Red McKelvie was a New Zealand singer-songwriter-instrumentalist and session musician who has been described as "Australasia's greatest pop guitarist". He has appeared on albums by

Richard Clapton Richard Clapton (born 18 May 1948) is an Australian singer-songwriter-guitarist and producer. His solo top 20 hits on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart are " Girls on the Avenue" (1975) and "I Am an Island" (1982). He reached the top&n ...

(including the Australian hit "Girls on the Avenue") and

The Flying Circus The Flying Circus were a short-lived Toronto-based group fronted by singer/songwriter, Bruce Cockburn. The band, which was active between late 1967 and early 1968, also featured Neil Merryweather and future Mapleoak members, Marty Fisher and Go ...

in Australia and Hello Sailor, Dave Dobbyn's DD Smash, Al Hunter and Glen Moffatt in New Zealand. McKelvie's early forays in the music scene were as lead guitarist for such Auckland, New Zealand, bands as The Chelsea Beats, The Dark Ages and The Avengers, but it was upon his arrival in Sydney, Australia, in 1967 that he became a much in-demand sideman and session player. Sydney bands in which McKelvie featured included The Starving Wild Dogs, alongside future

Blackfeather Blackfeather are an Australian rock group which formed in April 1970. The band has had numerous line-ups, mostly fronted by founding lead singer, Neale Johns. An early heavy rock version recorded their debut album, ''At the Mountains of Madness ...

pianist Paul Wyld, and Quill before he joined

and greatly influenced their flirtation with country music. Despite the first single from

's ''Prepared in Peace'' LP being McKelvie's "Israel", McKelvie was sacked from the band for "confusing the band's direction".MILESAGO: Australasian Music & Popular Culture 1964–197
"The Flying Circus"
/ref> McKelvie released singles as a solo artist and as leader of The Third Union Band and was lead guitarist on the first two

albums, including playing all the multilayered electric guitar on the Australian number two hit "

Girls on the Avenue Girls on the Avenue is the second studio album by Australian rock music singer-songwriter, Richard Clapton, which was released in April 1975. It peaked at number 33 on the Kent Music Report Albums Chart. It provided two singles, " Girls on ...

". He returned to New Zealand in 1975 where he became a highly sought-after session musician, performed on Television New Zealand's primetime ''That's Country'' show and produced recordings for the country's queen of country music Patsy Riggir. Bands McKelvie played with in Auckland, New Zealand, in the 1970s to the 1990s included Cruise Lane, with New Zealand's jingles king Murray Grindlay and

Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

songwriter Paul Hewson, the Al Hunter Band, the Glen Moffatt Band and his own Cajun combo Mumbo Gumbo. McKelvie returned to his home town of Christchurch in 1997, and in 2007 finally released his debut solo album, ''Ridin' On Trains – Songs of New Zealand and Australia''. Eight of the songs from the album appeared on the 2009 release ''Troubadours – NZ Singer/Songwriter Series: Vol 1'', which also featured Glen Moffatt and Al Hunter. Red McKelvie died in Geraldine on April 23, 2022.

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKelvie, Red New Zealand male songwriters Year of birth missing (living people)