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You are here: Home / Archives for Culture / Canadian

Canada’s own John ‘JD’ Roberts

August 31, 2007 by Chris

Now I grew up watching this guy when he was one of the first Video jockeys in Canada. He talked about and interviewed many of the days greatest bands of our time. He was always soft spoken and very intellectual in my eyes.

Now a days, he is a anchor person at CNN. When I see him in his new refined roll for the American cable company CNN, I still get a chuckle and wonder what reaction people would get if they saw one of his blasts from the past interviews? Well, here goes!

This next flick is of JD, as we know him, with a member of the Canadian 80’s band FM. The member of the band is the always entertaining mandolin player, Nash the Slash!

If you recognize John Roberts and watch him on CNN, I honestly want to know what your initial response is to this video. I realize that it may make you do a double take but I hope it makes you think!

Keep on Jammin’




Filed Under: Canadian, Culture, Entertainment, History, Music, Video Tagged With: band, Canada, Canadian, CNN, FM, interview, JD Roberts, John JD Roberts, MuchMusic, Nash the Slash, play, reporter, The Band, Toronto, Video, Vjay

Glenn Gould’s secret lover

August 27, 2007 by Chris

Thank God for that little area beneath the current newspaper that holds the previous days editions!

I was shopping with my wife this past Sunday and I was stopped in my tracks by the front page news caption ” The Secret Life of Glenn Gould”. I just had to have a copy of this article about my favorite Canadian Pianist of all time.

As to the title of the article, many autobiographies tried to tackle this topic, but it was mostly pure speculation. Mr. Gould was such a private person that most fans knew nothing about him besides his being the most refreshing interpreter of Bach’s pieces. “He was the James Dean of classical music,” said Tim Page, Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic of the Washington Post and a friend of Gould’s. “He made Bach swing.” Some consider him perhaps the greatest piano virtuoso of the 20th century!

corneliafoss.JPG For most of his life, there were rumors he was either asexual or gay. Now with this revelation in hand, the idea can be put to rest once and for all.

In 1967, Glenn Gould carried on an affair for five years with a married women named Cornelia Foss. She, 25, and her husband, 34, Lukas Foss, were great friends and admirers of his work. Glenn and the Foss’ first met in LA one night in 1957, and later on Lukas found work as a conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in 1963. Both Glenn and the Foss’ couldn’t have been happier.

lucasfoss.jpg With Gould calling them all the time, Lucas became suspicious of them. In 1966 Cornelia says that Glenn asked for her hand in marriage. Then in 1967, she put her kids in the family station wagon and moved from Buffalo to Toronto to be closer to him.

glenngould.jpg Everything was going fine until she noticed some unsettling behaviour with him two weeks after she left Lucas. She must have been saying to herself what have I got myself, and more importantly, my children into?

After many years with Mr. Gould she returned to Lucas in 1972. Gould never really got over her some close friends would say.

After the tragic passing of Mr. Gould on Oct. 4, 1982, friends found notes in his St. Claire Apt. stating …

“I am deeply in love with a certain beautiful girl. I asked her to marry me, but she turned me down but I still love her more than anything in the world and every minute I can spend with her is pure heaven … “

gouldspiano.jpg

I can only imagine the facial expression on the one who came across the earth shattering confession!

Glenn Gould R.I.P.

Keep on Jammin’

Filed Under: Canadian, Culture, Entertainment, Glenn Gould, History, Musicians Tagged With: Cornelia Foss, Glenn Gould, Glenn Goulds lover, the secret life of Glenn Gould

A Canadian Amp called Traynor

August 24, 2007 by Chris

I never did have an interest in the sound that Traynor amps had so I didn’t pay any attention to them. No great guitar player played on one except my most influential guitar teacher Chris P. Even the place that he taught at, the old “Alonzo’s Music” on Colbourne St. in Brantford which is now called LA Music, was stacked to the ceiling with Traynor amps. Ah, but Mike Defo from the Brantford 80’s band “Vigilance” used Traynor guitar and P.A’s. Boy did I envy his playing as a young guitar player!

petetraynor.gif Peter Traynor is a longtime friend to Dominic Troiano, both from Toronto area , who made these Traynor amplifiers that are the most famous amplifiers that ever came out of Canada.

Troiano and the boys from “Bush” were the first band to take that equipment across the border and play it in the USA.

Peter Traynor isn’t a wealthy man, because he sold out to the person that was funding him.

