Don Walker (musician)
{{short description|Australian musician and songwriter (born 1951)}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Don Walker
| image = Don Walker, Australian musician.jpg
| caption = Walker in 2015
| birth_name = Donald Hugh Walker
| alias =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1951|11|29}}
| death_date =
| birth_place = Ayr, Queensland, Australia
| instrument = {{hlist|Keyboards|piano}}
| genre = {{hlist|Rock|hard rock|pub rock|blues|alternative country}}
| occupation = Musician, songwriter, author
| years_active = 1973–present
| label = Mushroom Records, Universal Music Group
| associated_acts = Cold Chisel, Tex, Don and Charlie
| website = [http://donwalker.com.au Official Site]
| current_members =
| past_members =
}}
Donald Hugh Walker (born 29 November 1951) is an Australian musician and songwriter who wrote many of the hits for Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel.
Walker is considered to be one of Australia's best songwriters.{{cite web | work = Sydney Morning Herald | title=Don Walker, writer extraordinaire |author=Michael Epis|url=http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/blogs/episodes/don-walker-writer-extraordinaire/20100118-meit.html| publisher = Fairfax| access-date=15 January 2011|date=18 January 2010}}{{cite web| work = Age Blogs| author = Lindsay Tanner| title = Don Walker's Shots on target| url = http://blogs.theage.com.au/business/lindsaytanner/2009/04/22/donwalkerssho.html| publisher = Fairfax| access-date = 15 January 2011| date = 22 April 2009| archive-date = 25 January 2010| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100125071709/http://blogs.theage.com.au/business/lindsaytanner/2009/04/22/donwalkerssho.html| url-status = dead}}{{cite news|work=The Age|title=Chisel come in from the cold |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/music/chisel-come-in-from-the-cold/2007/03/29/1174761614450.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2 |access-date=1 July 2012|date=30 March 2007}} In 2012 he was inducted into the Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame.{{cite web|work=Australian Songwriters Association|title=The Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame|url=http://www.asai.org.au/halloffame|access-date=7 January 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317102512/http://www.asai.org.au/halloffame|archive-date=17 March 2012|df=dmy-all}}
He played piano and keyboard with Cold Chisel from 1973 to 1983, when they disbanded. He has since continued to record and tour, both solo, initially under the name Catfish and as Tex, Don and Charlie, and worked as a songwriter for others. In 2009, he released his first book.
Richard Clapton describes Walker as, "the most Australian writer there has ever been. Don just digs being a sort of Beat poet, who goes around observing, especially around the streets of Kings Cross. He soaks it up like a sponge and articulates it so well. Quite frankly, I think he's better than the rest of us."{{cite book | author=John O'Donnell, Toby Creswell & Craig Mathieson
| title=The 100 Best Australian Albums |year=2010| publisher = Hardie Grant Books | location = Prahran, Victoria |isbn=978-1-74066-955-9 |pages=150}}
Biography
=1951–1972: Early life and family=
Walker was born in Ayr, Queensland, to a farmer father and schoolteacher mother.{{cite book | last=Kruger, Debbie |title=Songwriters Speak |year=2005 | publisher = Limelight Press | location = Balmain, New South Wales |isbn=978-0-9757080-3-3|pages=267–287}} His grandfather had served at Gallipoli in World War I, and then at the Battle of Pozières, where he was shot in the face. Returning to Australia, he married the sister of his best friend, who had died in the same battle.{{cite news| work= The Age | title=War's empty spaces| author=Jane Sullivan | url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/books/wars-empty-spaces/2005/08/24/1124562912794.html}}
