Quick shout out to those of a certain age - TVO put together a documentary on Teenage Head. Nab some brewskies and enjoy.
A teenage beer drinkin' party
Beer drinkin' party, beer drinkin' party
A teenage beer drinkin' party
They never should have left us alone
I ♥ this album cover.
Allan Fraser & Daisy DeBolt met in the summer of 1968 at a Mariposa folk workshop and began writing and working together - in 1969 they became Fraser & DeBolt and started touring the coffee house circuit in Canada and the US. After opening for Tom Paxton at Fillmore East in 1970 they were signed to Columbia Records - their first album (with Ian Guenther) was released in 1971 and their second (with members of band SImon Caine) entitled “With Pleasure” was released in 1973. Recently, a 2-LP set called “This Song Was Borne” was released; a collection of previously unreleased demos, studio outtakes, radio sessions and live recordings spanning their entire career.
Donna Marie "Daisy" DeBolt: 1945-07-19 to 2011-10-04
Looking north on Yonge from King - 1965.
Photo by Norman James, courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
In 1972, the Canadian Federal government got into the music production business when it contributed $30,000 to the Maple Leaf Junket project, put together by music journalist Richie Yorke along with $50,000 from the Canadian Record Manufacturer’s Association. The plan was to airlift about 100 writers, music journalists, broadcasters and film producers from 14 European countries to an all expenses 4 day trip from Montreal to Toronto to showcase the Canadian music scene, culminating in two shows at Massey Hall - June 6 for folk and the 7th for rock. By all accounts it was a busy hectic schedule of long days and longer nights - the MMJ organizers were so keen to put as many bands on stage that they limited sets to 30 minutes in a multi-hour parade of acts.
In 2018 the CBC put together a short doc on the MMJ with some interviews both then and now as well as a look back at how Crowbar made an impact as last act of the night. Click through to the video here.
On June 7th issue of the Globe, Jack Batten’s “Pop Scene” column titled “Paying people slightly ignored” noted that the event was for the vip’s flown in and not the paying public, quoting one performer calling it a “meat market”. He also said: “… the number of performers and necessary limit on time hardly gave many of the singers much chance to develop a mood or sustain an act“. Lighthouse’s co-founder and drummer Skip Prokop as pretty outspoken about it - here’s the performance of “One Fine Morning” prefaced with an interview clip where he vents:
In the next day’s “Pop Scene” column, Batten stated that Prokop’s intro was a “rebuke to this reviewer for suggesting in the coverage of Tuesday’s folk concert that the 30 minutes allotted each performer isn’t enough to develop a representative act”. The column is almost entirely about the Lighthouse set (”The band was roaring. Then too it was all over. Anti-climax as finale”) and his only take on Crowbar is: “I have to report that Crowbar, a sure-shot crowd-pleaser, appeared last on the bill, far too late for review purposes”.
Part of the plan was to produce two 60 minute radio shows and a 90 minute tv show on the concert - in the Dec 13 1972 Globe, Blaik Kirby writes that the “CBC is busy throwing away about $25,000 worth of program, by slashing its Maple Music Junket pop musical special from 90 minutes to 60.” This meant that some acts ended up with a mere 30 seconds in the documentary - here’s the clip with Fergus (Fergus Hambleton, Peter Lye, Scotty Allan, Jack Merrick):
From the Globe & Mail after the special aired on TV, Blaik Kirby noted “the performances … particularly the disgusting antics of Crowbar, probably helped to confirm the image of pop in adult minds as being mindless, orgiastic and devoted not to music but to noise and complete lack of self-control.” He also mentioned “even Anne Murray did not emerge with credit: she looked overweight and her voice was not at it’s best”.
By the by, check out this advert for Lighthouse from the last page of an issue of RPM magazine:
Gene MacLellan was a singer-songwriter born in Val-d’Or QC - he is best known for writing ‘The Call’ and ‘Snowbird’ (hits for Anny Murray) as well as ‘Put Your Hand In The Hand’ (Ocean) and others. His songs have been covered by Elvis Presley, Joan Baez, Loretta Lynn, Nana Mouskouri and a host of others.
