Guitars, tips and great music discussions
Are you one of those people who live outside of Canada, looking for an alternative citizenship and wondered what it would be like waking up Canadian, well then check out this video for more incentive!
Our economy is nice, the people are nice, the water and air is nice! So come on, just Wake up Canadian, eh?!
Keep on Jammin’
To my amazement, an old friend of mine from high school, Carl Wilson, was on the Colbert Report the other day. Colbert had him on his show so he could talk to Carl about his new book. His book is about his hate and then his developing interest in some of Canada’s Celine Dion’s music.
You see he started out a hater and wondered why so many were fascinated with her music … in the end he came to like or at least “be able to listen to” some of her music.
The book is called Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste.
It is so nice to see someone that you know doing so well in his/her related field and then to be interviewed on a popular talk show and have it turn out to be a fantastic hit was a bonus!
When I woke up the other day, my wife put a postie on the breakfast table for me. At first I thought, like most men do when they see something like this is, what did I do now or what do I have to do later? Upon reading the message, I was quite taken back to have read a shocking memo. Before going to bed, she had noticed a familiar name listed as a guest for that nights Colbert Report. She then recorded it on our PVR (TIVO) machine so I could view it later to see if I knew the interviewee. Thank God she did because it was Carl Wilson from my old high school in Brantford, Ontario!
After seeing it for myself that evening when I returned from work, I had to check out Facebook to see if anyone else saw it. As it turned out, a few people did! Then I checked out one of his web sites called Zoilus and found a real neat video of a actor named James Franco being interviewed while on the Red carpet at the Oscars about what some of his guilty pleasures are. He then brought up Carl’s latest book. It seems like the little guy from Brantford does good, way to go Carl!!!
L-R Me, Yuergen Beck, Carl Wilson and Mike McGraw
Keep on Jammin’ Carl
Today marks the 175th year of the creation of Toronto, Ontario! To some, it is a beacon of hope, multicultural existence and tolerance. To others, Toronto is just a hole in the ground!
So to here’s to my new home town! cheers and many more to come T.O.!
There was a song, not so long ago, that was considered Canada’s unofficial national anthem. Today sadly though, it has now been almost erased from memory. The song was called The Maple Leaf forever!
But who was behind this great forgotten anthem, where did he make it, what was the history behind the song and most important to me, where did he live?
This is a story of how I just happened to bump into the tree that dropped one of it’s leafs on this man’s shoulder, which in turn, helped him pen the song The Maple Leaf Forever!
When I was young, I recall hearing this song that was often hummed at my grandparents house. I can’t remember much of what it was all about, but I do have fond memories of it. Ones that made me feel comfortable, relaxed and that gave me a sense of being at home.
Later on in life, I heard this song being played in an instrumental version mostly on history/documentary shows. It was even played at a Toronto Maple Leafs game in the glorious Maple Leaf Gardens! If memory serves me correctly, there were no words that ever accompanied it.
Then a couple of years ago while going to a local gardening shop with my wife in the Greenwood and Queen St. E. part of town, we found no street parking nearby our local gardening center, damn! So I had to look for a place to park on one of the side streets. When I finally found a spot, I got out and across the street there was a small house, with people walking in and out of this tiny, but quaint little it home. After closer inspection, I noticed a City Historical Plaque out in front of it, attached to this majestic Maple Leaf tree on front lawn. Upon going over to see it, I thought to myself, hey why not, let’s check it out!
The Plaque that was on the Tree
Alexander Muir
1830 -1906
Principal of nearby Leslieville Public School who was inspired to write Canada’s national song “The Maple Leaf Forever” by the falling leaves of this sturdy maple tree.
Erected by
The Orange Lodge of British America
So now I found myself inside doing a small tour of this home and reading some of the literature that was there. It basically was about Alexander Muir and this song called The Maple Lead Forever.
At first I didn’t connect this song that was playing through a small stereo in the parlor, with the memory of that song that I had listened to as a kid. It all of a sudden hit me that, this was the home, that had THE TREE that dropped one of it’s leafs, onto the man, who had created Canada’s unofficial second national Anthem called The Maple Leaf Forever, huh! Imagine that, someone else who lived in my neighbourhood that was part of Canadian Musical History! The eastern part of the city of Toronto, especially East York, really ROCKS!
After realizing that I had left my wife at the garden store now for quite some time now, I quickly picked up as many brochures as I could and off I went.
Keep on Jammin’ in the east End!
This past Sunday, the Prime Minister of Canada, dissolved the government, thus opening the door for an October 14th Federal Election. From start to finish, the process will take 37 days.
This, I promise, will be a short (just like me) general post!
My wife in I live in the Danforth area of Toronto, which happens to be in Jack Layton’s NDP ridings. The biggest musical supporters are the Barenaked Ladies, which I find outlandishly entertaining! I’ve never seen them live before, but I hope to ends this little streak soon.
So my question here is, why does it take America about 2 years to do it? To us Canadians, it seems like the US elections has been dragging on for years now. This isn’t a regular length of time, is it? Why is it taking so long?
Keep on Jammin’
Just in case you have not heard of these guys, here is a little ditty and my old band Pylis played way back in the day.
It has everything you want in a tune to play live! It’s fun, difficult to play and most of all IT’S A CANADIAN BAND!!!!!
Enjoy!
Keep on Jammin’
Max Webster R.I.P.
