Blue Smoke musician chosen for Hall of Fame

Just weeks after turning 100, a Nelson-based living legend of New Zealand music has been included in the 2019 APRA Silver Scroll Hall of Fame inductees announced this week.

Jim Carter, along with Pixie Williams and Ruru Karaitiana, is being acknowledged mainly for Blue Smoke – the first song written by a New Zealander, recorded and manufactured in New Zealand and released on a New Zealand record label, in 1948.

Carter’s claim to fame was playing lap steel guitar in the band that backed singer Williams on the record.

Written by Karaitiana on board the troopship Aquitania in 1940 while sailing across the Indian Ocean, Blue Smoke became popular with New Zealand troops in World War II.

A commercial success after it was recorded in Wellington, the song was covered by a host of international stars, including Dean Martin. It sold more than 50,000 copies – an unprecedented and remarkable achievement given New Zealand’s small population at the time.

While Karaitiana and Williams died in 1970 and 2013 respectively, Carter is living in Richmond at the grand old age of 100.

Blue Smoke was given a new lease on life in 2015 when it was re-recorded in Carter’s living room with Kiwi music legend Neil Finn.

The Silver Scrolls celebrate New Zealand songwriters and composers, and this year’s award will be presented at Auckland’s Spark Arena on October 2. Votes from the APRA membership will determine the five finalists and winner. The ceremony also features inductions into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame. Previous inductees have included Jordan Luck, the Clean, Dave Dobbyn and Herbs.

Joining Carter as Nelson representatives at the event will be Silver Scroll nominees Caleb and Georgia Nott, aka pop duo Broods, who have been named in a longlist of 20 for their song Dust, written with Thomas Schleiter.

BRADEN FASTIER/STUFF Jim Carter played lap steel guitar on the landmark New Zealand record Blue Smoke in 1948. Now he, the song’s composer Ruru Karaitiana and singer Pixie Williams have been included in this year’s inductees to the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame.

Jim Carter spent more than three decades as a professional musician, and recorded a new version of Blue Smoke at his Richmond home with Neil Finn in 2015.