GORDON LIGHTFOOT – Summertime Dream (1976 Reprise)
Immediately after Gord’s Gold provided Lightfoot fans with a collection of old and re-recorded hits, Gord made another one: “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald“. This mighty song dominated the radiowaves for years over all over the Great White North, arguably granting Lightfoot his most memorable song in his history. His earlier material from Gord’s Gold and before might be considered the pinnacle of his album-making career, but Summertime Dream isn’t too shabby.
Opening with the musically upbeat “Race Among the Ruins”, but lyrically there is warning here. “If you plan to face tomorrow, do it soon.” Don’t let time pass you by.
The nautical disaster song “Edmund Fitzgerald” is second, a mostly historically accurate accounting (within reason) of a great lakes shipwreck. The great lakes shipwreck. The stinging guitar lick repeats while the harrowing lyrics induce chills. Guitarist Terry Clements performed that unmistakable, haunting guitar part, the one that little Canadian kids were dying to learn how to play in their youths. Did they have any idea they were recording such a timeless song when they were laying down the tracks? Every feeling, every emotion, every creak of steel and wood can be absorbed through the grooves. The way Lightfoot paints a picture with words, you feel as if were there. Gene Martynec, who played synth on Lou Reed’s Berlin album, provided light keyboard accents here. You’d miss them if they were gone.
A tender ballad, “I’m Not Supposed to Care”, gently caresses the soul with its light backdrop of pedal steel guitar. Then, edgier electric guitars back up “I’d Do It Again”, a laid back groove with a country foundation and a rock veneer. “Never Too Close” also shines with shimmery guitar melodies and a stunning chorus. Then the somber “Protocol” is a war ballad ranging from days past to the Vietnam War. “The House You Live In” showcases more pedal steel tones with a warm tune and laid back tempo. The single “Summertime Dream” is upbeat and bright, recalling hot happy youthful days. “Spanish Moss” is another lovely song, painting pictures of landscapes we’d like to see. Finally, “Too Many Clues In This Room” closes the album on a dark note, with lyrics aluding to both space and sea exploration.
Not Gordon’s most captivating album, but one without any skips, and one absolute monster of a song.
HOLLYWOOD MONSTERS – Thriving On Chaos (2020 Voice Music, Japanese import)
Supergroup? Or just a good time? Singer/guitarist Steph Honde, drummer Vinny Appice, and bassist Ronnie Robson gathered a load of friends and recorded a fun heavy metal album of originals and covers. There is also a healthy helping of Canadian content (such as Robson in the core trio)!
Opener “A Scream Looking For a Mouth” is a raging heavy metal track along the lines of vintage high-voltage Motorhead. Hell of an opener. Add Deep Purple’s Don Airey on guest Hammond organ solo, which just hits the right spot amidst all that raging. “Speak of the Devil” continues the heavy, though not the speed, thankfully, or you’d be seeing a chiropractor from all the headbangin’. A catchy chorus and solid riffing make it another instant winner. Solid metal. A chunky riff kicks off “Something Wicked”, a really fun uptempo rocker.
Things get slower and darker on the monumental “Running Up Hill”, which is instant hit material. Ted McKenna on drums. Instant classic, with a chorus that kills. Regardless of the daily struggles we face, Honde reminds us, “Never surrender!” It’s a message of positivity, and the best track on the album.
“Numb” is another good one, grinding out a riff slow an’ easy. The added keyboards provide texture. Even better is the beautiful acoustic ballad “In This House”. Honde has an excellent acoustic album called Empire of Ashes, and this track easily could have fit on it. Though he’s a rocker, he is exceptional at tender acoustic ballads.
The first cover is “I Don’t Need No Doctor” featuring Jim Crean on backing vocals. It kicks all the expected asses, and Honde’s guitar soloing is tasty as hell. Next up: Canadian content with the Goddo cover “Drop Dead”, featuring Greg Godovitz on co-lead vocals and Tommy Denander on lead guitar. It smokes, and that lead solo? Set phasers to stun!
