Wednesday, November 27, 2024

If You Try And Imagine - The Story Of Carol Lipson

    Throughout the 20th century, Canada has seen no shortage of fantastic singer-songwriters. It's vast, beautiful landscape and deep history of folk and country music have lent themselves heavily to young songwriters over the decades. A handful have become nationally or internationally recognized and respected, but many have been obscured by the passage of time. Obscurity's a cruel fate to befall any artist, especially for those with a story to tell. Today's spotlighted artist is Toronto singer-songwriter Carol Lipson. Her lone commercial release, "Carol," is a wholly original outing put together in her late teens. Though not a commercial success upon release, "Carol" represents a high watermark of quality on the Audat label as well as a great example of original female folk/psych in general. Here is her story:

    Carol Debra Lipszyc was born in Toronto on August 28th, 1955. Both her parents were adolescent Holocaust survivors of Poland and Belarus who settled in Toronto during 1952. During her youth, Carol attended McMurrich Public School. She didn't come from a musical family but found her love of singing early on, listening to various show tunes. It wasn't long before she was singing in youth choirs, both in English and Hebrew. Carol also began studying piano around the age of eight.

    The Lipszyc family moved to a house on Bathurst St. around the fall of 1965. Carol then attended Dufferin Heights Junior High. While studying at the school, she began singing solo in front of a group. Between the ages of ten and thirteen, she sang acapella at luncheon celebrations (bar-mitzvahs).

Carol's professional singing start came at the ripe young age of thirteen, when she made her debut on CBC Radio. The show in question was the Bruce Marsh hosted "What's New," which she performed on for a few weeks. This netted her a guest role at fifteen on another CBC Radio show, "9:15 Alarm Clock." This show (produced by Eithne Black) featured Alan Thicke, Brent Titcomb, Maribeth Solomon, Mickey Erbe, Brian Russell, and Brenda Gordon [Russell], among others. "They produced it in the old CBC building on Jarvis," says Carol. I became a regular and would sometimes skip class to do the show." She also appeared a number of times as a guest vocalist alongside Juliette and Alex Trebek, who co-hosted a CBC radio show at the Colonnade Theatre; the show was called “The Afternoon Show.”    

    "9:15 Alarm Clock" was an important learning experience for Carol as the youngest amongst the cast. She found mentorship amongst the cast as well, which really helped for comfortability as a singer and musician. "On the show, I looked up to Maribeth Solomon in particular," says Carol. "She was about seven years older than me; she wrote songs and played piano and flute." The Alarm Clock show also represented a shift in Carol's musical approach, moving from show tunes toward pop music. 

    Throughout the early 1970's, Carol continued to develop as a singer but also began devoting more time to the piano and songwriting. By early 1973, Carol’s talents were undeniable. She caught the attention of Audat Records. An old friend and gigmate of hers, Vern Kennedy had co-founded the label with Bob Stone and was acting as the A&R man. He insisted that she should record an album of her original songs. With little convincing, Carol was on her way to Halifax with Vern to record at famed Audio Atlantic Studios. This was the place where many “Boot Records” were recorded, as well as most music on the Audat label.

    Audat was an Oshawa-based Country & Folk label with a focus on the Maritimes. This was an extension of label owner Bob Stone's previous label concepts, Stone and Now Records. Though the main focus was on country, folk, and fiddle music, Audat did manage to release quite a few compelling rock/psych/funk projects during its day, mostly Maritimes acts, with many of these releases fetching three-figure sums today due to their rarity and quality: bands like Borealis, Gord Tracey & The Constellations, Brothers & One, The Neighbors Kids, Wes Mackey & The Brotherhood, etc. 

    Carol was set up with top studio players by Audat Records, including Eric Robertson on keyboards. Vern Kennedy handled the arrangements for all of her songs, and Al Feeney handled the mix. The album represents a very talented young lady with a lot to say. All songs were written by the then seventeen-year-old Carol Lipson. The songs convey a (mostly) sunny, orchestrated, acoustic-pop vibe, with vocals comparable to Joni Mitchell or Beverly Copeland. One of the gems of the album is “Ballad Of The Old Man.” The song is lyrically and musically a standout, creating a longing, nostalgic mood and painting a bittersweet story of growing old alone.

    Excitement around the release of Carol’s debut was growing. There was genuine faith in the songs and their ability to reach a larger audience. In an attempt at cross-pollination, Audat had label mates Johnny Cowell and The Oak Island Treasury Department record a pair of her songs. Johnny covered "Pickin Plums" on his 1973 album "Hot Brass," and Oak Island covered "Bring It Down" on their 1973 self-titled album. 

    But unfortunately, it was not to be. Other than pockets in Halifax and Toronto, the album really didn’t perform well due to a lack of meaningful promotion. This left Carol in a tough spot. But one thing she was known for and would become more known for in her later years was perseverance.

    After Carol's debut album failed to find any meaningful success, she'd continue on as a songwriter and performer. She appeared on countless television and radio shows (with hosts like June Callwood, Martin Short, and Peter Gzowski); she did stints in Toronto piano bars; sang and played with many local and visiting jazz luminaries (including the late Paul Grosney, which opened her mind and ears to a deeper level of music study); and generally just tried her hand at breaking into the business in whichever manner she saw fit. Her time playing in piano bars and with jazz musicians was integral to her growth as a musician and songwriter. It highlighted for her the importance of melody line, especially in relation to starker arrangements. “You were compelled to sing well-constructed songs where possible,” says Carol.You were compelled to sing well-constructed songs where possible, says Carol. 

    Her twenties were a time of risk-taking and evolving disillusionment with the music industry. She drifted along, taking whatever music-related work she could while focusing on her craft as a songwriter. Her songwriting continued to improve, and this compelled her to re-enter the recording studio, most often with Jack Lenz as producer, cutting a number of demos throughout the 1980’s. She adopted the stage name Carol Palmer and released her debut singleDown On The Street Corner/In Slow Motion" during 1983 through Rich Dodson's (of Stampeder's fame) Marigold Records label. Apart from a short stint on the Adult Contemporary Billboard Pop charts with "(Down On The) Street Corner" (a song she penned with the late Danny Deardorff), none of the songs managed to gain any traction. Carol, undeterred, continued on in the music industry until her mid-thirties, upon which time she re-entered university to train to teach ESL.

    Carol embarked upon a journey to re-educate herself, acquiring Masters and Doctoral degrees in Education at OISE, University of Toronto, while teaching diverse student populations and often integrating music as a teacher. A literacy/ESl Reader, “People Express” (published by Oxford University Press in the late 1990's), included her self-penned chants and songs as a teaching strategy to help new immigrants with little education.

    Her children’s CD, If You Try and Imagine, orchestrated and engineered by Donald Quan, was conceived of during her teaching certification training in St. Catharines; she believed in the power of integrating curriculum with songs and chants to address multiple intelligences.

    Eventually armed with her doctorate in education, Carol found a tenure-track position at an upstate SUNY College where she taught English teacher education and creative writing until retirement. During that fruitful and fulfilling period, she published across genres, including a book of lyrical poetry, Singing Me Home (Inanna 2010); a book of short stories on children in the Holocaust, The Saviour Shoes and Other Stories (Inanna, 2014); an anthology of poems on the heart, The Heart is Improvisational (Guernica, 2017); and a chapbook, In the Absence of Sons (Kelsay Books, 2020), as well as arts-based educational articles in international journals.

    Carol represents a woman of true courage and tenacity. She's a person who believed in her art and her ability as a songwriter. Whenever Carol was beaten down by the industry, she got back up and fought harder. After her journey of re-education in the 1990's, she attacked the arts world with a new purpose: teaching others, especially children. She’s a multi-talented, warm-hearted person who deserves further recognition for her works. I especially think her 1973 album deserved further inspection. It represents a very talented young lady on the cusp of her creative breakthrough, whose voice is equally at home with the likes of Joni Mitchell and Beverly Copeland. 

                             THANKS TO CAROL LIPSON FOR HER HELP WITH THIS AND ALLOWING ME TO SHARE HER MUSIC ON YOUTUBE

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Come Together - The Story Of Goody Two Shoes

 


    Goody Two Shoes is an album with an unforgettable face—a pair of raggedy conjoined shoes atop a sterile white background. Though the album cover is striking for all the wrong reasons, the music inside is the opposite. It's a stellar mix of rock, funk, psych, and country—a 50/50 blend of original Canadian compositions by the band and (mostly) international covers. Like many of Canada's country music-focused labels, Paragon Records (who released the album) had a semi-frequent tendency to sign local acts of other genres, record and release their material with little to no promotion, and call it a day. With the advent of the internet and DJs/tastemakers working tirelessly over the intervening decades, small pockets of music fans have discovered these albums, and many are very good. This is essentially the fate of The Goody Two Shoes album, and below is the untold story of its history. But first, we must briefly touch on the history of the band that preceded Goody Two Shoes: A Passing Fancy. They were one of Toronto's earliest garage band success stories. Along with "Nothin" by The Ugly Ducklings, A Passing Fancy's "I'm Losin' Tonight" is considered one of Toronto's finest garage slabs. 

    A Passing Fancy began in Toronto as The Dimensions. They performed early on in the Yorkville neighborhood, at various clubs during July of 1965. The original line-up consisted of Ian Telfer (bass), Brian Price (organ/vocals), Jay Telfer (rhythm guitar/lad vocals), Phil Seon (lead guitar), and Greg Hershoff (drums). Bernie Finkelstein, a young and ambitious music promoter who recognized some of the members from Downsview High School, caught their set at El Patio, where he was working as a coffee maker. He offered to be their manager, which in turn got them a regular spot performing at El Patio through the end of the year.

    1966 saw Bernie Finkelstein move on to managing The Paupers, as well as some line-up changes for A Passing Fancy. The beginning of 1966 saw the group officially change their name from The Dimensions to A Passing Fancy. They began playing regularly at high schools across Ontario, started a fan club, and managed to get noticed by friends of their fan club manager, Barb Young. The Wal-Den Management Company was formed and within no time helped A Passing Fancy garner the attention of Columbia Records, who signed them to a three-single deal. 

    
    Early 1967 saw A Passing Fancy's popularity skyrocket. They embarked on tours (Eastern Canada, New York, etc.) and played regularly at some of Toronto's most popular clubs (The Night Owl, Gogue Inn, Club 888, etc.). The timing was perfect for the release of their debut single, "I'm Losing Tonight/A Passing Fancy." It managed to reach #22 on the RPM Singles charts in March. The second single "You're Going Out Of Your Mind/Sounds Silly" also charted in June, but at a lower position (#37). The third release was "I Believe In Sunshine/She Phoned," and it managed to get to #28 on RPM, almost directly between the first and second singles' chart positions. Of the three singles released by A Passing Fancy thus far, Jay Telfer wrote five of the six sides ("I Believe In Sunshine" was by Greg Hambleton). He was showing exceptional talent as a songwriter, and talent would only grow in the coming years. 

      A Passing Fancy saw a fourth single release in November 1967, mostly spurred on by Columbia Records. Though the group was popular at the time, "People In Me/Spread Out" only managed to reach #89 on the RPM charts. Columbia Records also expected an album from the band, but at this time, the group was in turmoil due to scheduling issues. Brian Price (Organ/Vocals) quit the band in March 1968 and was replaced by Fergus Hambleton. After shooting an episode of CBC's "Let's Go" (the first one in color) and doing a few scattered performances, Jay Telfer was fired from the band. That was a catalyst for a mass exodus in May of 1968; A Passing Fancy had broken up. 
 
    The Wal-Dan management company asked Fergus Hambleton to put together a new version of A Passing Fancy, and within a short frame he managed to do so. The lineup was: Glenn Brown (vocals), Ron Forster (guitar), Fergus Hambleton (organ/vocals), Dan Troutman (bass), and Wally Cameron (drums). The new group recorded four sides and pitched them to John Irvine's Boo Records. He signed the group to a one-sided, one-album deal and managed to buy their tapes from Columbia Records. The single "Your Trip/Island" was released in June 1968 and barely managed to scrape RPM's singles chart at #92. 

