Tex, Don and Charlie

Updated on Dec 26, 2023

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Origin Sydney, Australia Years active 1992 (1992)–present		Genres Rock Genre Rock music
$Tex, Don and Charlie httpsimgdiscogscomfIgDod3zD6LWWI8QxC80O5rM7$
Albums All Is Forgiven, Sad but True, Monday Morning Coming Down... Record labels Red Eye Records, Universal Music Australia Members Tex Perkins, Don Walker, Charlie Owen

Tex, Don and Charlie is an Australian super group formed by Tex Perkins from The Cruel Sea, Beasts of Bourbon and others, Don Walker from Cold Chisel and widely respected guitarist Charlie Owen. Their first album Sad But True was released in 1993 with the second released in 2005.

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The band was founded in 1992 as Tex Perkins relates: "I saw Charlie and thought 'Jesus Christ'. He was easily the best rock guitar player I had seen. He was really dexterous, but gutsy. Not flashy. I think it had a lot of jazz in him as well. I made a mental note that I'd like to work with Charlie and about one year later I heard he was playing with Don Walker in Catfish. Then somebody suggested I do something with Don Walker and I said 'Sure, as long as Charlie Owen is there'." In early 1992, the as yet unnamed band performed an acoustic live performance for alternative radio station JJJ with James Cruickshank also contributing guitar.

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." The album spent 6 weeks in the Australian top 40.

Over the next 10 years they all went separate ways, but remained in contact.

In March 2005 Tex, Don and Charlie had been talking about a second album for four years; swapping songs in the mail for three; nailing them together over various stolen rehearsal sessions for nearly two. All is Forgiven was released in August 2005 and a successful tour followed. The song "Harry was a Bad Bugger", was described by Chris Johnston as, "the Australian song of the year", and by Mess & Noise as, "one of the finest Australian compositions of the last 20 years." The album was shortlisted for the inaugural Australian Music Prize.

In October 2010, Sad But True (1993) was listed in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums.