#49: A Nice Young Girl From Houston by Stu Mitchell
City: Edmonton, AB
Radio Station: CHED
Peak Month: December 1970
Peak Position in Edmonton ~ #8
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “A Nice Girl From Houston”
Neville Stuart Mitchell was born in Saskatchewan in 1942. In his teens he played for a Saskatchewan band called the T-Birds. He learned how to play the drums and moved to Edmonton. It was there Mitchell joined Wes Dakus’ Rebels in 1960. With Wes Dakus, Mitchell was in the recording studio for “Cavalier Twist” in 1962, “Dog Food” in 1963,”Sour Biscuits” in 1964, and “Manipulator” in 1967, among others. In 1965, Stu Mitchell and Doug Roberts released “Wildcat”, which was a non-charting Capitol Records single. In 1966, Mitchell released a solo cover of the mid-50s R&B tune “Bo Diddley”. In 1966, Stu Mitchell and Doug Roberts recorded a duet titled “Say I Am” which charted in Edmonton. In 1967, Mitchell was in the recording studio while Wes Dakus and his band backed Barry Allen for his local Top Ten hit “Armful of Teddy Bears”.
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#33: Brontosaurus by the Move
City: London, ON
Radio Station: CJOE
Peak Month: September 1970
Peak Position in London ~ #11
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Brontosaurus”
Lyrics: “Brontosaurus”
The Move were a British band that formed in 1965. The band consisted of Bev Bevan on drums (born in 1944 in Birmingham), Roy Wood on vocals, guitar, bass guitar, cello, saxophone, oboe, percussion and keyboards, (born in 1946 in Birmingham), Carl Wayne on lead vocals, sitar and bass guitar (born in Birmingham in 1943), Ace Kefford on bass guitar (born in 1946 in Birmingham), and Trevor Burton on guitar, bass guitar and vocals (born in 1949 in Birmingham). Bev Bevan learned to play drums and in 1956 he joined a rock band named Denny Laine & the Diplomats. In 1965 he moved on to join Carl Wayne & the Vikings, and in 1966 The Move.
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#9: Cecilia by Sweet Henry
City: Kingston, ON
Radio Station: CKLC
Peak Month: May 1970
Peak Position in Kingston ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Cecilia”
Lyrics: “Cecilia”
Sweet Henry was the name of a British studio musician, who had some pop recordings in the early 1970’s. Little is known about Sweet Henry, or even the studio musician’s name. An online search generates links to an English grammarian named Henry Sweet (1845-1912) who published works on Old English, Old Norse, phonetics and grammar. But Henry Sweet was deceased for several decades before studio musician credited as Sweet Henry was recording in the early 1970s.
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#11: Cold Turkey by the Plastic Ono Band
City: Kingston, ON
Radio Station: CKLC
Peak Month: January 1970
Peak Position in Kingston ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #30
YouTube: “Cold Turkey”
Lyrics: “Cold Turkey”
The Plastic Ono Band was formed in 1969 by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. On March 20, 1969, Lennon and Ono married, and subsequently hosted their first “Bed-in for Peace” event in at the Amsterdam Hilton (Amsterdam, the Netherlands). During their second bed-in in late May into June 1969 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. On June 1, they invited a number of guests to be part of the Plastic Ono Band to record “Give Peace A Chance” in their hotel room. The guest list included Petula Clark and Timothy Leary (backing vocals), Tommy Smothers (on guitar), André Perry (percussion, production), and on handclaps: US black civil rights advocate Dick Gregory, Quebec separatist Jacques Larue-Langlois, Toronto Rabbi Abraham Feinberg, New York DJ Murray the K, British journalist Derek Taylor, and poet Allen Ginsburg. John Lennon and Yoko Ono provided lead vocals, as he played guitar and she played the tambourine.
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#12: Liquidator by Harry J. All Stars
City: Kingston, ON
Radio Station: CKLC
Peak Month: May 1970
Peak Position in Kingston ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Liquidator”
The Harry J. All Stars were a group that consisted of Winston Wright on organ and keyboard, Val Bennett on saxophone, Aston “Family Man” Barrett on bass guitar, Boris Gardiner on bass guitar, Jackie Jackson on bass guitar, and Carlton Barrett on drums. The group was also known as The Jay Boys. The group was popularly known as Harry J. All Stars, named after Jamaican reggae producer Harry Zephaniah Johnson.
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#29: If You’re Lookin’ by Tranquility Base
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: April 1970
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #3
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “If You’re Lookin’”
Lyrics: “If You’re Lookin’”
Originally formed in 1968 as Nora’s Truck Stop, the band was re-named to Tranquillity Base by RCA’s VP George Harrison when they signed with the company in late 1969. Prior to the formation of Nora’s Truck Stop, Ian Thomas, Nora Hutchinson and guitarist Oliver MacLeod, were a folk trio named Ian, Oliver and Nora. In 1950, Ian Thomas was born in Hamilton, Ontario. Once he began to play piano at the age of six Thomas fell in love with the world of music. He later learned the guitar. He co-founded Nora’s Truck Stop in 1968. Nancy Ward was born in Alberta. She had many musical talents and became a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She shared the stage with Gordon Lightfoot, Liona Boyd and Sylvia Tyson. Nora Hutchinson was the ‘Nora’ who inspired the original name for the group, Nora’s Truck Stop. Discogs.com states that Richard Yuen was a member of the band. Though he is not mentioned in the Canuckistanmusic.com website, that states Ian Thomas, Nancy Ward and Nora Hutchinson were joined by Oliver MacLeod and Bob Doidge. In promotional photos of Tranquility Base there are two women and three men.
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#30: Burning Bridges by Mike Curb Congregation
City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: December 1970
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Burning Bridges”
Lyrics: “Burning Bridges”
Mike Curb was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1944. In 1963, he formed Sidewalk Records in Los Angeles when he was just 19 years old. In 1966, he scored music for the biker film The Wild Angels. He wrote the music for “Blues Theme”, a hit for Dave Allan and the Arrows. In 1967, he scored music for two more biker films, Devil’s Angels and The Born Losers, and in 1968 another biker film titled The Savage Seven, and The Sidehackers (1969). As well, Mike Curb scored music for auto racing films Thunder Alley (1967), and The Wild Racers (1968). In 1969, he co-wrote a new theme tune for American Bandstand which aired on the TV show from 1969 to 1974. Over the years Mike Curb produced songs for Terry Stafford, the Hondells, Bill Medley, the Osmonds, Petula Clark, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gore, Eddie Arnold, Mike Douglas, Tony Bennett, Pat Boone, Roy Orbison, Bobby Sherman, Solomon Burke, Debbie Boone and Andy Williams, and more.
