2018 Queen's Birthday Honours - Rowled gold: Arise Sir John

Senior Writer·NZ Herald·

3 Jun, 2018 07:00 PM4 mins to read

Music legend John Rowles has been made a knight in this year's Queen's Birthday Honours. Photo / File

Every album, a little bit of gold. Sir John Rowles was never an artiste of the recording studio – he was a creature of stage, where he could be physical, present, on the prowl – but something always went right on the LPs he made in his prime. It helped that he had the best and biggest voice in New Zealand showbiz history. He had something else, though, something special: style. He'll have that 'til he drops.

John Rowles (1968): This year marks the 50th anniversary of his massive worldwide hit, If I Only Had Time, which soared to number 2 in the UK. JR, 20, was so hot that the album cover was shot by Dezi Hoffman, who photographed The Beatles. Mike Leander produced; he was fresh from arranging She's Leaving Home on Sgt Pepper, and laid down an eccentric bed of flutes and whistles beneath JR's enormous vocals. The results are terrible, except for the dynamic hit single.

That Loving Feeling (1969): From around the same time, prolific LP cover photographer Sylvia Pitcher shot the classic James Last Beach Party, which features the German bandleader barbecuing some snarlers on the sand. She got JR in his best Carnaby St rags looking soulful by an English oak. Norrie Paramor produced; he made Cliff and The Shadows huge, and gave JR a lush orchestral treatment. The results are terrible, except on You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling. The big, deep Wall of Sound is all in his voice.

Time for Love (1970): He'd had two top-20 hits in the UK but the next releases were flops. His recording career never really recovered. He drifted to Hawaii, where he enjoyed fabulous wealth and success as a cabaret performer. Hawaiian photographer David Cornwell gave him the beads for the LP cover. Sonny Burke produced; he was the god who made My Way for Frank Sinatra. The results on Time for Love are terrible, except for Rowles's timeless classic, his own composition, Cheryl Moana Marie.

Cheryl Moana Marie (1970): A greatest-hits package, starring JR in that must-have fashion accessory, a buckskin fringe jacket in beige. The liner notes claim, "In March John returned to New Zealand for a triumphant tour. He celebrated his 23rd birthday with his family in Kawerau and then left to fulfill the first part of his $600,000 engagement at Las Vegas."

Rowled Gold (1976): Another greatest-hits package – JR could never get enough of them, and neither could the public. It's got his other UK hit Hush, Not a Word to Mary, as well as You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling and Cheryl Moana Marie. But the highlight, and likely the best song he ever recorded, is his loose, stunning version of The Letter. Usually Rowles sings like a man who no one ever told to shut up. The notes go on forever. But this time he gives the song space, sneaks up on it from the sides, actually creates a thrilling and beautifully controlled art.

Pearls (1985): JR goes country, except in looks – photographer Peter Brill Nash, who shot LPs for Waylon Jennings and Lyle Lovett, didn't bother styling poor old JR. The LP was recorded in Nashville. Jerry Crutchfeld produced; the results are terrible. Crutchfeld had done hack work with Tammy Wynette and Glen Campbell, and churns out a country-by-numbers vibe for JR. The best moments are all inside the four songs co-written by Rowles. Of course he'll always be The Voice but he played fine guitar – he modelled himself on Hank Marvin of The Shadows – and wrote songs as good and effortless as Tania and Cheryl Moana Marie.

NB: Every lyric sheet of his latter hit foolishly has him singing of "a lovely little Maui miss". Māori, not Maui. Māori, like Sir John Rowles.