Grasslands

Grasslands national park is in southern Saskatchewan on the border - there is a west and east side. The west side features bison, prairie dogs and rattlesnakes; the east features a Badlands area, bouncing deer, dinosaur artifacts and no snakes. I’m staying at the east side - here is the view from the visitor center:

The Valley of 1000 Devils is a hike through the grasslands which abruptly changes scenery completely:

The recently built Badlands Parkway is the best 12km of pavement in SK and winds past a number of lookout points:

Westwards.

Kenora

Today was an easy drive up highway #11 to Kenora and from here tomorrow the plan is to head west to Saskatchewan - the only stops in Manitoba will be for gas. Some pics from along the way today:

Fort Frances

The north shore of Lake Superior is a fine drive in nice weather but can also be unbelievably nasty if it turns. Aside from a 1/2 hour thunderstorm, all good:

Kekabeka Falls is a provincial park just east of Thunder Bay (the route skirts the city entirely). The name "Kakabeka" comes from the Ojibwa word gakaabikaa meaning “waterfall over a cliff" - the falls on the Kaministiquia River are 40m high and the surrounding area quite lovely.

Campsite 205.

Fort Frances is right across the Rainy River from International Falls Minnesota. It is home to the Canadian Bass fishing championship usually held every July, alas cancelled this year. I was told the other night by a guy from Thunder Bay to take a day off and go fishing in the area - he was pretty adamant. Tony, I didn’t go and get a rod & jigger (or whatever you said) at Canadian Tire like I said I would. I don’t fish.

Rabbit Blanket Lake

Currently at a campsite on Rabbit Blanket Lake which is part is Lake Superior Provincial Park just south is Wawa ON. They have restricted the number of sites and lots of amenities are not available (including drinkable water :-). Tourism in the area is way down - motels and restaurants seem generally open with reduced staff. On way I stopped at a motor inn:

COVID signs everywhere - people playing it safe in tourism country.

First step arriving somewhere is make a cup of Jimmy’s coffee - Hoffa.

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Dinner tonight was dehydrated pasta & beef & stuff which ended up a reimagined Hamburger Helper and pretty good.

Sugar Cereal

We discovered to our sadness that 8-pack assorted “weekend” cereal boxes are no longer perforated to make your own bowl-in-a-box.

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Also Sugar Pips are inedible, Froot Loops slightly less so. Nobody eats the Corn Flakes.

Silent Passage

Bob Carpenter was born on a reservation near Tamagami ON (he was Half Ojibway) and recorded the tracks for Silent Passage between 1971 and 1974 in both Toronto and LA. A contractual dispute with Warner Brothers caused the LP to be shelved until 1984 when Holger Petersen (head of Stony Plain records) obtained the rights and released it to little acclaim - by this point Carpenter had quit the music business to become a Buddhist monk.

The LP has background vocals by Anne Murray, Emmylou Harris & Dianne Brooks and contributions from Lowell George, Bill Payne, Buddy Cage and others - it was produced by legendary Canadian producer Brian Ahern (who married Harris). Bob Carpenter had been a sailor and there is a nautical theme throughout - the LP cover depicts Gustave Doré’s etching from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and is evocative of what’s inside.

The arrangements are top notch and his lyrics and voice fit together; think of a world-weary Cat Stevens perhaps. The album was given a lovely re-issue in 2014 on the No Quarter label with liner notes from Brian Ahern. It’s a complete gem of an album and very highly recommended. Here is “Morning Train”:


Northwest Company

In 1966 The Bad Boys, a band out of Haney BC (a suburb of Vancouver) changed name to The Northwest Company and for a while they were one of the most popular bands on the Canadian west coast. The original lineup consisted of Rick McCartey (lead vocals), Ray O'Toole (lead guitar and vocals), Vidor Skofteby (rhythm guitar), Gowan Jurgensen (bass), and Jerry Ringrose (drums). They released a handful of singles but never achieved any chart success and folded in 1973.

Below is a clip from the TV show “Let’s Go” with The Northwest Company playing “Flying On The Ground Is Wrong” which was written by Neil Young and appears on the first Buffalo Springfield album from 1966 - the Guess Who also released it as a single in 1967.

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.