Pixie Williams, the iconic voice of TANZA Records with her recording of 'Blue Smoke', is still with us, thanks to a new reimagining of her songs titled The New Blue. William Dart puts the new blue against the old.
Pixie Williams Photo: supplied
Pixie Williams' was the voice that graced the very first TANZA recording released back in 1949.
'Blue Smoke' would end up being the TANZA calling card, an original song written by Ruru Karaitiana
It was subsequently recorded by both Dean Martin and the English light opera duo, Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth. But, as anyone, who’s seen Gaylene Preston’s charming 1990 movie Ruby and Rata, which features the song very prominently, knows, Pixie Williams has no peer. Nor does the band behind her, launching the song with a generous Jim Carter lap steel solo — two verses of it in fact — a far cry from the slushy strings behind the two international cover versions.
A beautifully tidied-up transfer of 'Blue Smoke' appeared ten years ago, on an outstanding collection of Pixie Williams’ complete TANZA recordings. A baker’s dozen of them, from between 1948 and ‘51, all on one CD that came with a splendidly annotated 26 page booklet. A veritable taonga in its own right.
Throughout these performances the simplicity and unfazed directness of Williams vocals shine through.
The driving force behind that 2011 reissue was a family one — her daughter, Amelia Costello — and a new album on the same Blue Smoke Records label, takes the tribute one step further.
The eleven tracks of True Blue, Pixie Williams Reimagined bring together a diverse bunch of musicians to reinterpret most of the singer’s original 13 recordings.
This is a very respectful reimagining and the mood is one of evocation and honouring rather than any sort of deconstruction.
Music Details
'Song title' (Composer) – Performers
Album title
(Label)
'Twenty Tiny Fingers' (Tepper, Bennett) – Pat McMinn
The Great Kiwi TANZA
(Rajon)
'Sweet Georgia Brown' (Casey, Brown) – Hughie Gordon and his Quartet
The Great Kiwi TANZA
(Rajon)
'Blue Smoke' (Karaitiana) – Pixie Williams
For the Record: The Pixie Williams Collection 1949-1951
(Blue Smoke)
'It's Just Because' (Karaitiana) – Pixie Williams
For the Record: The Pixie Williams Collection 1949-1951
(Blue Smoke)
'Maori Rhythm' (Vincent) – Pixie Williams
For the Record: The Pixie Williams Collection 1949-1951
(Blue Smoke)
'Saddle Hill' (Karaitiana) – The Victory Dolls
The New Blue: Pixie Williams Reimagined
(Blue Smoke)
'It's Just Because' (Karaitiana) – Deanne Krieg
The New Blue: Pixie Williams Reimagined
(Blue Smoke)
'Sweetheart In Calico' (O’Connell) – George Rutherford
The New Blue: Pixie Williams Reimagined
(Blue Smoke)
'Let's Talk It Over' (Karaitiana) – Anna Coddington
The New Blue: Pixie Williams Reimagined
(Blue Smoke)
'Bellbird Serenade' (O’Connell) – Rachel Fraser
The New Blue: Pixie Williams Reimagined
(Blue Smoke)
'Señorita' (Karaitiana) – Lisa Tomlins
The New Blue: Pixie Williams Reimagined
(Blue Smoke)
'Maori Land) – Freedman) – Pixie Williams
For the Record: The Pixie Williams Collection 1949-1951
(Blue Smoke)
'Blue Smoke' (Karaitiana) – Lisa Tomlins, Kirsten Te Rito, Pixie Williams
The New Blue: Pixie Williams Reimagined
(Blue Smoke)
