Martyn Wyndham-Read & No Man's Band - Away To Tintinara

Tintinara is a small country town on the road from Melbourne to Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It was there that I went to work on the sheep and cattle station Emu Springs, situated some distance out from Tintinara. My journey out there back in the early 1960’s still hangs vividly in my mind, and Mike O’Connor’s song, aptly named Away To Tintinara brings this memory even more to life. The word Tintinara is aboriginal for the stars within Orion’s belt, which is the only constellation that can be seen at certain times in both the Southern and Northern hemispheres. This is of significance to me as I myself can be heard and seen, at certain times, in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Also when I headed out to Australia as a young lad, I went by liner and on the Orion, which was one of its last voyages. It was while I was at Emu Springs that I first heard and was captivated by the Australian songs, and my ears became opened to them. Some of the ones recorded here go back to the early days, and with Mike’s song it is now up to date.