Frank
Fyfe
Dave
Jordan remembers
"Frank
was Australian by birth. He was a printer by trade, Working
his way from handset type, through early electronic printing
(Xerox etc) then back to real-bloke's stuff in Martinborough
- he had an aged printing press, from someone like Colenso
when I last saw him in the mid-70s.
Frank's major contribution to NZ folk music was running
the 'Balladeer Coffee Bar' (ex the infamous
'Greendoor') in Wellington, from the early to late 60s.
Well, to be honest, his wife Mary ran it, Frank spent more
time singing!
Shucks, somewhere in the pages of the Balladeer, I saw a
mention about Mitch Park 'introducing chorus singing' -
Bunkum, he sat in the corner in the early days. Frank was
the best one at getting us to exercise our lungs in the
early 60s - mainly Oz and Irish 'rabble rousers'!
Frank mentored many folkies, and from his meagre profits,
insisted on paying us (not very much). Here's a list of
the names I remember, some of whom aren't listed on the NZ
Folksong web site, that I can see. Warwick Brock (Band of
Hope), Max Winnie, Jae Renaud, Arthur Toms, Val Murphy,
Lynne Gifford, Frank Povah, Frank Sillay, John Sutherland
(before he moved to NZ), Les Cleveland, etc... Even Phil
Garland sang there once, when he was getting over R&R
and starting to sing NZ Folk .. ;
Frank also started the (I think) first Folk Concerts in
Wellington. "Folk Meets Blues" is the first I
remember. In 1966(?) we did the first 'NZ Folklore
Society' concert in a fairly big theater - broadcast live.
It was just a few days after the General Elections, when
Holyoake was re-elected. We snuck in "Kiwi Keith's Back
Again" - NZBC had a hernia!
Methinks Frank was the biggest contributor to NZ Folk in
the 60s.
...
And Shirley McGregor continues
Early influences on the Wellington folk scene were Mary
Seddon, and Max Whinnie first and foremost; he was an
enthusiast who took others along with him. Frank Fyfe
introduced a new flavour and his enthusiasm and hard work
gave the unstructured "folk community" much-needed
direction, and in the Balladeer Coffee Bar the nebulous
beginnings of a Wellington Folk Club emerged. Memory
says Max was a driving force for this. Earlier than that
Joan Prior, Neil Colquhoun, Graham McGregor and only one or
two others met in Nairn Street to play folk music and start
a club. (That was in the late fifties and someone involved
could probably tell you more exactly.)
The Balladeer was initially devoid of seating but
equipped with palliasses on the floor. Soon there were
wooden forms and I think trestle tables. There were a few
wooden kitchen style stools for any musicians who could
not perform standing. Frank was often serving coffee for
most of the night but could be prevailed upon to
contribute a few numbers which would leave Mary with
rather too much to do as they were usually extremely busy.
Amongst the artists I heard perform were: Phil Gardiner,
Brok(once), Max Whinnie, Jay Renau?, Graham McGregor, Val
Murphy and a host of others whose names have vanished with
the mists of time.
As well as the famous Monde Marie, there was another
"Folk" music venue very popular with the general public
but judged disparagingly as "commercial" by discerning
folkies, I think it was called the "Chez Paree."
It was upstairs in the Embassy theatre building. I
remember that there were often very competent musicians
there but some were heavily "Pop" influenced and not
considered genuine Folk musicians.
In the early sixties a lot of folkies belonged to, or were
followers, of the Wellington Jazz Club, and blues
and bluegrass were definitely folk music. A lot of folk
music was American - protest and workers' rights type
songs. Country and Western however was something else I
think, and it still is.
Mary
Seddon of Monde Marie
Mary
Dorothea Seddon (1924-2000) was a person of great
character and a vivid personality. She graduated 1946,
B.A. Victoria University College and had an eventful life,
including proprietorship of the cafe 'Monde Marie' in
Roxburgh Street, Wellington, known for its contribution to
the city's life and especially to folk music culture in
the 1960s.She was a grand-daughter of Richard Seddon,
Premier of New Zealand 1893-1906.
Internet
discussion between Richard Mills, Helen Phare and
Sharyn Staley, 10 Nov 1999
RM (reflectively): When I was 17, I once sang for eight
hours straight at the Monde Maree in Wellington, for
Maree whatsername - my own two-hour booked stint, and
then covering the stints of the three subsequent artists
who failed to front for their shows. Towards the end she
was fortifying me with rum-laced coffees. It was all by
ear - thank God for a transient audience.
