Tommy Adderley (1940-1993)

Birmingham-born Tommy Adderley was a working-class lad who started singing in New Zealand in the late 1950s when he was still in the Merchant Navy. By the early 1970s he was one of the owners of Granpa's (entertainers' club) in Auckland. Overseas musicians considered him to be the main man in the parish and all the greats including Keith Richards and John Mayall visited the club when they were in town. Those were the halcyon days. After a well-publicized drug bust and nineteen months in jail, Tommy devoted all his waking hours to music: as a jazz singer, event organiser and promoter. He performed to the end, and died, in abject poverty in February 1993 less than twenty-four hours after his last performance. "A highly personal account of a thoroughly personable man. This work rightly acknowledges Tommy Adderley's broader contribution to the New Zealand entertainment industry...Christine...provides angular glimpses into a life as filled with generosity as it was fraught with personal challenges." Richard Thorne, New Zealand Musician Magazine.