    November 1968 saw the release of A Passing Fancy's self-titled debut album. Though it was packed full of their previous hits, the album didn't sell particularly well. Interestingly, the album version of "I'm Losing Tonight" is missing the lead guitar solo. The story goes that when recording the song, the guitar solo was recorded afterwards on a separate piece of tape and spliced in. Fun fact: Phil Seon was taught the solo by Robbie Robertson. "When John Irvine bought the tapes, he was unaware of the separate solo and released the song as is," says Fergus Hambleton. "So any subsequent releases with the solo included were dubbed from 45." 
 
    The band tried their best to promote it during their residency at Yorkville's famous El Patio club, but it was for not. 1969 mostly spelled the end for the band. With their recent sales blunders and diminishing creative opportunities, they decided to go their separate ways by March or April of that year. 
 
    During their time together in A Passing Fancy, Fergus Hambleton and Jay Telfer became close. So naturally, Fergus had been spending a lot of time hanging out with Jay after he was fired. "Jay and Fergus were very good friends and in fact used to get together almost weekly to have songwriting jam sessions," says Kevan Staples (former roadie for A Passing Fancy—later of Rough Trade). "Goody Two Shoes grew out of that friendship and those jam sessions." 
 
    Post-A Passing Fancy, Jay Telfer became a machine, writing and recording over a dozen songs with Fergus' brother Greg Hambleton at Sound Canada Studios. Jay pitched two of the songs to Ottawa's Sir John A Records, one of Canada's finest psych/garage labels of the era, which fostered a lot of young, mostly Ottawa-based talent. During November 1968, Jay Telfer's debut solo single "Life, Love, And The Pursuit Of Happiness (A Hippy Philosophy)/Watch The Birdie" was released in a limited run of 250 copies (as most of Sir John A's Records were, driving up their value in later years, when even fewer copies remained). The B-side, "Watch the Birdie," is the title track of a self-penned play that Jay Telfer wrote and debuted at Toronto's "Old Angelos' Theatre" a month or two prior to the release of the single. 

    After the release of Jay's debut single, he began work on his debut album, "Perch." Greg Hambleton assisted Jay in recording the demos during the winter of 1969, which Jay presented to Bernie Finkelstein over lunch one day. Bernie enjoyed what he heard and expressed an interest in producing an album. 
 
    The recording of Perch is one of Toronto music's most fascinating mysteries, mostly because the album was never released and the master tapes narrowly escaped the trash compactor. Pair Jay's unique "psyched" out writing style with a roster of Yorkville's finest musicians, many of whom were currently undergoing their own psychedelic music awakening, and you have a match made in heaven. Ten original songs were recorded in the spring of 1969 at Sound Canada Studios, featuring performances by Murray McLauchlan (then twenty years old), Danny McBride (then nineteen years old), Fergus Hambelton (on saxophone and clarinet), Kensington Market (featuring John Mills Cockell on Moog synth), Milkwood (featuring Malcolm Tomlinson), Cathy Young, Donna Warner, and more. As Telfer recalls, the musicians had a ton of fun doing the album, but when it came to selling it, Finkelstein asked the late Felix Pappalardi, who’d produced Kensington Market, but was turned down.
    
    After the demise of A Passing Fancy, Fergus Hambleton went back to school and played music on the side. He became acquainted with fellow schoolmates who had their own band called "The Ginger Group." Fergus was invited to join, which he graciously accepted. The line-up consisted of Eric Canning (lead vocals/lead guitar), Scott Lowell Mollison (rhythm guitar/backing vocals), Jack Merrick (drums/backing vocals), Peter Lye (bass), and Fergus (piano/backing vocals). After some time rehearsing, they recorded a handful of original songs at Sound Canada Studios in the summer of 1969. Two of the songs were pressed onto singles to be released by an early version of Greg Hambleton's Tuesday Records, but they were never put out. It is currently unknown how many copies were pressed. 
 
    During summer 1969, Jay Telfer began apprenticing as an engineer at Art Snider's Sound Canada Studios. Jay and Fergus had been discussing teaming up to record some songs, and with a little persuasion from Art Snider, the pair made the switch. "Art Snider was operating a bunch of different labels out of his Sound Canada studio at the time and looking for product for some of them," says Fergus Hambleton. "He offered me and Jay 50$ each for every album we recorded." The only caveat Art had regarding the proposition was that one side of the record (or a sides-worth of material) needed to be "current" charting songs. 

    The recording of the Goody Two Shoes album (done during October of 1969) was a fairly laid-back process. Jay Telfer spent weekdays in the studio experimenting, while Fergus was in school during the day. "I learned some production and engineering while working at Sound Canada, so I would hang out while Fergus was away, set up the tape, run in to perform the parts, then run back out to rewind and listen to them," says Jay. Through this process, Jay recorded all the drums, rhythm guitar, bass, and organ, plus most of the vocals. Fergus came in on weekends to record piano, clarinet, vocals, and saxophone parts. 
 
    Jay and Fergus both sang on the record, contributing some of their originals. Jay contributed four songs ("High Falootin'," "I'm Losing Tonight," "Sounds Silly," and "Ten Pound Note," and Fergus contributed one ("Without You"). Two of Jay's contributions were previously recorded by A Passing Fancy ("I'm Losing Tonight" and "Sounds Silly"), while Fergus' contribution ("Without You") was previously recorded earlier that summer by him and The Magic Cycle for a "shadow" production that Greg Hambleton was working on [See my Birchmount Records Story for more info on that]. The covers were a mix of The Beatles ("Come Together"), Harry Nilsson ("One"), The Band ("Up On Cripple Creek"), Larry Williams ("Slow Down"), and The Everly Brothers ("Dream").
 
    Interestingly, The Goody Two Shoes album features the first recording of Jay Telfer's "Ten Pound Note," which would become a hit for Toronto's Steel River when they covered it in July 1970 (going Top 10 on Canada's RPM charts). Jay Telfer wrote, recorded, and produced "Ten Pound Note" solo, specifically for and at the Goody Two Shoes sessions, all in one day. Additionally, this album features one of the earliest known publicly released covers of The Beatles "Come Together" (which the album is named after). 
 