Anyway, it’s a company called Yorkville Sound. It’s probably one of the biggest corporations in Canada, but it is Bush’s amplifiers that were made by Peter Traynor that actually broke through in the United States and made them money.

traynorhead300×161.jpg Traynor went well out of his way to make sure he got it right for them. He was a great innovator. He’s a genius and a very important person in the Canadian culture of music. After the infamous accident in Death Valley on their way to Vegas, they played the gig, and it was all that Traynor gear – the guitar amp, the bass amp… they just dusted it off, stuck things back on, and it all worked. Talk about Canadian toughness, I guess he got that toughness from our way of dominating the ice in HOCKEY!!!

I was inspired to write this post after reading a “Bush” site about John Prakask, the great bass player from the band.

Keep on Jammin’

Filed Under: Canadian, Guitar Equipment, Musicians, Technology Tagged With: 80 s band Vigilance, accident, amp, amplifier, band, bass player, Brantford, Canada, Canadian, Canadian Amplifiers, famous, fun, gig, guitar, guitar player, interest, mike defelice, money, Music, peter traynor, play, playing, sound, teach, Traynor Amplifiers, Troiano, United States

The Mosport peace concert July 1970

August 21, 2007 by Chris

While reading the Toronto Star the other day, I found a great piece of music history that never was.

lennon_ono.jpg It was to be organized by John Lennon and whats her name. This event was to be part of their peace campaign, shortly after John left the Beatles. It was to have been a star studded event North of Toronto Ontario.

Unfortunately for us the US government got involved with it. I still to this day have no idea why the US Government was so concerned with John Lennon in the first place? If he was such an eyesore to them then why didn’t they just ignore him. You know like what I say about Micheal Jackson all the time, ” If you just ignore this freak, he will eventually just go away”. Just like the school or village idiot?

But even common sense has to prevail once in a while. Although the Ontario government at the time tried to put the ca bash to this one, the courts stepped in and said that it was ok to proceed.

When was it to have taken place, Aug. 7-9, 1970. I bet it would have been a blast!

John Lennon R.I.P.

Keep on Jammin’

Filed Under: Canadian, Concerts, Culture, Entertainment, Great Bands, History, Music, Musicians Tagged With: Beatles, Canada, John Lennon, Mosport Peace concert, Music, Ontario, Toronto, Toronto Star, US government surveillance of John Lennon

Fellow Brantford guy does well

July 20, 2007 by Chris

A great friend of the Power family’s son Jessie, is truly the apple of his father’s eye. In a recent article about Jesse from the Brantford Expositor this past Thursday, July 19, 2007, pretty much sums up the bright future ahead for this Brantford Musician. I really wish him the best of luck!

I fondly remember many stories about this man’s son and his guitar playing ability. I recall many stories about him doing the things that kids do over the years but never ever met the guy. He, along with his father, was a player whom I had always wanted to jam with but never had the time to do so. I hope that I can jam with him now that he is a star in the making, LOL!

I just checked out Jesse’s Myspace and LiveVideo and found it quite refreshing. He is just an honest guy doing a honest man’s gig in my home city of Brantford! I hope that this is not his Last Song!

Keep on Jammin’ Jesse

Filed Under: Canadian, Culture, Music, Musicians, Songs to play, Video Tagged With: amp, BBC One, Brantford, Brantford indie guitarist, Brantford Musician, folk and rock guitarist, guitar, guitarist, Home, Jessie Stutsman, Kate Wheeler of Tiger Aspect Productions in London, Music, musician, My YouTube Song, play, playing, Video

Happy Canada or Dominion Day

July 1, 2007 by Chris

I want to give everyone in the Guitar Licks sphere a Happy Canada Day from the Great White North!

queenofcanada.jpg

Keep on Jammin’

P.S. if you don’t know who this lady in the picture, please check out my comment section in this post.

Filed Under: Canadian, Culture Tagged With: happy Canada Day, happy Dominion day, the queen of England

Guitars made out of recycled material

June 25, 2007 by Chris

cigar.jpg

You’ve got to read this story!

This guy, Lenny Piroth-Robert, makes guitars out of discarded cigar boxes. Have you ever heard of such a thing? He uses the empty cigar boxes to make the body of the guitar. it takes him about 8 weeks to make a guitar and they are apparently selling like mad on the internet.

I’ve got to check this guy out! Oh, did I mention he’s Canadian? Yeah, he’s working out Montreal. Check out his site – Daddy Mojo Custom Cigar Box Guitars. You’ve got to see the guitars. I want one! Hey, they sell for $175 to $375, I think I can talk the wife into that.

Filed Under: Canadian, Entertainment, Guitar Equipment, Technology Tagged With: Canadian, cigar boxes, crafted guitars, discarded cigar boxes, guitar

Best Canadian band that you never heard

June 20, 2007 by Chris

Well this is a follow-up post from my last one.