HP: She was Mary Seddon if I remember correctly. I used
to play there in the late sixties for $1 per hour and
was grateful for the work. She used to feed us
afterwards on cheese and tomato sauce sandwiches. Which
I was grateful for also.
RM:
That's the one. Used to be a great gig, fed a lot of
folkies, and I wouldn't have been that accomodating for
another, perhaps. It was my choice to sing that long - I
just kept on filling in at her request as singers failed
to front that day - dunno what happened, just one of
those days. It was later things went sour. We prolly
crossed tracks, you and I - I used to live at 2 Roxburgh
Street, right beside it, for a while, but I went to
Christchurch in, hmmm, 67?
SS: She still is Mary Seddon! She was certainly still
alive a couple of years ago when I last had contact with
her - she's in her 80s (or maybe 90s by now). I used to
work in her kitchen, as did many of the folkies. We
started around 6-7pm and some nights we didn't get away
until 3 or 4 in the morning if a good singaround session
started up, however she did feed us too and allow us
free coffee. We didn't mind the hours as most of us
wanted to work there for the music as much as the money.
Dominion
8 July 2000:-
SEDDON, Mary Dorothea.- On July 6, 2000.
Daughter and devoted carer of Bea and Tom, only sister
of Richard and Derry. Remembered as a first class
teacher and gardener, battling Wellington cafe
pioneer, film reviewer, and all round iconoclast -
leaving as the magnolias are in full bloom.
A Memorial Gathering will be held in Old St Paul's,
Mulgrave St. Wellington on Monday July 10 at 2pm to
say goodbye.
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More
Monde Marie
Mike
Stebbings writes
I lived in Wellington around 1961-64 having come from
Motueka as 16 year old.
At the time, I for a long while shared a top floor flat
over Maitland Radio Coy in Cambridge Terrace? (or the
other side) - (the eastern side from memory) with Max
Winnie and Bruce McDonald (Film/TV
Producer).
I also sang (although poorly) at the Monde Marie and the
Chez Paree.
Dave
Hollis? had a group playing PPM stuff, Max Winnie
played a variety of music but mainly Blues/Jazz, Val
Murphy sat around singing beautifully (Kumbaya)
and looking sexy, Arthur Toms was there, and
also a tall ginger haired and bearded guy who sang a
variety of folk and tried other stuff including semi
flamenco from memory. I cant remember his name, possibly
because he didn't like me. May have been Rod, or
something similar.
I remember my first seeing TV in a cafe somewhere near
the bus terminal in Courtenay Place? down near the
Empire Theatre and the show we watched was a Josh White
Special.
Josh
White came out 8-10 months later for a concert and
sang in concert and at the Monde Marie. He actually came
back to Cambridge Terrace later and sat playing the
guitar with the "smoke behind the ear."
Another visitor to Mary's was a fellow by the name of Nick
Villard, and the place would fill with females
when he arrived. I think he came from Auckland or
somewhere up that way. And there was also a trad
banjoist by the name of Craig Berry, and his
specialty was Satchmo style and "Mack the Knife" etc.
I used to do gardening for Mary, and she would tell me
stories about the Monde Marie and the various
personalities and "her people". Sometimes I would stay
over at her house as I had no way to get back home with
my guitar. I was always well fed all the time and I also
remember the pasta dishes at the Monde well; for all
intents and purposes she probably kept me alive.
The scene as I noticed somewhere, may have been getting
"Poppyfied" at the time, but as a consequence, the Monde
Marie saw some fairly heavy personalities including Judy
Collins, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers, Josh White, to
name a few, and there were numerous concerts at the
Wellington Town Hall including Segovia, PPM, Julian
Bream, and others that I will remember later.
I have a lot of fond memories of the time in Wellington,
which ended when Max, Craig and I left for the Gold
Coast in Queensland to sing for Keith (Dunstan?), the
previous owner of the Chez Paree.
The
Hamilton County Bluegrass Band: Dave
Calder , Paul Trenwith, Colleen Bain (Trenwith),
Len Cohen, Alan
Rhodes, Lindsay Bedogni.
