NZ FOLK SONG * Peter Cape

Cape's Songs - Folk People - Kiwi Songs - Home

NOTICE - Peter Cape's ashes will be interred in a plot at All Saints Church, Kaukapakapa, on Sunday July 21st. There will also be performances of Peter's songs at a venue nearby.

Peter Cape is best known for his songs 'Taumarunui On The Main Trunk Line' and 'She'll Be Right Mate.' He was the voice of the rural New Zealand men who had been transplanted to the big city suburbs, expressing their yearning for that lost way of life with its physical and emotional simplicity,

A self-reliant young Peter in
the northern backblocks.

where a man may have lacked social polish, but could be proud of his hard-earned self-reliance.

How much of Peter's own life was in these songs? He was born in 1926, at Helensville, in the isolated Northland province of New Zealand. From 1931 to 1943 Peter lived in a van and was educated by Correspondence School, while his father Irwin Cape travelled up and down the remote valleys between Taumarunui and Whangarei selling farmhouse necessities door to door.

Journalist priest

The Cape legend is growing with time! Here is how Joyce Stewart remembers him:
Peter Cape was a priest in our church, St John's Anglican Church in Trentham. He was actually an English gypsy who came to NZ to set up the installation of television here. (No, he wasn't!)

He wrote the Auckland/Wgtn Express and heaps of other songs, and used to keep us in hysterics with them! When I was confirmed he was the assisting Priest to Canon Smallfield - and well ahead of his time with his shoulder-length curly locks, and wearing his pink hood edged with white fur during the ceremony! He spoke with a slight speech impediment, which actually enhanced his appearance, and we really enjoyed having him at our church!

In the mid 1940s Peter obtained a BA in english, philosophy and psychology at Auckland University, then worked as a freelance journalist. He married Barbara Henderson in 1952, did theological studies at Selwyn College, and was ordained as an Anglican priest. He and Barbara then moved to the Hutt Valley where he was talks producer for the New Zealand Broadcasting Service.

In 1958 his first songs were recorded.

By 1963, he had been promoted to the post of director of religious and arts programs on the newly started TV station of the NZBC. As a result of this he got an arts scholarship to Europe to study pottery. After his return, he started spending a large amount of time touring the hinterland visiting craftspeople "The upshot of this" an aquaintance noted, "was that TVNZ fired Peter, and so did his wife Barbara."

Peter then worked for a while as Director of Volunteer Service Abroad (New Zealand's Peace Corps), before shifting to Nelson in the late 1960s.

A Sense of Identity

Peter in the Monde Marie, his eyes filled with
yearning for his beloved back country.

In his Northland childhood, Peter's family had been constantly on the move, and thus he had experienced no sense of community. In his Hutt Valley radio and TV period, he was a priest in the English Church with a degree in English and with English migrant friends, and none of these things gave him a sense of identity as a New Zealander.

So it seems that he left his wife, his children, his job and his church to go to rural Nelson. Here he could be part of the community of crafts people he had been making programs about. These craftspeople were intelligent, gifted, hard-working New Zealanders, who were in touch with the land they lived in. Here, for the last years of his life, with Gladwyn McIntyre and two cats, Yin and Yang, Peter produced a series of books about these people.

In one of these books, 'Artists and Craftsmen in NZ' (1968), he wrote that

"As we grow from the simplicities of post-pioneer living into a more complex society, and as we grow more aware of our national identity, we will become more willing to accept the expression of these things in the arts."

Peter was writing about potters and painters, but I think his words apply to us song-writers as well.

For more about Peter and his search for a national identity, read Gordon Spittle's book, 'Counting The Beat'.
Peter died in 1979, before he could complete his writings on the religious values which come from our unique relationship with our local environment.

Peter Cape's Songs

Peter's songs have appeared on recordings about a hundred times, with over two thirds of the tracks being recorded by other artists.

12. Talking Dog
    1962 Peter Cape, You Can't Win EP
    1964 Phil Garland, Live in Concert at ChCh Folk Centre
    1975 Peter Cape, Kiwi Ballads LP
    1978 Graham Wilson, Gisborne Folk Festival cass
    1980 Frank Fyfe in concert cass
    1982 Graham Wilson, Billy on the Boil LP
    1983 Martin Curtis, Gin and Raspberry LP cass
    1996 Gumboot Tango, Rattle Your Dags cass
    1986 Homestead in NZ compilation cass
    "..on Alan Scott's latest CD (Australia), I think" (David De Santi)
    2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD
    2014 Sled, A Kiwi Sings CD

11. The Stable Lad
    1975 Phil Garland, Colonial Yesterdays LP
    1982 Graham Wilson, Billy on the Boil LP
    1996 Mike Harding, From The Tracks cass
    1997 Shona Laing, Roadworks CD The Buller To The Grey
    1998 Mike Harding, Past to the Present CD
    1999 Gordon Bok, In the Quiet Land CD, (Maine USA)
    2000 Shiner, Kiss the Kilkenny CD
    2001 Phil Garland, Swag o' Dreams CD
    2001 Phil Garland, I'm an ordinary Joker CD
    2006 Malcontent, Malcontent's Malarky CD
    2014 Sled, A Kiwi Sings CD