Walker's father was a harmonica player and fan of Larry Adler. Walker said, "He was always very keen on gospel and blues music, and 30s swing. I was familiar with that before I could talk."{{cite news| work= The Age | title=Walker on the wild side|author=Mike Daly|date=15 October 1988 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/120676937/}}{{subscription required|s}} He said his father was in, "the AIF in Palestine and Syria in WW2 and in what was then Ceylon and three tours of New Guinea."{{cite news| work= Sydney Morning Herald | title=Lunch with songwriter Don Walker: 'I live in a dream'|author=Shona Martyn | url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/lunch-with-songwriter-don-walker-i-live-in-a-dream-20190905-p52o99.html}}{{cite news|author=Tim Elliott|work=Sun Herald|title=Trip into the past with Walker |url=http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac?page=1&sy=nstore&kw=khe+sanh&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=entire&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=100&rm=200&sp=adv&clsPage=1&docID=SHD0905101M6H936DPQJ |access-date=28 January 2014|date=10 May 2009}} He owned a cane farm on Rita Island on the Burdekin River, where Walker lived until the age of 4.{{cite journal | author = Chris Whiting | title = Take a Walker on the Mild Side | journal = Rave Magazine| issue = 2 March 1994 |page = 24 | publisher = Rave Magazine Pty Ltd | location = Stones Corner, QLD }} His family later moved to Grafton, where a local piano teacher, Dot Morris, taught him, "a little bit of Chopin.....a lot of Fats Waller repertoire, and also Winifred Atwell." Later, he, "got into organ and the main influences were Stevie Winwood's 60s stuff and Ray Manzarek."{{cite journal | author = Lesley Sly| title = Catfish Capers | journal = Sonics| issue =March/April 1989|page=19 | publisher = Federal Publishing Co. | location = Alexandria, NSW }}
Having completed a degree in physics in the 1970s at the University of New England residing at Robb College.{{cite web|url=https://www.une.edu.au/connect/news/2020/10/australias-greatest-songwriter-awarded-une-honorary-doctorate|title="Australia's Greatest Songwriter" awarded UNE Honorary Doctorate |website=University of New England}} Walker was working for the Weapons Research Establishment, when he helped form Cold Chisel in 1973.{{cite news|newspaper=The Australian|title=Standing on the outside |author=Drew Warne-Smith|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/standing-on-the-outside/story-e6frg8h6-1111118775864|access-date=28 June 2011|date=7 February 2009}}
=1973–1983: Cold Chisel=
{{Main|Cold Chisel}}
File:Cold Chisel-54 (6949061802) (cropped).jpg in 2012.]]
Cold Chisel are an Australian pub rock band, formed in 1973. From the earliest days, Walker was a creative songwriting force for the band. He became known for his passionate and raw lyrical observations on the Australian society and culture of the time. His songwriting credits include the hit singles "Flame Trees," "Saturday Night," "Choirgirl,""Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye)", "Cheap Wine," and the Australian Vietnam war song "Khe Sanh" (voted the 8th greatest Australian song of all time by the Australasian Performing Right Association in 2001).{{cite web|publisher= APRA-AMCOS|title = 2001 – Top 10 Songs|url = http://www.apraamcos.com.au/APRAAwards/MusicAwards/History/2001Top10Songs.aspx|access-date = 7 August 2009|date= 28 May 2009|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100611003021/http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/APRAAwards/MusicAwards/History/2001Top10Songs.aspx |archive-date = 11 June 2010}}
During his time with Cold Chisel, Walker produced his first work outside the band, the soundtrack of the Australian movie Freedom, directed by Scott Hicks. The soundtrack was released as an album and featured members of Cold Chisel and Michael Hutchence. The Age described it as, "the best rock music written for an Australian movie."{{cite news|newspaper=The Age|title=Nice and easy every time|author=Mike Daly|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TQNVAAAAIBAJ&pg=1553,4139452&dq|access-date=8 January 2012|date=8 April 1982}}
=1983–1991: hiatus & Catfish=
{{main|Unlimited Address}}
After Cold Chisel disbanded in 1983, Walker had a five-year hiatus before resuming recording and performing. Initially, he had considered hiring an actor to mime the songs before deciding to front Catfish himself {{cite magazine| magazine= Rolling Stone Australia | title=Standing On The Outside|author=John Halfhide | date=1988}} Ostensibly a band, Catfish was in effect a solo project, featuring Walker on vocals, keyboards and penning all the songs. Catfish featured various backing musicians, such as Charlie Owen, Ian Moss, Ricky Fataar and harmonica player David Blight.
