Perhaps you would like to know what the blues is.  You would find Howlin’ Wolf explaining just that by clicking here right now: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPHo4llDjtM.   

Welcome to the power and joy of YouTube.  I wonder what Howlin’ Wolf or Muddy Waters might have said if you told them that in 50 years their music would be available to almost everyone in the world, with the press of a button, in the comfort of their homes.  No doubt they would have been very pleased that their music could survive, and even thrive, in a popular new medium. You will find a clip of Muddy during his famous Newport Jazz Festival concert playing I Got My Mojo Workin’ to almost forty six thousand views.  I never thought that I would get to see this footage, but here it is, at the click of a mouse:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhTCYqJsfqs 

YouTube is evolutionary, there is plenty to see and learn.  The technology offers blues fans an awesome archive built by video fetishists and self-promoting musicians alike.  Whether it’s gems like the Fillmore concert by the Allman Brothers or cool clips of ZZ Top, it never seems to end once you start searching. 

 Apparently, YouTube is the germinating soil for a real genuine rebirth of blues music, something both Muddy and Chester would no doubt have been blown away by.  For example, if you wanted some tips on playing in a delta blues style you could go to a very interesting and entertaining series of lessons on finger picking, put together by an anonymous guitarist with a Liverpool accent.  His straightforward and laconic style is entertaining to non-musicians and musicians too, because his presentation is so smooth and funny.  You can see his hands clearly, but you never see his face, here: 

http://www.youtube.com/user/deltabluestips 

Obviously, YouTube is a revolution.  It is a great repository, and it already stands on its own as an excellent cross-sectional representation of human culture, and interest, of what goes on in the world.  Now, as music lovers, we can interact with one another, exploring each other’s taste, information, and opinion. To put it simply, the audience chooses what it wants by “views”, and that is how artists can become more popular, by merit.  

Take for instance the case of harmonica wizard Michael Pickett.  You can find his work here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/michaelpickett2

Pickett has played in many groups, but he remade himself in 2002 by dropping his band, and adding a guitar to his act.  Now he concentrates on making all the music himself, in a style similar to John Hammond, or our own master of the causeway, Dave Harris.

Michael has been playing around Toronto for a long time.  The first time I saw him play was with Whiskey Howl, when they opened the Toronto Rock & Roll revival in 1969, at the old varsity stadium.  This was the same infamous show headlined by The Doors, and The Plastic Ono Band with Eric Clapton. 

These days Pickett is a traditional bluesman in the acoustic style, yet he is also a web savvy Renaissance man.  Pickett not only lives within the new medium, he utilizes its promotional advantages.  You can view one of Michael Pickett’s more recent performances from last summer at Scully’s Crab Shack in Midland Ontario here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL2UysbZdXk&feature=related

There is an interesting interview with Pickett on tour in France here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbewcmFV8fY&feature=related

Pickett’s interpretation of acoustic Roots & Blues music offers something unique, authentic, and traditional.  YouTube is his showcase.  The Internet is the way his marketing, booking, and general fame carries on.  As you can see he plays tiny venues, and his new one-man-band versatility not only offers him a complete sound, but ensures easy travelling as well.  Michael hosts workshops, and gives private instruction too.

I found Michael’s videos and information on YouTube.  Just the same, one is left wondering how others benefit by web exposure, and how well it is working for Michael in terms of sales.  How many gigs, lessons, and CD’s does it actually sell?  It might be difficult to tell.  Perhaps other musicians suspect that setting up a YouTube site isn’t worth all the fuss, anyway they are too busy creating their own music.   

Michael has clearly embraced it, yet many musicians seem to shrink from YouTube, out of some kind of proprietary concern, I guess.  However, the process that required a record company with network connections to put musician in front of their audience can now easily be accomplished on an individual basis with a computer, an Internet connection, and an active imagination. 

There is a freedom with YouTube.  It empowers individuals to programme their own entertainment, market themselves, and seek out others with similar tastes.  Those who cry, “A hundred TV channels and nothin’ on” now have the choice to bypass corporate cultural control and commercial piffle of all kinds.  And fellow Blues fans, it is not just a potent way of undermining the elite’s favourite mind control device, television; YouTube is a BluesTube.  

One fine Sunday afternoon I was bellied up to the James Bay Inn bar when I looked over at this very attractive woman in a leather jacket driving around the tables near the Spartan-sized stage on a scooter, with a backrest emblazoned by a big bad Harley-Davidson sticker. I turned to sip my suds, and thought, “I bet somebody with a sense of humor like that would be a very interesting person to talk to”.

When I looked around again I abruptly discovered that this mystery woman was exiting the back door to Toronto Street. By the time I could politely thread my way through the crowd, all I could see was her red hair streaming back in a straight line, with her quickly closing in on Menzies Street. She just kept rollin’ along!

I did catch up to her in Thrifty’s and I introduced myself, somewhat out of breath, and sweating from exhaustion. After a brief chat, I left her with my number, and was delighted when she called me the next day. We have been as close as two people can be ever since, and you know this wonderful woman through her regular columns “Random Thoughts”. Her name is Lynda O’Neil, and she is my little chickadee in a coalmine. The coalmine is our healthcare system.

Lynda and I had six really good months before her health began to slide. At first we tried tackling it on our own. It seemed to be our only choice after it appeared as though the medical system had let Lynda down so badly already. Then we enlisted the aid of a Chinese doctor… at great expense. After that, Lynda and I tried a blend of misses and hits from chanters to decanters. Unfortunately, we saw little success, and then she ended up in hospital. Actually, she did the grand-tour of our region’s larger medical facilities.

