Smacka fitzgibbon biography samples

Graham Francis "Smacka" Fitzgibbon (12 February 1930 – 15 December 1979)^[1] was an Australian banjoist and vocalist in the trad jazz idiom.

He was a publican in country Victoria and restaurateur in Melbourne.

Biography

Early life

Fitzgibbon was born at Mordialloc, Victoria, the son of Francis Michael Thomas "Frank" Fitzgibbon, clerk, and pianist Minnie "Momma" Fitzgibbon, née Mitchell (died 1989), and nicknamed "Smacka" by Roy Youlden, a bookmaker friend of his father.^[2] The actress–singer Maggie Fitzgibbon (30 January 1929 – 8 June 2020) was a sister.

Educated at St Bede's College, he began playing ukulele at an early age before switching to the banjo; his earliest influences were Bing Crosby, Al Bowlly and Louis Armstrong.^[3]

Career

In 1951 he began playing with "Frank Johnson’s Fabulous Dixielanders",^[4] before forming his own band, "The Steamboat Stompers"; his first album was Frisco Joe's Good Time B