Athol Guy Biography
Athol Guy (Athol George Guy) is an Australian pop musician born on 5th January 1940 in Colac, Australia. He is a member of Australian pop music group ‘The Seekers’. He sings and plays double bass. He is easily recognizable by his black-framed ‘Buddy Holly’ glasses.
Athol Guy grew up in a musical household. At the age of 14 his father who he head seen two or three times in his life time died. He was a the double-bass player and the musical arranger in the Royal Australian Naval Band.
Athol Guy The Seekers
In 1958 he formed his first musical group ‘The Ramblers’ resulting in his move into performance, marketing and production at GTV9. Progressing via HSV7, media manager with the Clemenger Group. Athol Guy later formed group called ‘The Escorts’ which later became ‘The Seekers’ composed of Bruce (Woodley), Keith, Guy Athol and Ken Ray who later got married and could no longer do the gigs in the evening.
In 1962 when Guy Athol was working as the account executive of J. Walter Thompson advertising agency he met Judith Durham who was working there as the secretary. Judith told him that she was in a jazz band and invited him to go see her sing. Guy Athol told her that they were performing that night and she join them which she did and she became a member.
In the early 1964 they sailed to the United Kingdom a on the S.S. Fairsky where they provided musical entertainment. They had planned to stay for ten weeks but through the Grade Agency they received a lot of bookings. they had sent the agency a copy of their first album.
In December 1964 they released “I’ll Never Find Another You” composed and produced by Tom Springfield. In February 1965, the song reached number one in the UK and Australia, while their 1966
recording of Springfield and Jim Dale’s “Georgy Girl” (from the film of the same name) reached number two (Billboard chart) and number one (Cashbox chart) in the United States.
The Seekers disbanded in 1968 and Athol Guy hosted his own variety series – A Guy Called Athol – on Australia’s Seven Network, and later the quiz show Big Nine on the Nine Network. In 2006, The Seekers were awarded the “Key to the City” of Melbourne by Lord Mayor John So.
Athol Guy Political Career
On 11th December 1971 during a by election Guy Athol was elected as the member of the Liberal Party. He won three times until 5th Marvh 1979 when he resigned due to ill health. Athol Guy achievements included the government’s purchase and development of Werribee Park.
Athol Guy Enterprenuer
In 1979 Athol Guy returned to the business world and rejoined the Clemenger group as Executive Director of Clemenger Harvie a position he held until 1989. During the 1990s Guy joined St George Bank’s marketing team as Business Development Consultant, and then AMP’s blue ribbon financial planning group, Hillross. With the assistance of the St George foundation Guy was instrumental in the Murdoch Institute introducing a genetic educational course into Victorian schools.
Guy Athol has been involved in a joint venture with Hanging Rock Winery, launching “Athol’s Paddock” in the Macedon Ranges. The first vintage from “Athol’s Paddock” was 1997 and since that time has regularly produced award-winning Shiraz.
Athol Guy multiple community roles have included:
- Inaugural member Children’s Protection Society.
- Patron. Kids Under Cover.
- Patron. Riding For the Disabled.
- Patron. Relay For Life.
- Patron. Tee Up for Kids.
- Patron. Sing Australia.
- Ambassador – Heart Kids – RCH.
- Former Chair. Daylesford Macedon Tourism Marketing.
- Former Chair – Tourism Macedon Ranges.
- Former Macedon Memorial Cross Trustee.
- Board. Living Legends.
- Former Federal Ministers inaugural advisory board. Indigenous Tourism Australia.
Athol Guy Age
Athol was born on January 5, 1940 in Colac, Australia (79 years as of 2019)
Athol Guy Height
He stands at a height of 1.64 m
Athol Guys Family; Wife and Child
Athol Guy was married but his wife died, during an interview in 2015 he revealed that he has a daughter (35 years) and his wife had died.
‘I think the achievement I’m most proud of is having a very normal daughter, who is 35. She is progressing beautifully in life. Sadly, she lost her mum, my dear wife, about ten years ago. I’m so proud of the way she has handled her life. Although, funnily, she wouldn’t open her mouth to sing a note, whereas her daughter, my three year old grand-daughter, is the biggest show-off you’ve ever seen. Fame is fleeing, but this is the most important thing in life.’
Athol Guy and Friends
As they play through the cool blues and jazz era into early rock of the late 50s and its transition into “The Swinging 60s and Seekers Songbook” – Athol and his musical friends, Jenny Blake and Rod Hulls together with very special guest Buddy England – quite simply cover and colour the musical landscape of the era.
