Songs from the Kitchen Table
(Hardback)
Available Formats
Publishing Details
Songs from the Kitchen Table
By (Author) Archie Roach
By (author) Ruby Hunter
Simon & Schuster Australia
Simon & Schuster Australia
15th November 2023
Australia
Classifications
Non Fiction
Composers and songwriters
Musicians, singers, bands and groups
Musical scores, lyrics and libretti
Songbooks
Biography: arts and entertainment
Physical Properties
Hardback
320
Width 190mm, Height 250mm
Description
The ultimate illustrated commemoration of iconic Australian musicians, Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter including lyrics, stories, photographs and tributes.
A year after he entered the Dreamtime, Archie Roachs spirit continues to soar, much like the wedge-tailed eagle his totem animal from his mother's ancestral lands. Archie's songs stand as anthems for the experience of dispossession, and have touched the lives of many with their empathetic message of shared humanity.
Songs from the Kitchen Table is a tribute to the power of Archies voice, and to the career he built with his life partner and musical collaborator, Ruby Hunter. This beautiful, illustrated volume contains the lyrics to over 100 of their songs, carefully curated by Archie's manager and friend, Jill Shelton: from Archies breathtaking early works Took the Children Away and Charcoal Lane, to the timeless classics Tell Me Why and Rubys Down City Streets, to his final masterpiece One Song. The songs are accompanied by stories about their composition; rare photographs; handwritten lyrics; album covers and artwork; and heartfelt tributes to Archie and Ruby from fans and fellow musicians.
With forewords by their long-time friends Paul Kelly and Emma Donovan, Songs from the Kitchen Table is a celebration of one of Australias great creative partnerships, and a tribute to the ongoing power of plain-spoken truths.
Author Bio
Archie Roach AM, a Gunditjmara and Bundjalung man, was born in Victoria in 1956. Taken at the age of two from parents he never saw again, he was placed into foster care. He started writing songs after meeting his soulmate Ruby Hunter when they were both homeless teenagers. His heartbreaking signature song, Took the Children Away, from his 1990 ARIA award-winning debut album Charcoal Lane, has become an anthem for the Stolen Generations. The song was the first to win an Australian Human Rights Award and the album was featured in US Rolling Stone magazines Top 50 in 1992, won two ARIA awards and went gold in Australia. Archies recording history includes twelve albums, soundtracks, film and theatrical scores and his books include the award-winning memoir Tell Me Why, accompanied by a companion album, and the picture book Took the Children Away, illustrated by Ruby Hunter.