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#59: Second Thoughts by Cheyenne Winter
City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: October 1970
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #8
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak position on RPM Canadian Singles chart ~ #49
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Second Thoughts”
Lyrics: N/A
Cheyenne Winter were a band from Edmonton (AB) formed in 1970. They backed up Barry Allen who was the lead singer. Ken Dangerfield, the group’s bass guitarist, told Canuckistanmusic.com “Cheyenne Winter weren’t really a ‘band’ in the sense that ‘we formed a group and we’re all in this together, one for all, all for one, etc. The musicians in the group were selected by Barry and Wes to form a backup group for Barry, more or less as sidemen.” In addition, Cheyenne Winter went to the recording studio. In addition to Ken Dangerfield and Barry Allen were guitarist Jordan York, keyboardist Brad Carlson, drummer Dave Mitchell and a horn section of Earl Seymour on saxophone, Lorne Peet on trumpet, and Ed Gilchrist on trombone.
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#12: Wednesday In Your Garden by Barry Allen
City: Edmonton, AB
Radio Station: CHED
Peak Month: August 1970
Peak Position #7
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Wednesday In Your Garden”
Lyrics: N/A
Barry Allen Rasmussen was born in 1945 in Edmonton, Alberta. His family was musical, and he learned guitar and sang from an early age. Barry wrote for the Canadianbands.com website decades later of himself: “While attending Victoria High School, he was a member of the curling club, and had aspirations of becoming a chartered accountant. But by the time he’d graduated, he was looking at a musical future, and spent the next couple of years in a number of makeshift groups, honing his chops and emulating his British invasion idols.” He joined Wes Dakus and the Rebels in 1965. They band went to New Mexico and recorded with Norman Petty, producer of Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Roy Orbison, Buddy Knox and others. Petty was taken with Barry Allen’s vocal abilities and suggested Allen make some solo records. The outcome were the single releases in early 1965, “Easy Come Easy Go”, and “It’s Alright With Me Now”. The first single climbed to #6 in Edmonton in January 1965, and made the Top 30 in Regina (SK) and Calgary (AB). The followup single climbed to #9 in Edmonton in July 1965.
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#32: Sacroiliac Boop by the Happy Feeling
City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: December 1970
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #4
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Sacroiliac Boop”
Lyrics: “Sacroiliac Boop”
Happy Feeling was a band from Calgary, Alberta. They formed in the late 60s. Gordie Moffat played bass guitar, keyboards, harmonica, lead and backing vocals. Bob Moffat played rhythm guitar, lead guitar, keyboards, percussion, and backing vocals. Jim Aiello played keyboards, and was the frontman and lead vocalist for the band. Bruce Frost played bass guitar. Gerry Mudry was the bands’ drummer, and Dan Ferguson played lead guitar, and shared lead and backing vocals.
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#19: New World Coming by Mama Cass Elliot
City: Fredericton, NB
Radio Station: CFNB
Peak Month: March 1970
Peak Position in Fredericton: #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #42
YouTube: “New World Coming”
Lyrics: “New World Coming”
Ellen Naomi Cohen was born in 1941 and raised in Washington, D.C. She adopted the name “Cass” in high school after the actress Peggy Cass. When Ellen Cohen was 16 she saw Peggy Cass in the film Auntie Mame. Peggy Cass who was nominated for an Academy Award in 1959 in the Best Supporting Actress category for her performance in Auntie Mame. “Cass” Cohen later she took the surname “Elliot,” in memory of a friend who had died. She moved to Manhattan, pursuing an acting career where she toured in a musical production of The Music Man in 1962. She was part of a folk trio called the Big 3 from 1962 to 1964. From there she joined the Mugwumps, and met Denny Doherty. In 1965 she became part of The Mama’s & the Papas.
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#1: Love Like A Man by Ten Years After
City: Chilliwack, BC
Radio Station: CHWK
Peak Month: July 1970
Peak Position in Chilliwack ~ #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #98
YouTube: “Love Like A Man”
Lyrics: “Love Like A Man”
In 1960 a band formed in the Nottingham and Mansfield region called Ivan Jay and the Jaycats. They changed their name to the Jaybirds in 1962, and later to Ivan Jay and the Jaymen. Ivan Jay sang lead vocals from late 1960 to 1961. Original members included Alvin Lee and Leo Lyons. Alvin Lee (born Graham Anthony Barnes) was born in Nottingham in 1944. He began playing guitar at the age of 13. He was one of the co-founders of Ivan Jay and the Jaycats. Leo Lyons was born in 1943 in Mansfield, England. At the age of 16, he joined Ivan Jay and the Jaycats in 1960. The Jaybirds played in Hamburg, West Germany, at the Star Club for over a year. Lyons and Lee were were joined by Ric Lee in August 1965. Ric Lee was born in 1945 in Mansfield, England. Before joining Ivan and the Jaymen in 1965, Lee had been a drummer for Ricky Storm and The Mansfields. In 1966, Chick Churchill joined the band on keyboards, piano and synthesizer. Churchill was born in 1946 in the coal mining town of Ilkeston, in Derbyshire in the East Midlands of England. Churchill began playing the piano at the age of six and studied classical music until he was fifteen. He became interested in blues and rock music, and joined his first band Sons of Adam in Nottingham.
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#5: Still Hill by Happy Feeling
City: Calgary, Alberta
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: July 1970
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Still Hill”
Lyrics: N/A
Happy Feeling was a band from Calgary, Alberta. They formed in the late 60s. Gordie Moffat played bass guitar, keyboards, harmonica, lead and backing vocals. Bob Moffat played rhythm guitar, lead guitar, keyboards, percussion, and backing vocals. Jim Aiello played keyboards, and was the frontman providing lead and backing vocals. Bruce Frost played bass guitar. Gerry Mudry was the bands’ drummer, and Dan Ferguson played lead guitar, and shared lead and backing vocals. The first single the band recorded was “Happy Feeling”, a psychedelic rock tune. It peaked at #1 in Calgary.
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#26: Nothing Can Touch Me by the Original Caste
City: Calgary, Alberta
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: August 1970
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #4
Peak position in Vancouver ~ Hit Bound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #114
YouTube.com: “Nothing Can Touch Me”
Lyrics: “Nothing Can Touch Me”
The Original Caste were a band from Calgary, Alberta, that formed in 1966. The band’s leader was Bruce Innes. He was born in Calgary (AB) in 1943. He was playing professionally at the age of eleven, supported by his musical father who had lots of connections in the city. At the University of Montana, in Missoula (MT), Innes sang with the Big Sky Singers. After college, he accompanied civil rights activist, blues and folk singer Josh White on a tour that ended in New York City. Josh White had a promising career and had toured with Eleanor Roosevelt to Europe in 1950. But he returned home from the tour to be interrogated as a suspected communist, having made it on a “Red” list of subversives during the McCarthy hysteria. White was blacklisted and his career suffered. But by 1963-64, a new wind was blowing across America, and Bruce Innes was grateful to be able to accompany Josh White on guitar. They toured all the way to New York City.