    Speaking of "Come Together," the only extra musician used on the Goody Two Shoes album was Kevan Staples (later of Rough Trade). Kevan was close to A Passing Fancy and was their roadie during 1968/1969. "At the time I was sharing an apartment with Jay, and he asked if I wanted to play guitar on a couple of songs," says Kevan. "The challenge was to recreate George Harrison‘s solo for "Come Together," which, although not terribly difficult, I’d only been playing guitar for two years. The other song they had me play on was “I’m Losing Tonight." I must’ve been asked to play the guitar solo that Phil Seon had played on the original song. In fact, I believe it was the same guitar." 
 
    After the album's release in November of 1969, Jay, Fergus, and Kevan remained friends, collaborating multiple times over the years. Kevan Staples got into session work during the 70's, doing a few transcription sessions for the CBC (Dianne Brooks and Jodie Drake) before co-founding Rough Trade in the late 1970's. Jay Telfer was bit by the theater bug again and managed to land the guitar part in the Toronto production of "Hair." In addition to this, he got back to writing songs in his free time, with one crucial change: he began shopping them around for local artists. This decision proved vital to his legacy, as some of his compositions would go on to be hits in the hands of others. Fergus continued working at Sound Canada Studios with his brother Greg in the aftermath of Goody Two Shoes. During 1971, Fergus Hambleton was signed to Capitol Records, where he began his solo career. 
                                                                          

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

Who Is Suzanne - Birchmount Records Mystery


    The story of Suzanne is intrinsically linked to the story of Birchmount Records. Despite the popularity and availability of Birchmount Records' releases in Toronto (and Canada at large), the story of Suzanne had more or less been lost to time. This all changed, however, when two Canadian music historians began researching the early history of the Birchmount label. Though unaware of each other's work at the time, these two historians collectively unearthed the story of Suzanne. "Who is Suzanne?" you may be asking... The below article aims to answer this question: 
   
    Suzanne [Susie] Filion was born in London, Ontario, on July 7th, 1949. During her youth, the Filion family relocated to Toronto for work opportunities. Suzanne began attending Rosedale Public School in September of 1955. Early on, she showed a talent for singing. This didn’t come as a surprise to her family, however, as they had listened to her belting out tunes since before she could walk. The irony is, other than her grandfather, John Tindal, who was an opera singer around Ontario during the 1940’s, the Filion family wasn’t really musically inclined. That is, unless you count the regular and unabashed shower time a cappella sessions, practiced individually and embraced collectively.

    With the encouragement of her parents, Suzanne began singing in the children's choir at her school before the age of ten. Early on, they had the opportunity to play Toronto's legendary Massey Hall, which was a joy for the young vocalist. Suzanne loved singing, and it came easily to her from a young age. She began playing violin in her pre-teens, giving it up after a few years. This was replaced with an occasional interest in guitar. 

    After graduating from Rosedale Public School, Suzanne attended Jarvis Collegiate. Here, she made many musical friends and eventually put together an a cappella girl group with some schoolmates called “The Four Notes.” Though they didn’t record, they had a blast performing around Toronto. The highlight of this time together was a handful of Sunday night gigs they performed at The Blue Note club on Yonge Street.

    During 1967, after graduating high school, Suzanne began waiting tables part-time at the famous Riverboat Coffeehouse, located in Toronto’s bustling Yorkville district. The music venue was located in a basement. The Riverboat's decor was modeled after the interior of a boat, featuring porthole windows, wood paneled walls, and intimate booths. The burgeoning folk-rock scene in Toronto gravitated toward The Riverboat and venues like it. The intimacy they provided trained an artist’s dynamic ability while simultaneously inspiring their songwriting. A number of famous songs by influential folk artists of the time were rumored to have been written at The Riverboat (Gordon Lightfoot's "Steel Rail Blues," Joni Mitchell's "Night in the City," Neil Young's "Ambulance Blues," and Phil Ochs' "Changes.".

    Working at the Riverboat Coffeehouse, Suzanne saw and heard nothing but the highest tier of both local and visiting folk and blues talent, night after night. On top of this hotbed of creativity spurning on her singing, Suzanne had numerous opportunities to meet and spend time with the musicians who performed at the venue. Her biggest influence at this time was, without a doubt, Joni Mitchell. The two became casual friends over Suzanne’s time working at The Riverboat.

    In an attempt to pay for her tuition at the University of Toronto, Suzanne began looking for other jobs around town in 1968. She eventually answered an ad in the Toronto Star newspaper looking for an assistant/secretary. The ad was placed by local musician and producer Greg Hambleton, who had just founded his “Tuesday Music Production” company and was looking for employees. 
 
    Greg Hambleton was the eldest of five siblings, many of whom were musically gifted. At the time, Greg was developing quite the resume. After a few years performing and writing songs in Toronto’s Yorkville district, he grew interested in production and publishing in 1967. He began work as an independent recording engineer at Sound Canada and RCA Studios in Toronto, recording legendary singles by The Midnight Angels, The Boodly-Hoo, The Fringe, A Passing Fancy, The Humble Sponge, and The Eighth Day, among others.
 
Greg's “Tuesday Music Production” was housed in an office at 9 Sultan Street, across from The Windsor Arms Hotel. Suzanne enjoyed working with and for Greg. Early on in her employment, there was talk around the office of Greg getting hired as a producer and talent scout by a new local label known as Birchmount Records.

A sub-label of Toronto’s Quality Records, Birchmount Records was a budget label that was born out of a want of their parent label to offload some of their deleted or out-of-print vinyl records. Though this may have been the initial intention, about half of the first eighty releases were unique Canadian content, exclusive to the label. Instrumental to these homegrown musical beginnings was Greg Hambelton. In tune with the local scene and its various happenings, they tasked Greg with finding local talent to record. Who was the first person on his list? Suzanne Filion.

Suzanne was never known for writing original songs, but Greg was. So with that in mind, four of the ten tracks that were rehearsed and recorded for Suzanne's album were songs written by Greg (“Weather (later popularized by Gloria Kaye),” “Shendah,” “You Try,” and “Island”). Notably, "You Try" is a vocal version of what appears as an instrumental track on the Tuesday's Children later album on Birchmount Records (BM-508). Additionally, Greg's younger brother Fergus contributed a song to the session ("Without You").

The rest of the Suzanne album were cover songs chosen from pop hits of the current era. Suzanne sings “Traces,” “I Love How You Love Me,” “(Do You Know The Way To) San Jose,” “This Girl’s In Love,” and “Anyone Who Had A Heart” in her own distinct style. The latter three cover choices are all Burt Bacharach/Hal David compositions. "Burt Bacharach and Hal David were probably my favorite songwriting duo at the time," says Suzanne. "Greg and I chose what were, in our opinion, the duos' three best songs." 

