The story of Doug Jerebine is the story of one of New Zealand’s (almost) lost musical legends. Turning his back on a promising musical career in the early 1970’s, Doug joined the Hare Krishna’s and stopped making music.
Thankfully for music fans, the debut album he recorded in 1969 but never got around to releasing has seen the light of day, being released as Doug Jerebine is Jesse Harper – a nod to his on stage persona of the 60’s and 70’s.
The album might be over 40 years old but it still blows away just about everyone else trying to do that 60’s psychedelic blues rock thing that Hendrix conjured up. Doug Jerebine had that whole Hendrix sound down pat and, if he’d kept at it, could have been the biggest thing to come out of this country.
The whole tone of this album is great, from the straightforward rock of opener Midnight Sun, to the funk tinged Hole In My Hand, and the swaggering blues rock of Ain’t So Hard To Do – all laced with fuzzy guitar and Doug’s spoken vocals. The recording shows its age, so the sound quality isn’t always the best. Instead of detracting from the album it actually adds to the atmosphere – it’d be missing something it the sound was polished and enhanced through modern recording techniques.
In 2009 Doug returned to New Zealand, picked up his guitar and started performing again; great news for those who now have a new opportunity to see a true musical legend in action.
