Blerta -

Blerta — short for Bruno Lawrence’s Electric Revelation and Travelling Apparition — were a New Zealander musical troupe that was active under assorted iterations between 1971 and 1976. The band released three singles in 1972 on His Master’s Voice, followed by the 1974 album This Is the Life.

Members: Beaver (vocals), Corben Simpson (guitar, vocals), Kemp Turirangi (guitar), Tony Littlejohn (bass), Alan Moon (organ), Chris Seresin (keyboards), Bruno Lawrence (drums), Eric Foley (saxophone), Geoff Murphy (trumpet)

Background

Blerta formed in Wellington in October 1971 when drummer Bruno Lawrence assembled a musical core with singer Beverley “Beaver” Morrison, bassist Tony Littlejohn, saxophonist Eric Foley, trumpeter Geoff Murphy, guitarists Corben Simpson and Kemp Tuirirangi, and keyboardists Alan Moon and Chris Seresin. The name expanded to Bruno Lawrence’s Electric Revelation and Travelling Apparition, and Lawrence widened the ensemble with actors, filmmakers, writers, lighting crews, partners, and children for a travelling music-theatre company.

Lawrence returned to Wellington in 1967 from a Sydney stint with Max Merritt and the Meteors. He joined Quincy Conserve and wrote their 1970 song “Ride the Rain.” Simpson, a Manurewa guitarist since fourteen, played with Sons & Lovers, The Movement, and Littlejohn. APRA awarded Simpson the 1971 Silver Scroll for “Have You Heard a Man Cry.” Littlejohn grew up in Rotorua, where his mother showed him ukulele chords. He played professionally by fourteen and progressed through The Knights, Internal Crocodile, Soul Movement, and The Movement.

Moon abandoned formal piano lessons early and taught himself the instrument. He played with The Nomads and Sons & Lovers. Tuirirangi started guitar in school groups and the G-Jays, then joined Sons & Lovers for the Ali Baba’s residency in Wellington. Seresin came from the Auckland group Fresh Air. Morrison grew up in Lower Hutt as the daughter of pianist and choirmaster John Morrison. She studied graphic design at Wellington Polytechnic. Lawrence heard Morrison at the Wellington Musicians’ Club and recruited her for the new troupe. Murphy took up trumpet at seventeen and helped establish the Victoria University Jazz Club. Lawrence and Murphy developed the Acme Sausage Company around jazz performances, film shoots, lighting rigs, and stage productions.

Blerta acquired the former Sons & Lovers 1948 Leyland Tiger bus and opened the touring operation in October 1971 at a small Featherston hall. The musicians crossed the South Island as part of a convoy that presented concerts, free children’s shows, films, sketches, and projected light effects. Simpson composed the music for “Dance All Around the World” at Wanaka from a children’s-show concept that Murphy derived from a Margaret Mahy book.

In February 1972, Blerta returned to Wellington for an EMI Studios session with producer Peter Dawkins and engineer Michael Grafton-Green. The resulting “Dance All Around the World” (b/w “Freedom St Mary’s”) reached No. 13 on the New Zealand singles chart. HMV producer and pianist Mike Le Petit produced the 1972 follow-ups “Aunty Ada” (b/w “Everybody Has Their Way”) and “Hullo Hullo” (b/w “Blerta Jam and Pudding”)

Morrison left the touring party in Hawke’s Bay, and guitarist Fane Flaws joined the troupe. Tuirirangi and Littlejohn also departed; Lawrence recruited guitarist Chas Burke-Kennedy and bassist George Barris. Simpson divided his schedule between solo engagements and Blerta. Murphy stepped away from the travelling party at the close of the second South Island tour. Blerta played the Great Ngāruawāhia Music Festival in January 1973 and crossed to Australia for the Aquarius Festival at Nimbin. The group remained in Australia for about eighteen months.

Blerta recorded sixteen tracks at EMI Studios in Sydney in spring 1974 with Renée Geyer as featured singer. RCA representatives challenged Geyer’s appearance under her recording contract. An outbreak of hepatitis spread through the troupe, ending the Australian tour as members dispersed to recover. Back in New Zealand, Blerta replaced Geyer’s lead vocals with Morrison at EMI Studios in Wellington in 1975, completing the tapes for This Is the Life.

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