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#29: Higher & Higher by Canada Goose
City: Calgary, Alberta
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: August 1970
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #3
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #29
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Higher & Higher”
Lyrics: “Higher & Higher”
In 1962 a pop group formed in Ottawa named the Esquires. They consisted of Gary Comeau on guitar, Don Norman on lead vocals, Clint Hierliny on bass guitar, Paul Huot on rhythm guitar and Ritchie Patterson on drums. In the fall they released a single titled “Atlantis” which cracked the Top Ten in Ottawa, and also charted in cities in Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia. They released a half dozen singles between 1963 and 1966. The Esquires released an album of covers titled Introducing the Esquires. Their most successful was “So Many Other Boys”, which peaked at #2 in Montreal and #3 in Ottawa in December 1964. The band split up and went on to a variety of musical projects.
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#45: City Lights by The Churls
City: Calgary, Alberta
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: March 1969
Peak Position in Calgary ~#8
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “City Lights”
Lyrics: “City Lights”
The Churls formed 1967 in Toronto. They fell into the garage rock (sixties garage rock) and psychedelic rock genre at the time. Robert O’ Neill was the lead vocalist, Sam Hurrie and Hal Ames were on guitar, John Barr played bass guitar, and Brad Fowles was the bands’ drummer. By the summer of 1967, the Churls were one of the hottest bands on the Yorkville scene. In the winter of 1967, they signed a record contract with Glotzer and Katz Management, the same people who managed Blood Sweat & Tears. The Churls were encouraged to perform in the USA. They spent much of early 1968 playing in New York as the houseband at both Cafe a Go-Go and The Scene. The Churls performed in medieval attire. It was at these Manhattan venues that the Churles notably received encouragement from John Lennon and Paul McCartney and jammed onstage with Jimi Hendrix.
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#1: It’s A Shame by the Spinners
City: Antigonish, NS
Radio Station: CJFX
Peak Month: October 1970
Peak Position in Antigonish ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #20
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #14
YouTube: “It’s A Shame”
Lyrics: “It’s A Shame”
William “Billy” Henderson was born in 1939 in Indianapolis (IN). In 1954 he formed a group called the Domingos. Henry Fambrough was born in Detroit in 1938 and was another founding member of the Domingos. Fambrough was drafted into the army in 1961, and on his return two years later, the Spinners signed up under Motown Records. Pervis Jackson was born in New Orleans in 1938 and was another original member of the group. Robert Steel “Bobby” Smith was born in 1936 in Detroit. The group had their first record deal when they signed with Tri-Phi Records in early 1961. That year the group had a Top 30 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 titled “That’s What Girls Are Made For”. It peaked at #5 on the Hot R&B Singles chart, and #20 in Toronto. On May 23, 1964, the Spinners appeared in concert at the Hollywood Bowl (later renamed the Grooveyard) in New Westminster. In 1965, “I’ll Always Love You” returned them to the Top Ten on the R&B charts. It also cracked the Top 30 in Vancouver (BC). But eleven other single releases between 1961 and 1970 failed to crack the Hot 100. Another Top 20 R&B hit titled “Truly Yours” charted in Vancouver in 1966.
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#2: Ten Pound Note by Steel River
City: Antigonish, NS
Radio Station: CJFX
Peak Month: September 1970
Peak Position in Antigonish ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #15
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Ten Pound Note”
Lyrics: “Ten Pound Note”
Starting in 1965 as a part-time Toronto R&B club band called The Toronto Shotgun, Steel River became a full-time band in 1969. The lineup consisted of singer John Dudgeon, keyboardist Bob Forrester, bassist Rob Cockell, guitarist Tony Dunning, and drummers Ray Angrove and Dennis Watson. Greg Hambleton signed them to his then-label Tuesday Records. The band released an album titled Weighin’ Heavy. The band released a single titled “Ten Pound Note”.
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#115: As The Years Go By by Mashmakhan
Peak Month: August 1970
10 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #31
YouTube.com: “As The Years Go By”
Lyrics: “As The Years Go By”
Mashmakhan was formed in 1969 in the southwestern Quebec town of L’Île-Perrot, by the Ottawa River near the St. Lawrence. In 1960, Pierre Sénécal, Brian Edwards (born 1943 in Saskatoon, SK), Jim Nuchter and Rayburn Blake first met in Montreal. Drummer Jim Nuchter failed to turn up for a booked performance. Drummer Jerry Mercer (born Newfoundland in 1939) was invited to replace Nuchter. Bass guitarist and vocalist Edwards quit shortly after. But the other three teenagers, Sénécal, Blake and Mercer continued to perform at local Montreal dance halls under names like the Phantoms, Ray Blake’s Combo, and the Dominoes. Sénécal played flute, organ and piano. Rayburn Blake was the lead guitarist.
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#148: That’s Where I Went Wrong by the Poppy Family
Peak Month: January 1970
11 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG Survey
1 week Hit Bound
Peak Position ~ #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #29
YouTube: “That’s Where I Went Wrong”
Lyrics: “That’s Where I Went Wrong”
Susan Pesklevits was born in 1948 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. When she was seven years old she was a featured singer on a local radio station. At the age of eight her family moved to the Fraser Valley town of Haney, British Columbia. When she was 13 years old she had her own radio show. In a December 1966 issue of the Caribou newspaper, the Quesnel Observer noted that Susan Pesklevits had auditioned for Music Hop in the summer of 1963 when she was only 15 years old. She had her first public performance at the Fall Fair in Haney when she was just 14 years old. It was noted she liked to ride horseback, ride motorcycles and attend the dramatic shows. Asked about what she could tell the folks in Quesnel about trends in Vancouver, Pesklevits had this to report, “the latest things in Vancouver are the hipster mini-skirts, bright colored suit slacks, and the tailored look. The newest sound is the “Acid Sound,” derived from L.S.D…. it is “pshodelic” which means it has a lot of fuzz tones and feed back. As an example, she gave “Frustration” recorded by the Painted Ship” a local band from Vancouver. Pesklevits added that on the West Coast “the latest dance is the Philly Dog. It mainly consists of two rows, one of girls and one of boys. The idea is to take steps, move in unison, while doing jerking motions and using a lot of hand movement.”
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#172: Share The Land/Bus Rider by the Guess Who
A-side: “Share The Land”
Peak Month: November 1970
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position ~ #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #10
YouTube: “Share The Land”
Lyrics: “Share The Land”
B-side: “Bus Rider”
Peak Month: November 1970
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position ~ #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Bus Rider”
Lyrics: “Bus Rider”
Randolph Charles Bachman was born in 1943 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. When he was just three years old he entered the King of the Saddle singing contest on CKY radio, Manitoba’s first radio station that began in 1923. Bachman won the contest. When he turned five years he began to study the violin through the Royal Toronto Conservatory. Though he couldn’t read music, he was able to play anything once he heard it. He dropped out of high school and subsequently a business administration program in college. He co-founded a Winnipeg band called Al & The Silvertones with Chad Allan in 1960.
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#194: Are You Ready? by Pacific Gas & Electric
Peak Month: July 1970
10 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position #1
1 week Preview
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #14
YouTube: “Are You Ready?”
Lyrics: “Are You Ready?”
