Musician and The Dingoes frontman Broderick Smith has died, aged 75.
Smith had an extensive career playing blues, boogie, country and rock music in Australia and abroad.
A statement posted to his website said the singer-songwriter died peacefully at home on April 30.
"Hope you finally find the holy grail of harmonica tones wherever you are," said his son, Ambrose Kenny-Smith of band King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.
"I love you so much. I am lost without you but the show must go on.
"Goodbye for now you beautiful lil weirdo wombat."
Smith was born in England but migrated to Australia as a child, growing up in St Albans on what was once Melbourne's fringe.
It was there he first started playing music, performing in bands from the age of 14 — on the harmonica, banjo and guitar as well as on the mic.
After Smith left high school, he worked a range of odd jobs and his music career began when he jointed the legendary Adderley Smith Blues Band in 1966.
His rock career was put on hold when he was drafted for two years' national service in 1968. He returned from the army with his passion for music still intact, forming the country-roots band Sundown in 1970 and then boogie and blues outfit Carson in 1972.
Carson was Smith's first taste of commercial success, with the band signing onto major label Harvest EMI and touring the country.
From St Albans to the globe
What came next was what cemented Smith's place as an Australian music legend — forming and becoming the frontman of The Dingoes.
They signed to Mushroom Records and released first single Way Out West in 1973 to commercial and critical acclaim.
The following year, their self-titled debut album was a top 20 hit.
Also on the album's track list was hit Boy on the Run, co-written with bandmate Chris Stockley.
"With the guitar and songwriting talents of Kerryn Tolhurst in their corner, along with the abilities of fellow guitarist Chris Stockley and the vocals of Broderick Smith, The Dingoes resided in that exceptional era of Australian music, where musicianship and songwriting combined to create hit after hit," Rolling Stone wrote in 2021.
"For the Melbourne group, they seemed to be delivering world-class songs at every turn, with almost every track on their 1974 debut viewed as a classic amongst fans of Seventies Aus rock."
Speaking to the ABC in 2018, Smith reflected that "there was a lot of madness in the Dingoes" at the time.
The success of the album helped the band tour the country and work with international superstars.
They then moved to the United States, where they picked up American management and recorded their second album, 1977's Five Times The Sun.
That record also rose to the top 20 on the Australian charts.
Returning home in 1978, Smith formed Broderick Smith's Hired Hands and Broderick Smith's Big Combo in the following years. He released his first solo album in 1984.
In the years since, he continued collaborating with other artists at home and overseas, as well as releasing more albums under his name.
"He has recorded with Cat Stevens, Jimmy Barnes, Steve Cropper, The Memphis Horns, Buffy Saint Marie, Phil Ochs, Ted Egan, Tommy and Phil Emmanuel. The list goes on and on," his website biography reads.
"Brod's been involved in the writing of somewhere around 200 songs and his solo albums have seen him writing virtually all the lyrics.
"He generally starts off with the lyric in a prose form and then when the music is written, tends to change the lyrics to suit the music. Broderick believes lyrics should say something and not just be something to sing along to."
In 1992, Way Out West returned to the Australian charts when James Blundell and James Reyne recorded a cover which made it to number 2 and stayed in the top 50 for nearly two months.
Reyne told ABC Radio Melbourne he first saw Smith play when he was at school at saw at least 40 Dingoes gigs while they were playing.
"I was just a big, big fan," he said.
"I got to know Broderick a bit and he was just wonderful, just a fantastic guy."
King Gizzard and the ARIA hall of fame
The Dingoes were inducted into the ARIA hall of fame in 2009.
A year later, the band released a new record, Tracks, which again returned them to the Australian charts.
He also appeared on television, including acting in programs such as Blue Heelers and the State Coroner.
Smith spent much of the end of his life in Castlemaine in central Victoria.
"I live a fairly pecuniary existence," Smith told ABC Radio Melbourne in 2018.
"But it's comfortable … and I like it. I've got all my books and friends."
Music runs through Smith's family, with his son Ambrose Kenny-Smith a member of prolific rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard.
Their cult classic spoken-word 2013 album Eyes Like The Sky was narrated by Smith.
"It's a great match – Smith's deep drawl sells the drama of his blood-soaked original story, which combined with the band's backing, immediately conjures a palpable sense of atmosphere," Double J wrote about the record.
Smith kept working in music, including running workshops in song writing, vocals and harmonica. He spoke often of his other children, Perry and Edith.
"I'm not retired but I am an old pensioner dude now," Smith told Australian Musician in 2018.
"I'll do as much as I can but as I say, I'm 70 and the phone's not ringing for me to be on the cover of Vanity Fair. I'm just trying to pack in as much as I can."
