Dianne Brooks

Jazz vocalist Dianne Brooks was born in New Jersey and cut 2 singles in 1957 with “The Three Playmates” before moving to Toronto and singing in local haunts like The Bluenote and The Coq D'Or. Her first single was in 1960 (“The Orbiteer Twist” which was Robbie Robertson’s first studio appearance). In 1967 she released the single “In My Heart” on Verve/Folkway and it just rips along:

In 1970 she released her first album (“Some Kind of Soul”) which was critically well received but didn’t produce any singles. For the next several years she toured and worked in the studio, and in 1976 her second album “Back Stairs Of My Life“ was released - produced by Brian Ahern and featured contributions from Anne Murray, Bonnie Raitt, Amos Garrett, Bill Payne and others.

The picture below was taken in 1976 after the release of “Back Stairs Of My Life” during a set of gigs at the Queensbury Arms - she was not entirely happy with the album, stating “[Brian] Ahern says he’s trying to make me into a black country-western singer. But becoming a female Stompin’ Tom is not where I’m at musically. I’m a jazz singer.”

Dianne toured with Bette Midler, Boz Scaggs, and Count Basie. Anne Murray dedicated her 7th album (“Danny’s Song“) to Dianne, calling her a “constant source of inspiration“. Ray Charles said she was “the best female singer since Dinah Washington“. And by the by, her daughter JoAnn Brooks was an early member of Toronto band “Rough Trade”.

Gwendolyn Dianne Brooks: 1939-01-03 to 2005-04-29.

Photo courtesy of Toronto Public Library - support them more than ever.

Like A Dribbling Fram

In December 1965 as Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” went to #3, CHUM-AM Toronto DJ Garry Ferrier released “Like A Dribbling Fram“ under the ficticious band name “The Race Marbles”. It’s wonderfully demented:

Riverson

After Mashmakhan folded in 1971 (their second LP The Family did not fare well), two former members - Rayburn Blake (guitar, vocals) and Brian Edwards (bass) - formed Riverson with vocalist Franki Hart and Graham Lear on drums. Their self-titled album was released in 1973 and sounds like they took off and hung out in Laurel Canyon for a while - one description is “folky-based harmony pop”¹ which I find to be a pretty apt description. A Sunday afternoon album perhaps (could be followed up by some Ptarmigan).

Here is Winter Garden:

¹ Vernon Joynson : “A Potpourri of Melodies and Mayhem (Latin American and Canadian Rock, Pop, Beat, R&B, Folk, Garage, Psych and Prog. 1963-1976)“

Canada National Parks

Today is the 109th birthday of the Canadian National Park system!

Below is a shot from Quttinirpaaq park on Ellesmere Island - a great place for social distancing.

I Met The Walrus

In 1969 when the Beatles were in Toronto, 14 year old Jerry Letivan used a bit of bravado to score an interview with John Lennon. 38 years later, director Josh Raskin and illustrators James Braithwaite and Alex Kurina created an animated short film using the original interview recording as the soundtrack - it was nominated for the 2008 Academy Award for Animated Short and won the 2009 Emmy for 'New Approaches'.

Jayson Hoover And The Epics

Jayson Hoover moved from Alberta to Vancouver in 1964 and never left - he soon became lead singer for The Epics and they became hugely popular spearheading a west coast soul and R&B scene. Today’s video clip is from a “Let’s Go” broadcast from June 1967 complete with groovy intro and some fab footage.

Lockdown

Another summer's passing by
All I need is somewhere I feel the grass beneath my feet
A walk on sand
A fire I can warm my hands
My joy will be complete

Fuddle Duddle

“What Is the nature of your thoughts gentlemen, when you say ‘fuddle duddle’ or something like that?”

Clovis Studios

Norman Petty was a well known American musician and producer, most famous for his work with Buddy Holly and the Crickets in his Clovis Studios located in New Mexico. In the last 60s and early 70s, a number of Canadian acts recorded singles and LPs at Clovis - here’s a couple.

“Sacroiliac Boop” by Happy Feeling from their 1970 LP:

“Life Is A Song” by the Gainsborough Gallery (originally The Skeptics) from their 1970 LP.

Norman Petty: 1927-05-25 to 1984-08-15.

The Privilege

The Privilege was a band out of Edmonton which got started as the A&W Lords (they were sponsored by the drive-in restaurant and used to play live on the roof). The soon changed name to The Lords, and then in 1967 changed again to The Privilege. Like several other Edmonton bands, they ended up recording in Gary Paxton’s studio in Los Angeles - here is the Paxton-penned Happy Loving Time:

By the way, for a brief period The Privilege toured across Canada with vocalist Steve Perry, leaving part way through to join the band Journey.