Charles E. Allen was born in 1942. He learned to play drums, but by the time he joined Pacific Gas & Electric, he became the lead vocalist. Glenn Schwartz, born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1940, was the lead guitarist. Schwartz had previously been with the James Gang, and then when he was drafted into the United States Army, he went AWOL and moved to California. Tom Marshall was on rhythm guitar, and Brent Block on bass guitar. Frank Cook became the band’s drummer. Born in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, in 1942, Cook started drumming in his mid-teens. He was tutored by Murray Spivack, the sound designer for the 1933 film King Kong. Cook went on to play drums with jazz musicians: trumpeter Chet Baker, bassist Charlie Hayden and pianist Elmo Hope. Cook also collaborated with Shirley Ellis and Dodie Grey. He went on to become the first drummer for Canned Heat, and subsequently for Bluesberry Jam. Cook met Charlie Allen in Blueberry Jam. In 1967, Pacific Gas & Electric formed and in 1968 they released their debut album Get It On. The album included a recording of the African-American spiritual “Wade In The Water”. The single made the Top Ten in Honolulu. Another track, “The Hunter”, became a Top Ten hit in Melbourne, Australia, in 1969.
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#208: Little Green Bag by George Baker Selection
Peak Month: May 1970
10 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
1 week Hit Bound
Peak Position #1 ~ CKVN
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #21
YouTube: “Little Green Bag”
Lyrics: “Little Green Bag”
Hans Bouwens was born in December 1944 in Hoorn, North Holland, the Netherlands. He was born to a single mother. Months before Bouwens was born, his father, Peppino Caruso, a former Italian soldier from Calabria put to labor by the Germans in nearby Grosthuizen, had been killed while attempting to escape when he was to be transferred to Germany. Bouwens was raised by his mother and his grandparents. He sang and played guitar in a schoolband (The Jokers) with Bob Ketzers, but at the age of 14 he left school and took jobs unloading ships on the Zaan and eventually as a factory worker at a lemonade factory. In 1961, he took the stage name “Body” and formed the band Body and the Wild Cats, with Bob Ketzers and his brother Ruud as well as Gerrit Bruyn on bass, all from Wormerveer.
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#276: Yellow River by Christie
Peak Month: September 1970
9 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #23
YouTube: “Yellow River”
Lyrics: “Yellow River”
Jeffrey “Jeff” Christie was born in Leeds, England, in 1946. Mike Blakley was born in Greater London in 1947. Victor “Vic” Elmes was born in 1947 in Essex, England. Blakley was the brother of Alan Blakley who was with the Tremeloes. From the age of 18, both Elmes and Mike Blakley were part of a band called the pop band the Epics starting in 1965. They recorded a cover of the Chris Andrews hit single in the UK titled “Yesterday Man”. And in 1966 the Epics did a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Blue Turns To Grey”. However, they got little success on the UK pop chart. In 1967 they changed their name to Acid Gallery. By 1969 the band managed to chart one single in the UK titled “Dance Around The Maypole”. Throughout, Elmes played lead guitar and Mike Blakley played drums. Continue reading →
#367: Hand Me Down World by the Guess Who
Peak Month: August 1970
8 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
1 week Preview
Peak Position #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #17
YouTube: “Hand Me Down World”
Lyrics: “Hand Me Down World”
Randolph Charles Bachman was born in 1943 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. When he was just three years old he entered the King of the Saddle singing contest on CKY radio, Manitoba’s first radio station that began in 1923. Bachman won the contest. When he turned five years he began to study the violin through the Royal Toronto Conservatory. Though he couldn’t read music, he was able to play anything once he heard it. He dropped out of high school and subsequently a business administration program in college. He co-founded a Winnipeg band called Al & The Silvertones with Chad Allan in 1960.
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#320: Be My Baby by Andy Kim
Peak Month: December 1970
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #2
1 week Hit Bound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #17
YouTube: “Be My Baby”
Lyrics: “Be My Baby”
Andy Kim’s father came from Lebanon to Pennsylvania and finally settled in Montreal, where Kim was born in December 1946. Around the age of 15 Andrew Youakimm became fascinated with the music business in New York City. He’d travel from Montreal to the Big Apple by bus or train and try to figure out how to break into the music industry. He bought copies of Billboard Magazine, Cashbox Magazine and other trade papers to see which record companies had hits on the pop charts.
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#321: A Song Of Joy by Miguel Rios
Peak Month: June 1970
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position #2
1 week Preview
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #14
YouTube: “A Song Of Joy”
Lyrics: “A Song Of Joy”
Miguel Ríos Campaña was born in Granada, Spain, in 1944. When he was 15-years-old, Ríos started work at a local bar. He became interested in rock and roll, and took part in a song contest at Cenicienta 60 radio station. He and his friends won a prize for singing “You Are My Destiny”, popularized by teen idol Paul Anka. In 1961, when he was sixteen, and months after his father had died, Miguel Ríos moved to Madrid. He recorded four songs and became known as Mike Ríos, the King of Twist.
As Mike Ríos he obtained some television popularity during the first half of the 1960s. In 1964 he resumed using his birth name – Miguel Ríos – which cost him the support of his group, Los Relámpagos (the Lightning). In the mid-60s Ríos was cast in the film Dos chicas locas, locas (Two Crazy Girls).
In 1967 he recorded “Vuelvo a Granada”, “El Rio”, “Contra el cristal”, “El cartel”, and “Mira hacia ti”. “El Rio” became his first big hit in 1968. Then, in 1970 he recorded “Himno de la alegría” (Hymn of Joy). In English countries the song was titled “A Song Of Joy”, and Miguel Ríos recorded an English version of the single.
“A Song Of Joy” was set to an extract of the last movement of the ninth symphony by Ludwig Van Beethoven. The same melody is used for the Christian hymn “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”. “A Song Of Joy” was released at the height of the popularity of symphonic rock. Other examples of symphonic rock in the late 60s and early 70s include “A Day In A Life” and “The Long And Winding Road” by the Beatles, “Nights In White Satin” by the Moody Blues, “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” and “Conquistador” by Procul Harum, “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” by Paul McCartney, and others.
Ludwig van Beethoven was born in the German city of Bonn, by the Rhine River in 1770. Considered one of the great Classical composers, Beethover wrote nine symphonies, 17 string quartets, 11 concertos and many others works including overtures, chamber music for strings, pianos, piano sonatas, variations, as well as operas, and various choral works. His Ninth Symphony is considered one of his finest compositions.
The lyrics to “A Song Of Joy” were cowritten by Waldo De Los Rios. Born Osvaldo Nicolás Ferraro Gutiérrez in 1934 in Buenos Aires, Waldo De los Rios moved to the United States in 1958 and to Spain in 1962. He was a composer, conductor and arranger. He is best-remembered for his ability to transform European classical music into pop music. This includes a 1971 update of Mozart’s Symphony No. 40. De los Rios’ compositions were heard in the 1967 film Pampa Salvaje, for which he received a prestigious award from the Argentine Cinemagraphic Association.
Waldo De Los Rios’ record album, Mozart in the Seventies, was the result of his new arrangement of famous Mozart pieces in a contemporary style, with a large percussion section. Several tracks from it were used as theme tunes to BBC programmes of that era, including the theme to the BBC’s coverage of the Horse of the Year show. Waldo Do Los Rios also issued an album “Symphonies for the Seventies” which included Mozart’s Symphony no. 40 and other major composers including Dvořák’s New World. Sadly, he took his life by suicide in 1977 at the age of 43.
