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Wellington’s 60’s scene: The Librettos

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[Transcript]
THE LIBRETTOS
1960-1966

Original line-up was:
ROD STONE – lead guitar
JOHNNY ENGLAND – rhythm guitar/vocals
PAUL GRIFFIN – bass guitar/vocals
ROGER SIMSON – vocalist/piano/bass
DAVE CLARK – piano/also manager
GORDON JENKINS — drums

All of these guys met whilst attending Rongotai College, and the inevitable outcome of their shared musical interests was the formation of the group to play at school dances, local youth clubs and bible class hops.

Styling themselves firmly after ‘The Shadows’, they quickly gained a reputation for being a top band, mainly because of the abilities of their guitarist, Rod. Indeed, Rod was to become one of the most influential guitarists of the early sixties, an honour he shared, perhaps reluctantly, with arch-rival Neil Harrap of ‘The Premiers’. In any event, Rod was a trained classical musician, and he put his knowledge to good use with ‘The Librettos’, the arrangements he created setting the group apart from their contemporaries and helping to establish them as something of a muso’s band.

The first members to leave were Dave Clark and Roger Simson. At this stage of their careers, the band was working regularly at Teenarama in Hill Street, and they stayed as a four-piece for quite some time. However, in 1964 they decided to turn full-time professional, and this led to Johnny England and Gordon Jenkins reluctantly bowing out. They were both nearing the end of their apprenticeships, and rather than waste the efforts they’d put into their studies, they elected to finish their time.

This left Rod and Paul in a quandry: they had a lot of work lined up, and a big and loyal following, but there was little future for them as a duo. The problem was solved by recruiting Lou Parun to replace Johnny on rhythm guitar and vocals. Lou had already enjoyed a degree of local success as a solo artiste, both in live perform- ance and on record. He’d begun dabbling in music in the late fifties with Dave Brown (Avengers) in a schoolboy band called ‘The Vampires’. His solo career followed a ballady line, and his Cliff Richard style of singing gave no hint of the frantic, raging style he was to feature in ‘The Librettos’.

His singles started with Why, Little Girl, with excellent backing provided by The Premiers. Then there was You Know What I Mean, a composition by Libretto bass- man-to-be Brian Peacock, and A World I Can’t Live In, backed by The Librettos. In a way, it was almost a foregone conclusion that Lou would join the band at some stage.

To digress briefly: it’s a little known fact that The Librettos also backed Lou and Christine Barnett on a record, but because of vague managerial and record company politicking they were not credited as a band. In fact, Rod Stone’s early solo release, SkyeBoat Song/Friendly Persuasion on Lexian LS-3, featured the original Librettos line-up, and a tasty piece of work it is, too.

Now back to the tale. Paul was the next to leave, and Brian Peacock joined. Shortly afterwards Gordon left, and his place was taken by the Christchurch drummer, Dave Diver. So this was the line-up that was to burst on to the national and international scene: Rod Stone, Lou Parun, Brian Peacock and Dave Diver.

Their vehicle into the limelight was a slot on the Billy J. Kramer Tour. They were, to put it mildly, a raging success. So much so, that they were booked as resident band for WNTV’s pop show ‘Let’s Go!’. Indeed, this booking was to provide the band with their first taste of how to deal with the ultra-conservative chaps who ran (and some would say still run) the entertainment media.

Here was a group – many insisted the group in the country – and here was a vehicle to launch them on their climb to fame. Yet the producer of ‘Let’s Go!’ refused to allow them to wear their hair on TV the way they normally wore it – semi-Beatle style. After much protest, he allowed one of them to wear his hair that way, but the other three had to revert to the old fashioned gravity-defying quiffs. However so popular was the band that their 13 week engagement was extended by a further six weeks. And they all got to wear their hair the way they wanted to. Aah, the perks of fame!

In celebration of their success on the show, they recorded their first album, appropriately titled ‘Let’s Go! With The Librettos’. Amazingly enough, the album contained a total of six original tracks, all from the pens of Rod Stone and Brian Peacock. One of the album tracks, The Girl Can’t Help It, is a perfect example of how Lou’s vocal style had changed from his ballad days: he fairly bawls the vocal in a typical Lennon style, a real rager. Never ones to pursue the mundane, even on their covers of classics, they re-arranged songs in new and challenging ways, a good example being their single, Great Balls of Fire. Very different.

