Larry's Rebels were a garage rock band, formed in Ponsonby, New Zealand, in 1964. The band had a relatively stable lineup, and had several nationally charting singles in New Zealand and Australia. Their musical genres ranged from blues rock to psychedelic pop, with lead vocalist Larry Morris having a versatile vocal range. The band later merged British Invasion and American musical influences into their repertoire.
History
Beginnings
In 1962, classmates of the Seddon Tech institute, John Williams (lead guitar), Dennis "Nooky" Stott (drums), Harry Leki (bass guitar), and Terry Rouse (keyboards, rhythm guitar) formed a band known as the Young Ones. For all the musicians, the ensemble was their first attempt at a professional musical career, and within a brief period they developed a sound rooted in rock and roll and blues. Soon, the band was enamoured with the music of the Shadows and Bill Black, both of whom they incorporated into their live repertoire. As the Young Ones operated on the local dance club circuit, the band transitioned through several bass guitarists, and would not retain an enduring bassist until the group reorganized into Larry's Rebels. After Leki departed from the band, he later joined the successful group, the Simple Image. The group encountered Robert Handlin, a television producer, who possessed numerous contacts in the music industry. Handlin negotiated with Paul Newberry, the manager of the premier teenage venue, Skylounge. With the Beatles captivating audiences in Australia and New Zealand, the band assumed a new musical identity driven toward a pop-orientated sound. They changed their name to the Rebels, and added a new vocalist named Larry Morris. Soon after, to accommodate to the group's current frontman, the band was advertised as Larry's Rebels.
As Larry's Rebels, the band asserted themselves as the resident group at the Top Twenty Club, replacing Ray Columbus and the Invaders, and sparking a long-lasting rivalry between the emerging bands. Though Larry's Rebels obtained valuable experience in the club, Williams recalls the restrictions and guidelines they faced, saying, "You were allowed a two songs-on-the-jukebox break. And you had to play five or six brand new songs that were in the Top Twenty that week or you were fined. If you were five minutes late you were fined. The songs all had to be danceable. You couldn’t do any slow ones". In late 1964, the band rounded out their most recognizable lineup when Viv McCarthy was brought in as a long-term bass player. After a year-long residency at the Top Twenty, the band shifted to the Platterack, which allowed them to experiment with a wider variety of compositions and musical genres.
In late 1965, the group shared top billing with Ray Columbus and the Invaders at the Miss Auckland Personality Contest. Impressed by the performance, Russell Clark, the manager of Ray Columbus and the Invaders, agreed to oversee Larry's Rebels, and he soon finalized a deal with Philips Records. With Russell, the band recorded demos for their debut single, many of which were rejected by the record company. Finally the group released their first single in December 1965 after settling with a cover version of Dionne Warwick's "This Empty Place". Though they did not manage to chart, the single sold well enough to encourage a second recording, with the folk piece "Long Ago, Far Away" being distributed in early 1966 to local success.
Further recording and success
In mid-1966, Clark collaborated with entrepreneur Benny Levin to establish their own label, Impact Records with Larry's Rebels being their first marketed artist. The band's first release did not dent the charts, but a cover of The Who song "It's Not True" peaked in the top 10 in September 1966. At year's end, the group followed up the single with a successful Impact Records Christmas tour, and, in January 1967, performing as a support act to The Yardbirds, The Walker Brothers, and Roy Orbison. A profound influence on Larry's Rebels, The Yardbirds encouraged the group to experiment with their instrumentals, and introduced them to psychedelic music. Larry's Rebels' captured what they learned in their fifth single, "I Feel Good", which climbed to the top five in New Zealand.