11. Down the Hall on a Saturday Night
     1960 Peter Cape, Taumata EP
     1975 Peter Cape, Kiwi Ballads LP
     1960s Tarriers Three, 45
     1960s Merseymen, 45
     19?? Dave Calder, Hamilton County Bluegrass Band
     1993 When the Cat's Been Spayed CD
   1995 NZ; Our Land, Our People CD
   2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD
     2006 Mike Harding video
     2013 Kiwiana goes Pop Vol 2, CD
     2014 Hamilton County Bluegrass Band, Anthology

9. She'll Be Right
    1963 Peter Cape, She'll Be Right EP
    1964 Phil Garland, Live in Concert at ChCh Folk Centre
    1967 Country Jamboree a Go-Go LP
    1975 Peter Cape, Kiwi Ballads LP
    1979 Canterbury Bush Orchestra, Swags to Riches
    1980 Frank Fyfe in concert cass
    1982 Danny McGirr, Kiwi Singalong LP
    1993 Pioneer P'n'S Bush Band, Love of the Land cass
    2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD
                              (Lots of extra verses in NZ oral tradition)

9. Rainbird in the Teatree
    1962 Peter Cape, You Can't Win EP
    1975 Peter Cape, Kiwi Ballads LP
    1975 Phil Garland, Colonial Yesteryears LP
    1980 Graham Wilson, Paydirt LP
     1985 Arthur Toms, Trypots, Cradles and Gutboards nbsp; cass
     1989 Mike Harding, One for You nbsp; cass
   1990s Fear of Drinking, One Morning (Vancouver, Canada)
   1999 Colonial Twostep, Fields of the Gum CD
   2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD

9. Black Matai
     1965 William Clauson, Packing My Things LP
     1975 Phil Garland, Colonial Yesterdays LP Culler's Lament
     1982 Graham Wilson, Billy on the Boil LP
     1985 Arthur Toms, Trypots, Cradles and Gutboards nbsp; cass
     1993 Mike Harding, One for You cass
   1998 Mike Harding, Past to the Present CD
   2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD
     2008 Malcontent, Second Fiddle, CD
     2008 Martin Curtis, Sea to Summit CD

8. Okaihau Express
    1963 Peter Cape, She'll Be Right EP
    1975 Peter Cape, Kiwi Ballads LP
    1982 Danny McGirr, Kiwi Singalong LP
    1985 Arthur Toms, Trypots, Cradles and Gutboards cass
    1993 Gavin Asher, Across the Line cass
    1997 NZ: our land. our music CD
    2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD
    2014 Sled, A Kiwi Sings CD

7. Taumarunui On The Main Trunk Line
    1960 Pat Rogers, Young Kiwi 45
    1975 Peter Cape's Kiwi Ballads LP
    1987 Bushfire, with Mike Moore LP
    1990s When the Cat's Been Spayed CD
    1993 Ian McNamara, Macca Tracks LP Cootamundra on the...
    1995 Mike Harding, From the Tracks cass
    2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD

5. Inter-Island Steamer Express
     1960 Peter Cape, Taumata EP
     1975 Peter Cape, Kiwi Ballads LP
     1982 Danny McGirr, Kiwi Singalong LP
     1996 Mike Harding, From the Tracks cass
   2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD

5. Coffee-Bar Blues
    1963 Peter Cape, She'll Be Right EP
    1975 Peter Cape, Kiwi Ballads LP
    1993 When the Cat's Been Spayed CD
    1979 Canterbury Bush Orchestra, Swags To Riches; LP
    2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD

4. Spell-Oh!
    1963 Peter Cape, She'll Be Right EP
    1975 Peter Cape, Kiwi Ballads LP
    1982 Graham Wilson, Billy on the Boil LP
    2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD

4. Taumata . . .
     1960 Peter Cape, Taumata EP
    1975 Peter Cape, Kiwi Ballads LP
    1995 NZ; Our Land, Our People CD
    2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD

3. Nativity (New Zealand Christmas)
     1968 TV One broadcast
2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD
      2014 Sled, A Kiwi Sings CD

3. Bullocky
     1960 Pat Rogers, Young Kiwi 45
     1975 Peter Cape's Kiwi Ballads LP
   2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD

3. Fetch 'Em On
    1962 Peter Cape, You Can't Win EP
    1975 Peter Cape, Kiwi Ballads LP
    2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD

3. You Can't Win
    1962 Peter Cape, You Can't Win EP
    1975 Peter Cape, Kiwi Ballads LP
    2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD

2. Charlie's Bash
1984 Pioneer Pog 'n' Scroggin Bush Band, Playing For Pennies
2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD

2. Poor Unfortunate Boy
1985 Martin Blackman, N.Z. Soldiers and Trampers Songs cass
2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD

2. Gumdigger
1967 Fernfire Singers,Sweat in the Sun Mate, LP
2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD

1. All Black Jerseys,
      1960 John Pike, Kiwi SA5 45

1. She's A Great Little Town
      2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD

1. Tramcar
      2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD

1. Old Joe Becher and Young Joe Bayer
      2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD

1. The Monde Marie
    2001 I'm An Ordinary Joker CD

Cape's Songs Not On Record
      May, The Drover's Daughter
      Scotty The Roadman
      I Don't Want To Be a Kiwi
      The Swagger
      Pussycat
      Feet Fish

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