Gulliver Smith

Kevin Gullifer Hopkins-Smith (born Kevin Gullifer Smith; c. 1950 – November 2014), who performed as Little Gulliver and Gulliver Smith (also styled as Gullifer Smith), was an Australian singer and songwriter from the early 1960s to mid-2000s. He was the front man and founding mainstay vocalist of Company Caine. In 1976 he and Ross Wilson co-wrote "A Touch of Paradise" for Wilson's group, Mondo Rock, which appeared on their third album, Nuovo Mondo (July 1982). It was covered by John Farnham on his album, Whispering Jack (October 1986), and was issued as its third single in February 1987, which reached the top 30 on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart.

Gulliver Smith died on 12 November 2014 from kidney failure, and was survived by his wife Stephanie Hopkins-Smith (née Hopkins) and their three sons. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, "Smith drew on vintage rock'n'roll, Professor Longhair-styled New Orleans R&B, psychedelia and soul for inspiration. He was known for his outrageous stage act, which incorporated an inventive free-form approach and much evangelist-styled ad-libbing. Later on, he added a satirical Zappaesque component to his on-stage banter and lyrics."

Biography

Kevin Gullifer Smith (later Kevin Gullifer Hopkins-Smith) was born in the 1950s and was a child performer in the early 1960s in Melbourne, covering tracks by artists from the previous decade. Occasionally he was a guest singer for local bands, the Thunderbirds and the Lincolns. They issued two singles, "Short Fat Fannie" (cover version of Larry William's 1957 single) in September, and "No Money Down" (1955 original by Chuck Berry) in March 1966. Smith would interrupt live performances of songs to deliver a monologue, "some little vignette that was quite unrelated."

In Sydney in 1967 Smith joined Dr Kandy's Third Eye, a psychedelic soul, R&B band, with Mal Capewell on saxophone, Arthur Eizenberg on bass guitar, Zane Hudson on saxophone, Dave Kain on guitar (ex-Untamed), Alison McCallum on co-lead vocals, Daryl McKenzie on drums, Kevin Patterson on trumpet and Bob Walsh on organ.

In 1968 Smith was fired from Dr Kandy's Third Eye and formed a jazz-blues ensemble, Noyes, with Bobby Gebert on piano, John Helman on bass guitar, Mick Lieber on guitar (ex-Python Lee Jackson) and Dave Ovenden on drums.

McFarlane described them as "one of the most adventurous, avant-garde outfits of the day." Wilson later recalled, "it was the first song I wrote when I was putting together a new band that I would call Mondo Rock, and it stands out as it is far more sensitive than other songs I was writing at the time." Wilson described Farnham's version, "It wasn't a huge hit, but it was one of those songs that because the album was so massive, they just kept putting songs on the radio, and that was one of them. So 10 years after it was written, John redefined what it was all about."

In 1989 Smith returned to Sydney and formed a new version of Gulliver's Travels with Steve Blau on keyboards, Allan Britton on bass guitar (ex-Dynamic Hepnotics) Andrew Reid on guitar, and Robert Souter on drums (ex-Dynamic Hepnotics).

Discography

Albums

The Band's Alright but the Singer Is... (June 1973) Deux Poètes (by Gullifer) (1996)

Singles

"Such a Shame" (July 1973) "Lazy Shoe" (October 1973) "Don't Keep Doin' It Duke" (July 1980)