The first album, Unlimited Address, released in 1989, showed a jazzier, Eastern European side to Walker's songwriting, reflecting his travels during the previous years. Despite being critically lauded, sales were moderate, the album reaching number 49 in the national charts.{{cite book | author= David Kent |title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|year=1993|page=58
|publisher=Australian Chart Book |location=St Ives, New South Wales |isbn=0-646-11917-6}} The second album, Ruby was a return to Australia in sound and lyrical subject matter. Again, it was well received by critics but sold relatively poorly. The track "Charleville" was later to receive country music awards when covered by Slim Dusty.
=1992–present: Tex, Don and Charlie=
{{main|Tex, Don and Charlie}}
In early 1992, Walker featured in an acoustic live performance for alternative radio station JJJ with Charlie Owen, James Cruickshank and Tex Perkins.{{cite journal | author = Chris Mundy | title = Random Notes | journal = Australian Rolling Stone | issue = June 1992|pages = 13| publisher = Tilmond Pty Ltd | location = Sydney, NSW }} Six months later, Perkins proposed to Walker that they record an album together. Walker described the recording as a number of informal afternoons spent jamming in the studio. "It wasn't an album approached with any sort of seriousness. It wasn't until we had it all done that we started to realise we might have something special."{{cite news | work = Canberra Times | author=Mike Gee| title = Melancholy Muso | url = http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127254762?searchTerm=don%20walker%20catfish&searchLimits= | access-date = 26 March 2014|date=16 December 1993}}
In 1993 Tex, Don and Charlie released their first album, Sad but True on Red Eye Records. The record, an acoustic country-tinged affair, returned Walker to some level of popular awareness and received rave reviews in magazines like Australian Rolling Stone. About half the songs were written by Walker, including "Sitting in a Bar". The band toured strongly on the back of the album, later releasing a live album Monday Morning Coming Down..., featuring tracks from Sad But True.
2005 saw the release of a third Tex, Don and Charlie album, All is Forgiven, similar in style to the first. Again, Walker wrote about half the songs, including "Harry was a Bad Bugger", described by Chris Johnston as, "the Australian song of the year",{{cite web | work = Age | publisher = Fairfax | title=So, what have you been listening to?|author=Chris Johnston|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/music/sound-decisions/2005/12/29/1135732680935.html|access-date=16 October 2009|date=30 December 2005}} and by Mess & Noise as, "one of the finest Australian compositions of the last 20 years."{{cite news|author=Aaron Curran|work=Mess+Noise|title=Report: All Tomorrow's Parties Day 2 |url=http://www.messandnoise.com/articles/4560967 |access-date=3 April 2013|date=20 February 2013}} The album was shortlisted for the inaugural Australian Music Prize.{{cite web |url=http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/news/local/4142/The-Drones-Take-Out-The-Inaugural-AMP-Australian-Music-Prize.htm |title=The Drones Take Out The Inaugural AMP (Australian Music Prize) |publisher=Faster Louder |date=9 March 2006 |access-date=22 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907202717/http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/news/local/4142/The-Drones-Take-Out-The-Inaugural-AMP-Australian-Music-Prize.htm |archive-date=7 September 2008 |url-status=dead }}
The trio continue to release music, including their 2017 album, You Don't Know Lonely, which peaked at number 14 on the ARIA Charts.
=1995–present: Solo career=
In 1995, Walker's released his debut studio album under his own name, We're All Gunna Die. He stated that it was the first album to carry his name as, "it was the first record that finished up how I wanted it."{{cite web | publisher = Undercover | author = Tim Cashmere | title = Review: Don Walker – We're All Gunna Die (Reissue) | url = http://www.undercover.com.au/News-Story.aspx?id=8841 | access-date = 7 August 2009 | date = 24 July 2009 | url-status = dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090726104824/http://www.undercover.com.au/News-Story.aspx?id=8841 | archive-date = 26 July 2009 | df = dmy-all }} Rehearsal sessions were held over four afternoons in Walker's lounge room, and all songs were recorded in 3 takes or less.{{cite news| work=Canberra Times | author=Liz Arimtage| title = Don Walker finding his musical pulse again| url = http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130564879?searchTerm=don%20walker%20catfish&searchLimits= | access-date=26 March 2014 | date= 19 October 1995}} The band featured David Blight, Garrett Costigan on pedal-steel guitar and Red Rivers on guitar. The music was a ragged mix of country, Chicago blues and balladry, and featured the song "Eternity".
