The Plainsmen



When a pair of Timaru wharfie brothers was signed to HMV at the end of the 1960s, they set out to record exclusively their own songs. As The Plainsmen, Norman and Claude Stringer released two albums thought to be among the earliest entirely self-written by a New Zealand artist.

They went against the tried-and-true formula of faithfully copying the popular fare of the day to create a body of work that stood on its own and of its place. Songs such as ‘New Zealand Sunset’, the ode to the South Canterbury pioneer ‘Bullocky Jones’ and ‘Ballad Of The Waitaki’ celebrating the Waitaki hydroelectric scheme.

The Plainsmen: Lex Sinclair, Norm Stringer and Claude Stringer
The Country Sound Of The Plainsmen, 1968
The Plainsmen's …And Then We Wrote album from 1967
The Ballad Of The Waitaki was a big hit in 1967 for The Plainsmen
Labels:

Kiwi


HMV

Members:

Norman Stringer - vocals, guitar

Claude Stringer - vocals, guitar

Russell Stevenson - piano

Lex Sinclair - bass

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