Garth Porter
| Garth Porter | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Garth Ivan Richard Porter |
| Born |
24 September 1948 Hamilton, New Zealand |
| Origin | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Genres | Pop, country |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, producer |
| Instruments | Keyboards, vocals, piano (string, electric), organ (Hammond), clavinet, mellotron, synthesizers |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Labels | Razzle/Festival |
| Associated acts | Samael Lilith, Toby Jugg, Sherbet, Lee Kernaghan |
Garth Ivan Richard Porter (born 24 September 1948) is a New Zealand-born Australian multi-instrumental musician, songwriter and record producer. He was a member, on keyboards and backing vocals, of the pop group, Sherbet (1970–84), and co-wrote both of their number-one singles, "Summer Love" (March 1975) and "Howzat" (May 1976). Porter is a co-writer and producer for country music singer Lee Kernaghan.
Garth Ivan Richard Porter was born on 24 September 1948 in Hamilton, New Zealand. His parents were farmers in the nearby rural area. He recalled that while growing up "I learnt piano for about six months so I had a rough idea of musical notation." The future songwriter spent two nights a week at his grandparents home in Hamilton, "I'd walk there from work and from their place, I would walk to night school and I vividly remember I used to really look forward to my walks. As I was walking, the pace of my footsteps would be the rhythm of a song and I was just making up words and melodies all the time I was walking to my grandparents and then to night school."
In 1969 Porter was a member of Swellfoot's Assembly while a student at University of Waikato, which included Marion Arts on lead vocals and Paul Baxter on bass guitar. Later that year he was in Sydney and joined Samael Lilith alongside Daryl Braithwaite on lead vocals, Ray Ferguson on guitar and backing vocals, Mick Parker on bass guitar and flute (replaced by Bruce Worrall on bass guitar), and Greg Wilder on drums. He left that group in the next year and was briefly a member of Toby Jugg, which issued a cover version of Amen Corner's "(If Paradise Is) Half as Nice" as a single in 1970.
In October 1970 Porter, on Hammond organ, electric piano, backing vocals and occasional lead vocals, joined the Sydney-based pop group, Sherbet. The group included his former band mates Braithwaite and Worrall from Samael Lilith, as well as Alan Sandow on drums and Clive Shakespeare on lead guitar and co-lead vocals. Porter's first song writing effort for Sherbet, "One Man Team", was performed in late 1972 and early the next year but "We never recorded it... That was a pop/rock sort of thing I guess." The first Porter-written track recorded by Sherbet, "Back Home", was issued as the B-side of "You're All Woman" (August 1972).
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