Chad Morgan to visit Warwick

‘I’m Not Dead Yet’, a comical road movie about Australian country music legend Chad Morgan, is coming to Warwick.
This film will be playing at Warwick Twin Cinema, opening on December 1.
Chad Morgan will be making a special appearance at Warwick Twin Cinema on December 3 from 6pm to 6.45pm followed by the screening of the film.
‘I’m Not Dead Yet’ is an ‘unplugged’ road movie, which follows Chad and his wife Joanie as they travel and perform throughout regional and outback Australia.
Affectionately narrated by rock musician Tex Perkins, the documentary is an intimate portrait of an artist as an old man. It’s a film about laughter, growing old and coming to terms with the past.
At the heart of the narrative is an enduring love story.
Back in “the day” Chad moved a lot faster than he does now. He was once an infamous drunk and womaniser—defiant, wild and unstoppable. But now Chad has found his soul mate – the droll, plain speaking Joanie.
While Chad performs, ‘Roadie Joanie’ sells the CDs and merchandise.
Fan, musician, songwriter Broderick Smith sums it up nicely: “The King of Country Music, Slim Dusty was the good guy. He was the Beatles. Chad Morgan was the bad guy. He was the Rolling Stones. I dug him instantly. I wondered where the hell does he get what he does from. It was like he had landed from another planet and decided to pick up a guitar.”
It was back in 1952 on the most popular and influential radio talent quest, ‘Australia’s Amateur Hour’, that a nervous 19-year-old with extraordinarily large buck teeth, first performed his self-penned song, ‘The Sheik of Scrubby Creek’. It was written in response to his real life; unrequited yearning for a local beauty.
Chad’s talent quest debut was simply unforgettable. He was a three dimensional living, breathing cartoon character dressed in his now legendary ‘nappy hat’.
Black and white footage of his performance shows that his legs were shaking as he let out The Sheik’s call – a joyous dog-like howl.
Chad reckons he’s played ‘The Sheik’ more than 10,000 times throughout his six-decade career.
He always begins each gig with it and audience members, young and old, look forward to howling along with their idol. The hillbilly mantra has become an Australian classic.
And the teeth—well they’ve become his trademark.
In the beginning the critics tried to categorise Chad as a ‘novelty singer’.
Today his extensive body of work reveals a consummate bush storyteller with a politically incorrect twist. Chad sings about chasing sheilas, fighting drongos, shotgun weddings, getting drunk and copulating double-decker blowflies.
Chad has composed his first new song in 25 years, a tribute to his little known Aboriginal heritage.
“I just kept waking up at night with these words in my head. It went on for a couple of months so I wrote them down and every night I’d write a bit more and then I just put it all together.”
Unlike his usual comic repertoire, ‘The Ballad of Bill and Eva’ tells the story of his grandmother—the woman who gave him his first guitar.
Today Chad is the last country music legend standing. He has out-sung, out-drunk and outlived his famous contemporaries. When Slim Dusty died in 2005 the heavy title of country music’s ‘national treasure’ was passed on to Chad.
Chad’s moving performance of ‘Bill and Eva’ makes time stand still. Fans have tears in their eyes as Chad explains the story behind the song.
Far more than just a cradle to the grave bio–pick, ‘I’m Not Dead Yet’ is a road movie about laughter, love, romance, music and family.