The Story of Australian Country Music

A Tribute to Buddy

A Tribute to Johnny

A Tribute to Jimmy

A Tribute to Reg

A Tribute to Shirley

A Tribute to Slim

– Slim, Chronicler of the Bush

A Tribute to Smoky

A Tribute to Tex

– Tex Morton White Guitars

A Tribute to The McKean Sisters

Arch Kerr – pioneer record producer

Australia's College of Country Music

Bicentennial Concert 1970

The Big Golden Guitar

Birth of the Golden Guitars

Brief History of the Golden Guitar Awards

Brief History of Star Maker

Country Music Capital Meets Music City

Country Music Hands of Fame

Country Music Media

Country Music Roll of Renown

Country Timeline

First The Song

Golden Guitar Memories

Golden Guitar Pioneers

Golden Guitar Winners Tally

The Gympie Muster

The Hadley Records Story

History of the College of Country Music

How the CMAA Was Born

How Tamworth became Country Music Capital

How the College of Country Music Works

Introduction

The John Minson Story

Links

Minson Memories

Narrative! Narrative! Narrative!

Origins of the Tamworth Country Music Festival

Radio Ranch & Spurs

Sources and Resources

Stairway to Stardom

The Story of Maton Guitars

Tamworth, We've Done Us Proud

What is Country Music

For more information

Contact: Max Ellis

Email info@historyofcountrymusic.com.au

Disclaimer

All matters relating to the conduct of this site remain under the total control of Max Ellis or his nominees who will endeavour to ensure the accuracy and balance of the content and proper conduct of the site but, subject to legal requirements, cannot be held responsible for any digression or non-compliance in respect of these matters.

Australian Country Music Hands of Fame 

By three years after the start of the Australasian Country Music Awards in 1973, 2TM executives could see that the Tamworth Country Music Festival was beginning to attract large numbers of tourists to Country Music Capital.

But basically the concept still existed only in the growing Festival staged each January. They recognised that Tamworth needed some tangible manifestations of country music which would help to maintain the city's developing reputation and provide an attraction for tourists throughout the entire year.

Photo, from left, Buddy Williams, Tex Morton and Smoky Dawson are the first three to be inducted into Country Music Capital's Hands of Fame.

The first such "concrete" attraction was the Roll of Renown, launched in 1976 and it was quickly followed by the Country Music Hands of Fame, designed to honour individuals who had made a significant and on going contribution to Australian country music. In 1976, after negotiations with a sympathetic City Council, 2TM received permission to build the monument in what was then known as CWA Park on the corner of Kable Avenue and Bridge Street in the heart of the city.

The small park was adjacent to the CWA Building in Kable Ave. and was notable for a mounted De Havilland Vampire jet aircraft, which still soars over the park today.  The park had a number of bordered flowerbeds and it was decided to design a low wall with a space on top for notable country music personalities to leave their handprints in cement. Photo: at the official opening of the Hands of Fame, from left, Slim Dusty, Max Ellis, Nick Erby, John Minson and Joy McKean. Click on the photo for a larger image.

One Sunday afternoon in late 1976, Max Ellis, John Minson and visiting New Zealand singer Dusty Spittle (right) arrived at the park with a trailer and pulled up the existing flower bed closest to the corner.  Later a low pebble coated wall was built in a roughly oval shape and by January 1977 it was ready for the first imprinting.

Mr Hoedown John Minson compered most of the early ceremonies and it was not uncommon for a thousand or more people to attend on Saturday morning of the main festival weekends to see the stars. 

The Hands of Fame Cornerstone (as it was called originally) was officially opened by Mayor of Tamworth, Norm Mackellar at 10.00 am on Saturday, 29th of January, 1977.  Standing by were 2TM staffers and concrete contractor Trevor Smith who handled the actual mixing, placing and imprinting in all the early years.  For many years local country music personality Lorraine Pfitzner acted as Keeper of Hands, making sure it was well maintained and cared for, a job now carried out by the ACMF.

The first hands imprinted were Tex Morton, Buddy Williams and Smoky Dawson who pressed their hands simultaneously into the cement (see photo at top) followed by Reg Lindsay, Buddy Bishop, Rick & Thel and others. Slim Dusty and Joy McKean joined them later that day. Nineteen stars were imprinted in 1977 and over the following decades from 5 to 20 people have been imprinted each year. Not only artists are invited to be a part of the monument. Radio presenters, promoters, record producers, writers and other people who had made a significant contribution to Australian country music are invited to join the ranks of the "Hands Of Famers".  As of January 2011 there are more than 250 imprints of individuals, groups and duos clustered in five large formations.

Virtually all the handprints have been made on the spot in January with a couple of notable exceptions being stars unable to attend or who are in Tamworth at some other date. These include Nashville based Diana Trask who was imprinted during a mid year visit and  an aged Norm Scott who was unable to leave Sydney. All handprints are identified by a small brass plaque and a signature or logo in the concrete and inductees are given a handcrafted wooden scriber.

In 1979 the ceremony was affected by heavy rain and it's still possible to see the rain drop pitted surface in imprints that year.

In 1983, 2TM published a Hands of Fame Hand Book with bios and pictures of inductees and there are plans for a new such guide in the future.

For 19 years, the Hands of Fame was administered by Radio 2TM but when they vacated the country field in 1995, responsibility for the Hands of Fame was passed to the Australian Country Music Foundation (ACMF) which selects candidates on behalf of Tamworth Regional Council and makes the announcement at its special concert on the first Saturday of the January Festival.

After more than 30 years, the Country Music Hands of Fame has become more than just a famous Tamworth tourist attraction. It has become a proud record of hundreds of individuals who have made Australian country music what it is today.     

Following is a list of inductees by each year since the Hands of Fame inauguration in January 1977. Hands of Fame inductees are determined each year by the Australian Country Music Foundation, administrators of the Australian Country Music Hall of Fame. on behalf of Tamworth Regional Council.