Pat Blythe – Reflections, A.J. Croce, Buffy…..plus Music!

 

WOW!!! It’s has been a while. Sooooo much has happened since mid-August. I sit here listening to He Ain’t Heavy by The Hollies thinking how lives are changed in literally a heartbeat. The thoughts of this wild and woolly summer filter through my mind…..the people the places, the experiences, the freedom, the folks I have connected and re-connected with, the hospitality of incredible friends, the music…..yes, especially the music. My life changed forever the day I lost Chris five years ago. It has morphed into a wild and exhilarating ride that does not appear to be slowing down one iota and, truth be told, I love it. But I also pause to think, it is indeed “a long, long road, from which there is no return….”

Pat Blythe: Women of Rock – Part 1

The impetus, for what has now become a series, was my discovery of an old vinyl record by Maggie Bell. I came across it going through one of my many purge cycles. Suicide Sal, released in 1975, was my introduction to the blues….I just didn’t know it then. I wasn’t in the habit of labeling types of music in my younger years, I just knew what I liked. Greg Simpson, who happened to be managing the now defunct Records on Wheels in London, Ontario, recommended the album, thinking I might like it. I loved it and still do. Thank you Greg!

Doug Thompson: DON’T MESS WITH THE WRECKING CREW!

So, what project in your life has taken you the longest to complete?  Has anything you’ve really wanted to do ever taken you 18 years?  Most likely not, but that’s how long it took director Denny Tedesco to complete his documentary on a small group of musicians in Los Angeles who, from the late 1950’s through to the 1970’s, supplied the rhythm section (drums, bass, guitar, keyboards, percussion, saxophone) for hundreds, if not thousands of hit records.

JAIMIE VERNON – OH! CANADA? THE OTHER SONGS OF MY PEOPLE

Tuesday marks the 147th birthday of this great Dominion known as Canada.  Though we’re not quite as old as our brother to the south, our European lineage dates back to May 2, 1670 when the Dread Pirate Ernie Hudson got his ship stranded in the northern waters of the arctic looking for a direct passage to Santa’s Workshop. He and the crew survived on nothing but Her Queen’s Own Biscuits, Tea Candles and striped blankets knitted from the wool of extinct mammoths. The native population had already been here 11,000 years longer and resented the idea that you now had to trade 10 beaver pelts to get a birch bark canoe. We’ve come a long way since then but still pride ourselves on our cultural diversity, beavers, hockey and fornicating while watching hockey. Oh, and we seem to be able to write a mean ditty (not “diddy” you internet meme idiots).

JAIMIE VERNON – Old Man Take A Look At Your Life

I’m about to go off on a diatribe involving Neil Young (quelle surprise). If you’re a fan of Shaky you best leave this blog, get out your gatefold vinyl copy of ‘Harvest’ – yeah, the one you used to separate your weed seeds on and is stained with hash oil – click on a black light and tune out. This note’s definitely not for you.

Last week Neil Young – a Canadian that hasn’t lived in Canada since 1967 – decided to come home to play a few shows in an effort to raise money and awareness about (among other things) global warming, carbon footprints, fossil fuel, Corporate Oil gluttony, and the rape & pillage of land that Canada’s national people were handed in antiquated treaties back when White Man’s Guilt was an honourable profession for enterprising transplanted Euro-Dandy’s.