Commencing in 2005, Walker toured Australia occasionally with his backing band, The Suave Fucks (named after a line from Blue Velvet).{{cite news| work= Sydney Morning Herald | title=Don Walker: From the highway to Hully Gully|author=Michael Dwyer | url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/don-walker-from-the-highway-to-hully-gully-20180404-h0ybt7.html}} They featured Roy Payne on baritone guitar, Michael Vidale on bass, Hamish Stuart on drums, Garrett Costigan, and Glen Hannah on guitar until his death in 2019.{{cite news| work= ABC News | title=Glen Hannah remembered as a 'genius who made an art of making others sound amazing'|author=Caitlin Furlong | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-14/country-music-industry-to-farewell-glen-hannah/11198298}}
In 2009, Walker published his first book, Shots. It was an autobiographical collection of smaller pieces, rarely more than a few pages in length. The subject matter was mostly recollections of rural Australia or life with Cold Chisel before they became famous. A separate piece by Walker had previously been included in The Best Australian Essays collection for 2007.{{cite web | work = Sydney Morning Herald | publisher= Fairfax| title=The Best Australian Essays 2007 | author=Andrew Reimer| url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/book-reviews/the-best-australian-essays-2007/2007/11/23/1195753291593.html|access-date=2 January 2011|date=24 November 2007}} Shots received a number of positive reviews:{{cite web|publisher = Time Out Sydney|title = Shots from the hip|url = http://www.timeoutsydney.com.au/books/don-walker.aspx|access-date = 9 July 2009 |url-status = dead|archive-url = https://archive.today/20121231001141/http://www.timeoutsydney.com.au/books/don-walker.aspx|archive-date = 31 December 2012|df = dmy-all
}} The Age described the memoir as "a whip crack across a landscape of rural Australia, lonely highways and endless gigs;"{{cite web | work = Age | publisher = Fairfax | title=Don Walker charts rise and fall of Cold Chisel| url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/books/musical-notes/2009/02/09/1234027948279.html| access-date=9 July 2009|date=13 February 2009}} in the Australian Book Review it was called "a quite wonderful book [that] blasts away every last vestige of the crude, boozy, foot-stomping, flag-waving Australiana that has until now enveloped the Cold Chisel story like a filthy smog, leaving behind only the simmering highways, the trashy motels, the dank pubs and the monotonous suburbs of a nation slouching apathetically through the remnants of the 20th century." Readings from Shots, as performed by Walker, were aired on Radio National throughout late 2009.{{cite web |title=First Person|url=http://www.abc.net.au/rn/firstperson/stories/2009/2655893.htm|access-date= 31 October 2009 | publisher= ABC}}
In 2011, Walker released his first live album, Live in Queenscliff. The album features a performance with The Suave Fucks at the 2006 Queenscliff Music Festival.File:Don_Walker_at_Mullum.jpg in 2015]]
In August 2013, Walker released Hully Gully, which was recorded with the Suave Fucks over a decade. Joe Henry was asked to mix the album because Walker was impressed by his work on the Allen Toussaint album The Bright Mississippi, saying, "it sounded like Duke Ellington produced by Jimmy Page. I just fell in love with the record."{{cite web| work= The Music| title=Gareth Liddiard Interviews Don Walker [Part One]| first = Gareth | last = Liddiard | url=http://themusic.com.au/interviews/all/2013/08/23/don-walker-gareth-liddiard/19076/|access-date=29 September 2014|date=23 August 2013}} Named after a simple 60s dance,{{cite web| work= Mess and Noise | title=Don Walker: Painting The Picture| first =Doug | last = Wallen | url=http://www.messandnoise.com/articles/4610533|access-date=29 September 2014|date=28 August 2013}} it was thought by some to be his best album to date,{{cite web| work= Unpaved| title=Interview: Don Walker| first =Les | last = Thomas | url=http://unpaved.com.au/interview-don-walker/|access-date=29 September 2014|date=10 September 2014}} but failed to chart.
