Beeb Birtles

Gerard Bertelkamp AM (born 28 November 1948), known professionally as Beeb Birtles, is an Australian musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist. He has been a member of various Australian groups including Zoot (1967–71), Mississippi (1972–74), Little River Band (1975–83) and Birtles Shorrock Goble (2002–07). He has also worked as a solo artist, including releasing an album, Driven by Dreams (2000). In 2004, Birtles and other members of the classic line-up of Little River Band were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.

Beeb Birtles was born on 28 November 1948 as Gerard Bertelkamp in Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Gerard Bertelkamp, Sr (30 May 1923 – 4 May 2000), a carpenter and building contractor, and Elisabeth Hendrika (née Deubel; 8 January 1924 – 2 December 2015). He has a younger sister, Elisabeth H (born 17 September 1952). Birtles later recalled seeing his parents singing in an amateur operetta in Amsterdam, saying that "I was very young and I went with my grandparents. They took me to the theatre to see my parents, and, er, I was so young that I actually called out my mother's name from the audience!"

The Bertelkamp family emigrated to Australia in September 1959 aboard MS Willem Ruys. The family settled in Adelaide where Birtles attended Netley Primary School – he was held back a year due to his language problems. He discovered a passion for music while attending Plympton High School. His mother taught him to sing: "after dinner at night, we would sing together. And she would take the melody and I would take the harmony." While at high school he was nicknamed "B. B. Eyes", after a Dick Tracy character from the associated TV cartoon show, it soon became "BB" and later "Beeb".

In 1966 after high school Beeb Birtles, initially on lead guitar and harmony vocals, formed his first group, Times Unlimited, with his school mate John D'Arcy on guitars and vocals; they were joined by Ted Higgins on drums and a bass guitarist. D'Arcy was from Manchester and introduced Birtles to the music of the Hollies. When the bass guitarist left, Birtles took over that instrument and soon they asked Darryl Cotton to join on lead vocals.

Times Unlimited changed their name to Down the Line in homage to the Hollies' cover version of Roy Orbison's "Go Go Go (Down the Line)". During 1966, Down the Line played regular gigs in their home town, Adelaide, including a Friday night residency at Scot's Church, performing covers of English Mod groups: the Hollies, the Move, the Who and the Small Faces. By May 1967 they backed English-born singer Johnny Farnham and as session musicians they were used on demos, which secured Farnham's contract with EMI Records. One of the demos, "In My Room", became the B-side of Farnham's debut single, "Sadie (The Cleaning Lady)" (November 1967).

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.