Butler - 1973 - Butler FLAC

Bang Bang/Sucide Ride/We're Getting Nowhere/In The Morning/Especially For You/Green River/Reach Out/Tilda Jane/Mistake/Southern Magic/Here We Come/Mirror Don't You Weep



Butler were one of few all-Maori rock bands. All four members were originally from Rotorua, but the band actually formed in Christchurch in 1970. Predominantly an underground group, they played their early gigs at the Open Door, before moving into Trevor Spitz's nightspot Aubrey's. Having built a strong Christchurch following, the band took stabs at other South Island centres, returning to hometown Rotorua in 1971. From there they began building up a North Island following, proving popular on the University circuit with their combination of originals and Led Zeppelin / Wishbone Ash covers.

Some television exposure followed with a spot on 'Happen Inn', 'Popco' and 'Free Ride'. This was fairly rare for an underground group and even with this they never really gained much pulling power.

 In 1973 they recorded a self-titled album for Pye. It was released on the Family label and from it came one single, "Green River"/"Especially For You". They never scored a hit single and the only album they released was a commercial flop, but Christchurch-based band Butler found a warm place in the hearts of many NZ rock fans in the early and mid-1970s. Their fusion of psychedelia, progressive and blues-rock shone in a live setting, and Butler became a highly popular band on the national campus circuit. One of the few all-Maori bands of that era, the story of their formation is one of the most fascinating in NZ rock.
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The creation of Butler was both spontaneous and unconventional. A typical New Zealand rock band circa 1970 would comprise high school pals or early twenty-something Pakeha males, jamming in a garage or rehearsal space. The bonds between the four members of Butler were forged in the tobacco fields of Motueka and a drop-in centre in Christchurch. Butler comprised four Rotorua area born and raised Maori teenagers. The original (and only) line-up comprised Steve Apirana (guitar, vocals), Heidi Warren (guitar, vocals), Angel Adams (bass), and Hori Sinnott (drums). Apirana started playing guitar at age 15, and a year later he and Warren (who was a year younger) decided they'd start a band. Their dream, however, only coalesced with these jams in Christchurch. "We approached the guy who was running the centre and got him to open it up on a night it was not normally open so we could practice," Steve told Cross Rhythms. "Three days later, the son of the minister offered to be our manager. Here we were, a band formed in three days, nowhere to play, only a couple of instruments, but we had a manager!"

 As a buzz around Butler built, the band was invited to play orientation week gigs at the University of Canterbury, starting in early 1971. I had just begun studies there, and I have fond memories of beer-soaked campus gigs featuring Butler serving up high-energy and more than competent cover versions of the songs we'd play in our frigid student flats. Butler's career took a significant leap in 1972 when they took over from fellow blues-rockers Ticket in a residency at top Christchurch music club, Aubrey's. Apirana told Maori TV, "Ticket were like The Beatles to us. They were the number one band around. I'd go to see them whenever I could, getting tips from their compositions." Regular playing at Aubrey's, support slots for visiting bands like Daddy Cool and other gigs in Christchurch and beyond helped Butler hone their skills, and they began asserting themselves as one of the best live bands in the country.


This fast-growing reputation led to an invite to appear at the now-legendary Ngaruawahia Festival in early 1973, alongside such other fledgling New Zealand bands as Dragon and Split Enz. "Back then everyone was getting record deals," notes Apirana. "Our manager asked around for a deal and Pye took us up on it. They put us on a new label, Family. I think John Hanlon was the only other artist on it." 
 

Butler's disenchantment with the record and the label grew as time went by. "It took them 18 months to release it and by then we’d progressed more into prog rock and bands like Wishbone Ash. We weren’t even playing many of those songs on the record." An initial single had a cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival hit 'Green River' as the A-side, but it fared poorly. "The label never really got behind it," Apirana laments.

On the Butler album, nine group originals nestled alongside covers of 'Green River’, Cher's hit 'Bang Bang’ and the Four Tops classic 'Reach Out I’ll Be There'. Despite the album's failure, Butler remained popular on the touring circuit, and they opened for such visiting groups as The Average White Band and Osibisa.  By 1976, Butler were hoping to make another album, one that better captured their improved musical chops, but internal and philosophical differences within the band deepened, causing them to call it quits in 1977.