In March 2018, Walker released a six-album vinyl box set of his solo back catalogue. Five of the albums had never been on vinyl before, with Walker saying "It's a way of reviewing the whole catalogue, without doing a best-of."{{cite web|url=http://www.noise11.com/news/don-walker-to-release-blacktop-vinyl-box-set-20171205|title=Don Walker To Release Blacktop Vinyl Box Set |website=noise11 |date=5 December 2017 |access-date=17 September 2020}}
In 2019 Walker released the book Songs; a publication of Walker solo work and collaborations over 40 years from Cold Chisel to Tex, Don & Charlie and his solo albums.{{Citation | author1=Walker, Don | author2=Barnes, Jimmy, (writer of foreword.) | title=Songs | date=2019 | publisher=Black Inc | isbn=978-1-76064-150-4 }}
In April 2022,{{cite web |title=Dr Don Walker addresses a UNE graduation ceremony |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=712vx3RyqOc |publisher=University of New England |date=9 Jun 2022 |access-date=4 June 2024}} Walker was presented the Doctor of Letters honoris causa degree from his alma mater, the University of New England, for contributions to Australian music. Graduation was delayed due to Covid-19.{{cite web |title=UNE's latest honorary appointments |url=https://www.une.edu.au/connect/news/2020/10/unes-latest-honorary-appointments|publisher=University of New England |date=4 October 2020 |access-date=4 June 2024}}
Walker released Lightning in a Clear Blue Sky in 2023, followed by two East Coast Australian tours.{{cite web|url=https://australianmusician.com.au/don-walker-announces-lightning-in-a-clear-blue-sky-album-tour/|title= DON WALKER ANNOUNCES 'LIGHTNING IN A CLEAR BLUE SKY' ALBUM & TOUR|website=Australian Musician|date=March 2023|access-date=2 May 2023}}
Collaborations
Walker has worked with many other artists, most notably with song writing credits on Ian Moss' hit album, Matchbook and Jimmy Barnes' top ten single "Stone Cold". He has written with or had songs recorded by TOFOG, Jimmy Little, Kate Ceberano, Wendy Matthews, Wes Carr,{{cite news| work= news.com.au| title=Don Walker and Wes Carr reveal the musical friendship behind new Cold Chisel single Lost| author=Kathy McCabe| url=http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/don-walker-and-wes-carr-reveal-the-musical-friendship-behind-new-cold-chisel-single-lost/story-e6frfn09-1227499669666|access-date=6 September 2015|date=27 August 2015}} Troy Cassar-Daley, Graeme Connors, Anne Kirkpatrick, Mick Harvey, Missy Higgins,{{cite web| work= ABC | title=Benji's care tactics| first = Carol | last = Duncan | url=http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2014/10/23/4112845.htm|access-date=2 February 2015|date=27 October 2014}} Busby Marou,{{cite news|work=Yahoo 7 News|title=BUSBY MAROU TO RELEASE SECOND ALBUM|url=http://au.news.yahoo.com/entertainment/a/-/entertainment/18402437/busby-marou-to-release-second-album/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130828110128/http://au.news.yahoo.com/entertainment/a/-/entertainment/18402437/busby-marou-to-release-second-album/|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 August 2013|access-date=28 August 2013|date=7 August 2013}} Melinda Schneider, Sarah Blasko, Katie Noonan, Jeff Lang, Normie Rowe and Adam Brand. Two Walker-penned songs appeared on The Very Best of Slim Dusty, which stayed in the Australian country charts for over 15 years.{{cite web| work= The Music| title=Slim Dusty Sets ARIA Country Chart Record| url=http://themusic.com.au/news/all/2014/08/25/slim-dusty-hits-800-weeks-on-aria-charts/|access-date=25 August 2014|date=25 August 2014}} He also produced Moss' album Petrolhead.
Personal life
He is the brother of the Australian novelist, Brenda Walker and son of Australian novelist Shirley Walker.{{cite web |title=First Tuesday Book Club|url=http://www.abc.net.au/tv/firsttuesday/s2898640.htm|access-date= 8 June 2010 | publisher= ABC}} He is a Brisbane Broncos supporter.