After Let’s Go! had done its dash, the lads took the plunge and headed for Australia, content in the knowledge that at the very least they’d been voted New Zealand Band of the Year for 1964. Their first gig in Sydney was at the Arcadia pub. It was a disaster. ‘You’re too loud,’ said the manager. They turned their guitars off. ‘You’re still too loud,’ said the manager. They were fired – an inauspicious beginning. But all was not lost, for in due course they landed a gig at The Sound Lounge in King’s Cross. Here they rapidly gained a legion of new fans, astounded at the tight rocking sounds of unison male vocals driven by walloping drums, thundering bass and supremo guitars. The Librettos were on their way again.

Pretty soon, they were booked to appear at Suzy Wong’s, and then at The Bowl, a swish disco in George Street. Now fully hitting their stride, the long hours served to hone them to razor-edged sharp-ness. They played a lunch-time session each day, then a supper session, followed by the night shift. At their peak, they were capable of playing a six-hour stint virtually without pause, and without repeating a number. It was about this time that they became friendly with Aussie singing sensation Normie Rowe – of whom more later.

The Librettos toured inter-state, appeared on TV and recorded prodigiously. They probably hold the record for playing before the biggest crowd of any sixties New Zealand band – 200,000 people in Melbourne, on the Seekers tour. So far as Lou was concerned, that was it. How, he wondered, could they ever top that? So he began to think of getting out while they were ahead. Dave Diver had had enough, and his replacement was a young Australian drummer named Craig Collinge. Soon afterwards Lou split for home.

The band continued for a time as a three-piece, but eventually split. Rod and Brian joined Normie Rowe’s backing band, ‘The Playboys’, for an abortive UK tour. In 1967 Rod joined Aussie super group, ‘The Groove’, with fellow Kiwi Peter Williams on vocals (ex Max Merritt and The Meteors). Today, Rod lives in Melbourne and is in great demand as a session player. Brian went back to the UK as tour manager for ‘The New Seekers’ but hated it, and returned to Melbourne where he opened a bakery. Always more interested in ideas and concepts than in money, he found the riches that quickly accumulated to his business too hard to deal with. He walked out, and moving to Perth, he apparently joined a commune.

The quiet life was not for him, however, and he returned to Melbourne to join forces with Craig Collinge and two UK players he’d met while on tour in the UK with Normie- Mick Rogers, a guitarist, and Trevor Britten on keyboards. They called themselves ‘Procession’, and in no time flat became very popular, releasing the first (or very nearly so) live album to be recorded in Aussie, titled ‘Live, at Sebastians’. On the strength of their local success, they went to the UK, but promptly broke up. Mick and Craig joined ‘Manfred Mann’s Earth Band’. Brian returned to Perth, where more recently he discovered, managed and produced ‘The Eurogliders’ to international success. So at least he’s still keeping his hand in.

Dave Diver almost joined The Avengers but joined ‘The Countdowns’ instead before moving back to Christ- church. Lou resisted all temptation to enter the world of television and stayed with the family business for a while before immersing himself in the computer game. He never played a note in a band after leaving ‘The Librettos’.

Releases:
Funny Things/I’ll Send It Your Way HMVHR218
Young Blood/That’s Alright With Me HMVHR2l9
Baby, It’s Love/Great Balls of Fire HMVHR221
It’s Alright/Walkin’ The Dog HMVHR232
Ella Speed/I Cry/She’s A Go-Go Sunshine QK1162 Aust
Rescue Me/What Do You Want To
Make Those Eyes At Me For Sunshine QKl25l Aust
Kicks/What ‘Cha Gonna Do ‘Bout It Sunshine QK1341 Aust

As Rod Stone:
Skye Boat Song/Friendly Persuasion Lexian LS3

With Lou Parun:
A World I Can’t Live In/Outsider Lexian LS8

Lou Parun Solo:
You Know What I Mean/One Last Kiss Lexian LS1
Why Little Girl/It’s You Lexian LS6
Lonely Boy/Like I Love You Lexian LS16

Album:
Let’s Go With The Librettos EMI MCLP 6191

Grateful acknowledgment to Roger Watkins for allowing us to use this material from his book When rock got rolling : the Wellington scene, 1958-1970.


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