“Thriving On Chaos” is another impressive original. It has a slow, dramatic riff that is somehow familiar. Excellent songwriting, and hard to pigeonhole. It’s followed by a very Maiden-esque song called “Fortune Teller”, which has a vibe very similar to some of the tracks on Fear of the Dark. Fred Mika plays drums on this tempered-steel monster.
The final cover (and Canadian guest) is the Thin Lizzy cover “Cold Sweat”, as sung by Danko Jones. Danko is the perfect guy for it! He nails the Phil vibe, yet with his own snarl. And the Steph Honde guitar solo? Call the fire department! This alchemy of Jones/Honde/Appice/Robson is pure combustion. You can seldom go wrong with a Thin Lizzy cover, but here everything goes so, so right.
Always a surprise when the Japanese bonus track is one of the highlights. The heavy, thumping “I Am the Best You Can Get” slays! “Heavy” is an understatement! Vocalist Steph Honde goes from scream on the verses, to growl on the chorus. The droning chorus is the best part! This one features (Canadian) Glen Drover on lead guitar and Alexis Von Kraven on the relentless drums. The Japanese CD even comes with a printed interview with Steph Honde – though I cannot read Japanese!
Pick it up – shell out for the Japanese if it’s within your means.
While the LeBrain Train is no more, we can still enjoy some past shows. This one was special as it was the very first show on the Streamyard platform, 8/14/2020. At the end we had six guests. I called it “the shape of things to come”, and I was right about that! Things only got bigger and better. Not that this show wasn’t big on its own, as you can read below in my original text.
I am sure I will miss the LeBrain Train eventually, but you just don’t get this kind of interaction anymore, where I could snap my fingers and suddenly we have six people on the screen. A moment in history, not to come again.
Enjoy!
History was made Friday night!
For the first time ever, Deke and I have shared the screen with Mr. Books himself, Aaron from the KMA. The subject this week: Top 11 Canadian albums of all time. An absolutely epic discussion unfolded with so many different genres being touched upon. As remarkable as the lists were (five in total), it’s also quite astounding when we talked about all the albums we left out!
Lists submitted by:
Deke
Mr. Books
LeBrain
Darr
Dr. Kathryn Ladano
With Deke coming in from Lake Superior, Aaron from Georgian Bay, and myself on the shore of Lake Huron, we had three massive bodies of water covered. What should we call ourselves? The Great Lakes Consortium?
For a look at the shape of streams to come, check out the end of the video. We brought in Uncle Meat, Rob Daniels from Visions in Sound, and Kevin/Buried On Mars. While six at a time is a lot, it sure was fun to see everybody together for the first time!
I can’t help but take a little bit of pride in all this. My very first live stream was March 20, the week lockdown began. Eager to make connections with others in isolation, I hit that “live” button on my Facebook app just to see what would happen. It ended up being a lot of fun and it so happened that others liked it too. A few weeks later, we figured out how to get Uncle Meat to co-host and he came up with the now infamous “Nigel Tufnel Top Ten” format.
But there were limitations, because we had to use a Facebook phone app if I wanted to have a co-host. This reduced the scope of awesome people available to share the screen with me. Finally Kevin directed me to Streamyard which solved numerous problems. After months of trying to figure out how to stream to Facebook (where my audience is) without having to use Facebook, Streamyard worked. For the first time after many months of trying, Aaron has finally co-hosted a show. A milestone! So yeah, I’m proud of myself and proud of the awesome friends who have co-hosted along the way. We made something here that is catching on with people. I owe Meat a huge debt for being the first co-host and coming up with the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten concept.
Look at the first stream below, and look where we are now. We’ve come a long way.
FIVE BUCKS AT THE DOOR – THE STORY OF CROCKS N ROLLS(2020)
Directed by Kirsten Kosloski
When she was a kid, it was director Kirsten Kosloski’s job to spend the weekend taping albums for her thrifty dad, who was always borrowing records from friends. With a floor full of tapes and cases, Kosloski grew to love music in that intimate way that only true music fanatics can relate to. She felt like a bit of an outsider in Thunder Bay Ontario, but her love of music helped her bond with some local punks. The place to be was Crocks N Rolls. She walked up to the entrance. Owner Frank Loffredo sat in the booth. Five bucks at the door. Kirsten had empty pockets. Loffredo gestured for her to go in anyway. A life was changed that night. She became a music journalist. The dream job she didn’t know existed until Crocks N Rolls opened up her world.
