Kevin Borich


Picture a young lad standing on a chair playing a tennis racket while looking into a mirror, a lamp behind him. “I’d have this atmosphere,” says Kevin Borich, “like being on a stage but not really knowing what it was like.” His parents were watching and could see he liked music. “I was enjoying the music and pretending to be playing so they thought they’d better get me a guitar cos I looked a bit silly.”

That was 1958. After his long stint through the 1960s and 70s as lead guitarist with The La De Da’s, he has twice had the privilege of being asked to jam on stage with Carlos Santana, and supported AC/DC in LA on the cusp of their international break. Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple came to his show in Melbourne to jam after hearing him play at the Sunbury Festival, and Joe Walsh played with him at the Longview Festival near Taree for 500 lucky people prior to an Eagles tour. Zooming ahead to November 2016, Borich is playing in The Last Waltz tribute shows in New Zealand.

An early live shot of The La De Da's with both Bruce Howard and Phil Key singing and Kevin Borich clearly amused at the interaction. The venue is unknown.
Kevin Borich, as pictured on The La De Da's self-titled debut album, 1966
The La De Da's on the cover of Teen Beat, October 1966
Good Morning Good Morning (Australian TV, 1972)
A late 1990s reunion of New Zealanders in who worked and played together in Australia in the 1960s - Bobi Petch (PA to Dinah Lee), Johnny Devlin, Kevin Borich and Dinah Lee. 
Photo credit: Bobi Petch collection
The La De Da's: Bruce Howard, Kevin Borich, Trevor Wilson, Phil Key and Brett Neilsen in the mid-1960s, venue unknown
Kevin Borich Express - Going Downtown (1979)
Kevin Borich - The Journey part 1
The La De Da's: Brett Neilsen, Bruce Howard, Kevin Borich, Trevor Wilson and Phil Key in Herne Bay, Auckland, 1966
Kevin Borich in the 1970s
The La De Da's, early 1965: Trevor Wilson, Phil Key, Kevin Borich and Brett Neilsen
Russell Baillie interviews guitar legend Kevin Borich ahead of the 2016 NZ Last Waltz 40th anniversary concerts
Kevin Borich - The Journey part 2
Kevin Borich, 1967
Live at Anzac Rock Hordern Pavilion, Sydney 1974, from GTK
The La De Da's as a trio: Kevin Borich, Keith Barber and Ronnie Peel
Kevin Borich Express - Going Downtown (Mushroom Evolution Concert, 1981)
Kevin Borich's first rehearsal at Roundhead Studios in Auckland with The Bads (featuring Wayne Bell, Brett Adams, Dave Khan) - ahead of the 2016 Last Waltz 40th anniversary celebration concerts in NZ
Kevin Borich discussing his jamming with Ritchie Blackmore at Sunbury 1975
The La De Da's: Phil Key, Bruce Howard, Brett Neilsen, Trevor Wilson, Kevin Borich in a 1966 Zodiac publicity shot
Kevin Borich Express, Western Springs, 27th November, 1977
Kevin Borich in the mid 1960s
Kevin Borich and his jukebox - all rock, rhythm and jazz, shining like a National guitar - Sydney, 1986
Photo credit: Chris Bourke
Kevin Borich in 1971
Photo credit: photo by Kim Horton
Labels:

Zodiac


Philips


HMV


Columbia


Image


Mercury


Mushroom Records


Avenue Records

Funded by

Partners with