The lyrics to “A Song Of Joy” offer a vision of a world where peace shall come and “men shall love each other.” Part of the song is sung in Spanish, and tells of how people will listen for songs of happiness. And it tells how those who wait this new day of love and understanding will be joyful in anticipation.
“A Song Of Joy” climbed to #1 in Fort Lauderdale and St. Louis, #2 in Vancouver (BC), Ottawa (ON), Buffalo and Battle Creek (MI), #3 in Peace River (AB), Sioux Falls (SD), Lancaster (PA), and Tucson (AZ), #5 in Erie (PA), Flint (MI), Nashville and Detroit, #6 in Philadelphia, San Bernardino (CA), Victoria (BC), Columbus (OH), Oshkosh (WI), Albany (NY), and Allentown (PA), #7 in Phoenix, Abilene (TX), Tampa, Rochester (NY), Minneapolis/St. Paul, Wilkes-Barre (PA), Louisville (KY), San Francisco, and Easton (PA), #8 in Calgary (AB), Lincoln (NE), New York City, Denver, and New Haven (CT), #9 in Orlando, Milwaukee and Chicago, and #10 in Kansas City (MO) and Boston.
Internationally, “A Song Of Joy” peaked at #1 in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and West Germany. It also climbed to #3 in South Africa, #5 in New Zealand, and #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single sold over three million copies.
The artistic career of Rios came to a sudden stop when he was arrested by Francos’ police, and jailed for possession of hashish shortly after his Rock y Amor (Rock and Love) concert. In the mid seventies he recorded three progressive rock albums, but they were not commercially successful.
In 1982 he released a double album titled Rock and Rios. It sold over 450,000 copies in Spain. The album was viewed as an expression of the new freedom in a post-Franco Spain. Between 1969 and 2018 Miguel Ríos released 30 albums.
While he has performed predominantly in Spain, Miguel Ríos has also traveled to the UK, Mexico, Chile and Venezuela to perform in concert. His most recent performances were in Madrid in 2019, prior to the global pandemic.
June 28, 2021
Ray McGinnis
References:
“Miguel Ríos,” Wikipedia.org.
“Waldo Do Los Rios,” discogs.com.
“Ludwig van Beethoven,” Biography.com.
“Your Average Rock & Roll Radio Survey,” CKVN 1410 AM, Vancouver, BC, June 12, 1970.
For more song reviews visit the Countdown.
#334: He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother by Neil Diamond
Peak Month: December 1970
8 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #20
YouTube: “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”
Lyrics: “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”
Neil Leslie Diamond was born in Brooklyn in 1941. His parents were Russian and Polish immigrants and both Jewish. His dad was a dry-goods merchant. When he was in high school he met Barbra Streisand in a Freshman Chorus and Choral Club. Years later they would become friends. When he was sixteen Diamond was sent to a Jewish summer camp called Surprise Lake Camp in upstate New York. While there he heard folk singer, Pete Seeger, perform in concert. That year Diamond got a guitar and, influenced by Pete Seeger, began to write poems and song lyrics. While he was in his Senior year in high school, Sunbeam Music Publishing gave Neil Diamond an initial four month contract composing songs for $50 a week (US $413 in 2017 dollars). and he dropped out of college to accept it.
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#393: Cinnamon Girl by Neil Young
Peak Month: August 1970
8 weeks on CKVN’s Vancouver Chart
Peak Position ~ #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #55
YouTube.com: “Cinnamon Girl”
Lyrics: “Cinnamon Girl”
Neil Young was born in Toronto in 1945. His family moved to Omemee, Ontario, and he contracted polio in 1951, two years before the polio vaccine was introduced. He learned guitar and dropped out of high school. He played in the Winnipeg based band called The Squires, who toured parts of Manitoba and northern Ontario. They played instrumental covers of Cliff Richard’s backup band, The Shadows. Young moved to California in 1966 where he was a founding member of the Buffalo Springfield. In 1968 he released his self-titled debut studio album. And in 1969 he became the fourth member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
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#427: Mr. Monday by the Original Caste
Peak Month: May 1970
9 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Chart
1 week Hit Bound
Peak Position ~ #3 CKVN
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #119
YouTube: “Mr. Monday”
Lyrics: “Mr. Monday”
The Original Caste were a band from Calgary, Alberta, that formed in 1966. The band’s leader was Bruce Innes. He was born in Calgary (AB) in 1943. He was playing professionally at the age of eleven, supported by his musical father who had lots of connections in the city. At the University of Montana, in Missoula (MT), Innes sang with the Big Sky Singers. After college, he accompanied civil rights activist, blues and folk singer Josh White on a tour that ended in New York City. Josh White had a promising career and had toured with Eleanor Roosevelt to Europe in 1950. But he returned home from the tour to be interrogated as a suspected communist, having made it on a “Red” list of subversives during the McCarthy hysteria. White was blacklisted and his career suffered. But by 1963-64, a new wind was blowing across America, and Bruce Innes was grateful to be able to accompany Josh White on guitar. They toured all the way to New York City.
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#444: I’m Gonna Capture You by Terry Jacks
Peak Month: July 1970
7 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Chart
Peak Position ~ #2
1 Hit Bound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “I’m Gonna Capture You”
Terrence Ross Jacks was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1944. March 29, 1944, Winnipeg, Manitoba. During his career as a recording artist he became a household name and recognized as a singer, songwriter, record producer and environmentalist. His family moved to Vancouver in 1961 and he formed a band named The Chessmen along with local guitarist, Guy Sobell. The Chessmen had four singles that made the Top 20 in Vancouver, two which were double-sided hits. These included three Top Ten hits: “Love Didn’t Die”, “The Way You Fell” and “What’s Causing This Sensation”. In 1966 Terry Jacks met Susan Pesklevits on a local CBC music show called Let’s Go.
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#478: Soolaimon by Neil Diamond
Peak Month: June 1970
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #3
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #30
YouTube.com: “Soolaimon”
Lyrics: “Soolaimon”
Neil Leslie Diamond was born in Brooklyn in 1941. His parents were Russian and Polish immigrants and both Jewish. His dad was a dry-goods merchant. When he was in high school he met Barbra Streisand in a Freshman Chorus and Choral Club. Years later they would become friends. When he was sixteen Diamond was sent to a Jewish summer camp called Surprise Lake Camp in upstate New York. While there he heard folk singer, Pete Seeger, perform in concert. That year Diamond got a guitar and, influenced by Pete Seeger, began to write poems and song lyrics. While he was in his Senior year in high school, Sunbeam Music Publishing gave Neil Diamond an initial four month contract composing songs for $50 a week (US $413 in 2017 dollars). and he dropped out of college to accept it.