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Dave
Calder of HCBB
Dave
Calder was a member of the Hamilton
County Bluegrass Band
He also recorded The
Black Swans in 1972 on the LP "Song of a Young
Country"
In 1970 Dave and Panda Calder made an LP
Come in Stranger (- now out of stock)
Side One: Come in stranger - Johnny Cash
Winters night - Gordon
Stoney's waltz - Trad (actually Ernest Stoneman)
Short grass - Ian Tyson & Sylvia Fricker
Nothing to it - Trad (actually Doc Watson)
Over the water - Trad
Highborn lady - Trad
Side Two: Rosalind my friend - Dave Jordan
Little Sadie - Trad
Come by the hills - Trad
Sugar on the floor - Trad
"Sonata" for clawhammer - Dave Calder
Waterbound - Siegel arr. Calder
The singing bird - Trad
"Dave
and Panda went their separate ways some time ago
....Panda was in a group with my big sister when I was a
little school girl - it was called Dale, Panda and
Bernie."(Dale Polson and Bernie Cherry)
Before Bernie, Dale & Panda there was a similar
formation with Dave instead of Bernie and they sang at
3NFF in 1967. Sharon S. has them on tape doing Wild
Mountain Thyme - just loverly she says!
Dave came back to NZ for the HCBB reunion and he was
also here for the Auckland FF at Kumeu this year (1999).
He was talking about his job as a special education
teacher in London. If you wanted to get hold of him you
could ask the Trenwiths in Hamilton - write to HCBB, 9
Nixon Street, Hamilton.
Frank
Fyfe, Mary
Seddon, Dave Calder, Dan
Bergin, The Waipango Billy
Lickers, Tex Morton
Dan Bergin
He wrote great songs, including "The Man who Buried
Somebody's Darling."
Diana
Balham 2004, writes:
Dan
Bergin was a gentle man from a 1930s Wanganui Irish
Catholic childhood, an art-school ingénue, firewatcher,
deer-culler, whaler, drainlayer, writer, singer and one
of the most exuberant raconteurs most of us have never
met. He also loved his ceilidhs and his home hosted many
a good knees-up over the years.
Living
with his wife Wendy in Ellerslie, Auckland,
in his seventies and taking morphine to control his pain,
he was still an adventurer who refused to go quietly.
He featured in Jack Perkins's 2004 Spectrum documentary
on National Radio, Hell
on Earth was the Meat Deck of a Whaler.
He swore that his antics inspired a number of anecdotes
in his pal Barry Crump's classic A Good Keen Man. "After
three years on the firewatching, I then went
deer-culling," he said. "That was in the Ureweras. It
was a marvellous place. As long as you kept your tobacco
dry, you were right."
Then the hell of a whaler's life working out of the
Great Barrier Island in the 1950s. "Someone would
accidentally puncture the whale's stomach and the smell
was horrific. Each whale had barrel-loads of parasites
and they'd be wriggling around on the deck"
And his Irish
Catholic childhood. "Uncle Tom would come in with
his pea, pie and pud and wake us up, light the candle in
the bedroom and she would listen to hear the clock
strike 12 before she would eat the meat pie. Being a
Catholic, she didn't eat meat on Fridays. And I can
remember her gazing searchingly into my uncle's face and
saying, 'You haven't touched the clock, have you, Tom?',
in case Tom had put the clock on a half hour, so that he
could get to bed.
"I remember mother's mother, she never made five
feet
yet she made a dozen kids in her bed in Dublin St
And when I was a little lad I shlipped in her big
bed
We hardly made a bump that you would notice."
Dan
was a man who loved to dance and to fill his house with
singers and musicians; a man who had seen hardship and
hell and retained his essential humanity. Thanks Dan. Go
raibh maith agat agus síochán leat.
The Waipango Billy Lickers
Mike
Moroney of Dunedin's Pioneer Pog'n'Scroggin Bus
band writes:
The
Waipango (black water) Billy Lickers were a bunch of 1970s
Army mates (from Waiouru??).
They were known to us then as LJ (Laurie Cooper),
Jacko (Alistair Jackson), Nigger [sic]
(Mark [Maaka] Laws), Russ (Russell Gillies), Monkey
(Dave Monks) and Bis (Kevin Bissett).