    The recordings took place at Art Snider's Sound Canada Studios in Toronto over a two-week span, during the summer of 1969. "We recorded the songs late at night as the studio's high demand meant this was the only available time slot," says Suzanne. Greg Hambleton brought in local psych-rockers The Magic Cycle (soon to be Cycle) to record the bed tracks for drums (Kevin Barry; brother of Paul Clinch), guitar (Stan Theriault & Paul Clinch), piano/organ (Peter Goodale), and bass (Joey Rome). It’s unknown who plays trombone on Fergus Hambleton’s “Without You,” but a likely guess is Larry Crawford.
 
    Greg used the band that backed Suzanne to record a number of other projects he did for Birchmount, including Candy Rock Fountain, Tuesday’s Children, and The Sultan Street Nine (which I suspect Greg sang uncredited on). He later used some of the same musicians as session players when he started his own record label. Sessions include Fergus Hambleton, Gary & Dave, etc. 
 
    With the songs recorded, the album was ready for release. During September 1969, the announcement came down in RPM's weekly magazine and a few other music publications that Quality Records was launching their new label, "Birchmount Records." Suzanne's album (simply called "Suzanne") was released simultaneously with twenty-one other Birchmount releases before October. The Suzanne album bears the “BM-501” catalog number and was the first album released by the label, receiving minor local buzz due to its inclusion in the initial announcement of Birchmount’s founding in RPM and other publications. The album was released locally and stayed that way. Unfortunately, it was the first in a long line of causalities on the label. As a budget label, Birchmount did minimal promotion for its albums, making it very hard for any of these artists to get picked up or receive airplay. 
 
    Shortly after Suzanne’s album was released, she gave copies to friends and family as Christmas gifts. Suzanne soon noticed that she gave away all the copies she owned. Upon the realization of her mistake, Suzanne went to Sam The Record Man on Yonge Street to buy a copy. “The look on the salesman’s face was priceless when he realized I was the gal on the back cover who had to buy her own album. I had to eat crow that day,” says Suzanne.

    After the album debacle was over, Suzanne retired from music all together. She quit working at The Riverboat in 1972. Afterwards, she worked at the infamous Julies on Jarvis Street in the Bombay Bicycle Club for seven years as a bartender and waitress. She stayed in the city as a legal assistant until around 1980. "By that point, I had had my fill of Toronto and was looking for something new," says Suzanne. She relocated to British Columbia during 1980-1981, where she got a job working in the office of the B.C. Attorney General. She remained there until her retirement, which she is currently enjoying in the golden British Columbia sun. 
 
    With that, you have the definitive "closing of the book" moment on one of Canadian pop/psych music's early cult figures. Recorded during summer midnight slots in the nook of one of Toronto's busiest recording studios, Suzanne and Greg Hambleton were able to cook up something special—a Bubble-Gum-Psych-tinged snapshot into the beginnings of one of Canada's most frustrating (but vital) music labels. The Suzanne album has found fans all over Canada, the United States, and spots in Europe. Wherever there are budget bins and music buyers willing to take a chance on an intriguing cover, that's where Suzanne and many artists like her can find their niche. 

                                            THANK YOU TO SUZANNE AND GREG HAMBLETON FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS   

Sunday, November 10, 2024

The Demo Cates Story - Part I: The Counts



    Demo Cates is a name that moviegoers and music lovers alike should recognize. With over fifty years in the entertainment industry, living in both the US and Canada, Demo has amassed an impressive resume and has even won awards along the way. Although primarily a saxophonist, Demo Cates has flexed his vocal muscles on record multiple times (including one of Canada's first hip-hop recordings), also singing on countless radio jingles over the years. On top of the musical accolades, Demo has also had occasional supporting or guest roles as an actor, including in the television series Forever Knight, Goosebumps, and The Jane Show, and the films Blues Brothers 2000 and A Raisin in the Sun. Below is the story of where it all began for Demo. 

    Demo [Demetrius] Cates was born on November 13th, 1948. He was raised in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in a musical family. Demo didn't take up his first instrument until around the age of nine, when his mother encouraged him to try the saxophone and even offered to pay for lessons. Demo quickly took to the saxophone and excelled in his studies. He took lessons at a music shop in downtown Detroit known as Grenelles. At school, Demo received constant praise and encouragement from his music teacher. "I went to Nolan Jr. High in Detroit, and my music teacher, Mr. Paxton, really encouraged me," said Demo. "He thought that I had a great tone at such an early age." 

    While still in school, Demo started his first band, "Demetrius And The Gladiators." Granted, they were all around 13–14 years old at the time, so clubbing was out of the question. But they still had a lot of fun as a garage band, playing their favorite jazz, R&B, and rock and roll songs. "It was a cool name," comments Demo. "We didn't have any gigs; we just had fun practicing." 

    Throughout his teens, Demo continued to improve his playing. As he puts it, "I started lessons at nine and turned professional by the time I was fifteen." After the Gladiators, Demo got involved with some other local bands on the Detroit scene. It wasn't long before he was making some serious money. "I was making $250 a week and was able to afford to pay off a brand-new car." 

    During 1964, at the age of sixteen, Demo Cates co-founded The Fabulous Counts in Detroit with Mose Davis (keyboard/organ/bass), Leroy Emmanuel (guitar), and Andrew Gibson (drums). Demo was introduced to Mose by a mutual friend, and they quickly hit it off and began jamming. Mose invited Andrew to join, and one day after a jam session, they all went to Grenelles (the music store where Demo was taking lessons). "We went inside, and Leroy Emmanuel was sitting trying out some guitars, and we were all amazed by his playing," says Demo. "We convinced Leroy to join and called ourselves The Fabulous Counts." Jam sessions quickly grew to include their neighbors Raoul Keith Mangrum (Congas), Shelton Hill (saxophone), and Jim White (tenor sax). This completed the original line-up, as Mose opted to play keyboard bass with his foot pedals, allowing them to proceed without a bassist.