Five Bucks at the Doors – The Story of Crocks N Rolls is a uniquely Canadian documentary. You quickly realize that Crocks N Rolls could only be the result of Canadian geography and personalities. We joke about Thunder Bay being isolated (though it is said that their landfill hosts a treasure trove of 80s cassette tapes), but the truth is far deeper than simple stereotypes. Yes, Thunder Bay is eight hours’ drive away from the big cities, but it also occupies a unique crossroads on the Canadian roadmap. Touring bands from Ontario and further east had to go through on their way west. Western bands also had to pass through the crucible. The only place to play was Crocks. Most importantly, it was the right place to play.
Sook Yin Lee (Bob’s Your Uncle) calls it a “wonderful enclave of freaks and weirdos.” Frank Loffredo was just a music fan. He’d drive to Toronto to see a show. He dreamed of being in the New York or London scenes and drinking up the rock and roll. Instead he did something better and he brought that vibe to Thunder Bay for everyone to share. Bands started coming through. Great bands, bad bands, mediocre bands. Even if they didn’t sell tickets, Frank would book them a second time. It wasn’t always about the bottom line. He would live and sleep in the bar to make it work. It was about Canadian rock music. It was about making life bearable for the kids of Thunder Bay who dreamed of getting out. To Frank it was like “one long day,” but to the kids it was another home. There were no fights. It was a melting pot of acceptance and ideas.
Bad Brains, 13 Engines, Razor, Sacrifice, DOA, Henry Rollins…Rollins on a spoken word tour no less. Five Bucks at the Door is loaded with stories and the best has to be about Henry Rollins and being short changed $10 by Frank Loffredo. Hank didn’t notice, but Frank had to make it right. He asked a friend to repay the $10 that Frank accidentally owed him. He also insisted on photographic evidence of the transaction, and that evidence is part of this smorgasbord of punk rock history.
Dave Bidini (The Rheostatics), Bob Wiseman (Blue Rodeo), and many more Canadian artists have acres of stories to tell. A bunch of tree planters and a canoe? From Frank’s mom’s home-made spaghetti dinners for the tired band members, to the name of the place. It looked like an Italian restaurant and the logo looked like it had a bowl and a spoon. “It was a dumb name,” says Frank. But the important thing was that “the audience was as much of the show as the band.” That’s clear by the testimonials and amazing black and white photos. Scratched and unretouched.
Crocks closed in 1996. It was no longer sustainable, and then as if adding insult to injury the original place burned down. But in 2007, Loffredo gave it another go. Naming it Crocks N Rolls flat out indicated this was to be a continuation of the original. As before, it’s all still in the family, with a new generation now working with Frank in keeping the rock rolling in Thunder Bay.
Five Bucks at the Door is a refreshing reminder that there are some crucial things we need in life. Connection, belonging, and music. Frank brought all three to the teenagers of Thunder Bay that longed for it. It’s a story that needs to be told, and you owe it to yourself to check it out. It’s available for streaming for free until September 20, 2020.
For the first time ever, Deke and I have shared the screen with Mr. Books himself, Aaron from the KMA. The subject this week: Top 11 Canadian albums of all time. An absolutely epic discussion unfolded with so many different genres being touched upon. As remarkable as the lists were (five in total), it’s also quite astounding when we talked about all the albums we left out!
Lists submitted by:
Deke
Mr. Books
LeBrain
Darr
Dr. Kathryn Ladano
With Deke coming in from Lake Superior, Aaron from Georgian Bay, and myself on the shore of Lake Huron, we had three massive bodies of water covered. What should we call ourselves? The Great Lakes Consortium?
For a look at the shape of streams to come, check out the end of the video. We brought in Uncle Meat, Rob Daniels from Visions in Sound, and Kevin/Buried On Mars. While six at a time is a lot, it sure was fun to see everybody together for the first time!
