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'A moving and inspiring memoir of families lost and rediscovered, by a founding member of legendary band Midnight Oil.
'For fifty years, songwriter, guitarist and keyboard player Jim Moginie was a driving force behind the startling rise and global success of one of Australia's most powerful, influential and iconic rock bands. Through the ups and downs of writing and releasing generation-defining songs, touring relentlessly and enduring the intense scrutiny drawn by the band's uncompromising lyrics and environmental activism, the members of Midnight Oil developed a feeling of 'five against the world', the firm friends forming a de facto family.
'For Jim Moginie, the band was a calling and a refuge, and a distraction from a growing feeling that something was missing from his life. Raised by a loving family, he'd learned as a child that his biological mother had given him up for adoption. Gradually, alongside the Oils' unfolding saga of stardom and controversy, Jim began a quest to find his birth family, these twin paths leading him from suburban Sydney through the nascent Australian punk scene and the uncharted musical territory of the Western deserts to the stadiums of Europe and America, the meandering roads and verdant hills of rural Ireland, countless musical collaborations, and poignant reunions with band members and long-lost relatives.
'Threaded with vivid recollections of childhood and travel, entertaining behind-the-scenes stories of band life, and fascinating insights into the creative processes that produced some of this country's most beloved songs, The Silver River is at once a lyrical coming-of-age story, a heart-warming family chronicle, and a must-read for anyone interested in the history of Australian music.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Large print.
Works about this Work
-
The Silver River by Jim Moginie Review – a Midnight Oil Memoir Tinged with Sadness
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 8 March 2024;
— Review of The Silver River 2024 single work autobiography 'Moginie’s book may not scratch every itch, but it is a sometimes lyrical and moving look at how one of Australia’s biggest bands became a beast of burden' -
Bold’, ‘extremely Fun’, ‘luminously Written’ : The Best Australian Books Out in March
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 6 March 2024;
— Review of 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem 2024 selected work poetry ; The Silver River 2024 single work autobiography ; One Another 2024 single work novel ; Appreciation 2024 single work novel ; Loving My Lying, Dying, Cheating Husband 2024 single work autobiography ; Servo : Tales from the Graveyard Shift 2024 single work autobiography ; The Cancer Finishing School : Lessons in Laughter, Love and Resilience 2024 single work autobiography ; Thanks for Having Me 2024 single work novel ; Lead Us Not 2024 single work novel ; Always Will Be : Stories of Goori Sovereignty from the Futures of the Tweed 2024 selected work short story
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Bold’, ‘extremely Fun’, ‘luminously Written’ : The Best Australian Books Out in March
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 6 March 2024;
— Review of 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem 2024 selected work poetry ; The Silver River 2024 single work autobiography ; One Another 2024 single work novel ; Appreciation 2024 single work novel ; Loving My Lying, Dying, Cheating Husband 2024 single work autobiography ; Servo : Tales from the Graveyard Shift 2024 single work autobiography ; The Cancer Finishing School : Lessons in Laughter, Love and Resilience 2024 single work autobiography ; Thanks for Having Me 2024 single work novel ; Lead Us Not 2024 single work novel ; Always Will Be : Stories of Goori Sovereignty from the Futures of the Tweed 2024 selected work short story -
The Silver River by Jim Moginie Review – a Midnight Oil Memoir Tinged with Sadness
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 8 March 2024;
— Review of The Silver River 2024 single work autobiography 'Moginie’s book may not scratch every itch, but it is a sometimes lyrical and moving look at how one of Australia’s biggest bands became a beast of burden'