Discography
=Studio albums=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|+ List of albums, with selected chart positions ! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:22em;" | Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:18em;" | Album details ! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart |
| scope="col" style="text-align:center;" | AUS {{cite book|last=Ryan|first=Gavin|title=Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010|year=2011|publisher=Moonlight Publishing|location=Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia|edition=pdf|pages=25, 53}} |
|---|
| scope="row" | Freedom: Original Soundtrack Music
|
| align="center" | - |
| scope="row" | Unlimited Address (As Catfish) | | align="center" | 50 |
| scope="row" | Ruby (As Catfish) |
| align="center" | 98 |
| scope="row" | We're All Gonna Die
|
| align="center" | - |
| scope="row" | Cutting Back
|
| align="center" | - |
| scope="row" | Hully Gully
|
| align="center" | - |
| scope="row" | Lightning in a Clear Blue Sky
| | align="center" {{tba}} |
=Live albums=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|+ List of albums, with selected details ! Title ! Details |
| scope="row" | Live in Queenscliff {{small|(With The Big Friendly Sound of The Suave Fucks)}} |
|
|---|
| scope="row" | Live at The Caravan {{small|(With The Warm Neighbourly Sound of The Suave Fucks)}} |
|
| scope="row" | Songs: Live At Camelot Lounge 2018
|
|
=Box Set=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|+ List of albums, with selected details ! Title ! Details |
| scope="row" | Blacktop
| |
|---|
=Singles=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
|+ List of singles, with selected details ! Year ! Title ! Album |
| rowspan="2"| 1988
! scope="row" | "When You Dance" |rowspan="3"| Unlimited Address |
| scope="row" | "Early Hours" |
|---|
| 1989
! scope="row" | "Hiwire Girl"" |
| rowspan="2"| 1991
! scope="row" | "Johnny's Gone" |rowspan="2"| Ruby |
| scope="row" | "Crooked Smile" |
| 2013
! scope="row" | "Young Girls" | Hully Gully |
| rowspan="3"| 2023
! scope="row" | "Lightning In a Clear Blue Sky" |rowspan="3"| Lightning In a Clear Blue Sky |
| scope="row" | "When I Win the Lottery" |
| scope="row" | "Jungle Pam" |
= See also =
Awards and nominations
=APRA Awards=
The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. Walker has won one award from five nominations.{{cite web|url=https://apraamcos.com.au/search?searchtype=site&keywords=don+walker|title=Don Walker Awards search|publisher=APRA Awards (Australia)|access-date=17 September 2020}}
{{awards table}}
|-
| rowspan="3"| 2001
|"Good Friends" by Adam Brand (written by Don Walker & Myles Walker)
| rowspan="2"| Most Performed Country Work of the Year
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| "Looking Forward Looking Back" by Slim Dusty (written by Don Walker)
| {{nom}}
|-
| Song of the Year
| {{nom}}
|-
| 2008{{cite web|url=http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/apraawards/musicawards/history/2008Winners.aspx |title=2008 Winners – APRA Music Awards |publisher=APRA |access-date=28 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140401031935/http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/apraawards/musicawards/history/2008Winners.aspx |archive-date=1 April 2014 |df=dmy }}
| "Everything's Going to Be Alright" by Adam Brand (written by Adam Brand, Sam Hawksley & Don Walker)
| Country Work of the Year
| {{won}}
|-
| 2009
| "Coming From / Khe Sanh" by Troy Cassar-Daley (written by Troy Cassar-Daley & Don Walker)
| Country Work of the Year
| {{nom}}
|-
| 2012
| "All for You" by Cold Chisel (Don Walker)
| Song of the Year
| {{shortlisted}}
|-
| 2014{{cite news| work= Sydney Morning Herald | publisher = Fairfax | title=Vance Joy heads APRA 2014 nominations list| first =Peter | last = Vincent | url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/vance-joy-heads-apra-2014-nominations-list-20140529-zrr2z.html|access-date=29 September 2014|date=28 May 2014}}
| "Luck" by Busby Marou (written by Thomas Busby and Don Walker)
| Blues and Roots Work of the Year
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2016{{cite news| work= Sydney Morning Herald | publisher = Fairfax | title=Vance Joy heads APRA 2014 nominations list| first =Peter | last = Vincent | url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/vance-joy-heads-apra-2014-nominations-list-20140529-zrr2z.html|access-date=29 September 2014|date=28 May 2014}}