His first album was recorded in Nashville and released in 1970 with 2 slightly different versions (self titled and ‘Street Corner Preacher’). Here is Gene’s version of ‘Snowbird’ with slightly different lyrics.
Gene and Anne in 1972:
In 1973 Gene was injured in a car accident (mentioned on the back of his first LP) and in 1974 he moved to Prince Edward Island where he settled. Gene suffered from mental illness throughout his life, and in January 1995 he died by suicide. In 2017, Gene’s daughter Catherine MacLellan, a singer/songwriter herself, put together an excellent NFB documentary on Gene which looks at the legacy of his songwriting as well as the impact of his life on those who knew him. Catherine also recorded an album of Gene’s songs, from that LP here is her version of “Thorn In My Shoe”:
Here’s a live track from Charlottetown PEI in 1971 with “Bidin’ My Time”:
Gene MacLellan: 1938-02-02 to 1995-01-19
Photos courtesy of Toronto Public Library
Martha And The Muffins first played at a Halloween party in 1977 at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto - the original lineup was David Millar, Mark Gane, Martha Johnson, Carl Finke and Tim Gane. Shortly afterwards, David Millar left and was replaced with Martha Ladly. The band’s self-produced first single in 1978 (Muffin Music 01) contained “Insect Love” and “Suburban Dream” on the flip side - here’s the latter:
In a hundred wars across the earth
Men and guns are thought to prove their worth
Women stay behind and grow the food
Placing soldiers in a dangerous mood
Women around the world at work
Working, working
There's a man who must be sixty-five
Makes his living running other lives
Tells them when they can't and when they can
They're so busy they don't give a damn
Women around the world at work
Working, working
In The Daily X, May '81
Back-page human interest story runs
"Girls of twelve still sold for love today"
Just so men can have their bloody way
Women around the world at work
[ Photos from 1979 and 1984, courtesy Toronto Public Library. ]
Great pic of the Allan Sisters (previously) from 1966:
Image courtesy of Toronto Public Library.
Photographer: Barry Philp
Pat Hervey released her second LP “Peaceful” on CBC/Camden records in 1970. The musicians are the usual cast of CBC studio musicians (Rob McConnell, Peter Appleyard, Guido Basso, Moe Koffman, Ed Bickert, etc). All the tracks are arranged by Jim Pirie, except for “Falling In Love Again” (penned by Jackie Trent and Tony Hatch) which was arranged by Rick Wilkins - it’s on my find-of-the-year list for sure:
And enjoy the Bacharach/David “They Don’t Give Medals”:
Pat Hervey passed away on 2016-08-31.
The Poppy Family was formed in Vancouver Canada when Susan Pesklevits met Terry Jacks on the set of the television show Let’s Go - they started singing as a duo and then added Craig MacCaw who brought in Satwant Singh. Their first self-titled album in 1969 contained “Which Way You Goin’ Billy” (#1 in Canada, #1 on Cashbox, #2 on US Billboard top 100) as well as “That’s Where I Went Wrong (#9 in Canada, #29 in the US). Their second album (“Poppy Seeds”) was released in 1971 - it did not include contributions from either MacCaw or Singh and produced hits with "Where Evil Grows” and “Good Friends”. The band performed at Ontario Place Forum July 26 1972 - from left to right is Craig MacCaw, Susan and Terry Jacks and Satwant Singh.
From the first LP, this is “For Running Wild”:
Here is The Poppy Family’s version of “Happy Together” from Vancouver’s “Let’s Go” television show:
And here is the US version of “That’s Where I Went Wrong” which is a different mix than the album version:
The living room renovation is almost done; some pictures from the build are here.
10,384 kilometers
38 days
6 national parks
5 roadside motels
4 days of rain
3 days lost to a loose bolt
2 meet ups with friends and family
1 Timmies card worth of small double-doubles
Countless great people
The Red Top motor inn is located in Iron Bridge ON and not only is the lodging perfect, they have a good restaurant to takeaway the 20 yards back to the room.
Last 2 days the north shore of Lake Superior has been foggy, cold and wet but never really full on showers. Perfect weather to not take photos..
Today the ol’ donkey rolled over a hundred thousand klicks - we had a little celebration in the cold fog and rain just outside Marathon ON.
Onwards to 200,000.