Their collective repertoire expands to then include classics from each following decade of MOR pop giving new life and memories to iconic songs from The Eagles, The Bee Gees and a host of other beautiful harmonic groups.
Athol Guy Net worth
He has an estimated net worth of 60.9 million which he has earned from his music career.
Athol Guy Songs
- A’ Rovin’
- All I Can Remember
- All My Trials
- All Over the World
- Allentown Jail
- Amazing
- Angeline Is Always Friday
- Australia Land of Today
- Blow the Man Down
- Blowin’ in the Wind
- Building Bridges
- The Bush Girl
- California Dreamin’
- Calling Me Home
- Can We Learn to Get Along
- Can’t Make Up My Mind
- The Carnival Is Over
- Tom Springfield
- Children Go Where I Send You
- Chilly Winds
- The Circle of Love
- Cloudy
- Colours of My Life
- Come the Day
- Cotton Fields
- Huddie Ledbetter
- Danny Boy
- Days of My Life
- Dese Bones G’wine Rise Again
- Devoted to You
- Don’t Tell Me My Mind
- Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright
- Study War No More
- Eddystone Light
- Emerald City
- Eriskay Love Lilt
- Far Shore
- 59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy)
- Five Hundred Miles
- Forever Isn’t Long Enough (For Me)
- Four Strong Winds
- Future Road
- Georgy Girl
- Gotta Love Someone
- Gotta Travel On
- Guardian Angel / Guiding Light
- Hello Mary Lou
- Here I Am
- High Barbary
- House of Cards
- How Can a Love So Wrong Be So Right
- I Am Australian
- I Wish You Could Be Here
- If I Had a Hammer
- If You Go Away
- I’ll Never Find Another You
- In My Life
- Isa Lei (Fijian Farewell)
- Island of Dreams
- It Doesn’t Matter Anymore
- It’s Hard to Leave
- Just a Closer Walk With Thee
- Katy Kline
- Keep A Dream In Your Pocket
- Kumbaya
- Lady Mary
- The Last Thing on My Mind
- Leave Her Johnny, Leave Her
- Leaving of Liverpool
- Lemon Tree
- Let the Light from the Lighthouse Shine on Me
- Little Moses
- Live On
- Lonesome Traveller
- Louisiana Man
- Love Is Kind, Love is Wine
- Love Is Me Love is You
- Maple Leaf Rag
- Massachusetts
- Morningtown Ride
- Music of the World A Turnin’
- Myra
- New World in the Morning
- Buddy England
- The Olive Tree
- On the Other Side
- One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
- One World Love
- Open Up Them Pearly Gates
- Ox Driving Song
- Paper Bird
- Plaisir d’Amour
- Puff, the Magic Dragon
- Rattler
- Red Rubber Ball
- Run Come See
- The Sad Cloud
- The Shores of Avalon
- Silver Threads and Golden Needles
- Sinner Man
- Someday, One Day
- South Australia
- Sparrow Song
- Speak to the Sky
- The Streets of Serenade
- Sweet Adeline
- Sweet Surrender
- Taking My Chances With You
- Ten Thousand Years Ago
- This Is My Song
- This Land Is Your Land
- This Little Light of Mine
- This Train
- Time and Again
- The Times They Are a-Changin’
- Turn! Turn! Turn!
- Two Summers
- Walk With Me
- Waltzing Matilda (Traditional version)
- The Water Is Wide
- We Shall Not Be Moved
- Well Well Well
- We’re Moving On
- What Have They Done to the Rain?
- When the Stars Begin to Fall
- When Will The Good Apples Fall
- Whisky in the Jar
- Whistlin’ Rufus
- Gypsy Rover
- Wild Rover
- With My Swag All On My Shoulder
- A World of Our Own
- Wreck of the Old ’97
- Yesterday
- You Can Tell The World
- You’re My Spirit
Athol Guy Interview
Interviewer: What drove Athol Guy to music?
Athol Guy: Well I grew up after the war years, in a household that found its relief from the tension, in music. I was chained to the piano when I was about six years old, by my dear grand-mother, and she and the family would sing along, doing amazing harmonizing. Then I became a choir boy, and when my two uncles came home from the war, they had a little jazz band, and they used to practice out on our back-verandah.
The incredible thing was that, my father, who I never really knew…I only saw him two or three times in my life…and he died when I was about 14. I found out after he died that he was the double-bass player and the musical arranger in the Royal Australian Naval Band. I never knew about that before I started playing the bass. I bought a bass to play with my first Seekers band with Keith [Potger] which was morphed out of two bee-bop boy bands, not unlike the Human Natures that you see today. I had a trio called The Ramblers, and then I had a group called The Escorts. You couldn’t call a band that nowadays!