| Cold Chisel (Jimmy Barnes, Ian Moss, Don Walker, Phil Small and Steve Prestwich)
| Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music
| {{yes2|recipient}}
|-
| "Lost" (Don Walker, Wes Carr) || Song of the Year{{cite web| url = https://www.auspop.com.au/2016/01/2016-apra-awards-date-confirmed/| title = 2016 APRA AWARDS : Date Confirmed| website = auspOp| date = April 2016| access-date = 14 April 2022| archive-date = 23 November 2022| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221123090641/https://www.auspop.com.au/2016/01/2016-apra-awards-date-confirmed/| url-status = dead}} || {{shortlisted}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| 2021{{cite web | url = https://www.apraamcos.com.au/about/supporting-the-industry/awards/apra-music-awards-2021#_127439 | title = Nominees announced for the 2021 APRA Music Awards | publisher = APRA AMCOS | date = | access-date = 31 March 2021 }}{{cite web|url=https://theindustryobserver.thebrag.com/midnight-oil-tones-and-i-2021-apra-music-awards/|title=Midnight Oil, Tones And I among big winners at 2021 APRA Music Awards |website=Industry Observer|date=29 April 2021|access-date=30 April 2021}} ||rowspan="2"| "Getting the Band Back Together" (Don Walker) || Most Performed Rock Work || {{won}}
|-
| Song of the Year{{cite web|url=https://www.apraamcos.com.au/about-us/news-and-events/one-of-these-songs-will-be-the-peer-voted-apra-song-of-the-year|title= One of these songs will be the Peer-Voted APRA Song of the Year!|website=APRA AMCOS|date=3 February 2021|access-date=26 April 2022}}
| {{shortlisted}}
|-
{{end}}
=ARIA Music Awards=
The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.
{{awards table}}
! {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1989
| Unlimited Address
| {{nom}}
| rowspan="2"|{{cite web| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120210152749/http://www.ariaawards.com.au/history/year/1989 | url=http://www.ariaawards.com.au/history/year/1989|title=ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year: 3rd Annual ARIA Awards|publisher=Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) | archive-date = 10 February 2012 |access-date=26 October 2020 }}{{cite web|url=http://alldownunder.com/oz-p/aria/1989-aria.htm |title=Australia 1989 ARIA Awards |publisher=ALLdownunder.com |access-date=5 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225205749/http://www.alldownunder.com/oz-p/aria/1989-aria.htm |archive-date=25 February 2009 }}
|-
| "When You Dance"
| Breakthrough Artist – Single
| {{nom}}
|-
| 1990
| "Tucker's Daughter" (written by Ian Moss and Don Walker)
| {{won}}
|-
{{end}}
=Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame=
The Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 2004 to honour the lifetime achievements of some of Australia's greatest songwriters.{{cite web|url=https://www.asai.org.au/hall-of-fame/|title=Hall of Fame|website=asai|access-date=17 September 2020}}
{{awards table}}
|-
| 2012
| himself
| Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame
| {{yes2|inducted}}
|}
=TV Week / Countdown Awards=
Countdown was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974–1987, it presented music awards from 1979–1987, initially in conjunction with magazine TV Week. The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards.{{Cite web | url = http://www.countdownmemories.com/magazines/pdfs/1987_03.pdf | title = Countdown to the Awards | work = Countdown Magazine |date=March 1987 | publisher = Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) | format = Portable document format (PDF) | access-date = 16 December 2010 }}
{{awards table}}
|-
| 1979
| Don Walker - "Choirgirl" by Cold Chisel
| Best Recorded Songwriter
| {{nom}}
|-
| 1980
| Don Walker (Cold Chisel)
| Best Recorded Songwriter
| {{won}}
|-
| 1984
| Don Walker (Cold Chisel)
| Best Songwriter
| {{nom}}
|-
{{end}}
Footnotes
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- [http://donwalker.com.au Don Walker's Official Website]
{{Cold Chisel}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Don}}
Category:Australian keyboardists
Category:Australian male pianists
Category:Australian male singers
Category:Australian male songwriters
Category:Musicians from Queensland
Category:Musicians from Sydney
Category:People from Ayr, Queensland