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#480: Fancy by Bobbie Gentry
Peak Month: February 1970
10 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG
1 week Hit Bound
Peak Position #3
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #31
YouTube: “Fancy”
Lyrics: “Fancy”
Bobbie Gentry was born in 1942 and named Roberta Lee Streeter at birth. She was born and raised in Woodland, Mississippi, about 80 miles from the Tallahatchie Bridge in Money, Mississippi. When she was 13 she moved to be with her mom in Arcadia, California. After graduating from high school in 1960, she chose her stage name from the 1952 film Ruby Gentry, about a heroine born into poverty but determined to make a success of her life. Bobbie Gentry started performing at local country clubs. She was introduced to Bob Hope who helped make some connections and she performed in a revue at Les Folies Bergeres nightclub of Las Vegas.
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#503: Question by The Moody Blues
Peak Month: June 1970
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #21
YouTube.com: “Question”
Lyrics: “Question”
Born in 1941 in wartime England, Ray Thomas picked up harmonica at the age of nine. He was in the Birmingham Youth Choir and in October 1958 he joined a skiffle group called The Saints and Sinners. The band split up in June 1959. The Saints and Sinners helped Ray discover how well his vocals were received by audiences. Next, he formed El Riot and the Rebels, featuring Ray Thomas as El Riot dressed in a green satin Mexican toreador outfit. The band won a number of competitions in the Birmingham area. It was here that Ray became known for making an entrance onstage by sliding to center stage on his knees. On one occasion Thomas sent a row of potted tulips flying into the audience. El Riot and the Rebels appeared several times on a local variety show called Lunchbox. They made their debut on Lunchbox on November 14, 1962, and played “Guitar Tango” and “I Remember You”. Mike Pinder joined El Riot and the Rebels on keyboards. On April 15, 1963, El Riot and the Rebels performed at The Riverside Dancing Club in Tenbury Wells as the opening act for The Beatles. Pinder went off to serve in the British Army. When he returned, Thomas and Pinder left El Riot and the Rebels and formed a new band called the Krew Kats.
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#582: Joanne by Michael Nesmith
Peak Month: September 1970
8 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #3
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #21
YouTube.com: “Joanne”
Lyrics “Joanne”
Robert Michael Nesmith was born in 1942 in Houston, Texas. His mother, Bette invented liquid paper and would later leave the $20 million estate to him. Affectionately nicknamed “Nez,” he learned to play saxophone as a young child and joined the United States Air Force years later. After two years in the Air Force, he left to pursue a career in folk music. In 1962 Nesmith won the San Antonio College talent award, performing folk songs and writing his own songs. By 1963, he had moved to Los Angeles, with the intent of getting into the movie business. He also was hosting a hootenanny at the Troubador in West Hollywood, as the “hootmaster.” Nesmith released a 45 single titled “Wandering'”, which he penned.
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#1420: Copper Kettle by Bob Dylan
Peak Month: August 1970
6 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position #16
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Copper Kettle”
Lyrics: “Copper Kettle”
Robert Allen Zimmerman was born in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1941. In his childhood he took up piano and guitar. He was fond of poetry as well as music, especially Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. In university he studied the poetry of Dylan Thomas. When he began to perform folk music in public, Zimmerman chose the name Bob Dylan as a tribute to Dylan Thomas. He moved to New York City and hung out in Greenwich Village, playing in folk clubs. In 1962 he released a self-titled album that reached #13 on the UK albums chart. However, back in North America the album got little notice. But when he released The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan in May 1963. One of the tracks from the album was “Blowin’ In The Wind”, a #2 hit for two weeks for Peter, Paul and Mary on the Billboard Hot 100 in August ’63. President John F. Kennedy has signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the USSR on August 5, 1963. And on September 23, by a vote of 80-19, the United States Senate approved the treaty. “Blowin’ In The Wind” was on the Hot 100 throughout the push to ratify the treaty.
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#675: Freedom Blues by Little Richard
Peak Month: August 1970
8 weeks on CKVN’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #5
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #47
YouTube.com: “Freedom Blues”
Lyrics: “Freedom Blues”
Richard Wayne Penniman was born in 1932 in Macon, Georgia. His father ran the Tip In Inn in Macon. He had eleven siblings. At the age of 13, Richard heard plenty of recording artists passing through his city at the Macon City Auditorium where he worked selling Coca-cola. Some of the recording artists who impressed him the most were Cab Calloway, Lucky Millender and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. He was taught to play gospel piano at a young age and sang gospel songs. He recalled that time in his life stating “there was so much poverty, so much prejudice in those days” that they sang gospel to try to keep their spirits up. In fifth grade, Penniman learned to play alto saxophone while in a school marching band. By his late teens ‘Lil Richard, as he was known in his family because of his skinny frame, was a member Doctor Nubillo’s traveling show, a vaudeville revue. He developed a theatrical style from his exposure to vaudeville that included wearing turbans and capes. It was a natural persona for the young man who was a prankster from his childhood. At the age of 16, in 1949, Little Richard joined Doctor Hudson’s Medicine Show and performed the Louis Jordan hit “Caldonia”. He got a record deal with RCA Victor in 1951.
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#680: And The Grass Won’t Pay No Mind by Mark Lindsay
Peak Month: November 1970
7 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #6
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #44
YouTube.com: “And The Grass Won’t Pay No Mind”
Lyrics: “And The Grass Won’t Pay No Mind”
A band called The Downbeats formed in Boise, Idaho, in 1958. Paul Revere Dick started the band originally as an instrumental group. They had their first chart single in Vancouver in 1960. It was an instrumental riff on the piano tune, Chopsticks, which they titled “Beatnik Sticks”. They changed their name to Paul Revere And The Raiders in 1960. Between 1960 and 1976 they released 41 singles. They charted five songs into the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA beginning in 1966 with songs like “Kicks”, and “Hungry” (1966), “Him Or Me – What’s It Gonna Be?” (1967) and their cover of Don Fardon’s 1968 single “Indian Reservation,” which peaked at #1 for the band in 1971. They were even more popular in Vancouver where they charted over fifteen songs into the Top Ten on the local charts here on the West Coast. The lead singer of the band was Mark Lindsay who was born in Eugene, Oregon, in 1942.
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#705: My Home Town by Seeds Of Time
Peak Month: October 1970
7 weeks on CKVN’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #5
1 week Hit Bound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com:”My Home Town”
The Seeds of Time were a garage rock band formed in 1965 in Vancouver by a number of high school buddies. Co-founder, Gary Wanstall, was nicknamed “Rock.” At the time Norton Motorcyles made a motorcycle model named the Rocket. The newly formed band agreed that extending his nickname from Rock to Rocket, and adding Norton as the surname had a good ring to it. Norton played drums while Frank Brnjak and Bob Kripps played guitar, there was John Hall on organ and Steve Walley on bass. It was Bob Kripps who suggested the band’s name, after several underwhelming ideas had been run up the flagpole. Kripps had been reading a science fiction book by John Wyndham called the Seeds of Time. He proposed the book title be the name of the band and everyone agreed. The band got financing help from the very entrepreneurial Steve Grossman. Grossman was a DJ on CKLG and began his stint on the station under the moniker of Stevie Wonder in the fall of 1966 while he was still in Grade 12 at Kitsilano High School. Those 45 RPM singles and albums were recorded between 1969 and 1971, with Grossman’s help.
