Gulliver Smith, lead singer of 70s Australian prog-rock group Company Caine, has died after a long illness.
Company Caine formed in Melbourne in 1970. The debut album ‘A Product of Broken Reality’ was recorded at Melbourne’s TCS Studio in Richmond in July 1971. It reached no. 49 in 1972 on the Australian album chart. The album has never been available on CD but is planned for re-release in January through Aztec Records.
While the band never went on to achieve mass success they were influential with the next generation of Australian bands like The Church and The Sports. Steve Kilbey covered ‘Woman of Reason’ on his ‘The Slow Crack’ album and The Sports performed the songs ‘Now I’m Together’ and ‘Don’t Hold Back That Feeling’, both of which appear on the new expanded edition of ‘Reckless’ by The Sports.
Smith was also the co-writer with Ross Wilson of Mondo Rock’s ‘A Touch Of Paradise’, later covered by John Farnham. Wilson also produced the 1975 Company Caine album ‘Dr Chop’, that will also be reissued by Aztec Records in 2015.
Gulliver had three sons. Nicolas Hopkins-Smith is a member of Melbourne blues band Black Smith Hopkins.
