Chris Wilson

The Australian Music Vault is proud to honour the 2020 Music Victoria Hall of Fame inductee, Chris Wilson.

When Chris Wilson passed away just under two years ago, Australia and, in particular, Melbourne lost one of its greatest blues musicians. A prominent fixture on the Melbourne music scene, Wilson had a reputation as a passionate performer and gifted songwriter. He first took to the stage with the rhythm and blues band, The Sole Twisters, in the 1980s and spent the next three decades honing his craft with numerous bands and collaborations. He is, however, best remembered for his large body of solo work as well as fronting the band, Crown of Thorns. Whether singing, playing harmonica, saxophone or guitar, Wilson was a towering talent who knew how to captivate an audience. 

Born in 1956 in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Wilson’s earliest influences were local Australian blues players like Matt Taylor and Brod Smith, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. While completing his studies to become a teacher, he began to explore his early interests in music, eventually progressing from garage bands to the better known R&B band, The Sole Twisters, in 1984 and blues rock outfit, Harem Scarem, in 1985. Playing harmonica and saxophone alongside Barry Palmer, Peter Jones, brothers Charles and Christopher Marshall and Glen Sheldon, Wilson and the group recorded a debut studio album, Pilgrim’s Progress for Au Go Go Records in 1986.

In 1987, Wilson began recording and performing his own songs, forming the band Crown of Thorns with Palmer and Chris Rogers. Together they produced and released a debut, six-track extended play, Gnawing on the Bones of Elvis, in 1988, and in 1989 Justin Brady, Barbara Waters and former bandmate Jones, joined them for the release of the studio album, Carnival. The album was a mix of blues, country and folk, but the highlight of the album was Wilson’s composition, ‘The Ballad of Slim Boy Fat’, which featured his powerful and distinctive voice front and centre. In 1990 the group, with the addition of Ashley Davies, released a second album, Babylon.

Throughout the 1990s, Wilson continued to expand his repertoire through both his solo work and musical collaborations. He formed The Pub Dogs, a short-lived band, with Palmer, Graham Lee and Marko Halstead and recorded a single live EP, Scatter’s Liver: Pub Dogs Live on the Wireless, at triple j’s studios in Melbourne, which was released in 1991 on Shock Records. In 1992 he was signed to Mushroom Records label Aurora, and he and Rogers joined forces with Peter Luscombe and Shane O’Mara to record and release Landlocked, which went on to be nominated for Best Breakthrough Artist – Album at the 1993 ARIA Music Awards in the same year that Wilson was also nominated for Best Male Artist. 

As well as his solo work, Wilson was a highly regarded session player and appeared on numerous significant Australian albums at this time. He provided harmonica on Crowded House’s album Woodface (1991) and Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls’ debut album, Gossip (1986), and joined Kelly’s 45-date promotional tour of North America in 1987. In the same year he also guested on their follow-up album, Under The Sun (1987), the Hunters and Collectors’, What’s a Few Men? (1987), and provided backing vocals for the Merril Bainbridge song ‘Under the Water’ for her album The Garden (1995).

Wilson was awarded numerous accolades throughout his career in recognition of his incredible talent. In addition to Landlocked he received an ARIA Nomination for Best Male Artist in 1995 for his critically acclaimed album, Live at the Continental. Recorded at Prahran’s Continental Cafe in 1994, the collection later became the subject of a short film by Chris Franklin, Chris Wilson Live at The Continental 23 Years On, and screened at the St Kilda Film Festival in 2017. Similarly, his 1998 solo album, The Long Weekend, was nominated for Best Male Artist at the ARIA Awards of the same year. His 1996 collaboration with Diesel (Mark Lizotte), which resulted in the album, Short Cool Ones, on Mushroom Records, became Australia’s bestselling blues album ever. 

Post 2000, Wilson continued to produce a diverse range of albums spanning acoustic, folk, blues, country and rock. Teaming up with Rogers again, Shannon Bourne and Dave Folley he formed Chris Wilson and the Spidermen, issuing a solo album, Spiderman, which according to a Rhythms Magazine reader’s poll, was rated the Best Australian Blues Album of 2000. In 2002, Kerryn Tolhurst produced his next album, King for a Day, which featured Cyndi Boste and his wife Sarah Carroll on guest vocals. And in 2012 and 2018 he released his fifth and sixth solo studio albums, Flying Fish and Chris Wilson respectively. In his final years he took great pleasure in creating music with his two sons, Fenn and George, and losing himself in the improvisational rock outfit, Skronkadoodledoo, where he performed alongside Fenn and Shannon Bourne.

When Wilson was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2018, the Melbourne music community rallied together at a benefit concert at Richmond’s Corner Hotel to raise thousands of dollars to assist with his treatment. This, in addition to being inducted into the Blues Music Victoria Hall of Fame in 2019 as the inaugural People’s Choice Blues Legend, highlights just how highly regarded he was within the music industry and community. Wilson passed away on 16 January 2019, aged 63, but his legacy continues to live on in those who have been touched by his music.

I have seen and heard thousands of musicians in my time. I have seen musicians from all around the world, but no one anywhere could equal Chris Wilson in his stride. His voice and harp playing resonated deeply inside each and every one of us; he took you to another part of the planet. This was a man who made you feel; feel good, feel hopeful, happy or connected. He made you reflect but, no matter what, he always made you feel.

Visit the Chris Wilson Facebook Page

The Music Victoria Awards is an annual celebration of Victorian music featuring industry and publically voted categories. Winners will be announced and Mary Mihelakos and the late Chris Wilson will be inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame, at a ceremony at the Melbourne Recital Centre on 9 December 2020. The event will be livestreamed on YouTube and broadcast via Channel 31.

You can find a full list of 2020 Music Victoria Awards nominees here.