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#706: I Must Have Been Blind by The Collectors
Peak Month: March 1970
7 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #4
1 week Hit Bound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “I Must Have Been Blind”
The Vancouver rock band The Collectors, was formerly named The Classics who were a Vancouver group led by Howie Vickers in the mid-60s. The Classics were part of the regular line-up on Let’s Go, a show on CBC TV. Though the Classics released several singles the group needed room to grow and reformed as The Collectors. They would become one of the most innovative of Vancouver’s recording acts through the rest 60s. In the spring of 1967, Vickers was asked to put together a house band at the Torch Cabaret in Vancouver. Along with Claire Lawrence on horns, they recruited guitarist Terry Frewer, drummer Ross Turney and Brian Newcombe on bass. Within a couple of months, fellow Classics member Glenn Miller replaced Newcombe on bass and Bill Henderson, a student at UBC, replaced Frewer on guitars. With Vickers now handling vocals, their sound changed from doing covers of R&B tunes to psychedelic rock. This led them to gigs along the Canadian and US west coast. Their strongest fan base in America was in California. There audiences welcomed their complex arrangements mixed with harmonies and extended solos and musical ad-libs.
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#730: Crazy Jane by Tom Northcott
Peak Month: July 1970
9 weeks on CKVN’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #6
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Crazy Jane”
Tom Northcott is a Vancouver folk-rock singer with hits on the local pop charts from the mid-60s into the early 70s. He became known to a Canadian audience by his regular appearances on CBC Television’s Let’s Go music program in 1964-68. He was nominated as best male vocalist for a Juno Award in 1971. Later he co-founded Mushroom Studios in Vancouver and produced records. His hits are played regularly on Canadian oldies music stations.
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#804: You, Me And Mexico by Edward Bear
Peak Month: April 1970
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #9
1 week Hitbound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #68
YouTube.com link: “You, Me And Mexico”
Lyrics: “You, Me And Mexico”
In the mid-60’s Larry Evoy and Paul Weldon were jamming in basements and experimenting with blues rock tunes. In 1966 bass player Craig Hemmings and drummer Dave Brown formed a band with Evoy and Weldon. They got guitarist Danny Marks to join them after he answered an ad. (Marks left the band in 1970 and was replaced by Roger Ellis). After a year they settled on the name The Edward Bear Revue. They got the name from A.A. Milne’s children’s book, Winnie The Pooh, whose central character has the proper name of Edward Bear. In time the band shortened their name to Edward Bear. The band originally was a blues and rock band and opened in 1968 for a Toronto concert with Led Zeppelin as the headliner.
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#838: Come Running by Van Morrison
Peak Month: May 1970
8 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #5 CKVN
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #39
YouTube.com link: “Come Running”
Lyrics: “Come Running”
Sir George Ivan “Van” Morrison, was born in Belfast on August 31, 1945. He is a singer, songwriter and musician. He has received six Grammy Awards, the 1994 Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, and has been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 1996 he was given the Order of the British Empire for his service to music enriching the lives of people in the UK (and beyond). Since 1996 his formal title has been Sir “Van” Morrison, OBE. In 2016 he was knighted for his musical achievements and his services to tourism and charitable causes in Northern Ireland.
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#865: Let’s Work Together (Part 2) by Wilbert Harrison
Peak Month: February 1970
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #5
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #32
YouTube.com link: “Let’s Get Together (Part 2)”
Lyrics: “Let’s Work Together”
Wilbert Harrison was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1929. Around 1948 Harrison was drafted into the US Navy. In 1950 he was honorably discharged. After his service as a sailor, Harrison became interested in calypso music and taught himself to play guitar. In 1953, Harrison got a record deal with Rockin’ Records. His first releases on Rockin’ Records had a country-pop sound. He moved to New Jersey and got a record deal in 1954 with Savory Records. Harrison worked with R&B stars Big Maybelle and Screaming Jay Hawkins, the latter whose song, “I Put A Spell On You”, was covered by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Between 1954 and 1958 Harrison released six 78 RPM singles that were classic R&B. Harrison is best known as a rhythm and blues singer for his #1 hit in the spring of 1959, “Kansas City“. That single had the distinction of being the final song to reach #1 that was released on a 78 RPM record. “Kansas City” stayed on top of the Cashbox R&B charts for five weeks and two weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100.
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#895: Your Own Back Yard by Dion
Peak Month: July 1970
8 weeks on CKVN chart
Peak Position ~ #3
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #75
YouTube.com: “Your Own Back Yard”
Lyrics: “Your Own Back Yard”
Dion Francis DiMucci was born in the Bronx, NY, in 1939. His parents named him Dion in honor of the French Canadian Dionne quintuplents who captured the interest of millions around the world after the five infants were born in May 1934. Dion’s dad, Pasquale DiMucci, was a vaudeville performer and Dion accompanied him to see his dad on stage. As a child he was given an $8 dollar guitar by his uncle while he lived on 183rd Street. Dion’s childhood was set in the midst of conflict between his parents. In an interview with New York Magazine in 2007, Dion remembers “…There was a lot of unresolved conflict in my house… My pop, Pasquale, couldn’t make the $36-a-month rent on our apartment at 183rd and Crotona Avenue.” He was a dreamer, a failed vaudevillian, and sometimes Catskills puppeteer. He’d talk big and lift weights he’d made from oilcans, while Frances, Mrs. DiMucci, took two buses and the subway downtown to work in the garment district on a sewing machine. “When they’d start yelling, I’d go out on the stoop with my $8 Gibson and try to resolve things that way.”
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#930: Me And Bobby McGee by Gordon Lightfoot
Peak Month: August 1970
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #6 on CKVN
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Me And Bobby McGee”
Lyrics: “Me And Bobby McGee”
Gordon Meridith Lightfoot Jr. was born in Orillia, Ontario, on November 17, 1938. His parents, Jessica and Gordon Lightfoot Sr., ran a dry cleaning business. His mother noticed young Gordon had some musical talent and the boy soprano first performed in grade four at his elementary school. He sang the Irish lullaby “Too Ra Loo Rah Loo Rah” at a parents’ day. As a member of the St. Paul’s United Church choir in Orillia, Lightfoot gained skill and needed confidence in his vocal abilities under the choir director, Ray Williams. Lightfoot went on to perform at Toronto’s Massey Hall at the age of twelve when he won a competition for boys who were still boy sopranos. During his teen years Gordon Lightfoot learned to play piano, drums and guitar.
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#954: Gimmie Shelter by The Rolling Stones
Peak Month: July 1970
6 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position #6
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Gimmie Shelter”
Lyrics: “Gimmie Shelter”
Michael Philip Jagger was born in Dartford, Kent, England, in 1943, some 18 miles east of London. Though his father and grandfather were both teachers by profession, and he was encouraged to be a teacher, the boy had different aspirations. “I always sang as a child. I was one of those kids who just liked to sing. Some kids sing in choirs; others like to show off in front of the mirror. I was in the church choir and I also loved listening to singers on the radio–the BBC or Radio Luxembourg –or watching them on TV and in the movies.” In 1950 Mick Jagger met Keith Richards while attending primary school. They became good friends until the summer of 1954 when the Jagger family moved to the village of Wilmington, a mile south of Dartford. The pair bumped into each other at a train station in 1961 and resumed their friendship.
