Blerta – Freedom St. Marys

Blerta was the brainchild of legendary New Zealand drummer, bandleader & actor Bruno Lawrence. He formed Blerta in 1971, with the name standing for “Bruno Lawrence Electric Revelation Travelling Apparition”. Blerta was held together as a band through to 1975 & it’s ever revolving membership included actors as well as musicians. It was conceived & perceived as a sort of travelling self sufficient performing arts troupe. The group spent it’s lifespan trying to get it’s message to both New Zealand & Australian audiences through it’s frequent tours.

The first 45 released by the band was the classic “Dance Around The World” which reached No.13 in the national charts. “Freedom St. Marys” was te flip of that 45 & both tracks were recorded at the HMV studios in Wellington. “Freedom” was written by Lawrence & keyboardist Chris Serensin & for me it is a great piece of jazz/psych influenced hard rock. I find myself playing this side out far more often than “Dance Around The World” & it usually gets some interested comments from people wanting to know what the record is. Great guitar breaks, cool drums & a pretty unexpected middle hook make for some pretty enjoyable listening.

You can read more about both Blerta & Bruno Lawrence from this page: http://www.sergent.com.au/blerta.html

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