Bev Harrell

Harrell was born on 24 October 1946 in North Adelaide to Reg Harrell, a carpenter, and Dot (née Borlace), an amateur musician.[1][2] She sang for the 5AD children's radio show Kangaroos on Parade at the age of six.[3] She appeared on Australia's Amateur Hour at the age of nine, coming second. At the age of twelve she came second on the radio/television show Swallow's Juniors; she also toured with the Mickey Mouse Club when they were in Australia, along with Lucky Starr.[2][4]

In 1965, while working as a secretary and studying at night school, she began performing with local bands such as the Harts and the Vibrants, before briefly joining the Clefs; she was managed by her best friend Darryl Sambell (who would later go on to manage a young John Farnham) and later Ron Tremaine. She signed with the EMI record label and became a regular performer on television shows such as Bandstand, Kommotion, and Uptight.[4][5][6]

Her first single, released in late 1966 under EMI's HMV imprint, "What Am I Doing Here with You?" written by P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri, was a cover version of Johnny Rivers's album track from In Action (1964).[5][7] Her version, which was paired with the B-side "You Really Didn't Mean It", peaked at #13 on the Go-Set National Top 40 in 1967 and #1 in her native Adelaide.[5][8] The success of the single led to her winning the Major Broadcasting Network's 1966 award for Best Female Recording Artist.[3][9] Shortly after the release of the single, she began performing as a support act for such artists as Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, Winifred Atwell, the Rolling Stones, and Roy Orbison, along with appearing in an advertisement for Hills Hoist clothes lines.[5]

In 1967 she released an EP, Come On Over To Bev's Place, and an album, This is Bev, which was named Album of the Year at the Major Broadcasting Networks awards. Two of her seven subsequent singles released between 1967 and 1970 for EMI's HMV and Columbia imprints charted in the top 40 in Australia, and were her last singles to do so: "Come On Over To Our Place"/"You Don't Love Me" (March 1967) and "One in a Million"/"Give Me Time" (February 1968). "Come On Over to Our Place", written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, was also recorded by the Drifters, while "One in a Million" was written by Jackie Trent and Tony Hatch, frequent collaborators with Petula Clark, who subsequently released the song on her album Petula.[3][5][10] In 1967 and 1970 she went to Vietnam to perform for troops in the Vietnam War.[11] She was named three times as the most popular Australian female vocalist in the pop magazine Go-Set, coming 2nd in 1967, 1st in 1968, and 3rd in 1969.[12] She was known for her small stature, being 1.45 metres (4 ft 9 in) tall.[9]

Between 1970 and 1972 she toured around the world, travelling to Europe, Canada, the Caribbean, South Africa, and South East Asia. During this period, she had her own television show Two New in Toronto and released two singles. Her first was "Back To The People"/"Travelling Easy" (Bell); the A-side was written by Maurice Gibb and Billy Lawrie, Lulu's brother, and the single was produced by Gibb. Representing the United Kingdom, she sang "Bringing Back Those Memories" at the 1971 World Popular Song Festival, where she won the awards for Best Performance and Best Composition; it was released as a single in Japan as "Bringing Back Those Memories"/"Sing" (Polydor).[4][5][13][14] In 1972 she returned to Adelaide. . She released three singles with RCA in 1973 and 1974, along with an album, I Believe in Music (1974). In 1989 and 1990 she performed the role of Grizabella in the musical Cats in Australia and New Zealand. She has continued to perform on stage and for clubs, corporate functions, and cruiseships into the 21st century.[5][15] She has been married twice, to Brian Braidwood, a talent manager, and Gary Grant, a singer.[2]

At the 2006 Australia Day Honours, she received a Medal of the Order of Australia "For service to the entertainment industry as a singer and to the community in the support of ex-service welfare organisations".[16] In 2014, she was inducted into the South Australian Music Hall Of Fame.[17]

• Gazzo, Jane (2015). John Farnham: The Untold Story. North Sydney, New South Wales: Penguin Random House Australia. ISBN 9780857986573.

• Official website