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#1020: I’m Tired by Savoy Brown
Peak Month: February 1970
8 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #6
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #74
YouTube.com: “I’m Tired”
Lyrics: “I’m Tired”
Savoy Brown, originally known as the Savoy Brown Blues Band, formed in 1965, in Battersea, South West London. The band was formed by Kim Simmonds who was a multi-instumentalist playing guitar, keyboards, harmonica and offering vocals. Simmonds collaborated with harmonica player John O’Leary to form the band. The pair had struck up a conversation at Transat Imports record shop in Lisle Street, Soho, in 1965. Savoy Brown went though constant lineup changes. This would continue with some periods of stability over the next five decades. Keyboard player Bob Hall joined shortly after the band’s formation to provide some stability, and the band’s debut album, Shake Down, showcased a collection of blues covers. In 1967 they released a single from the album, “Shake Em On Down,” which made the Top 40 in Orlando, Florida.
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#1114: Down In The Alley by Ronnie Hawkins
Peak Month: March 1970
7 weeks on CKLG chart
Peak Position #9
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #75
YouTube.com: “Down In The Alley”
Lyrics: “Down In The Alley”
Ronnie Hawkins was born in Huntsville, Arkansas, on January 10, 1935, two days after Elvis Presley. Hawkins’ mother was a teacher; his father, a barber. Known affectionately over the years as “Mr. Dynamo,” “Sir Ronnie,” “Rompin’ Ronnie,” and “The Hawk,” Hawkins’ love of music started in high school. He formed the first version of his band The Hawks while studying at the University of Arkansas in the 1950s. Ronnie remembers, he’d commandeer an old gas station on Dickson street for rehersals. “We’d unplug their outside Coke machine and plug in our instruments,” Hawkins said. “They had the warmest Cokes in town.” In 1958, on the recommendation of Conway Twitty – who considered Canada to be the promised land for a rock’n roll singer – Hawkins came to Hamilton, Ontario to play a club called The Grange. He never left. Adopting Canada as his home, Hawkins became a permanent resident in 1964. In 1958 he released his first single, “Hey, Bo Diddley”. This was followed the next year by “Mary Lou”, which turned Hawkins into a teenage idol, along with “Forty Days”. In 1959, Morris Levy signed Hawkins to Roulette Records for five years. Levy tried to lure him back to the United States, but Hawkins had fallen in love with Canada and didn’t want to leave his new home.
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#1249: Our Love’s a Chain by Illustration
Peak Month: May 1970
6 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #13
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Our Love’s A Chain”
The Illustration was a Canadian big band jazz-rock ensemble formed in a similar vein to Blood, Sweat and Tears, Chicago, the Ides of March and Lighthouse. Their horn section led the way giving them a jazz-rock and R&B fusion. Norman Burgess, Donald Sanders and Glenn Higgins played saxophone. Leo Harinen, Benoit Perreault and Billy Sheill played trumpet. Roger Homefield played trombone, while Bill Ledster provided lead vocals that rivaled David Clayton-Thomas of Blood, Sweat and Tears, and Jim Peterik of the Ides of March. Rounding out the dozen musicians in the band were guitarist Garry Beattie, bassist Richard Terry, drummer Claude Roy and John Ranger on keyboards. The band was from St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, and formed at the Fontaine Blue in 1969. They were excellent musicians but suffered from poor management causing their star to fade just as they were about to take off.
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#1255: Fly Little White Dove by The Bells
Peak Month: November 1970
8 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #15
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 #95
YouTube.com: “Fly Little White Dove”
Lyrics: “Fly Little White Dove”
The mid-60s Montreal duo, Cliff Edwards and Anne Ralph, were persuaded to form a group. They added Anne’s sister Jacki Ralph on vocals, drummer Doug Gravelle and keyboard player Gordie McLeod. They named themselves The Five Bells. Shortly afterward Gordie McLeod left the group and Mickey Ottier became the groups drummer. In 1969 they released their first single called “Moody Manitoba Morning“. They continued to play clubs in Canada and landed an 11-week run at the Copacabana in New York. The group shortened their name to The Bells and Anne Ralph left the group, leaving Jackie Ralph as the featured female vocalist and Cliff Edwards the lead male vocalist.
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#1278: Sometimes We’re Up by The Collectors
Peak Month: April 1970
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position #13
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Sometimes We’re Up”
Here is another song by Vancouver rock band The Collectors on the Countdown, the second in three days. Their forerunner was The Classics who were a Vancouver group led by Howie Vickers in the mid-60s. The Classics were part of the regular line-up on Let’s Go, a show on CBC TV. Though the Classics released several singles the group needed room to grow and reformed as The Collectors. They would become one of the most innovative of Vancouver’s recording acts through the rest 60s. In the spring of 1967, Vickers was asked to put together a house band at the Torch Cabaret in Vancouver. Along with Claire Lawrence on horns, they recruited guitarist Terry Frewer, drummer Ross Turney and Brian Newcombe on bass. Within a couple of months, fellow Classics member Glenn Miller replaced Newcombe on bass and Bill Henderson, a student at UBC, replaced Frewer on guitars. With Vickers now handling vocals, their sound changed from doing covers of R&B tunes to psychedelic rock. This led them to gigs along the Canadian and US west coast. Their best reception south of the 49th parallel was in California. There audiences welcomed their complex arrangements mixed with harmonies and extended solos and musical ad-libs.
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#1299: Circle Game by Buffy Sainte-Marie
Peak Month: October 1970
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position #14
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Circle Game”
Lyrics: “Circle Game”
In 1941 Beverley Jean Santamaria was born in Stoneham, Massachusetts. Her father was Italian and her mother was English. The family changed their surname after WWII to “Sainte-Marie” due to anti-Italian sentiment stemming from the war. Buffy studied teaching and Asian philosophy at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst in the late ’50s. From the 1963 she told the Vancouver Sun she was born on the Piapot Cree Reserve in southwestern Saskatchewan and was “a Cree Indian.” A CBC investigation in 2023 discovered she was not born in Canada.
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#1324: Life Is A Song by Gainsborough Gallery
Peak Month: January 1970
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #14
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
At first there was a guitarist and lead singer named Mel Degan and bass guitarist Dennis Paul who were based in Edmonton. They formed a band called The Skeptics. In 1964 they relocated in Calgary and were joined with vocalist Jae Mack, guitarist Peter Marley and drummer Ray McAndrew. They got a reputation on the local scene playing at coffee shops and halls. By 1966 they were billing themselves as The Gainsborough Gallery. This was in honour of the Calgary art museum of the same name (and where they also received fan mail). Tim McHugh joined the band on keyboards.
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