Bass Player Needed: who you gonna call? For over 50 years the answer has simply been “Billy”.
Billy Karaitiana’s long and varied career has taken him from a marae near Christchurch, to nightclubs in Auckland and King’s Cross, to playing jazz-rock in Europe, recording in Hollywood – and back to New Zealand to produce contemporary Māori music.
Billy Karaitiana began calling himself Kristian from 1963 after a landlady told him she “didn't rent to Maōri(s)”. Then Eldred Stebbing and Ray Columbus seized on the Kristian surname and it stick. So Max Merritt had a bass player named Billy Karaitiana from 1960-63 who
left and played with Ray Columbus but rejoined as Billy Kristian in September 1965.
In 2012 Billy was inducted in to the NZ Music Hall Of Fame with Ray Columbus and Dave Russell.
Billy's son Daryn Karaitiana is also a bass player and has played with Nathan Haines, Tony Hopkins and many others
Chuck Berry is just one of the touring acts Billy has played bass for, in 1996 at Mt Smart Supertop. Also on the bill were Bo Diddley, The Everly Bros and Jerry Lee Lewis.