Most music lovers in Ontario in the 80’s, were exposed to and grew up with some of the most extraordinary musical talents. But the ones that were

I bet that these guys would have done well for themselves in the European market. Bands of that era especially Saga, which had a huge cult following in Germany, shows that it can be done! Some of them tended to just peter off a bit in their later stages of the European introduction.

I just thought that I would introduce to you all, to an eye opening Canadian talent that changed my view of how to play in a uniquely Canadian way. Some of you I highly recommend you listen to this a couple of times, to really appreciate it. The guys are truly showing us here their advanced interpretations of just how to play their music to us here. Imagine the guys who influenced them!

I would just killed to play this song live with the old Pylis band. Our keyboardist Tony could play anything on those damn black boxes of his! The guy is just way too modest for this world (you got that Tony?).

So without further adieu … Ladies and Gentlemen … FM!!!

Oh, BTW, Nash is the guy in the bandages.

This little ditty is of them during their Gary Neuman period. There is a great hint of Roxy Music and Yes in there to tantalize your musical ear as well.

Keep on Jammin’

Filed Under: Canadian, Culture, Entertainment, Great Bands, History, Music, Musicians, Songs to play, Video Tagged With: 80s progressive rock, best canadian keyboardist, Canadas band, Canadian band, canadian content, FM, Music, Musicians, Nash the Slash, progressive rock band pylis, Pylis, pylis brantford 1980s band, Pylis brantford 80s band, Songs to play, Tony F, Tony F keyboardist

The Band is mostly Canadian eh?

June 11, 2007 by Chris

I’ll bet my life that most non-Canadians did not know that THE BAND was made up of mostly Canadians. They hail from the same neck of the woods that I came from. The History of “The Band’s” connection with Ontario is well documented. I am originally from Brantford and it happens to be in the middle of the area from which they all originated. Must be something in the water?

Well to tell you the truth, I didn’t realize this until a couple of years ago.

I had heard stories of one of them, Robbie Robertson being from Canada, but as far as I knew, they were the biggest and best in the world in my opinion, and I figured they must have been from some other place in Canada.

Check it out:

Robbie Robertson, is from Toronto but spent a lot of his younger years in the Six Nations reserve. I use to go there a fare amount and had friends from that area. It’s not far from Brantford.

Rick Danko lived in Simcoe. My family went to the Simcoe Winter Lights Festival regularly. They put on this great Christmas light show near the downtown part. There is great park and it has a small river running through it and the best time to go is when it is snowing heavily! You will think that you are at the North Pole, really great little town.

Richard Manuel is from Stratford. This is quite the quiet town. It’s around the Kitchener-Waterloo (which had it’s name changed from Berlin, during World War II) and is now known for the Stratford Festival. This is a Shakespearean festival that every kid from the southern Ontario area went to see many times throughout their childhood. The theater is a must to see if you enjoy great acting and visual effects.

Garth Hudson, is from London Ontario. My sister lived there for a while and I went there the odd time. Nothing really special about this place, but if I went there more often I probably would have found something.

Who says us Canucks are only good at hockey!

keep on Jammin’

Filed Under: Canadian, Culture, Entertainment, Great Bands, History, Music, Musicians Tagged With: band, Brantford, Canada, Canadian, Christmas, downtown, fair, Famous Canadian bands, festival, Garth Hudson, hockey, London, Ontario, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, Robbie Robertson, Simcoe, Six Nations Reserve, Stratford, The Band, Toronto

The Perfectionist

May 27, 2007 by Chris

This is another song from Saga that we played in Pylis. The song starts up with an acoustic guitar that then goes into an electric. My Gibson RD Artist fulfilled that dual roll quite admirably I must say.

It wasn’t until recently that I re-visited this song on my Larrivee L-03 acoustic.

The lyrics were just fascinating to listen to and the guitar forms are much more complex then I remembered. As you may or may not know, I’m not a lyricist by any stretch of the imagination. I just pay attention to the level of difficulty of the guitar, the overall structure and emotion that a song provides.

Later on I will start teaching people how I “interpret” how a song is played. So check out this song, and try to pick out all of the guitar progressions and remember them when I start video taping my version.

Keep on Jammin’

Filed Under: Canadian, Guitars, Music, Musicians, Songs to play, Video Tagged With: 1980s progressive rock band, a song, Acoustic, acoustic guitar, Brantford, Brantford 1980 rock band, guitar lessons, interpretingbest canadian keyboardist, Larrivee, Music, Musicians, play, Plyis, progress, progression, progressive rock band pylis, Pylis, pylis brantford 1980s band, RD Artist, Saga, Songs to play, teach, teaching, the perfectionist, Tony F, Tony F keyboardist, Video, video guitar

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