Hello once again, and Noelene
and I have been as busy as. We were guest artists at the OTOROHANGA
COUNTY FAIR, in February, along with Bob and Sheila Everhart from America, and
something one does not see too much of, a lady rope-spinner/whip cracker, by
the name of RELDA MARIE. I got the feeling that she is still learning her
craft, because not everything she tried, came off, but good for her, to give
it a go. She even sang a couple of songs, and a song that caught the ear, was
a song she had written herself, called "A good old Kiwi Stockhorse",
and I learnt that JOHN GRENELL had recorded it on a locally-released Rough
Riders Album.
She's a bit of an
oppossumskinner, it seems, and her Mother makes good use of these skins, to
make hats, scarves, and cushion covers. I can vouch for the cushion
covers, her Mum Lori, presented me with one, at the County Fair, and I have
purchased a suitable cushion, and I use it all the time, it's beautiful.
We have been quite busy with
entertaining at resthomes,a Nostalgia concert, in New Plymouth, and
The Waitara Aged Concern, which we always look forward to, they fill the hall
with people from resthomes, from all over, it seems. We find that more and
more, we need to use our P.A. system on these occasions, as our voices don't
carry so far, and the residents are often quite "hard of hearing".
One of our Grandaughters,
Ashleigh, turned 21, so we drove up to their home just out of Rotorua,
for the dress-up party, and on the night, she and her partner Matt, announced
their engagement, so that was a bonus, and something that is becoming more
uncommon.
On Tuesday the first of April,
we made an appearance at the TARANAKI COUNTRY MUSIC CLUB, at Ngaere, just
south of Stratford, and we had the pleasure of hearing and meeting some South
Island talent, singers like MARY PETTIT, from Oamaru, whose song "Waitaki
Cowboy" went down very well with the audience; RON GALLAGHER, from Owaka,
in the deep South, a farmer who has been singing Country Music for just a
short time, but he really enjoys the traditional style of C/M, and DAVE
HARRAWAY from Kurow, who has a good strong voice, and has recorded an album
called "Country at Heart", in the old Arrowtown studios Beyond
Sound. His email address is crandda@xtra.co.nz
if you'd like to contact Dave and his wife Pearl, and the contact address for
Ron and his wife Kathleen, is kathron@value.net.nz
There was a really big crowd at
the evening, which is the home club of RON HAYWARD, and artists like Ann
Pascoe, and Nancy Muller, are regulars. There was some very good music there,
and we finally got to bed in the early hours of the morning!
CLIFF AND CINDY BURGESS have
their Country Music gettogether on a regular basis, in a church hall in
Waverley, and on the 5th of April, Noelene and I were able to call in and
enjoy most of the entertainment, I played lead guitar in the band for an hour
or so, and we sang a couple of duets, and sold lots of CDs, caught-up with
friends from all around, like MURIEL GROOM, DAVE and PEARL, and RON and
KATHLEEN, LORRAINE and MALCOLM MARSHALL, (Malcolm has been around for a
few years now, having recorded with THE CAROLINE RAMBLERS, in the 70s) and
ANNETTE MERHTENS, a really good promoter of our kind of music. (We were later
able to host Annette and her sister Margaret in our home in New Plymouth,
before the flew back to Christchurch)
Later that day,(Saturday the
5th) we left, to travel on to Wanganui, to attend a Golden Wedding
Celebration, and on the way home, we called in to a resthome in Hawera, to say
our sad farewells to a very good friend from our early days in the music
business,JOHNNY MORRIS. Johnny was well-known to the motorhome
fraternity, where he used to sell leather gear that he had carved, or stamped,
and he no doubt sang to these people, some of the many songs he has written,
and I best remember him as he sang for hours on end, songs of WILF CARTER,
HANK SNOW, SLIM DUSTY, or whatever, and he seldom had the need to look at the
words for guidance. He was probably the most placid-natured person I have ever
known. It took a great deal to faze him. I can recall when we were
at a concert he had organised in Taihape, and I was introducing him for his
turn to sing. He waited till I'd done the introduction, before he opened the
guitar case, and let the guitar get used to the open air, before he walked to
the microphone and began his bracket of songs. What I'm trying to say,
is, he could never be rushed. Noelene and I met him in Taihape, in 1958, when
we did a special record shop appearance at the local Columbus Radio shop,
which used to sell our TANZA 78s. Johnny and Emily were first there to meet
us, and Johnny was wearing a black bushy beard, So began a long
friendship.
Over the years he recorded
several self-funded tapes, and more recently, CDs, he had one song released
commercially on a composite album released on the BOB MOORE label in
Christchurch, he sang several times on JUDY GUGICH'S OLD-TIME COUNTRY MUSIC
CONCERTS in Napier, and he had quite a following in the older-styled music.
We are just two people among hundreds more, probably, who will miss his
stories, of rabbit-hunting, horse-handling, his songs, and the chance for a
good talk. As I write this, he is in very poor health, without the
guarantee of many more weeks with us.
A few CDs that have come my way
of recent time, are "Reminisce", by JOY SLOANE,
"L.J.Country", by LES AND JUDY BLOOR, and some overseas albums well
worth considering, "Cowboy Forever", by JEAN AND GARY PRESCOTT,
"Rolling River", by ALLEN KARL, and an Australian collection of
Country songs in the accepted traditional-styled Country, by DOUBLE DECKER
DAVE, and typical of the "non-commercial" sound of coming out of
Australia. I just love it!
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