Later on Beaver (Nigel Wilson), a Dunedin lad who
put them up when they were here was made an honourary
Billy Licker. Slug (Gordy Leng) was also, I think.
Years
later, as their notoriety diminished, they added more
members with their infrequent New Year's Honours List: John
and Joan Steel (Joan is the only female BL I know
of), DK (Dog Kennel, Lance Risk) and myself.
The
original Billly Lickers made a pilgrimage to a very early
Whare Flat Festival at Dunedin with prettymuch nothing but
their instruments, a toothbrush and change of underwear.
In
later years they brought a tent or two, including a small
one wich was setup to one side and called, rather
optimistically "the scoring tent". To my certain knowledge
it was never used.
The
Billy Lickers performed rough and ready redneck music on
banjo, mandolin, fiddle and guitar. One year there was an
American guest called Susan Stark (those with the
Simple Gifts LP will know who I mean) who was a Quaker
theologian with strong, if softly presented, views about
social responsibility. In a variety concert the Billy
Lickers sang "Run Nigger Run" (considered humourous
because of Mark's army nickname) to her hurtful
mortification. She quietly proselytised in her own spot
about "being responsible for what we sing about". Despite
her reasonable approach, it didn't go down well among the
festival-goers and the Billy Lickers themselves were
indignant. That's how niaive we all were back then.
It
would be fair to say that it's become a matter of some
embarrasment to Mark (and all of us) that he had
tolerated, even celebrated, that nickname but then this
was a different era and these were hard-arsed, heavy
drinking, self abusing guys, and great friends to boot.
Mark,
Jacko, LJ and Bis all ended up living in Dunedin for many
years, they were central to the Pog Band and another bush
band called Puck na Horn??. There are many Billy Licker
stories, many getting better with each telling.
Frank
Fyfe, Mary
Seddon, Dave Calder, Dan
Bergin, The Waipango Billy
Lickers, Tex Morton
Tex
Morton
Condensed
from Tex
Morton, Boundary Rider in New
Zealand on the Edge.
New Zealander Tex Morton lived a life of breath-taking
achievement, attaining mastery, fortune, and huge
international fame in several careers: a recording star
(300 songs), singer-songwriter, stage artist (touring
sensation in North America, Europe, Australasia), circus
entrepreneur, best-selling comic writer, Hollywood screen
actor, and world authority of hypnotherapy with a
Doctorate from McGill University.
He was named Robert William Lane when he was born in
Nelson in August 30th 1916.
He
began playing the guitar early, and at 14, born to run,
left home to launch himself into show business. By the
age of 16 he was playing in a travelling band and made
his first recordings -the first hillbilly and western
songs to be recorded outside America. The 20 or so sides
were pressed by a Wellington company onto aluminium
discs, which could only be played with a hardwood or
bamboo thorn needle. They were played extensively on New
Zealand radio and are now priceless.
In 1932 he took a new name, Tex Morton, from a sign seen
on a Waihi garage, and toured the length of New Zealand.
In Bluff at the end of 1932 he departed for Australia,
beginning as a busker in Sydney with an old suitcase and
a battered guitar. But the Depression made work hard to
come by. Morton was forced to take any job on offer,
working on the then-being-built Sydney Harbour Bridge,
singing outside bars, and doing stints as a drover and
shearer.
Tex
then drifted up to Queensland and for three years led a
rough and tumble life there. In 1935 he returned to
Sydney where he hustled the Columbia Gramophone Company
for an audition. He won a talent quest and recorded
eight singles.
But
in 1936,
broke and disappointed that his four year foray into the
Australian entertainment scene had been unsuccessful, he
arrived back in New Zealand,
Here
he was confronted by the surprise of his life: life size
cut-outs of himself in record stores all over New
Zealand,
promoting "Tex Morton, the Singing Cowboy Sensation".
His recordings had become an overnight success without
his knowledge. Morton found himself an idol, mobbed in
the streets from Palmerston North to Perth.
The
young singer's years of sleeping under bridges, riding
on goods trains, performing in circuses and singing in
the streets had miraculously paid off.
During the mid to late 30's Morton flourished as a
recording star. He recorded 68 tracks in the next four
years. His style had matured to a distinctively
Antipodean sound. Lyrics reflected much of the harsher
side of life during the Depression years, with titles
like Yodelling Bagman and Wrap Me Up in my
Stockwhip and Blanket.
