A warm chuckle accompanied the apology from my interviewee for getting me out of bed so early (8am EST) for our chat.
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Charlie Landsborough is one of the UK’s most respected entertainers, a British Country Music Hall of Famer, and a gentleman.
Now 76 years old, the elder statesman is on his final tour of Australia. “I genuinely love the country, but not the journey to get there,” he says. “It’s less PC, and it has such diversity of landscape and climate.” He even has an ancestral connection with suburbs in Queensland and Victoria named Landsborough after distant relatives.
On his five previous visits Down Under he has amassed a legion of loyal fans, and on this final tour is whipping through five states to sing to as many as he can. “It’s a streak of madness, but while I’m able to meet lovely people it’s an absolute joy. I go wherever they ask me to go.”
Landsborough’s father was a ballad singer, so he grew up on an eclectic diet of music. “My collection includes bluegrass, folk, blues, country, but I guess I fall into the ‘easy listening’ category.”
There is a smidge of Celtic influence too, and Landsborough says he always felt Ireland was “where I was meant to be”. “Ireland has been incredibly good to me.”
He has a natural gift for making people laugh. “Where I live it’s highly valued to be able to laugh at yourself. I’ve gathered great stories on my travels. There is a unique feel about Australia, and I love the characters I’ve met.”
If he could have given his younger self some advice gleaned from his years in the industry, he would say “be yourself”. “There’s only one of you to ever walk the earth. Be who you are. Be the best you can be.”
He thinks today’s talent shows are a mixed blessing. “There have been some great artists to come from them, but most have just a smatter of success and then disappear. It’s cruel. And I think it’s awful to humiliate someone like they do.”
“It’s always nice to get recognition from your peers,” he says of his induction to the Hall of Fame. “You won’t find too many awards in my office. [Comedian] Ken Dodd once gave me an award. He read the inscription ‘For all his wonderful contributions as a bacon of country music’, yes, bacon, not beacon.”
He’s also proud of his Scouseology Award, presented annually to Liverpuddlians who have done well – including Sir Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden, Frankie Vaughan.
Landsborough will be joined by some of Australia’s finest musicians – Vaughan Jones, keyboard; Kelvin Nolan, guitar and Dallas Southam, pedal steel.
He will no doubt sing What Colour is the Wind?, and his personal favourite My Forever Friend, plus Shine Your Light, I Will Love You All My Life and more. “Very often the ones I like, others don’t,” he says of his music.
He is most grateful for What Colour is the Wind? “It gave me the life I live. Once you write something and it has an influence on somebody, it’s a lovely feeling.”
So how does he keep going? “I’m a bit Jekyll and Hyde. At home I am sensible about food and drink. When I go on the road, it’s all about the social aspect and I carry on as if I have a 21-year-old liver.”