I can’t help but take a little bit of pride in all this. My very first live stream was March 20, the week lockdown began. Eager to make connections with others in isolation, I hit that “live” button on my Facebook app just to see what would happen. It ended up being a lot of fun and it so happened that others liked it too. A few weeks later, we figured out how to get Uncle Meat to co-host and he came up with the now infamous “Nigel Tufnel Top Ten” format.
But there were limitations, because we had to use a Facebook phone app if I wanted to have a co-host. This reduced the scope of awesome people available to share the screen with me. Finally Kevin directed me to Streamyard which solved numerous problems. After months of trying to figure out how to stream to Facebook (where my audience is) without having to use Facebook, Streamyard worked. For the first time after many months of trying, Aaron has finally co-hosted a show. A milestone! So yeah, I’m proud of myself and proud of the awesome friends who have co-hosted along the way. We made something here that is catching on with people. I owe Meat a huge debt for being the first co-host and coming up with the Nigel Tufnel Top Ten concept.
Look at the first stream below, and look where we are now. We’ve come a long way.
The list format returns! It’s another “Nigel Tufnel Top Ten”, and this time it’s a doozy. How do you narrow down the top albums from an entire country, and arrange them on a list? I dunno, but there are some of us that are going to try. Wish us luck.
How you get in on the mayhem? It’s easy. Just go to Facebook: MikeLeBrain on Friday August 14 at 7:00 pm E.S.T. There you can participate in the fun with your commentary, as we count down…
THE TOP 11 CANADIAN ALBUMS OF ALL TIME
No greatest hits; all genres permitted. A monster of a task indeed. Four lists have been submitted. Co–hosts have been booked. If all goes according to plan (which it should due to an hour-long test stream last week) we will have two of the most knowledgeable Canadian music fans on board for what promises to be an epic discussion.
GORDON LIGHTFOOT – Complete Greatest Hits (2002 Rhino)
You just have to laugh when you see something called “Complete” Greatest Hits. Complete? Says who?
I don’t see “Ribbon of Darkness” on Complete Greatest Hits, and where is “Bobby McGee”? I do see 20 terrific songs that you shouldn’t live your life without. Gord’s Gold is the benchmark, but because it’s missing Gordon Lightfoot’s best known song — “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” — it isn’t enough. (Gord’s Gold also featured two sides of re-recordings because Lightfoot supposedly couldn’t listen to his early work.) The best way to get “Edmund Fitzgerald” and Lightfoot’s other best known songs in one purchase is to go for Rhino’s Complete CD.
The experience starts with “Early Morning Rain” from Gord’s first LP Lightfoot! (1966). Gord’s calling cards are two: his baritone voice, and his songwriting. “Early Morning Rain” shows of the perfection of both. You’ll get chills. “In the early morning raaaaaaain…” Undoubtedly, Gordon Lightfoot is one of Canada’s greatest songwriters of all time, and “Early Morning Rain” is all the evidence you need. If that’s not enough, there are fortunately 19 more incredible tracks.
“For Loving Me” from the same LP boasts some intricate acoustic picking and more of that voice. The vibrato, the control, the expression…nobody could touch Gordon Lightfoot. In recent years his voice has been reduced to a powerful whisper, but nothing on this CD dates past 1986. His voice is double-tracked on “Go Go Girl”, another unforgettable song from 1967’s The Way I Feel. His storytelling lyrics always make you wonder who and what inspired the songs. “Only a go-go girl, in love with someone who didn’t care. Only 21, she was a young girl, just in from somewhere.” There’s so much there between the lines, while the acoustics pluck away in dense patterns.
After three succinct beauties, here comes Gordon’s epic: “Canadian Railroad Trilogy”. The Canadian Pacific Railway was built on hardship and dreams, and Gord captures that and more in a multi-textured composition. “An iron road runnin’ from the sea to the sea.” Not only is this song his greatest lyric, but the diverse vocal parts could be his strongest work. Hard to imagine that that he was only on his second album.
