Graham Neil Bartlett (born 22 July 1942), generally known as Gray Bartlett, is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

born guitarist, country music performer, producer, talent mentor, tour promoter and entrepreneur.

Biography

Early life

He was born in Auckland and attended

Auckland Grammar School Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

. Aged fifteen he joined a local band called The Phantoms and was signed to

Zodiac Records Zodiac Records has been the name of at least six different record labels: *Zodiac Records (New Zealand), an Auckland, New Zealand label of Stebbing Recording and Sound *Zodiac Records, a New York City, United States company in the 1950s *Zodiac Re ...

in 1961.

Career

Bartlett had a major hit record in Japan in 1965 with "La Playa", which featured in the Billboard music industry charts for ten weeks. He has sold over 410,000 singles and over 300,000 albums in Japan. He was presented with the first ever NZ International Gold Disc, presented in March 1968 for "La Playa". He had his own show at the Tokyo Hilton in 1967, and was resident guitarist on

Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. He often used unusual instruments in his performan ...

shows in England and Australia from 1968 to 1973. Bartlett has toured and supported many international acts including

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...

Bobby Vee Robert Thomas Velline (April 30, 1943 – October 24, 2016), known professionally as Bobby Vee, was an American singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s and also appeared in films. According to '' Billboard'' magazine, he had thirty-e ...

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the ...

, Tom Jones,

Herman's Hermits Herman's Hermits are an English beat, rock and pop group formed in 1964 in Manchester, originally called Herman and His Hermits and featuring lead singer Peter Noone. Produced by Mickie Most, the Hermits charted with number ones in the UK a ...

Michael Crawford Michael Patrick Smith, (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English tenor, actor and comedian. Crawford is best known for playing both the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom ''Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'' an ...

. In 1968 he joined since-convicted child abuser

for a New Zealand and Australian tour, leading to a seven-year musical relationship. Bartlett moved to England and performed with Harris at prestigious nightspots such as "The Talk of the Town". Bartlett has released thirty albums including ''La Playa'', ''Two Shades of Gray'' and ''Together Again'' (New Zealand gold albums in 1985 and 1990). His sales of music in China has been estimated by BMG Hong Kong to be approximately 1.6 million units.

Honours and awards

His numerous awards include the NZCMA Hands of Fame in 1981, Top NZ Country Band in 1983, NZ Country Instrumentalist of the Year in 1984 and 1986, Top Country Group of the Year 1984, Country Music Industry Golden Tribute Award for services to country music in 1988, and the Guangzhou (China) Golden Plume Award for Top Foreign Artist Sales in 1988. He was named New Zealand Country Music Artist of the Year 1990, Patron of the New Zealand Country Music Association from 1987, and was New Zealand Cultural Ambassador 1985–86. Bartlett was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the

1987 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1987 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countries ...

, for services to entertainment.

Other

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

he stood unsuccessfully for the

Auckland City Council Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1871 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elected b ...

as an independent. He composed ''The Ballad of Robbie Muldoon'', and stood unsuccessfully for the National Party in in the against

Judith Tizard Judith Ngaire Tizard (born 3 January 1956) is a former New Zealand politician, and a member of the Labour Party. Early life and career Tizard was born at Auckland's St Helen's maternity hospital in Pitt Street in 1956. She was educated at Glen ...

Concerts

Bartlett's 1990 ''Together Again'' national tour was named the Biggest Selling Concert Tour by New Zealand Artists and the companion album attained Gold status in seven days, making it the fastest selling album in New Zealand history. He is Patron of the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand Inc and in 2001 he received their prestigious

Benny Award The Benny Award is bestowed on a New Zealand variety entertainer. It is presented annually by the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand, a non-for-profit organisation and showbusiness club, founded in 1966 and awarded to a variety performer who ha ...

, the highest honour for a New Zealand entertainer.

Production

He was the producer of the record-breaking ''Highway of Legends'' tours. Bartlett was involved with establishing the careers of

Yulia Yulia ( Юлия) is a female given name, the equivalent of the Latin Julia. It can be spelled Yulia, Yulya, Julia, Julja, Julija, Yuliia, Yuliya, Juliya or İulia. An alternative spelling is Ioulia/Gioulia (Greek) or Iuliia. Prononciations can diff ...

Will Martin Will Martin (born 31 August 1984) is a New Zealand-born classical crossover singer. Martin's first album, released in his native New Zealand, went platinum in 6 weeks. The album, called ''A New World'', featured songs such as "Into the West", "I ...

, Elizabeth Marvelly, Margaret Keys and others. His company New Zealand Entertainment Academy (NZEA) regularly promotes New Zealand tours by overseas stars.

Politics

Bartlett was an Auckland City Councillor for nine years until retiring from his position in 2001. He represented the Eastern Bays Ward for the Citizens & Ratepayers Association from 1992 to 1998 and as an independent from 1998 to 2001.

Patronage

In October 2017 he was presented with the President's Medallion from the

Variety Artists Club of New Zealand The Variety Artists Club of New Zealand Inc (VAC) is a non-for-profit organisation and show business club. It was founded in 1966 and became an incorporated society in 1972. The VAC was formed to promote goodwill within the New Zealand enterta ...

in recognition of his services as Patron.

References

External links

Hank Marvin reviews Gray Bartlett
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartlett, Gray 1942 births Living people People from Auckland New Zealand male songwriters New Zealand guitarists New Zealand male guitarists People educated at Auckland Grammar School Unsuccessful candidates in the 1990 New Zealand general election New Zealand National Party politicians Auckland City Councillors New Zealand country guitarists