Yes, Jeff St John was an Australian. He was born with spina bifida, which is why he used a wheelchair. He had a huge voice! Another rock legend who has sadly passed away.
He got married at one point but I can't find any mention of it in his Wiki page. Maybe it didn't las....But What a great person and a fantastic talent. So powerful and soulful.
Hi - I played guitar with Jeff St John for 2 years (Red Cloud 1975-76) - he was an amazing talent. His vocal influences included James Brown, Jackson Brown and others. He was fiercely passionate about his vocal performance. Jeff's power, feel/groove was unmatched at the time - his stage performances were riveting. A great voice, mostly unrecognised and now sadly gone.
So glad to read this. What an amazing privilege as I'm sure he appreciated your talents. What an amazing experience Jeff was for all of us. I recently showed this to my 32 yr old son. He said Oh Wow!
When Jeff performed this song live, during the instrumental he would charge around the stage doing wheelies in his chair, it was something to see. In the TV studios, they wouldn't allow him to do that and in a lot of his later TV performances they only filmed him from the waist up, or extreme close up...to hide the chair...that would be unacceptable in today's society. Jeff was disabled from birth with Spina Bifida. He could walk with leg irons and crutches but decided they were too much trouble and nearly always used his chair. People with disabilities were not treated very well back then, he said people would talk loudly and slowly as if he was mentally disabled so he would often lie and say he had been in a car accident, and their attitude and manner would immediately change. Thank heavens people eventually woke up.
Jeff St John was one of my favourite local artists in the early 70’s. He was born with Spina bifida, but he used to make up a cover story that he was injured in a car accident because of peoples attitudes to the disabled back then - he had been through a lot being treated as one of the ‘poor little crippled children’. A cover story is something disabled people often have to do just to get treated with respect. I used to see him at the Roundhouse at the University of New South Wales UNSW, and various other venues in Paddington. He would come on stage on crutches and sit on a tall chair for the whole performance, rocking and swaying (he had amazing balance) but it did his spine no good and eventually he could only perform in the wheelchair.
Great artist, I remember my older brother had some of his 45's. I reckon the stigma of his handicap stopped him from receiving the success he deserved. Even my generation born in the mid 60's had problems with people with handicaps when all they wanted was to be treated normal. Just a lack of education on the matter I guess. I grew up with a girl with serious arthiritis who was in a wheelchair at 18, she went on to represent Australia in wheelchair Basketball at two Olympics. Its great that people with handicaps are treated better now than what they were..
Yes I remember seeing him on stage, but I can't remember where. He was stunning the way he'd do wheelies and race across the stage in his chair. I don't think he ever got the credit he deserved. Singing like did, sitting down, was incredible.
What a shame I never saw him. I did see a performance on TV but my family had the sound down. He was moving around in his wheelchair doing stands on the back wheels. and various tricks. He had a very shiny wheel chair at that point and he made a feature of it. You can hear his depth of humanity in his vocals
I remember seeing him live in 1977 when I was 12 and the way he made that wheelchair dance use to scare me as I thought he was going to tip it over but he had great control of it. Fantastic singer and was great to see him live, he really put on a show.
Yes, I got to see him live in a place called the House on the hill, in Cairns. I think I was 13 or 14, so it was 77' - 78' and my mind was blown and yes, he used t worry me too, could have sworn he'd lose it.
What a treat it was " i saw him sing " live " wow his show " would blow you away !" ( danced with his wheelchair! " there was nothing he couldn't do !" Wow and wow 👌 👏 !!!" ) cheers
Jeff was amazing, I listened to him in my early teens. What a powerful and beautiful voice he had. I’m so glad I was around to hear the amazing Australian talent at that time. I saw him perform live once and was mesmerised. RIP Jeff, you were one of the best. ❤️
Jeff always surprised people with how he could sing sitting down - you have reacted to Jeff once before (Fool in Love) One of Australia's classic rock bands...
Love this song, I used to sing it to myself, walking around the street! A real mood booster! 👍🤗👏 Compared to American music then, mostly California beach music, this was a positive breath of fresh air! 😃
I played with Jeff once. I think it was at Pharo's night club in Adelaide South Australia. Got invited to the stage and played one of his songs. Really cool.
Yes!! He had some really great songs! Sadly he died in 2018. This one is one of those songs as a little kid growing up in the 70s we heard on the radio all through that decade. Always loved this song. Thinking back on it, as a little kid, Jeff might've been the first young person in a wheelchair I ever saw - I remember being surprised he had such powerful voice while sitting down (considering in choir we were always told to stand up for full lung capacity and so our voices would project!)
Jeff St John (born Jeffrey Leo Newton; 22 April 1946 - 6 March 2018), was an Australian musician best known for several Australian hits, such as "Teach Me How to Fly" (1970), "Big Time Operator" (1967) and "A Fool in Love" (1972)and attended Cleveland Street Boys High School in Surry Hills, New South Wales. He was born with spina bifida and spent much of his life in a wheelchair. Peace out.
John was huge in the 70's and he would pop up regularly in the following decades. Great live performer. He would often get his wheel chair rockin on stage. Sadly he died in 2018 after complications from surgery. (He suffered from spina bifida).
I often wondered whether he would have had a bigger career if he was born in America. I suspect his talent, given his disability, might have been honoured more.
Music back then was unique and great, all those jazz players who moved over into rock or pop. Hey I just thought of a duo I would have loved to have seen and heard, what about Jeff and John Farnham, now that would be a concert I would want to go to
Definitely a big hit. I was singing it to myself after reading the title.... Haven't heard it in years but it was still in there. Funny how you forget something at the shops yet you remember a song from your childhood 🤔
I love this song. I kind of grew up with this sort of music and I’ve seen other snippets from the show that this song was recorded from (GTK Australian music show). You need to find one of Jeff St John’s collaborators Wendy Saddington “Looking through a Window “ killer blues rock track from 1970.
Saw JEFF ST JOHN COPPERWINE live in Melbourne ' disco' THUMPIN TUMP 1969. BILLY THORP AZTECS finished the show with ROCK ME BABY. (I was still going to School). Oh man.
He did. Hummingbird is actually a Leon Russell song, but Jeff's version is the best in my opinion. The album it's on, Joint Effort, (great title!) is fantastic. Maybe it was a typo, but the group's name was Copperwine, not Copperwire! 😊
You asked if he was Australian, yes he was. He was born with spina bifida and spent much of his life in a wheelchair. And passed away 6th March 2018, bacterial infection after surgery in Perth Western Australia.
The back up band filmed here is clearly miming as it was recorded by Jeff's band "the copperwine" previously, and these guys are not copperwine. Not sure why they parted ways
Probably Australia’s first rock singer to sing with an open and powerful jazz / classical voice. Others like J O’K were mostly just loud and rough......even if talented. If you enjoyed “Teach Me How to Fly”, then “Reach Out” ( I’ll be There ) is a must listen. Also any video of Jeff St John with Wendy Saddington. As an aside, we in Australia never got into Janis Joplin until her passing away......because we had Wendy Saddington. Even when she appeared to go nuts......avant garde and always in a clown suit, a lot of her performances were still Cutting Edge brilliance.
Not always in a clown suit. That was a brief thing early in her career. She had a great voice, but Jeff St John would put anyone in the shade with that magnificent voice of his.