1968 brought the brooding ballad “Pussywillows, Cat-tails”. Backed by strings, the dream-like song paints a picture rather than spelling out a story. “Naked limbs and wheat bins, hazy afternoons.” Then “Bitter Green” is brighter, though with similar countryside imagery and a story about lost love with a twist ending. Moving on to 1970, “If You Could Read My Mind” is one of Lightfoot’s most renowned songs. It went to #1 in Canada, and in 1997 it hit the dance charts in a cover version by Stars On 54. Gord’s version is one of the most passionate laid to tape. Written about a divorce, the feelings were raw.
1971 brought the bright “Cotton Jenny” and the uplifting “Summer Side of Life” from the album of the same name. The latter features subtle organ and rich backing vocals, broadening the palette. “Beautiful”, a soft and romantic ballad, came from 1972’s Don Quixote, and hit the Billboard Hot 100. This CD then skips past the #1 album Old Dan’s Records (Complete Greatest Hits, huh?) and goes straight to “Sundown” from the album of the same name. I always loved the front cover of Sundown, with Gord in sandals smoking a cigarette in a barn. For the first time, there’s an electric guitar solo, but the song is most notable for the strong chorus. “Carefree Highway”, also from Sundown, has lush strings and another chorus that is impossible to forget. I highly recommend playing this one while driving down country roads on a Sunday afternoon. “Rainy Day People” from 1975 (the same year he did the Gord’s Gold re-recordings) features more backing instrumentation than earlier material. The lush, countrified music didn’t do him any harm when the track went Top 10 in Canada (and #1 on the adult contemporary charts).
All this leads to “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”, probably the greatest songs about a sea tragedy ever written. With a big electric guitar as the main hook, the song is completely unlike all the Lightfoot hits that came before. There is even a soft synthesizer part. It went to #1 on every applicable chart in Canada, and #2 in the US. Though simpler in structure, “Edmund Fitzgerald” is the only song to rival “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” as his greatest epic. It’s also one of Gordon’s most chill-inducing lyrics, with a vocal part to match.
Everything after this can only seem anticlimactic. “Race Among the Ruins” is the strongest track post-“Edmund”, as Gordon included country slide guitars and other accoutrements. The final five (“Daylight Katy”, “The Circle is Small”, “Baby Step Back”, “Stay Loose” and “Restless”) are not slouches, but simply not as striking as the earlier songs. Though the recordings are more sophisticated, it’s hard to top your earliest hits.
The liner notes to this CD point out that your first exposure to Gordon Lightfoot was probably via a cover. Perhaps Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, or the Tragically Hip. I suggest making “Edmund Fitzgerald” your first Gordon Lightfoot if you haven’t heard one of his classics already. This CD is the best way to get it.
5/5 stars
* Deke, have you ever listened to the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald while sitting on the shore of lake gichi-gami? That’s on my bucket list.
First year of university involved “frosh week”. All the new students would have events and basically just party for a week. I wasn’t into that and I only attended the first night. It concluded with an Australian comedy band playing some amusing novelty songs. Wish I could remember their name.
My friend Andy, who was accepted at the University of Waterloo, had different entertainment for frosh week. “We had this shitty band called Barenaked Ladies,” he told me. Barenaked Ladies? The fuck was that?
Barenaked Ladies were an acoustic group from Scarborough Ontario who specialised in quirky and often humorous original songs. Little did I know that their Yellow Tape demo was making waves. I was focused on what was happening in Canadian metal. It didn’t take long after that Waterloo gig for the band to gain national awareness. Their excellent cover of Bruce Cockburn’s “Lovers in a Dangerous Time” got a nation wide release on a tribute album called Kick at the Darkness. The quintessentially Canadian music video was in constant rotation.
And for comparison:
The Cockburn cover was impressive. It showed off the central vocal harmonies of Steven Page and Ed Robertson, and it was obvious the band were schooled on their instruments. Barenaked Ladies didn’t focus on mainstream instruments, preferring double bass and congas.
My sister became a fan quickly, and when their first official album Gordon was released in ’92, she dove right in. Before long she had a vast collection of Barenaked rarities, including a bootleg tape she recorded herself at a Kitchener show. Some of the bands’ most popular songs with fans were not on Gordon, such as “McDonalds Girl” and the Public Enemy cover “Fight the Power”.
