We use cookies to help us understand how you use our site, and make your experience better. To find out more read our privacy policy.
Play

00:00

/

00:00

Full screen
Video quality

Low 0 MB

High 0 MB

HD 0 MB

Captions
Volume
Volume
Hero image for Blue Smoke (featuring  Jim Carter)

Blue Smoke (featuring Jim Carter)

Neil Finn , Music Video – 2015

Creating New Zealand's first local hit involved a lot of trial and error, as a company best known for making radios grappled with how to make records. Sixty-six years later Neil Finn visited musician Jim Carter, whose Hawaiian-style guitar is part of the magic of the original 'Blue Smoke' track. Finn "gently persuaded" Carter to help him record a new version on a laptop in just a few hours. Alongside newsreel shots of WWII soldiers, this evocative clip features footage of two musicians from different generations sharing memories, and making music about saying goodbye. Carter passed away in October 2022. 

(Recording engineer Stan) Dallas improvised new techniques on the spot such as plugging Carter's homemade amplifier directly into a mixer rather than recording it through a microphone ... The slightest glitch at any stage meant they had to begin again...
– Chris Bourke on the original recording in 1948, from his book Blue Smoke - The Lost Dawn of New Zealand Popular Music 1918 - 1964, page 160

Key Cast & Crew

Generic Profile image for Neil Finn

Neil Finn

Director

Generic Profile image for Liam Finn

Liam Finn

Camera

Source

Thom Music

More from the Cover Songs Collection...

Thumbnail image for Nature

Nature

This muscular early 90s cover of The Fourmyula’s...

Thumbnail image for Sweet Lovers

Sweet Lovers

The first single for short-lived Wellington band...

Thumbnail image for Melting Pot

Melting Pot

This big, bright cover of British act Blue Mink's plea...

Thumbnail image for Montego Bay

Montego Bay

Upper Hutt-born singer Jon Stevens pulled off the...

Thumbnail image for I'm on Fire

I'm on Fire

This ambitious video for Head Like a Hole's cowpunk...

Thumbnail image for Blue Smoke (featuring  Jim Carter)

Blue Smoke (featuring Jim Carter)

Creating New Zealand's first local hit...

Thumbnail image for Anchor Me

Anchor Me

This all star cover of Mutton Birds classic...

Thumbnail image for To Sir with Love

To Sir with Love

'To Sir with Love' was a chart topper for newcomer...

Thumbnail image for The Game of Love

The Game of Love

The video for Tex Pistol's chart-topping, electro-pop...

Thumbnail image for Not Given Lightly

Not Given Lightly

After being diagnosed with breast cancer, TV presenter...

Thumbnail image for Asian Paradise

Asian Paradise

One of the most commercially successful NZ acts of the...

Thumbnail image for Savin' Up

Savin' Up

Sonny Day was a working musician from the late 50s to...

Thumbnail image for Broken Wings

Broken Wings

K'Lee was just 17 when this song took the New Zealand...

Thumbnail image for Sitting in the Rain

Sitting in the Rain

Sitting in the Rain is a New Zealand pop...

Thumbnail image for See What Love Can Do

See What Love Can Do

Annie Crummer came to attention with her cameo in...

Thumbnail image for Under the Milky Way

Under the Milky Way

Stephanie Tauevihi...

Thumbnail image for Shoop Shoop

Shoop Shoop

This pop-punk version of Monte Video's novelty hit won...

Thumbnail image for Come to the Sabbat

Come to the Sabbat

This notorious clip was filmed for Timberjack's...

Thumbnail image for How Is the Air Up There?

How Is the Air Up There?

This cover by Ted Brown and the Italians of the 1966...

Thumbnail image for Opportunity

Opportunity

Thumbnail image for It's a Heartache

It's a Heartache

The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra's...

Thumbnail image for If That'll Make You Happy

If That'll Make You Happy

Following the demise of Pacific Funk band Big...

Thumbnail image for Message to My Girl

Message to My Girl

A couple of years before Backstreet Boys ruled global...

Thumbnail image for Super Trouper

Super Trouper

In 1995 Flying Nun...