Larry's Rebels

Every country has its groups that are willing to do little more than go with the flow of current trends, whether they're British Invasion, psychedelic, soul, pop, grunge, techno, or whatever. In the New Zealand of the 1960s, Larry's Rebels were one of the most visible of these groups. They recorded plenty of singles (five making the Kiwi Top Ten) and played innumerable concerts, even making a bit of a dent into the Australian market, where they toured frequently at the end of the '60s. But at the end of the day, they were content mostly to record or perform competent cover versions. Larry's Rebels did write a few of their own songs, which were usually very pop-oriented takes on British and American pop/rock. However, over the course of a single 1968 live set, they would perform covers of tunes by the Rolling Stones, Engelbert Humperdinck, the Grass Roots, the 5th Dimension, the Young Rascals, and Eric Burdon. The group faded out around 1970, but leader Larry Morris made big headlines in his native land in 1971 after supplying LSD to an undercover police officer, receiving a seven-year jail sentence in a country not noted for tolerant attitudes toward drugs at the time. Larry Morris died on January 17, 2023 at the age of 75. ~ Richie Unterberger