The techs at Blackfoot Motorrad got things sorted - turned out one of the 6 bolts holding the fuel pump gave up - this caused a fuel leak resulting in donkey running out of gas which was exactly what it felt like.
The homing beacon is on and I’m eastwards on the #1 TCH eating up the kilometers. The lodging is cheap, the riding is tranquil and the view is superb.
So the ol’ donkey made it just across the BC-AB border heading to Lake Louise and then conked out and no coaxing would make her go any further.
This is the first mechanical failure on the road for this motorcycle and given the abuse I’ve inflicted over the years it’s pretty remarkable.
Cell phone access is dodgy in the Rockies and I couldn’t complete a call to CAA but a passing motorcyclist was able to make the call (thanks Ducati-Kevin) and soon enough driver Dan was dispatched out of Canmore and taking me to the BMW shop in Calgary with sad bike on the trailer - in part through a hellish thunderstorm with fork lightning and some hail.
Hopefully soon I’ll know what’s what and get outta the outskirts of southern Calgary.
CAA - thanks.
Gulf Islands national park reserve is located in the Strait of Georgia - a collection of islands just east of southern Vancouver Island which experience Mediterranean type weather - warm and dry in the summer and mild and wet in the winter.
The park was formed in 2003 to protect the area’s unique ecosystem, which is rich with ecologically diverse plants and sea-life. It covers more than 15 islands and provides representation of the Strait of Georgia Lowlands natural region.
The Prior Centennial campground is on North Pender island. From the campground you can follow the Heart Trail which leads to the Magic Lake Estates:
Magic Lake Estates was developed in the 1960s by carving up 600 acres into 1200 1/2 acre plots in a subdivision on the west side of North Pender island.
Here are some of the cottages:
A few more random shots.
Very nice place. If you can stand the weather.
Mount Revelstoke national park was formed in 1914 and is situated just west of Glacier park and also features a ton o’ hikes. The Snowforest campground is brand new this year and is situated in the hills above the town of Revelstoke.
The new campground is very swish and a short walkable distance from town.
They were just completing three MicrOcubes which are 10 m^2 boxes with lighting, a double bed, gas bbq out front and big windows facing the forest.
Beyond the campground is the Meadows In The Sky parkway which climbs 1800 metres in 26 km with 16 switchbacks (marked at 20 km/hr and you’d best believe it) as well as excellent pavement - a dream on 2 wheels. The bicyclists really, really have to work for their exhilaration on the way down. Here’s view from the top:
A view of the Columbia River from a lookout partway up:
Revelstoke below:
One of the few straight sections on the Meadows In The Sky parkway:
Wanna go for a hike and finish at a brew pub in town? Revelstoke. Wanna go for a hike and byob to a campground in the mountains? Glacier. They’re 50 km apart. Visit both ffs.
Glacier national park is centered on Rogers pass - it was formed in 1886 at the completion of the railway. It contains the Rogers pass national historic site with camping spots nearby.
Unlike the spiral tunnels in Yoho, the approach to gain elevation in Rogers pass was to use massive figure-eight looping trestle bridges, the remains of which can be seen on a short hike from the campsite.
She was in the tree keeping watch on my site:
During railway construction, the folks at CP rail found it too expensive to haul the heavy dining cars up Rogers pass, so they built Glacier lodge to feed the passengers before heading up the pass. The hotel soon attracted hikers from around the world - it operated from 1887 to 1925. Here is a shot from the early stages of the Asulkan trail which leaves from the Illecillewaet camp ground and the ruins of the Glacier hotel - there’s hours of hiking ahead.
This would be an awesome place to hang out for a few days - the parks hiking guide lists 18 day hikes which end in alpine meadows, glaciers and ridges, some of which date back to the turn of the century. Spectacular park.
Yoho national park office is located in the small town of Field BC.
The campsite is just outside town on the road leading up to Takakkaw falls. The falls have a total height of 373 metres (with a main drop of 254 metres) making it the 2nd tallest waterfall in Canada. Takakkaw translates to "wonderful" in Cree.
Yoho is also home to the CP spiral tunnels carrying trains through the mountains to gain elevation through Kicking Horse pass - based on a Swiss design. Train nuts love this stuff - it was designated a national historic site in 1971.
