The Bio
Wilfred “Bill” Jeffs QSM (28 July 1923 – 23 April 2016), better known by the stage name Bill Sevesi, was a musician and master of the steel guitar who helped popularise Hawaiian-style music in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
Bill was born in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, in 1923 and came to New Zealand at the age of nine. Born to a Tongan mother and a Liverpudlian father. He was called Wilfred Jeffs after his father, but he preferred its Tongan transliteration – Sevesi – and it became his stage name.
He came to New Zealand to attend high school in Auckland, and during the late 1930s heard his first taste of Hawaiian-style pop on radio station 1ZM. He was captivated by the sound of the electric steel guitar, and the Hawaiian genre was booming internationally during the 1930s through the work of musicians such as Dick and Lani McIntire, Sol Ho'opi'i, Felix Mendelssohn, as well as many films set in Hawaii.
Leaving school, he started an apprenticeship at an inner city radio factory where he made his own steel guitar, using photographs of famous players as his guide. He described his first instrument as “Terrible, you never heard a cat meowing so badly in your life.” His second attempt, using a slab of kahikatea, became a two-necked instrument that he used for many years.
He was self-taught and began playing the Hawaiian Steel Guitar in 1936, and in later years his band ‘Wilfred Jeffs and the Islanders’ became ‘Bill Sevesi and His Islanders.’
He saw active service during World War II and in 1944 was posted in Italy. When he returned to New Zealand after the war, he resumed his career, performing with his band as 'Bill Sevesi and His Islanders'. Bill composed more than 200 songs with over 20 albums to his credit during a career spanning seven decades and a multitude of awards and achievements.
He performed all over the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Australia and United States.
The story of Mt Roskill resident Bill Sevesi. One of the few truly great men of New Zealand music.
In recent years he has been responsible for, amongst other things, the ukulele in schools phenomena.
No so long ago we had our documentary transferred from the original print. The print has seen a lot of a life as you'll see, but it's nice to have a bit of analogue in this digital world. At the same time we upgraded the 'optical' sound mix.
Produced and Directed by Chris Todd and Chris Williams 1992.
He first recorded in 1949 with Tex Morton, a country singer. They were credited as The Rough Riders. Other names he and his group "the Islanders" had recorded as were: The Astyro Trio (or a similar name) for Mavis Rivers; and The Bluemountain Boys for Luke Simmons who was a Canadian-born hillbilly singer. On Phil Warren's label, he was Will Jess with "Bye Bye Baby Goodbye". This became a big hit in 1959.[4]
Along with fellow Tongan Bill Wolfgramm, he was a recording star initially on the Tanza label and then on the legendary New Zealand Viking Records label.[6]
During his career, Sevesi recorded and worked with a multitude of artists, many of whom had recorded for Viking. They include Sione Aleki, The Samoan Surfriders, George Tumahai, and Daphne Walker, as well as recording artists such as The Yandall Sisters and Annie Crummer. His daughter, Tania, made a recording in approximately 1984 (Waikiki Tamure) only on cassette tape, in his makeshift garage/recording studio in Mt Roskill, Auckland.
Bill on the filming of: Songs of the South Seas Documentary.
Produced and Directed by Chris Todd and Chris Williams 1992
The Viking Band and Orange Ballroom Days, Auckland.