The Fabulous Counts quickly developed a repertoire of mostly instrumental songs—R&B, jazz, rock—you name it, they played it. This meant that the group were prime candidates to back up local and visiting singers at various Detroit music venues. Thankfully, they caught the attention of Fred McClure (a member of the Masonic Temple), who offered to manage them. One of Fred's first acts as manager was getting them a rehearsal space and regular gigs performing at the Elk's Hall in Detroit. They also performed at a number of other union halls across the city. Their main working relationship came from backing Detroit singer Spyder Turner. The Fabulous Counts' recording debut came from 1968 sessions for Spyder Turner's hit "Stand By Me." 

    The Fabulous Counts then caught the attention of Detroit producer Richard "Popcorn" Wylie by the end of 1968. Richard convinced the band to record some songs with him. From these sessions, the band recorded four songs: three originals ("Jan Jan," "Scrambled Eggs," and "Dirty Red") and one cover ("Girl From Kenya). Richard then set out trying to get the band a record deal and succeeded with Ollie McLaughlin's Detroit-based Moira Records. "Jan Jan/Girl From Kenya" was their debut release. Though "Jan Jan" was a strong single (featuring Demo Cates' debut sax solo on record), it narrowly missed cracking the Billboard R&B Hot 100 Singles Chart. Demo Cates reminisces about a local Detroit DJ's response to the song: "Ernie Durham [known as "Frantic Ernie"] used to play Jan Jan all the time, and right before my solo, he'd always say, 'Come on, Demo, blow, blow, Demo!'" 

    The group reappeared in April 1969 with their sophomore release, "Scrambled Eggs/Dirty Red," but unfortunately, it failed to chart. Talks began about switching labels, and a lot was riding on the performance of their third release. 

     After returning to the studio with Richard Wylie during the spring/summer of 1969, The Fabulous Counts emerged with more recordings. Their final release for Moira Records was "Get Down People/Lunar Funk" (which features Demo Cates' first lead vocal on record), which hit #32 R&B and #88 on the US pop charts. The success of this single saw the band get contacted by Cotillion Records, who were interested in putting out a full-length album before the end of 1969. The Fabulous Counts left Moira and joined Cotillion. An album titled "Jan Jan" was released, cobbling together their six single sides as well as six unreleased tracks: two originals ("The Other Thing" and "The Bite") and four covers ("Simple Song," "Soulful Strut," "Hey Jude," and "Man's, Man's World"). 

     1970 brought about a few changes for The Fabulous Counts. First and foremost, they signed a new record deal with Detroit label Westbound Records. They also began touring extensively, doing West Coast promo tours as well as an established East Coast circuit. This consisted of Detroit, New York, Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, Toronto (plus many Ontario cities), and Montreal, among others.

    After their debut single with the Westbound label, "Rhythm Changes/Pack Of Lies," failed to chart, the band decided to shorten their name to simply "The Counts" and record the remainder of their sophomore album, "What's Up Front That Counts," in Toronto during early 1971 at RCA Studios. 

    September of 1971 saw the release of The Counts' debut (technically sophomore) album, "What's Up Front That Counts," and oddly enough, even though it was recorded in Toronto, the album never received a Canadian release. 

    The Counts were excited for the album and felt it had potential. Unfortunately, it was overshadowed by labelmates The Ohio Players and Funkadelic. This was in part due to preferential promotions for the aforementioned acts that left The Counts somewhat neglected. Although the band was overshadowed at the time by their label mates, their "What's Up Front" album has gone on to garner significant praise in the funk community as well as become a hip-hop sample classic, with nearly a dozen noteworthy sections.

    The remainder of 1971 and early 1972 saw The Counts touring with Funkadelic across America. The band admits to having Funkadelic rub off on them stylistically speaking. "We were more conservative," says Demo. "But throughout the tour we started getting influenced by them—headbands, afros, the whole nine." 

    During the tour, while playing in Atlanta, The Counts caught the attention of entrepreneur Michael Thevis (who is infamous for funding the movie Deep Throat, among other things). He was Atlanta-based and was on the verge of launching a new record label known as Aware Records (a subsidiary of GRC). Michael really wanted The Counts to help launch his label with an album release. Though reluctant at first, the band were offered free studio time, a truck to make the arduous journey from Detroit to Atlanta, and spending money for their time there, to which they ultimately accepted Michael's offer. 

   The Counts made the cross-country journey from Detroit to Atlanta during late 1972 and began work on their second (technically third) album, "Love Sign." The band was no longer a six-piece due to Raoul Keith Mangrum (congas) and Jim White (tenor sax) leaving before the move. Nonetheless, the album was a wholly original affair, featuring contributions by the whole band, including Demo Cates' first original composition on record. "Mose and Leroy typically handled the writing," says Demo. "During the recording of this album, I was going through some things in my personal life, and I worked up this song called Sacrifice, with a little bit of help from Mose and Leroy." The album as a whole represents a more "far-out" style of funk than its predecessor, "What's Up Front." 

    Released in early 1973, Love Sign was not commercially successful. Though the band was happy to stick it out in Atlanta with Aware Records and try again the following year with another album (and multiple singles), Demo was growing restless. "At the time, I was getting really involved with religion and reading the Bible with the Jehovah's Witnesses. I grew dissatisfied with the "band" lifestyle and needed to get out," says Demo. "I moved back to Toronto as I really enjoyed the diversity there during the recording of "What's Up Front" and felt it was the perfect place to start my new life." And start a new life he did. Though Demo wanted to take a break from music, Toronto's bustling scene was too much to resist. A brief session with Wayne St. John's band back in Toronto (c. 1972) started a lifelong friendship with the singer, and he helped Demo get temporary and eventually permanent citizenship. 


                                                     STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO - THANKS TO DEMO CATES FOR HIS HELP!