Ken Greer has to be the best Canadian guitarist/slide guitarist/keyboardist that has ever flown (for way too long in my eyes) under the radar that I know of! He certainly has to be the most underrated Canadian guitarist that I have ever heard. And I have my brother in-law to thank for this.
He has it all, he plays it all and he understands it ways we can only dream about. Ken Greer has that special something that we all strive for in our own playing approach. Seeing him play with Tom Cochrane was like seeing a wall of sound hit you right in the face. It was like going to a nice old church with an organ that has 75 foot pipes with all the stops out. We experienced what it must of been like for people when they were first exposed to Phil Spector’s revolutionary wall of sound.
They guy plays his slide like it is a freight train rolling through you head one moment, then he tickles the plastic ivory like my buddy Tony F. from my old Pylis days! He then will pick up his axe and then blast off with some back up rhythm guitar playing that makes you just shake your head … that’s what I did throughout his show with Tom Cochrane at the 2008 Canadian Open.
I’ve been trying with no real luck in finding some of his stuff on-line to show you so if you have anything on this guy then PLEASE send me a link! I just want to give you a little taste of what it was that we experienced that faithful night.
Keep on Jammin’
Happy Canada to all of my loyal readers, we’re 141 years young!
Here in Canada we celebrate the 141st anniversary of our Confederation. We also mark and celebrate the founding of the Canadian state 400 years ago; from Champlain to today.
Keep on Jammin’ Canada!
The theme song from CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) has recently made the news and created a major debate both socially and politically in this country that I call home!
This theme is something that we all grew up with. Every time this song was played on a Saturday night on CBC, it meant the begging of something that we all waited for, for a whole week! It was like the ringing of a triangle that told the cowboys that dinner was on the table. We all knew that it was the start of something special and that something was known as HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA!
I know that most of my readers may be from another country and you may have a tough time wrapping your head around this one, but this is not just a simple song that unites us all under the same cloth, it’s about a way of life.
I decided to write this post a little bit after the emotional tidal wave of patriotism had past. If you are in the eye of the hurricane, trying to gauge and reason what to do first is overwhelming in the initial stages.
The negative train of thought is to say, What the hell are you doing at the CBC?, This is a nasty travesty of justice, a shaking of ones society’s core values or better yet, a single event that portrays a betrayal of ones country’s essence in the way of Biblical proportions!
The positive is to acknowledge that yes, the sun will come up tomorrow and we will continue on with life! What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger …
I’m going out on a limb here folks, but I am leaning towards the positive aspects of this event. I know that I’m in good company to boot, here’s just a few!
Johnny Bower, as long as the song is played somewhere, that’s the main thing. That’s the key, the song will still have something to do with hockey.
Paul Henderson, Things have changed, and things change. They dropped the song. Get over it. Let’s move on.
The song was sold to TSN (The sports Network) and CBC decided not to pick it up. Ok, let’s remember this day and in the words of the hockey great Paul Henderson, Let’s get over it!
Keep on Jammin’
On The Hour, with George Stroumboulopoulos, he does a great interview with Canada’s greatest singer/song writer ever and does it only the way that he can do it!
He was born in Orillia, Ontario. As a young boy he grew up singing in church choirs. Later on in life the man moved to L.A. in the late 1950’s to seriously study music. It wasn’t until he came back to Canada that his career finally took off! In 1966 he released his first album titled “Lightfoot”.
His commercial success came into the forefront when he started to break into the US market in the 70’s. This was a great thing. Eventually, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and even Elvis started doing re-makes of his songs!
Lightfoot’s got a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, he was one of the first inductees into Canada’s Singer/Songwriters Hall of Fame and has won 15 Junos to boot. Not bad from some guy from Orillia.
As for me, I have a little story to tell you here kidz, so gather around the campfire and let’ go!
Circa: early 1990. Place: Toronto, Ontario Canada
I was working for a delivery company called Mr. Case and I had a drop off in Toronto’s affluent Rosedale area. I had my supplies in my van and I pulled up to the clients driveway and got out. Damn, wrong driveway! So I went back to the van and everyone’s worse nightmare comes to life, I LOCK THE KEYS IN THE VEHICLE!
I don’t want to bother the people in the house, so I look for a coat hanger to break in. Can’t find any. What do I do next! I now notice a car pulling up the driveway in the adjacent house. A man, a women and child exit the vehicle. The women notices me and asks whats wrong and I begin to tell her my story. The man in the background with the child listens and says that he’d be back in a minute. Beautiful! The women stays behind and we spark up a nice conversation. Remember, I’m in a area that the average house is about 2 million dollars.
No the man comes back out of the house with a coat hanger and he is walking down his driveway and heads towards me on his neighbor’s side. As he is doing this, he has pliers in hand is starting to bend the end to the familiar hook. As he reaches me and my van, he automatically goes to the drivers to.
I’m now thinking to myself, what in the hell am I doing letting a millionaire attempt to break into my van! I said thank you for the hanger and I tried to take it from him before he tries to open the truck. He then says “ok, but I’m kinda good at this type of thing”.
As I stumble around trying desperately to open the van and have a conversation with this rich guy, he taps me on the shoulder and says “Can give it a try?”. I then agreed and handed over the tool. After 10 seconds I see the door pin is open and this guy turns to me and says “I told ya I was good at this” and then I realized it was …
Keep on Jammin’