Erica, better known as Rickie in the world of country music, JONES was born and raised at Boolaroo Whim just outside Melrose in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia. Rickie was an only child and spent her early life on the land with her parents.

Like many children of her time, she rode a horse to school. By the time she started school, she was already an accomplished rider and the seven and a half miles to and from was no trouble. Most schools had a paddock beside the school where the children who rode let their horses run during school hours.

She finished her schooling at Melrose and continued to live with her parents until her late twenties. Up until this time she was well adapted to a way of life in sheep grazing and wheat farming. Horses were, and still are, of great interest to Rickie and at a very early age she began competitively riding at shows. All her spare time was put into horses or something to do with horses and even today she is still involved with horses.

Radio played a big part in family entertainment (no T.V. in those days). Rickie became interested in songs she heard on the air waves, so much so that she decided to learn and sing some, not realizing at that time how much her life would become involved in entertaining.

At sixteen she went out and bought herself a guitar. She chose a F Tone Maton, Australian made, Reg. Des. No. 23070 and which carried the serial number 272 and she still has that guitar today.

After she had been playing for about 12 months she decided to have a go at Australia’s Amateur Hour. The date was set (Rolf Harris performed on the same show the week before) and she sang the Hank Snow number "Wandering On" . . . And WON!! She loved the songs of Hank Snow and Wilf Carter. They seemed to suit her and she always included them in her performances.

When Phillips came to Australia Rickie, who was now twenty, was the first person they signed as a recording artist. Singing on with the Phillips label meant that she now had to travel to Sydney to record. Her first tracks were country, recorded under the name of Rickie Jones and at least four of these were her own material . . . "Over The Hills," "The Valley Where Dreams Come True," "The Drover’s Song" and "Neath The Blue Western Skies." These were a great success and were quickly followed by some pop numbers recorded under the name of June Denver. So far all of these were on the old 78 RPMs. LPs were beginning to emerge and Phillips were quick to release on Hawaiian LP. Most of the tracks were instrumental, but four were vocal, two male and two female. You’ve guessed it! The two female tracks were by Rickie - singing under the name of Leila Lani, a name chosen by Phillips.

At this time her life mainly centered around travelling to Sydney to record, and travelling with the Harold Raymond Concert Party and radio work in Adelaide. Live radio shows were a big thing in those days and all live shows were done with two, three or four all backing one another. The show went straight to air - no second goes or practice runs. It was a regular thing . . . Working with Bob Cunningham, Rocky Page, Reg Lindsay, Johnny Mack, etc. Bob Flickers’s programme "Western Swing" did much for country music in South Australia and gave many an artist their first break.

During this period of time, horses took second place, as she just did not have the time, but with the death of Bob, country music seemed to die with him. With the decline of country music Ricky was able to put more time into her horses and at one stage she went to buy a float from a fellow called Les Taylor. Les and Rickie became good friends and later married and set up house where they still live today.

Rickie started breeding horses for Dressage. She had good results and became known as one of the best Australian riders and trainers. In 1986 she owned Crown Lore, the best that Australia had seen and that year she took him to Canada to compete in the World Championships. He was placed 17th in the world. She then took him to the Olympics in Seoul. While she was in Canada she wished she could have met Wilf Carter because she travelled to and through most of the country Wilf sang about.

Twenty seven years later Les was still manufacturing Horse Floats and Rickie was still breeding horses and had her eyes set on the year 2000. She had a two year old that she was thinking of calling Lore Lord, she was a two year old and by Crown Lore. She thought she would have her just about ready for the 2000 Events. However, Rickie was involved in a horse accident which crippled her and all plans came to an abrupt halt. After some time she slowly recovered and returned to the scene. Les is still making Horse Floats and Rickie is still Breeding Horses. Whatever the future brings one thing is certain, Rickie has made a lasting mark on both Country Music and in the world of horses.

Ó July, 2001 by Ian Hands.