Clem Parkinson

Kevin Conway

1966 · Not On Label · Australia

Artist
Clem Parkinson
Title
Kevin Conway
Release
Unreleased
Year
1966
Label
Not On Label
Format
Unreleased · Unreleased
Language
English
Country
Australia
Genre
Folk · Contemporary Folk
Primary theme
Peace, Protest & Anti-War

Annotation

Clem Parkinson, contemporary folk artist, born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He wrote the song "Kevin Conway", about the first Australian casualty in the Vietnam War. Conway, born 11 December 1928, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, was a Warrant Officer Class 2, with the Australian Army Training Team Vietnam. He was killed in action (K.I.A.), in the Battle of Nam Dong, South Vietnam on 6 July 1964, aged 35 years, buried at Kranji War Cemetery in Singapore. His remains were repatriated to Australia 2nd June 2016. (1) (2) (3) There is a recording of the song at the National Library of Australia, dated 1966, under the title: "Clem Parkinson sings his own contemporary folk songs in the Norm O'Connor folklore collection". (4) The lyrics of this song featured in The Vietnam Songbook published in 1969, and compiled by Barbara Dane and Irwin Silber (founders of Paredon Records) - containing 100+ Vietnam War protest songs, 9 of which came from Australia & New Zealand. Notes in the book said "the first Australian casualty of the Vietnam War was a young warrant officer by the name of Kevin Conway. He was killed in July of 1966. About myself: I am 37 years of age, a member of the New…

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Notes

Recording of the song at the National Library of Australia, dated 1966, under the title: "Clem Parkinson sings his own contemporary folk songs in the Norm O'Connor folklore collection". The lyrics of this song featured in The Vietnam Songbook published in 1969.

About the artist

born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Themes

Anti-War · ANZUS

In collections

Australian & New Zealand Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs