For the five-piece version, the Hawking Brothers & the Wildwoods, they were joined by Joe Attard, Gary Newton, and George Xanthos.

The group reached the top 40 on the Kent Music Report singles chart with "Catfish John" (1973) and "One Day at a Time" (1978).

The Hawking Brothers have won eight Golden Guitar trophies at the Country Music Awards of Australia.

[1][2] During the late 1940s Alan and Russell attended the Hillbilly Club in Brunswick for basic instruction in country music.

[4] The Hawking Brothers performed as a "hillbilly duo" and competed for an Amateur Hour prize of £1000 in October 1952 and finished third.

[5][6] The brothers also joined the Trailblazers, a country music troupe, which performed on radio and toured Victoria in the 1950s.

[7] Ainslie Baker of The Australian Women's Weekly felt it was, "catchy, and shows plenty of promise for the future.

[12] They released a cover version of "Catfish John" in that year, originally by United States country singer-songwriter, Bob McDill.

"[15] The Australasian Country Music Awards were established as an annual ceremony on the Australia Day long-weekend in Tamworth since January 1973.