Some
of his most famous tracks dealt with his earlier
experiences (and those familiar to many of his fans) as
a "boundary-rider", hitching free rides on the trains.
The most notable, Sergeant Small, was about a
ruthless Queensland policeman who tracked down fare
evaders. This song was banned in Australia.
Riding
down from Queensland on a dirty timber train,
We stopped to take on water in the early morning rain,
I saw a hobo coming by, he didn't show much fear,
He walked along the line of trucks, saying any room in
here.
Then I pulled the cover back saying throw your
blankets in,
He dropped his billy and his roll and he socked me on
the chin.
Chorus
I wish that I was fourteen stone and I was six
feet tall,
I'd take a special trip up north, to beat up
Sergeant Small.
He took me to the gaolhouse, he got me in the cells,
I realised then who he was, it was not hard to tell.
I've worked for Jimmy Sharman, and at fighting I'm no
dunce,
But let me see the fellow who can take on five at
once.
There
is also this version of the song.
I
went broke in Western Queensland in 1931,
Nobody would employ me so my swaggy days begun.
I headed out through Charlieville to the western towns,
I was on my way to Roma, destination Darling Downs.
Hey my pants were getting ragged, my shoes were getting
thin,
And when we stopped at Mitchell, a goods train shunted
in,
The engine blew her whistle, I was looking I could see,
She was on her way to Roma, that was very plain to me.
...And
I wish that I was 16 stone and only 7 foot tall,
...I'd
go back to Western Queensland and beat up Sergeant
Small.
Well as I sat and watched her, inspiration seemed to
grow,
And I remember the Government slogan, "It's the railway
that you own."
So by this time the sun was setting and night was
growing nigh,
So I gathered my belongings and I caught her on the fly.
And as we came into Roma, I kept my head down low,
I heard a voice say "any room mate" and I answered
"plenty 'bo!"
Then out there stepped this noble man, the voice of
Sergeant Small,
He said I've trapped you very nicely, you're headed for
a fall.
...And
I wish that I was 16 stone and only 7 foot tall,
...I'd
go back to Western Queensland and beat up Sergeant
Small.
The judge was very kind to me, he gave me 30 days,
He said maybe that would help to cure my rattler jumping
ways.
So if you're down and outback let me tell you what I
think,
Just stay off the Queensland railway, it's a short cut
to the clink.
...And I wish that I was 16
stone and only 7 foot tall,
...I'd
go back to Western Queensland and beat up Sergeant
Small,
...I'd
go back to Western Queensland and beat up Sergeant
Small.
Frank
Fyfe, Mary
Seddon, Dave Calder, Dan
Bergin, The Waipango Billy
Lickers, Tex Morton
Jottings
From
George Black
Ron Craig
Ron Craig ran the Wellington Folk Center after it was moved from Palmer
Street.
All the tables in the Folk Centre are from Rank Zerox crates.
Jae Renault
Singer in the 60's.
Rod McKinnon
Wanted to be NZ's first commercial folk singer
Arthur Toms, Pauline Harter, Mike Birch
Made up an early Wellington Folk group
Arthur
Toms popularised Peter Cape's songs
His
father Don Toms passed away recently. Did you know that Don's wife played
mouthharp on the Peter Cape records?
The Willards
Dick Willard and Sharyn Staley. Very good country/bluegrass musicians.
Sharon edited the folk magazine for a long time. Dick plays good autoharp.
Threepenny Folly
Group in the late 60's did an incredible version of "Haul down lads"
Mitch Park
Bought chorus songs and chorus singing to the public. He, Paul Metzers
and two women whos names I cannot recall at the moment made up Kilderkin
Chris Penman and Jack Penman
Christine is Jack Penmans daughter. Jack would be one of the best
traditional singers that I know.
Murray & Julie Kilpatrick
I first remember Murray in the Shez Paree. A fine singer.
Mike Stanley
As good a shantyman as there is. First heard at Raukawa Falls.
Joan Prior Used to dance in her sets with Jenny Kilpatrick
The Delahuntys
The protesters par excellent
From Greg Chalmers
Judy Batchelor.
A wonderful singer originally from Invercargill, sang around Christchurch
in the '60s.
Johnny Bond
He had folk bands called the Convairs and Cambridge Three in the early
'60s in NZ.
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