I casually followed the band along with her, appreciating their lyrical cleverness and occasional emotional depth. I helped her collect rarities at record shows. She sent pianist/percussionist Andy Creeggan a vintage 1977 Darth Vader sticker to put on his congas. And he did. And it can be seen in some video footage if you look hard enough.
I went to see them with her on their 1996 Born on a Pirate Ship tour. I was impressed with a lot of their new songs, especially the intense “Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank”, a track about an Anne Murray stalker. They played it live at that show (which featured Mike Smith aka “Bubbles” in opening band Sandbox).
As soon as Steven Page hit the stage, he seemed to be simmering. He was dressed in his goofy shorts as usual, but he seemed…angry? Intense. It really came out in “Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank” which boiled over. I gained a real appreciation for the band that night, and also for Steven Page as an artist. Whatever was bothering him that day (if that was indeed the case), he poured it into the show. It was an incredible night.
Unfortunately for us, Barenaked Ladies evolved into the mainstream over the years. Both of us lost interest as they changed. Andy Creeggan left the band after their second album Maybe You Should Drive, which meant the congas were gone. Jim Creeggan traded his big stand up bass for an electric more often. The emotion seemed to drain from their albums as time went on.
I wasn’t very surprised when Steven Page left the band in 2009. As their music became more campy and often aimed at kids, Page was less comfortable. His drug bust in New York was the real shock, since he was caught doing cocaine. That certainly clashed with the band’s family friendly image.
The band carried on and Page went solo, but there’s a new twist. On March 25 2018, Barenaked Ladies will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. It’ll be done during the Juno Awards broadcast, and Steven Page will be returning to perform with them. “I hope it’s fun,” said Page. “I honestly haven’t been in the same room as the other guys – all the other guys at once – since I left the band. It’ll be good to see them all, but it’s going to be odd. It’s not like we’re getting back together.”
Odd indeed, but stranger things have happened. Will you be checking out the big reunion on March 25?
This CD was given to me by Uncle Meat for the purpose of reviewing. Unfortunately I was too slow and Paul didn’t live to read it. For that I’m sorry.
With Hawksley Workman in the production chair, one expects great sonics and perhaps just a touch of “weird”. The opening track “Ghosts” has a familiar piano-based “bop” that is reminiscent of Workman. This delightful little track is upbeat with just a slight sense of melancholy. Moving on to “Cruelty”, the song has a strange aura that sounds as if you’re playing it on vinyl. This electric song really showcases how versatile MacLeod’s voice was. “Cruelty” does not easily escape from the memory.
Sadness and loneliness are two prevailing feelings on “Schopenhauer’s”, a beautiful acoustic tune. “Gloat” adds a base of electric guitar for a rock solid foundation. On top of this, Paul sings his soul out. “All I could ever do was, was be but a crutch to you.” The mood flows into the next tune “Pools of Blue” which speaks of regret. This changes to anger on “Broken Wing”. “She’s feeding the bullshit, a mouthful at a time.” A tense little guitar lick goes on until the brilliant chorus releases it. “Broken Wing” is an easy contender for best track on the album.
After the emotional peak of “Broken Wing”, it’s nice to go back to mellow on “Listen Mary”. Its love acoustic guitar solo is a definite highlight. “Giants”, another upbeat catchy number, would also be a peak point.
Closing the CD is “Stanley Steamer”, initially a shock as it begins with uncharacteristic electronic sound effects. This soon turns into a humourous look back to an era long gone. Paul’s song sounds as if it could have been born in that past decade. One thing Paul had a talent for was tapping into the musical feelings of the past, like a human time machine.
Check out this fantastic CD by Paul MacLeod the Musical Tardis.
Unfortunate Canadians will recall boy band b4-4 (also known as Before Four). They were a trio, had two brothers in the group, made two albums and faded away quietly.
Courtesy of former store owner (now road manager for Steve Earle) Mike Lukacs, here’s a classic quote that shoulda been in Record Store Tales:
“Back in the record store days, some people came in the store looking for these guys’ CD. One of the dudes that worked for me asked them why they wanted such garbage. ‘They are our sons’ replied the people…”
mikeladano.com 