Stanstead Canada

The always entertaining Tom Scott on the town with the Canada/US border running down the center of the street (Rue Canusa).

Metro-Gnomes

The Guess Who was originally Chad Allan and the Reflections, then Chad Allan and the Expressions - the “Guess Who?” portion was added in 1965 as a publicity stunt which then became the band’s name. Chad Allan left the Guess Who in 1966 and in 1968 he teamed up with singers Karen Marklinger and Corrine Cyca and released Through The Looking Glass, later repacked as the Metro-Gnomes on the Birchmount label. It’s really not very good at all, but one track is somewhat memorable for the horrendous lyrics. Girlfriend, if you find yourself saying “Sorry that I gave you cause to make me say I’m sorry”, it’s a sign to DTMFA. Here is the aptly titled “I’m Sorry”, sung by Corrine Cyca:

By the way, here’s “Ramona’s Hourglass” which Chad Allen released as a single in 1968 with Randy Bachman on guitar:

Another Side of Young

Jim Pirie was a guitar player and session musician who appeared on a bunch of albums starting in the 60s (some jazz albums, Mother Tucker’s Yellow Duck’s second LP, and also discs by Pat Hervey, Anne Murray, and even the Friendly Giant’s first LP with Haygood Hardy).

He put out one single - the Al Rain penned “Another Side of Young” in 1966 and it’s a cute little number which sends a still relevant message to the skeptics and critics that if they have nothing good to say about the next generation they should just rest their weary jaws.

Harmonium

Harmonium’s first album was released in 1974 - it’s more folk oriented than the progressive sound they established on their second and subsequent albums. To celebrate the 45th anniversary, Serge Fiori went back to the 16 track master tapes and remixed the album (Harmonium XLV) which has been released in a nice box set with CD, booklet and LP on coloured vinyl. A reissue of “Si On Avait Besoin D'une Cinquième Saison” (the Five Seasons) is in the works for 2020 which I’m rather stoked about, as “Histoires Sans Parole“ is an astonishingly beautiful piece of music. Here’s the XLV remix of “Pour Un Instant”:

The Zodiac : Cosmic Sounds

It’s somewhat unclear from the cover, but the band name is “The Zodiac” and the album released in 1967 was called “Cosmic Sounds (celestial counterpoint in words and music)”. The music was composed, arranged and conducted by visionary Moog madman Mort Garson and performed by crack west coast session players such as Carol Kaye on bass and Hal Blaine on drums. The 12 astrological tracks have spoken word narration by Cyrus Farwar and it’s all so delightfully bonkers - below is the track “Leo, Lord of Lights” which bursts upon the scene with orange yellow splendour:

Carol Kaye – bass guitar
Hal Blaine – drums
Bud Shank – bass flute
Cyrus Faryar – narration
Paul Beaver – Moog and other electronic instruments
Emil Richards – exotic percussion
Mike Melvoin – keyboards

Two Quick Tips

  1. If you replace “Artificial Intelligence” with the phrase “Stochastic Gradient Descent” it’ll be more accurate and less prone to ridiculous hyperbole.

  2. Don’t snowmobile on a river or a lake do you need me to tell you this?.

Motel Signs

A few roadside motel signs from around and about.

Marriot

Happy new year - this is a picture of the Marriot Hotel in, I think, Anaheim CA.

Christmas

Bob Bryden formed the band Christmas on December 25, 1969. At the time, the average age of the band was 17 years old, although Bryden (19) had put out 2 albums earlier with the band Reign Ghost. They released their first two albums in 1970 - according to Bryden, “although our music is heavy, it’s also optimistic. In part, it’s peaceful, and it is something to get into the spirit of”.

Below is their first track from their first album: Just Suppose.

Bob Bryden (guitars, vocals, piano, organ, harpsichord, celeste, effects)
Robert Bulger (guitars)
Tyler Raizenne (bass, electric zombie)
Rich Richter (drums, embryonic whimper)

Winnipeg

The Human Rights Museum was opened in 2014 near The Forks in downtown Winnipeg. Its mandate is to "explore the subject of human rights with a special but not exclusive reference to Canada, to enhance the public's understanding of human rights, to promote respect for others and to encourage reflection and dialogue”. There in an interior ramp made from Spanish white marble which winds up all 7 floors - the architecture, exhibits and presentation is stunning.

Near the museum is the sculpture “Forever Bicycles” by Al Weiwei (2014) constructed from 1254 bicycles.

Winnipeg continues to impress - the downtown area is a great place to while away a day waiting for the 23:30 departure of the VIA Canadian #2 bound for Toronto.

And they won the Grey Cup.