{"id":487,"date":"2014-09-15T21:38:40","date_gmt":"2014-09-15T21:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/thehockenblog\/?p=487"},"modified":"2014-12-05T22:26:20","modified_gmt":"2014-12-05T22:26:20","slug":"johnny-tahu-cooper-qsm-1929-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/thehockenblog\/johnny-tahu-cooper-qsm-1929-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Johnny Tahu Cooper, QSM, (1929-2014)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blog post prepared by Amanda Mills, Liaison Librarian – Music and AV<\/p>\n

Johnny Cooper (the \u2018Maori Cowboy\u2019) was a local rock\u2019n\u2019roll hero.<\/p>\n

Cooper grew up on a Te Reinga farm in the 1930s, becoming a fan of Gene Autry during his childhood. While living with his aunt and uncle, he listened to their 78rpm disc collection, his favourites being Autry, Tex Morton, and Wilf Carter. Cooper learnt to play the ukulele along with the records, soon performing to shearing gangs.<\/p>\n

After gaining a scholarship and attending Te Aute College for two years, he went to Wellington and found work as a gravedigger. Not long after, he formed a country and western band with Will Lloyd-Jones on slap bass, Ron James on piano accordion, Don Aldridge on steel guitar, and later, Jim Gatfield on guitar. They called themselves Johnny Cooper and the Range Riders.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Johnny<\/a>
Rock and Sing With Johnny Cooper and his Range Riders. His Masters Voice, 1956. Hocken Sound Recordings. HRec-M 697<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The band entered talent competitions, coming first in the talent quest at Wellington\u2019s Paramount Theatre, winning \u00a320, and an audition with HMV. In 1954 Cooper went to Korea to entertain the New Zealand troops, and on returning, HMV asked the band to record with the label. This resulted in their first hit, a duet with Margaret Francis of a cover of One by One<\/em>, backed with Cooper\u2019s own song Look What You\u2019ve Done<\/em> \u2013 a song that found another life 40 years later when it featured in \u2018Once Were Warriors\u2019. HMV then approached Cooper about recording a new genre: rock\u2019n\u2019roll. HMV were keen for Cooper to cover Bill Haley and the Comet\u2019s smash Rock Around the Clock<\/em>, though Cooper was sceptical, and didn\u2019t really like the genre. However, he recorded it (and the b-side Blackberry Boogie<\/em>), and it became a hit. Interestingly, Cooper\u2019s version was released locally before Bill Haley\u2019s version.<\/p>\n

In 1956, HMV released its first New Zealand rock album, \u2018Rock and Sing with Johnny Cooper\u2019, a 10\u201d compilation that placed his country recordings with Rock Around the Clock<\/em>, and Blackberry Boogie<\/em>. Cooper also released a second rock\u2019n\u2019roll cover by Haley \u2013 See You Later Alligator<\/em> in 1956 (this time on 45prm as well as 78rpm disc).<\/p>\n

Cooper\u2019s third single made him a significant name in local music history. Pie Cart Rock\u2019n\u2019Roll<\/em> (1957) was (as the story goes) about the Whanganui pie cart, where Cooper and the band would get their \u2018pea, pie, and pud\u2019 meals. Pie Cart Rock\u2019n\u2019roll<\/em> was considered the first locally written rock\u2019n\u2019roll song. However, this is thought to be incorrect – Sandy Tansley\u2019s 1957 song Resuscitation Rock<\/em> (according to researcher John Baker) was released a few weeks before Pie Cart Rock\u2019n\u2019roll<\/em> in September 1957.<\/p>\n

Cooper and the band kept their audiences broad by appearing in variety shows. In the late 1950s he began the \u2018Give it a Go\u2019 talent quest, with musicians such as Mike Nock, John Rowles, and Midge Marsden appearing. The talent shows ended in 1968, and Cooper released his last single, Break the World in Two<\/em> \/ Cold Cold Heart<\/em> on Impact. He continued to perform in the 1970s as The Johnny Cooper Sound, and in the 1980s as part of the Original Ruamahanga River Band. He retired in the 1990s.<\/p>\n

Johnny Cooper was 85 when he passed away last week at his home in Naenae.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blog post prepared by Amanda Mills, Liaison Librarian – Music and AV Johnny Cooper (the \u2018Maori Cowboy\u2019) was a local rock\u2019n\u2019roll hero. Cooper grew up on a Te Reinga farm in the 1930s, becoming a fan of Gene Autry during his childhood. While living with his aunt and uncle, he listened to their 78rpm disc […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14625,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15431,15364,463,15375,15385],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment","category-maori-music","category-music","category-obituary","category-popular-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/thehockenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/thehockenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/thehockenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/thehockenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14625"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/thehockenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/thehockenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/thehockenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/thehockenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/thehockenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}