THE LUCKY STARR STORY*

The name Lucky Starr is remembered for the gigantic hit I've Been Everywhere, June In Junee and The Three Trees. But a closer observation of Lucky's extensive recording career reveals a talent which goes far beyond novelty tongue twister records into such diverse areas as rock 'n' roll, blues, country and jazz.

"I was never a pure rock n roller in the sense that JO'K and Johnny Devlin were. You've got to remember that during the early days, much of the industry thought rock 'n' roll was a dirty word. As my career went along, I tried to be seen as being able to handle a variety of styles. In hindsight, maybe that was a mistake. Many of those early records I now wish I'd never made."

Lucky is in many ways the Bobby Darin of Australian rock 'n' roll, a magnetic stage performer, a man of many talents with a frustratingly catholic recording career.

Lucky was born Les Morrison in the working class suburb of Mascot in 1940. Like most kids finding their musical feet in the 50s, he was heavily influenced by American pop and rock ‘n’ roll. One of his strongest memories of the time was going to the nearby airport to watch the arrival of Johnnie Ray. The arrival is memorable for Ray's bursting into tears as soon as the plane doors were opened. His big hit at the time was Cry.

Lucky recalled Johnnie Ray's subsequent show at the stadium. "He was an incredible performer. He wrung every ounce of emotion out of his audience. I was exhausted, exhilarated".

Lucky began work in his teens as an electrical apprentice in the city. On the train to work most mornings, he met two young musicians (Bruce Gurr and Tony Caperero). They were doing quite well as part of a group playing at The Mocambo in Erskineville.

"At the time, I'd gone no further than Johnnie Ray impersonations; I asked these two to back me at my girlfriend's end of year school concert. Bruce played piano and Tony played guitar. I asked if they'd consider backing me if I could find some work in the future. They agreed and so we found a guy named Dave Taylor and taught him twelve bar blues in E on the Bass.

Thus the Hepparays were formed. The name was a mixture of hep cat and hip-hooray. For awhile, rock 'n' roll was being played on just about every street corner in Sydney. Most of the bands were pretty terrible, including ours. The scene became increasingly competitive and bands had to improve in order to survive. Finally there were about a dozen or so top bands playing regularly around Sydney and there wasn't a lot between them in terms of musicianship. Our big breakthrough, if you want to call it that, happened when we won a talent quest at the Allawah Hotel on June 24th 1959. Part of our prize was a Festival Records contract and that seemed to open a lot of doors."

The band first recorded as the Hepparays in late 1959. The tracks were a rocked up medley of Xmas songs called Xmas Rock Medley and a vocal entitled I Remember Xmas At Home. The record was only a moderate seller and now extremely rare.

"It became obvious to me that I needed to market myself to create a new image. And I decided it was time for a name change. Col Joye had changed his name (from Jacobsen) and was playing a moon shaped guitar. I became Les Starr. The drummer's father was a cabinet maker and he helped me construct the body of my new guitar in the shape of a star. Then we went up to Harry Landis' music shop in the city and bought the neck and pickup and hey presto! Les Starr and the Hepparays was born. After a while, I thought I needed something more catchy. Lucky seemed to fit with Starr so we decided to go with that!"

The first record under his new name Lucky Starr was a cover of the Buddy Knox hit, Somebody Touched Me (released on the 29th Oct 1959) backed with the self-penned When You Come Back To Me. On succeeding singles Lucky tried a variety of styles before hitting the jackpot with I've Been Everywhere.

Lucky seemed to have a natural affinity with an audience and he was much in demand as a live performer. This didn't go unnoticed and Lucky was signed up for the Bill Watson Headlines Stadium Shows. When Watson bought out the biggest grossing act of the time - the Mouseketeers, Lucky was chosen as the support act for the tour.                                  "I reckon it got me more exposure than three Lee Gordon Big Shows combined. Through Bill Watson I met some of the softer performers in particular Jimmy Rodgers, Billy Eckstein and Norman Kaye of the Mary Kaye trio who later helped me to get established in the United States after the success of I've Been Everywhere".

The story of I've Been Everywhere starts at a small nightclub, the Afro-Cuban in Kings Cross in early 1962. "A guy named Geoff Mack sang the song. I loved it immediately and asked him if I could record it. Geoff had already sent a demo of the song to Festival Records but agreed to allow me to record it as it was more likely my record would get greater exposure. I had two weeks to learn the words but when it came to record it, I still had to read them off a lyric sheet. When it went well here, we got a request from Dot Records in the States. We wrote an American version. Hank Snow had the hit over there with it. It went to number one in the country charts. All up, how many did it sell? All I can say is, I wish I had another one or two like it. Geoff and I did really well out of it and I am still getting royalty cheques."

The move to the States was successful. One single Poor Little Jimmy Brown charted for him and he concentrated on overseas venues. His popularity in Las Vegas and the East later led him to become the first Australian artist to tour Vietnam in 1965.

"During the Seventies, I became a cabaret act, touring the Hilton circuit overseas. Took me out of the mainstream of Australian life but in hindsight, I guess I'd still do it again. The late 70s and early 80s saw a struggle on my part to get into the mainstream of Australian music. Australia had become a holiday between jobs and when I finally returned, nobody was very interested in booking or recording me. So I put away my suits, teamed up with RCA records and returned via country rock. I've always been a fan of country music so this was an easy transition." Lucky's first album Big Wheels went gold in 1975 and won the ARIA award for country album of the year

His one regret of forty or more years as a recording artist is that "when I had the chance to tell Australia something via records, I didn't do it to the best of my ability. I let other people decide my destiny. Now I've lost the opportunity. It's too late. There are people with bigger voices now."

Nevertheless, he is justifiably proud of the fact that he was consistently recording Australian music from Everywhere through Ow Yer Goin' Mate and Down At The TAB. He was into it well before it was trendy to do so.

Lucky once again demonstrated his talent with acclaimed live performances on Long Way To The Top in 2002- 2003. His longevity is a testament to his undisputed place in the history of Australian Music. He is still doing what he loves today, recording and performing live all over the country... Lucky Starr, a true Aussie legend.

*Taken from original interview with Paul Hughes for Canetoad Publications 1991