When I left you last it was the 70's, and my father was hung out to dry by his recording label, EMI, after a good run of singles. Before he could get his album out, EMI South Africa were forced to close their doors and release their original recording artists from their recording contracts. The pressure from international sanctions together with the great fire that burnt EMI's warehouse to the ground were too much for the South African branch of EMI to bare, and in one fell swoop their complete archives of master tapes were destroyed and their artists lost.
After this dramatic turn of events, good old Dad was forced to hit the road to make a living with his beloved music, which he did and did well! He held a run of residencies at hotels in Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town as a solo entertainer (he had a natural easy stage persona and gags were a part of the presentation at this time). So it was while Kevin held a solo residency in Port Elizabeth at The Phoenix Hotel that he met my mother, a young waitress in the venue where he performed every night. Fate holds no punches, and even though mom was, according to her, the only waitress "who did not fall all over him".
Around this time dad put together a 3 piece harmony band with fellow South African singer/songwriters Neil Thomson and Lay Yesson. Forged in the mold of Crosby, Stills and Nash style three part harmonies and acoustic folk instruments - even today many of the older generation South Africans still remember the wildly popular Leatherbone. Their stage show was honed to perfection, and they became one of the most lauded professional show bands in the land. The group also independently recorded an LP that was put out on Indie label RAP.
Here's the LP record, dad's the cool mustached gent in the middle (late 70's remember). The cover picture was taken of the band standing atop the President Hotel in Hillbrow.
Recorded mostly live, the album was produced by the band themselves and featured a mix of original material and covers that they performed in their live concert. The album art was done by band member Lay Yesson, while my old uncle, Keith Erasmus was the trusted photographer. The original LP record has now become quite a collectible, and we hope to have a digital release ready in the near future.
They could have made good money if they had continued the hustle, but by now relations were somewhat strained in the group. The band members decided to go their separate ways, and it wasn't long before my folks were travelling South Africa and Europe together, making and selling jewelry. Dad had become tired of the residency gigs, moving every three to six months, and now he set focus on creating a more stable environment in which to raise a family. In the early 1980's my folks ended up settling in a small holiday town on the lower south coast of KZN, where both my brother and I were born.
They had by now opened up their own shop in the area to market and sell their jewelry as well as a vast collection of African curios and collectibles. These became the first years during which my father drifted somewhat from music, you could say unintentionally, but unfortunately the business was never all that successful, even though there was something undeniably special and different about the place. Dad always missed the musical life while mother dreamt of being a professional artist.
Dad never completely left music though. As I was growing up he involved with the local folk club and in the early 1990's he secured himself a Fostex 4 track tape recorder and Roland Keyboard/Programmer. This brought along a flood of creativity, and dad began waking up at 4am to work on his new songs in the quiet of the early morning. He produced many songs in that small studio workstation, both his own and recording others, arranging strings, playing guitar, keys, programming drums, tracking bass and voices. I even remember at one time the big idea was that he wanted to open up a commercial studio in the basement underneath the shop. He did end up with a great collection of self produced demo's. These demo's we have only recently recovered from tape - they have now been released as a collection entitled "Must Be Love", which was one of the best songs of the batch, some thirty years after being recorded.
During all this time the business was taking strain as was the relationship between my folks. They were eventually forced to close down the business and what followed was a period of instability in our lives. Dad took to the road as a jewelry rep, but it wasn't long before they finished up for good with the jewelry, and dad moved back to the city of Johannesburg to get back into the music scene. I would visit him there in the school holidays, but I missed dad terribly the rest of the time. So when he out of the blue moved back to the coast while continuing his music, it was just about the best day of my life as an eleven or twelve year old boy.
Below is a newspaper clipping from around this time where dad appeared in a concert held at my school.
After some time dad once again drifted from music, starting an advertising journal for local businesses on the coast . That ran for close on 10 years, and after he eventually sold that business, with a few more grey hairs on his head, he once again got back into music full time swearing that he would never leave it again.
These days, despite the advancing years, Dad at 72 continues to perform music full time, a testimony to that deep love for music that first set him on this journey so many years ago. Many people today may just see an elderly, sort of Bo Jangles character, busking for tips at the local mall with his cockatiel named Fugi by his side, but God knows there is nothing he would rather be doing than making music. He is and always has been, a simple man, with a kind and good heart (by the way, 'Simple Man' is the title of one of the songs he recorded for EMI all those years back)...
As it stands, plans are in the process to re-issue the Leatherbone album, as well as release all those songs he recorded with EMI way back when. We'll also be recording an album of his newer songs, so there is a lot of work to keep us busy. Of course these releases will be more a project of posterity than a commercial enterprise for dad, most people nowadays don't actually buy music, especially not by musicians who are not promoted by the mainstream. It seems music has been mostly relocated to a place of relative importance in the modern world, used as a constant background to life or accompanying films and TV series, but this is a discussion for another day...
All of this, however, matters little to the true musician. The true musician makes music not to make money or become famous and influential, but rather because they simply love music and can't help but make it. To my mind, Dad is one of the founders of this category of artist.
Thanks to all you good people who have read this, I hope you found it interesting and maybe even a little inspiring!
Love you Dad, long may the music continue...
Find Part 1 here: https://steemit.com/life/@gonetroppo/musical-influences-part-1-my-dad-the-life-of-a-south-african-musician-through-the-60-s-70-s
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