Friday, November 1, 2024

The Birchmount Records Story

    Birchmount Records is a music label that many record collectors in Canada have come across, whether knowingly or not. Though the story of this "budget label" behemoth has never been told, its roots lie at a crucial turning point in Canadian music history, and its output rivals some of the country's largest music labels. A fascinating mix of new and old, national and international, Birchmount Records is an unassuming gem. The label sports an interesting, albeit sparse, connection to some key Canadian songwriters and musicians/bands of the late 60’s. These include Greg and Fergus Hambelton, Jay Telfer, Barry Allen, Mary Saxton, Alan Thicke, Eugene Amaro, The Shays, etc. This article aims to shed some light on the forgotten label as well as highlight the awesome Canadian talent on display. The story of Birchmount Records begins in Toronto during the late 1960's. But first, some context is needed: 

    Birchmount Records was created by a Toronto-based company known as Quality Records. Quality at this time was Canada's largest music distributor. By providing Canadian distribution for international labels during the 1950's and early 1960's, Quality was able to set themselves apart from other Canadian labels by sheer size and "quality" of output. Alongside their international endeavors, Quality Records did a lot to distribute smaller Canadian labels as well as promote their own stable of Canadian talent. In addition to their massive dealings under the "Quality Records" name, the label also created over a DOZEN sublabel: Barry, Broadland, Celebration, REO, Ringside, etc.
 
The main idea for Birchmount Records came about in the summer of 1969. Then-current Quality Records bosses George Keane and George Struth hatched the idea to revive some old Quality and BARRY products from their delete bins (Earl Mitton, The Guess Who, Gerald Bailey, The Beau-Marks, Davey Bold, etc.). A deal was struck with Lyman Potts' Canadian Talent Library to distribute a few of their artists commercially through Birchmount. (Guido Basso, Dick McClish, The Metro-Gnomes, Al Baculis, Graham Teear, Eugene Amaro, etc.). In addition to this, another deal was struck with Don Grashey's Gaiety Records to put out a compilation of their artists (The Plague, Lyn McEachern, Tomorrows Keepsake, Duncan & Fife, Sandi Shore, and The Checkerlads) as well as a pair of albums by Jerry Palmer. 
 
The final piece of the puzzle, however, was releasing newer Canadian products from "current" Toronto artists with the help of a few scene-ingratiated tastemakers. This final decision helped breathe a little youth and ingenuity into the idea. But the truth of the matter is, there were no "current Toronto artists" on the labels radar. They actually planned to record a handful of Psych/Pop-oriented "shadow" records with faceless bands and pass them off as active performing artists, similar to how ARC Records of Toronto had been operating around this period. 
                                                                      
    Greg Hambleton was hired as the producer and project coordinator for some of the new Canadian "shadow" projects on Birchmount. At the time, Greg was developing quite the resume. After a few years performing and writing songs in Toronto’s Yorkville district, he grew interested in production and publishing in 1967. He began work as an independent recording engineer at Sound Canada and RCA Studios in Toronto, recording legendary singles by The Midnight Angels, The Boodly-Hoo, The Fringe, A Passing Fancy, The Humble Sponge, and The Eighth Day, among others. 
 
George Struth explained to Greg Hambleton the importance of these "shadow" albums being ready to ship with Birchmount's initial release line as a means of bolstering the early catalog. The key in his mind was for these albums to exude a psychedelic-pop energy. Greg knew this was the perfect opportunity to have these groups record some of his original songs, as well as those by his brother Fergus Hambleton and friend Jay Telfer. The albums had to contain at least 50% well-known covers but had no contracted artists featured and no stipulations regarding what made up the other 50% of the album's content.
   
    Greg Hambleton quickly hired his own stable of musicians to record backing tracks for the Birchmount "shadow" sessions. He brought in local psych-rockers “The Magic Cycle” (soon to be “The Cycle”) to record the bed tracks for drums (Kevin Barry, brother of Paul Clinch), guitar (Stan Theriault and Paul Clinch), piano/organ (Peter Goodale), and bass (Joey Rome). In addition to the band, Greg's brother Fergus Hambleton was brought in to record any auxiliary instruments. The "shadow" projects for which this band recorded music include Suzanne (BM-501), The Sultan Street Nine (BM-504), Tuesday's Children (BM-508), and Candy Rock Fountain (BM-517). Two of these sessions had vocalists (Suzanne and Sultan Street Nine); the other two (Tuesday's Children and Candy Rock Fountain) were wholly instrumental. Greg reused three instrumentals from Tuesday's Children as backing tracks for Suzanne's ("You Try" and "Traces") and Sultan Street Nine's ("I Believe In Sunshine") vocal versions. 
 
Across the four "shadow" albums, Greg Hambleton contributes TWELVE of his compositions ("Weather", "Shendah", "You Try", "Island", "I Believe In Sunshine", "She Left Me On Tuesday", "I'm Going Back To Montreal", "Kaleidoscope", "Nancy Brown", "Paintbrush", "I Don't Want To Live" and "Flower Generation"), two of his brother Fergus' ("Without You" and "All I See Is You"; the latter co-written by Eric Canning of Ginger Group), and one by friend and Yorkville legend Jay Telfer ("Relations With Rita"). 
   
    During September 1969, the announcement came down in RPM's weekly magazine and a few other music publications that Quality Records was launching their new label, "Birchmount Records.". All Canadian releases were stamped with the "Canadian Artists Collection" logo on the front and back covers. The announcement pointed out that the "day one" twenty-two-album release lineup was 90% Canadian content. At the time, this was an unheard of amount for a commercial Canadian label, as many of Canada's largest labels had a good portion of their function devoted to repressing and/or promoting already popular artists from abroad. 
 
Quality Records kicked things off by cobbling together an originally “for broadcast only” compilation of more pop-oriented artists on the label, appropriately titled “A Taste of Birchmount Pop,” which they distributed to radio stations and critics. The minor success of some of this material in certain radio demographics warranted a physical release by the end of 1969. 
 
A lot of gaps in information plague the Birchmount label. But as a budget line, this is to be expected; ARC, Paragon, and many other Canadian "budget" labels operated in a similar manner. An unfortunate consequence of this is that a number of the initial albums in the Birchmount “Canadian Artists Collection” have no production/musician credits anywhere. This leaves a lot of unanswered questions regarding artists and their releases on the label. 
   