Anyway, The Escorts became The Seekers: Bruce (Woodley), Keith and I and another mate of ours by the name of Ken Ray, who had a beautiful tenor voice. Anyway, Ken got married, and he couldn’t come out and do the little gigs we were doing in the evenings, but as luck would have it, I was working in my office, in an advertising agency one day, in 1962, and this person popped her head around the corner and said “Hello, you’re Athol Guy…I’m Judy Durham. I sing with a jazz band. When are you going to come and hear me sing?” I said “We’re playing tonight, why don’t you come and sing with us?” which she did. So she came to our gig in a little coffee lounge, and she started singing one of her little folkie songs, and we joined in. No rehearsal. That’s exactly how it happened.
Interviewer: So given that you came from more of a jazz back-ground, as did Judith Durham, why the folk sound that The Seekers became known for?
Athol Guy: We were getting into folk through Pete Seeger, and Peter, Paul and Mary, and Judith had an album by a band called The Weavers. She particularly loved the song “When the Stars Begin to fall”, and there was another song on that album called “Morning Town Ride” and we thought we could do something with that sound. We found a lot of traditional numbers that still allowed us to put the five-string banjo in.
We also concentrated on some gospel songs that were very much a part of our repertoire. Those songs were often the B side of our records. So I think we were just morphing into a repertoire that was particularly our own. Then we’d done two albums for the World Record Club, and we’d already done an album in Australia with Ron Tudor, by the time we got to England. We certainly weren’t regarded as a commercial group, but we were well and truly welcomed into the very big folk music scene in Scotland and also in Ireland. So we really stuck up an identity before we had a hit. But no one had filled the gap that The Springfields had left – they’d disbanded a year or so before we arrived in the UK. So when we met Tom [Springfield] he saw in us an opportunity to use one of the songs that he’d already penned. That was “I Know I’ll Never Find Another You”. And when we recorded it, even the recording engineer turned around and said “That’s going to be a huge hit”. That song took us into another stratosphere, and it changed our lives forever.
Interviewer: Tell us about your current show. What was the main driver to put this show together?
Athol Guy: It was people nagging me! I keep telling little stories about the group. One day i was talking to a mate of mine who is writing some memoirs for me, for the family archives and he said “These stories you tell…why don’t’ you wrap some of them around your music and put on a little mini-musical.” And I’ve been playing for a while with my little group “Athol Guy and Friends”, and I asked them if they’d like to put on a show. So I mapped it out with bits of history of the band, video and so forth. We thought we’d play in some of the beautiful, regional theatres in Australia. We‘d done a few Morning Melodies: a truncated version of what we’re doing with this show, and I got to meet some of the loveliest Australians. They made you feel part of the family, and they told me stories about how our music had been a part of their lives. It was such a heart-warming experience. So I said, we’ll go out and meet these wonderful people and we’ll entertain them.
Interviewer: What do you think is the main legacy The Seekers have left Australian music?
Athol Guy: We’d like our legacy to be that we were the first Australian band to go over, at a time when the competition was absolutely red-hot, with a sound that was totally outside the commercial sphere, and we made it, because we had the edge of difference.
Interviewer: You’re involved in an enormous amount of charities, but tell us about “Sing Australia”
Athol Guy: Well, that started when we were having one of our rural recessions. And the best way to lift everybody’s sprits when a community is in that sort of shape is to get together and sing. And the team at Sing Australia got involved with a lot of professionalism went around with a catalogue of songs, and wherever a community wanted to start up a choir, they would step up and help them. I came across it about three or four years ago. It is a fabulous organization. They do trips overseas. I’ve lost track of how many choirs they have. We get a great deal of joy out of hearing the stories of individuals who have been helped.
Interviewer: And finally, in your life you’ve been involved in music, politics, charities and all sorts of organizations, but what is the one achievement you’re most proud of?
Athol Guy: I think the achievement I’m most proud of is having a very normal daughter, who is 35. She is progressing beautifully in life. Sadly, she lost her mum, my dear wife, about ten years ago. I’m so proud of the way she has handled her life. Although, funnily, she wouldn’t open her mouth to sing a note, whereas her daughter, my three year old grand-daughter, is the biggest show-off you’ve ever seen. Fame is fleeing, but this is the most important thing in life.
Source: Glam Adelaide
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