Pixie Williams and Ruru Karaitiana, the musicians behind Blue Smoke. Photos / Supplied
Pixie Williams and Ruru Karaitiana, the musicians behind Blue Smoke. Photos / Supplied
A new documentary details the story behind one of New Zealand's cornerstones of music history.
Blue Smoke was New Zealand's first wholly locally made record when it was released in 1949. Over its 70-year history, the song's legacy has been tied to Anzac Day. Ruru Karaitiana was a 17-year-old soldier in the 28th Māori Batallion in World War II when he wrote the song on a troopship in 1940.
Upon returning home, after a three-month search, he found a reluctant voice in Pixie Williams. After much convincing, Pixie's voice helped catapult the song to popular music success. Williams (married name Costello) Karaitiana, and lap-steel guitarist Jim Carter were inducted into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame in 2019 at the Apra Silver Scroll Awards.
The documentary Pixe: The Voice of Blue Smoke directed by Daniel Mulholland, shines a new light on the story behind the iconic song. Pixie Williams daughter Amelia Costello describes the song as New Zealand's "unofficial Anzac Day anthem" in the film.
Ruma Karaitiana in the documentary Pixie: The Voice of Blue Smoke. Photo / Supplied
Karaitiana's son Ruma, 68, tells the Herald Blue Smoke has been like a soundtrack to his life.
"Dad wrote the son originally in te reo Māori, because it was his first language. It wasn't until they got to Europe and particularly when he was injured and on leave in London that he rewrote it in the English version.
Costello tells the Herald her mother wasn't necessarily proud of Blue Smoke's legacy.
"She didn't enjoy [it], she got tired of Blue Smoke.
"But Anzac Day was okay. Anzac Day she would be cool with it. She was always asked to sing it at the RSA. So that was a no brainer. But any other time, nah," Costello says.
Karaitiana says it was slightly different for his father, who didn't escape the fame the song brought him - he was consistently recognised in public and would be asked about Blue Smoke.
"I know that Dad was always pleased when Blue Smoke was used on Anzac Day. He personally, inevitably, associated that very much with his war experience, which wasn't always a great experience.
"So the fact that it has long after he's gone has continued to be used on Anzac Day I think will be very satisfying to him.
He says his father was a modest person, so he may be embarrassed an entire documentary has been dedicated to the song.
Ruru Karaitiana passed away in 1970 and Pixie Williams passed away in 2013.
Amelia Costello, the daughter of Pixie Williams, in the documentary Pixie: The Voice of Blue Smoke. Photo / Jack Bloomfield
In the documentary, Costello compares the reluctancy of her mother to discuss the notoriety she earned from Blue Smoke and her subsequent songs to how returned servicemen refused to talk about the horrors they had endured during world war battles.
She said she and Mulholland had several discussions about the singer in an attempt to figure out why Pixie never wanted to discuss that time.
"It was easy for me to make the connection because I could see how Dad [Paddy Costello] wouldn't talk about anything to do with the war.
"It's crazy, because this was a beautiful thing. But we couldn't get her to talk about it."
She says the legacy of Blue Smoke is down to how moving and special the song is.
"I think there are very few songs that can do that, but the ones come and go like fashion," she says.
"This is a wartime song, it was a very poignant time in the world's life.
"What Ruru wrote in the melody he put to it, articulated how people were feeling. And then you overlay that with Pixie's voice, and she injected that feeling."
She wonders if Blue Smoke would have had the same impact if Karaitiana hadn't convinced her mother to sing the vocals for the song.
"There's emotional and realness in her voice, and of course she could do that because she lost a large number of family in the 28th battalion," she says.
There are two sides to the documentary: the story of the song, and also the legacy of te reo Māori in New Zealand music history.
Karaitiana recalls when his father and Pixie were inducted into the Music Hall of Fame last year.
"At the presentation ceremony, a number of people returned to that theme that the New Zealand music industry really started with a song that was originally written in te reo Māori, and it's taken a long time for te reo to be once again mainstreamed in New Zealand music."
• Pixe: The Voice of Blue Smoke is available to watch online at māoritelevision.com.
