BETH SCHURR

Folk singer Beth Schurr had a light soprano voice and repertoire comparable to those of popular American balladeer Susan Reed. Schurr (nee Doran) taught herself guitar and started collecting songs after hearing Burl Ives and Mary O’Hara in concert in the early 50s. Specialising in material from Britain and the Appalachians, she gave her first major public performance at the first Australian Folklore Festival in September 1955. She recorded a couple of 78s on the Wattle label, most notably a lovely version of ''Green Bushes’''(learned from the singing of Sally Sloane).

TV appearances (TV was then in its infancy) led to her writing, compering and performing on a live-to-air children’s show for Channel 9 for the princely sum of five pounds a week. Her co-star was former child-actor Desmond Tester, who subsequently ran camel tours in the outback. In 1965 RCA released the album 'Folk Concert On Campus' a live album recorded at Sydney University with other folk luminaries, Declan Affley, Roger Waterson, Astrid Frost, Jeannie Lewis, Paul Marks and Marian Henderson. Beth sings two songs on the album ''The Keys Of Canterbury'' and ''The Next Market Day''. Raising a family ultimately put paid to Schurr’s folk singing career, although she would continue to perform occasionally into the 1960s.

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