appeared in the SBS documentary Buried Country: The Story of Aboriginal Country Music (2000) about Aboriginal country music (associated with the book by Clinton Walker), singing "Truck Driving Woman".Other film appearances included the short films BeDevi and Hush. Andrew appeared in the stage show Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, written and performed by English artist Christopher Green at the Adelaide Cabaret Festival in 2007, and at the Beckett Theatre in Melbourne in 2011. She also appeared on several Australian television programs including episodes of A Country Practice, Blue Heelers, Playschool and the mini-series Heartland.

Her 2013 album 'Ghost Gums' included new original songs about her life and childhood. At the Deadly Awards 2008, Auriel was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award for contribution to Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander music. In 2011, she was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for her work as an entertainer and contribution to her communities through charity events. Auriel Andrew died of cancer in Hunter Valley Private Hospital, Shortland, New South Wales, on 2 January 2017. She was 69 years old.

EPs

'Auriel Andrew' 1970 Nationwide

ALBUMS
'Just For You' 1971 Nationwide
'Chocolate Princess' 1982 Opal
'Mbitjana' Imparja 1985
'Ghost Gums' 2013
'Let's Get Together' Xtra

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auriel_Andrew