Eric Bogle (born 23 September 1944) is a Scottish-born Australian folk singer-songwriter and musician. Born and raised in Scotland, he emigrated to Australia at the age of 25 to settle near Adelaide, South Australia. Bogle's songs have covered a variety of topics and have been performed by many artists. Two of his best known songs are "No Man's Land" (or "The Green Fields of France") and "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda", with the latter named one of the APRA Top 30 Australian songs in 2001 as part of the celebrations for the Australasian Performing Right Association's 75th anniversary.
Early years
Eric Bogle was born on 23 September 1944 in Peebles, Scotland. His father was a railway signalman who played the bagpipes.
"As if he Knows" (2001) widens the theme of the wastage of war to describe the sadness of Australian mounted soldiers in Palestine in 1918 as they are obliged to shoot their horses, "who asked so little and gave so much", before embarkation.
Another notable song on a similar theme, but with a more contemporary setting, is the Troubles-inspired "My Youngest Son Came Home Today", with its tale of a young man killed during fighting in Northern Ireland. Notably, the song does not take sides in the conflict; it does not mention whether the title character is a nationalist or loyalist. However, the song has been adopted by Nationalists and is now associated with Irish Republicanism. When Billy Bragg covered the song, he changed the line "dreams of freedom unfulfilled" (which echoes the language of Nationalists) to "dreams of glory unfulfilled".
Bogle's songs cover a wide range of subjects and themes, including comedic songs ("The Aussie Bar-B-Q"), songs of real life emotion “Daniel Smiling “, The Enigma”, “One Small Star” and “ Now I'm Easy". Few would tackle a subject such as cerebral palsy, yet Eric knew the daughter of his friend Ray Smith and wrote “Rosie”, an endearing song where many find that they join in the chorus. His song "Safe in the Harbour" is an homage to Stan Rogers. "Katie and the Dreamtime Land" is a tribute to American folk singer Kate Wolf, who died from leukaemia in 1986. Other well-known songs, with lighter subject matter, include two homages to departed pets, "Little Gomez" and "Nobody's Moggy Now" and an acknowledgment of his folk music fans with "Do You Sing Any Dylan?".
In 2000 a five-CD collection, Singing The Spirit Home, was released. His first and only live performance DVD was released in May 2009.
Touring
thumb|Bogle (left) with [[John Campbell Munro|John Munro in Watford during their 2009 farewell tour]]
Bogle has undertaken an extensive concert tour of the UK (sometimes including appearances in continental Europe as well), every three years since 1985. These tours have usually included a supporting cast of Australian-based singers and musicians, most regularly John Munro and Brent Miller. Bogle said that his 2009 tour, with John Munro, would be his last overseas tour. This featured a Saturday Night Special on 27 June with Martyn Wyndham-Read, Johnny Collins and Les Sullivan in Watford, the closest venue to London.
More recent tours in Australia have included Adelaide-based musicians Emma Luker (fiddle) and Pete Titchener (guitar/bass)
Bogle was a prominent artist at the National Folk Festival in Canberra over Easter 2011 as well as a regular artist at the Port Fairy Folk Festival held in Port Fairy, Victoria, every March.
Many of Bogle's songs have been covered by other artists; including Joan Baez, John Schumann, Donovan, the Skids, June Tabor, the Men They Couldn't Hang, the Clancy Brothers, the Dubliners, John McDermott, Liam Clancy, Mike Harding, the Pogues, De Dannan, Dropkick Murphys, the Corries, Billy Bragg, the Bushwackers, Slim Dusty, Mary Black, the Fureys, and John Williamson. In May 2001 the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), as part of its 75th anniversary celebrations, named his song "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time.
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! scope="row"|Now I'm Easy
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- Released: 1980
- Label: Larrikin Records (LRF041)
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! scope="row"|Plain & Simple <br> (with John Munro)
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- Released: 1981
- Label: Grass Roots (GR 172815)
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! scope="row"|Scraps of Paper <br> (With John Munro and Brent Miller)
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- Released: September 1982
- Label: Larrikin Records (LRF104)
| 84
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! scope="row"|When The Wind Blows <br> (With John Munro and Brent Miller)
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- Released: July 1984
- Label: Larrikin Records (LRF144)
| 78
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! scope="row"|Hard, Hard Times <br> (With John Munro)
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- Released: 1985
- Label: Folk Freak (FF-404018)
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! scope="row"|The Anzacs <br> (with Ted Egan, Judy Small, Nerys Evans and the Anzac Band & Singers)
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- Released: 1985
- Label: Faces of Australia Series, ABC Records (TELP 1003)
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! scope="row"|Singing the Spirit Home
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- Released: November 1986
- Label: Larrikin Records (LRF186)
| 96
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! scope="row"|Something of Value
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- Released: 1988
- Label: Larrikin Records (LRF220)
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! scope="row"|Voices in the Wilderness
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- Released: 1990
- Label: Larrikin Records (L 30413)
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! scope="row"|Mirrors
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- Released: 1993
- Label: Larrikin Records (LRF 282)
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! scope="row"|The Emigrant & The Exile<br> (with John Munro)
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- Released: 1996
- Label: Larrikin Records (LRF478)
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! scope="row"|Small Miracles
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- Released: 1997
- Label: Larrikin Records (LRF473)
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! scope="row"|Endangered Species
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- Released: 1999
- Label: Acmec Records (ACMEC001)
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! scope="row"|The Colour of Dreams
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- Released: 2002
- Label: Rouseabout Records (RRR33)
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! scope="row"|Other People's Children
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- Released: 2005
- Label: Rouseabout Records (RRR39)
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! scope="row"|The Dreamer
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- Released: 2009
- Label: Rouseabout Records (RRR47)
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! scope="row"|A Toss of the Coin <br> (with John Munro)
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- Released: 2013
- Label: Rouseabout Records (RRR61)
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! scope="row"|Voice <br> (with John Munro)
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- Released: 2016
- Label:
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! scope="row"|The Source of Light <br> (with John Munro)
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- Released: 2021
- Label: Greentrax
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Live albums
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
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!rowspan="2"| Title
!rowspan="2"| Album details
!| Peak chart positions
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!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|AUS
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! scope="row"|In Person / Vol. 1 – Live in Person
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- Released: 1977 (Germany)
- Label: Autogram (ALLP-211)
- Note: Recorded live in Germany, February 1977
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! scope="row"|Vol. 2 – Down Under
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- Released: 1982 (Germany)
- Label: Autogram (ALLP-220)
- Note: Recorded live in Australia February & May 1977
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! scope="row"|Vol. 3 – Pure
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- Released: 1982 (Germany)
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Mo Awards
The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognised achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Bogle won one award in that time.
(wins only)
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| 1990
| Eric Bogle
| Folk Performer of the Year
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National Folk Festival
(wins only)
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| 2019
| Eric Bogle
| Lifetime Achievement Award
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Tamworth Songwriters Association
The Tamworth Songwriters Association (TSA) is an annual songwriting contest for original country songs, awarded in January at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. They commenced in 1986. Bogle has won three awards.
(wins only)
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| 1987
| Eric Bogle
| Songmaker Award
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| 1988
| Eric Bogle
| Tex Morton Award
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| 1991
| "Silly Slang Song" by Eric Bogle
| Comedy/Novelty Song of the Year
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