   In addition to the "shadow" albums and reissued content, the early releases on Birchmount Records showcased a great spread of new Canadian talent. Toronto clarinetist/music teacher Pete Schofield appears with his band of high school/college players, recording two albums; Calgary singer-songwriter Cal Cavendish debuted with his first album; Moosejaw Jazz/Lounge singer Bette Graham debuted with her first solo album, an ode to Canada; Niagra Falls R&B band leader Beau Hannon debuted with his first album, with his "Mint Juleps" band; Edmonton Soul/R&B singer Mary Saxton debuted with her fantastic first album (at just 18 years old); Toronto husband/wife Folk duo  Merrick and Kathy Jarrett debuted with their "Folk Songs For Children" record; Edmonton singers Mary Saxton and Barry Allen front a Winnipeg Garage/Psych "shadow" band called "The Rising Sun, doing fantastic Garage-charged covers; Toronto Rock/Psych singer Wayne Versage (original singer of The Shays - replaced by David Clayton-Thomas) debuted with his fantastic lone studio album (backed by The Shays). 
 
During November of 1969, Birchmount Records launched their second batch of releases. Again, they released twenty-two albums, and again the majority was Canadian content (albeit closer to 75% rather than the previous 90%). Among this batch, the releases from the aforementioned deals with Canadian Talent Library and Gaiety Records are featured. In addition to these "deal" albums and the reissues, the series saw a pair of Guess Who compilations (one also featuring The Beau Marks and 49th Parallel) and solo releases by: Toronto R&B/Psych group Tom Milestone & The Jarvis Street Revue, Edmonton Country/Rock singer Jack Hennig, Scotland-to-Toronto Celtic Folk duo The Bonnie Scots, and Edmonton Country singer-songwriter Hank Smith. 
 
Greg Hambleton left Birchmount Records shortly after his involvement with the first batch of releases (September 1969). Most of the second batch (November 1969) featured a variety of producers (contracted or otherwise). With the Bonnie Scots record in particular, Birchmount began a brief working relationship with legendary producer and owner of Sound Canada Studios, Art Snider.  

    An interesting side note from this release period: Birchmount Records arranged a one-week residency for one of their non-Canadian recording artists, "Doc & Chikita Willams," at Toronto's legendary Horseshoe Tavern club (December 1st-December 6th, 1969 ~ RPM Weekly Magazine, December 20th, 1969). This was a means to promote their two recently released Birchmount albums, "Together" and "25th Anniversary Album.". 
 
The early months of 1970 saw Birchmount Records doing late-release promos for some of their second batch of Canadian artists (Hank Smith, Jack Hennig, and Merrick Jarrett) in RPM Magazine, as well as adding interesting additions to the "Canadian Artists Collection" subseries of Birchmount. Quality Records appropriated it for the Canadian arm of their Ringside label. Which featured albums by band leader Pat Riccio, The Bridge City Dixieland Jazz Band, Robert Service/J. Frank Willis, Joe Venuti, and legendary Toronto Psych-Rockers Cargo with their rare sophomore album "Simple Things" (through Merv Buchanan's TREND Records). 

    The third batch of Birchmount releases dropped in early spring of 1970. Something of a double-edged sword, this batch had an extra ten albums (reaching thirty-two in one batch) but unfortunately much less Canadian content (roughly 45%, as opposed to the previous 75% in batch two). On the other hand, a few of these sparse releases represent some of the best and most sought after Canadian albums in the entire Birchmount catalogue; Alan Thicke's debut album with a dearth of originals and a "Hip-Hop acknowledged" drum break, Wayne McGhie's debut album with it's tantalizing mix of Funk, Soul and Reggae songs, featuring three "Hip-Hop acknowledged" drum breaks; Friday Afternoon's Country-meets-Garage/Psych rock debut album, oddly titled Johnny Cash Hits (thought it had originals by the band as well as covers by other artists), through Merv Buchanan/TREND Records; The Everlovin' Singers' with their lone album of Sunshine Pop goodness; A CTL session for Six People - Cliff Jones & Good Company, which was a precursor project for many founding members of Dr. Music; Betty Vidal's great mostly original Country-Rock debut. 
 
While the bulk of Birchmount's third batch were American releases and Canadian Country (plus two more Guess Who compilations), the aforementioned six albums are something special. That makes it all the more painful to share with you the story of "The Quality Records Warehouse Fire." Sometime during 1970, a fire broke out in the section of the warehouse that housed the stock for these six releases; it's even rumored that the master tapes for some of them were damaged or destroyed. This means that in addition to being among the more musically intriguing offerings of the bath, they were also the rarest, stock number-wise. Most of these releases now sell secondhand for over $100 (with only Friday Afternoon and Wayne McGhie ever being reissued). It's not known if any other third batch releases were affected in the fires.

From 1972 onward, the Canadian releases got less and less frequent. They were being replaced more often by budget reissues of content from popular US acts like The Isley Brothers, Johnny Cash, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Hank Williams, etc. What started as a label releasing 90% Canadian content in its initial 22-album run dropped slightly to roughly 60 of the first 80 albums released, and ultimately, by the end of production in 1980, had less than 1/4th (around 90) of its roughly 420 total releases be Canadian content.

After the first three batches (1969-1970), Birchmount released yearly batches of releases until 1980. 1972 onwards saw a very steep decline in Canadian content. Artists such as Diane Leigh, Stu Davis, Jack Kingston, Sean Broderick, The Carlton Showband, and more managed to slip through the crack occasionally, but they were few and far between. But in 1978, a twelve-album deal was brokered with the Canadian Talent Library. Amongst the featured artists were: The Climax Jazz Band, Jackie Mittoo, Peter Appleyard, Vic Franklyn, Eugene Amaro, Keath Barrie, Laurie Bower Singers, Jerry Toth, Marilyn Jones, and Rob McConnell's Boss Brass.

The fate that ultimately befell Birchmount Records is one that many other Canadian labels suffered from: having sky-high dreams but not enough money, positive reception from the public, or meaningful promotion to make it happen. Obviously, by its very definition, a budget label really wouldn’t garner any real success, but in the case of Birchmount, it's unfortunate not to have been an exception to that rule. The quality of the Canadian content on the label cannot be understated. It’s truly a treasure trove for fans of Canadian music history or quality music of any kind (more specifically rock music and its variations). The unshakeable interest in this label, which a small few feel is due to the feeling of unearthing a hidden gem. In the case of this label, the musical diversity and quality of releases in that first 80-album run were something to be admired. Lots of great, unique Canadian rock, country, psych-pop, vocal pop, jazz, and even some funk and reggae releases graced the label.