On her floor at the Eric Martin Pavilion there were the transitional patients on one side, and the terminal patients on the other, with Lynda stuck in the middle. Up and down, and thus the grounds, there were areas filled with recovering junkies, methheads, receivers of unknown radio stations, and some unfortunate others who suffered from some form of brain/body disconnect.

It was uncomfortable visiting her there; I can’t imagine trying to heal there. It was very difficult, especially at the beginning of her stay.  Even during those dark days though, Lynda always managed to make a peaceful space for herself. So much so, nurses would often retreat from the bedlam outside the door into Lynda’s very special atmosphere, something she takes wherever she goes. I saw it happen over and over again.

What’s more, throughout this time Lynda continued to write her Beacon column, providing us all with a wonderfully insightful diary of her experiences. Those articles offered a very personal running commentary, not only upon her situation, but on what may happen to any person who suddenly finds themselves at the behest of others, after a lifetime of independence, and self-reliance.

Her “Random Thoughts” garnered Lynda a much-deserved “Women of Distinction” nomination a few years ago.  I was very proud to sit with her and her peers during the award ceremony. Since then Lynda has been experiencing ”Independent Living”, and lately something called “Community Care”.

Our paths had nearly crossed so many times before we met in Victoria.  We both resided in the same city for years, but on opposite sides of it. No doubt we passed by one another more than a few times. My best evidence for the depth of the magnetic attraction between us was Lynda innocently having my picture lining the bottom of her desk drawer at work. I was staring up at her pretty face for many years, long before we met.  Only ever once in my life was my mug ever featured on the front page of a section of the Toronto Star, but it just so happened to be the one lining Lynda’s desk drawer at work!

Lynda is the kind of person people gravitate toward. I have often heard her say, “Hearing your problems takes my mind off mine”. Her home is a sanctuary wherever she chooses to be, or as is the case these days, forced to be. Her flair and her enthusiasm for life remain contagious. She is an inspiration to me, and for me. Some may call her “The Purple Blur”, but I just call her amazing.

That Lynda O’Neil, she just keeps rollin’ along!

In 1859, an American citizen on San Juan Island shot a pig on the property of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and from that day forward the “longest undefended border in the world” has been far from agreed upon.  Nearby, and many years later, British Columbia Minister Sam Bawlf had the nerve to walk out of, thus scuttling, a border negotiation between the Canadian and American federal governments regarding an area near Dixon entrance north of Canada’s Queen Charlotte Islands.  In more recent times, this BC marine zone has seen events where the Canadian DND have alleged that US submarines surreptitiously travel submerged or with “minimal prior notice.”

Besides our maritime boundary disputes with the USA at Dixon Entrance, there are standing questions regarding the Beaufort Sea, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and Machias Seal Island in New Brunswick.  There are better-known ongoing ownership issues with Denmark over Hans Island and the Kennedy Channel (between Ellesmere Island and Greenland) as well.  I don’t think we should forget that we share the Gulf of St Lawrence with France controlling the area around the islands of St Pierre and Miquelon.  During the half-awake oil-rich pre-911 era these were insignificant disagreements, but as we go down a road toward scarcity and diminishing resources, I worry that Canadian sovereignty could ultimately be threatened by these lingering border issues.

On the night of May 31, 1866, about 1,000 Fenians crossed the Niagara River into Ontario. After the dust settled, nine Canadians had fallen and eight Fenians were killed before they sobered up, and went back across the border in search of more moonshine.  Eventually though, they’d get drunk again and head north, but they were little more than a nuisance really. Although sentenced to death, those caught served short sentences.  Some tried in the US were convicted, and sentenced to brief prison terms. In an effort to curry the Irish vote, President Grant pardoned them when they promised not to try again. Some of them were lying of course.

Before the pig incident there had already been The Caroline affair of 1837 where the Brits tried to blow up William Lyon Mackenzie’s boat, but that ended without too much fuss. One U.S. citizen was killed, and a hapless Canadian deputy marshal was later arrested and tried by New York State for his part in the attack.  He was acquitted.

A border dispute between Maine and New Brunswick became known as the Aroostook War of 1839.  There was no bloodshed to speak of, but thousands of troops were face to face.

In 1846 a big burst of hot air became known as: “Fifty-four Forty or Fight”.  It was a promise to go to war with us if we didn’t cede everything up to the 54º 40′ north latitude. As you know the border is currently located at 49º-north latitude.

In 1864 thirty Rebel raiders entered Vermont through Quebec and robbed several banks.  They returned with $200,000 and a man lay dead in St. Albans.  The Canadian authorities arrested the Confederates, but the Union government was very ticked off when the Johnny Rebs were soon released.

Then of course there was “War Plan Red”.  Documents declassified in 1974 revealed that the U.S. military drafted a plan during the 1920’s for an invasion of Canada was entitled “Joint Army and Navy Basic War Plan Red”.  It is claimed now however that it was a purely theoretical exercise in military planning. Apparently, planning for impossible or improbable wars is better than no planning at all.  I guess invaders have to stay sharp

Believe it or not the plan was actually aimed at Great Britain. The proposed invasion of Canada wasn’t an end in itself; it was just the easiest way to cripple the U.K if the need arose.  The plan called for lightning strike against Halifax eliminating British re-supply; the capture of the hub of Winnipeg; securing both ends of bridges at Niagara Falls, Detroit, and Sault Ste. Marie; and attacking Quebec from Fort Drum near Watertown. If Plan Red was effectively implemented the U.S. military would control the Great Lakes region and St. Lawrence valley before moving on to the prairies and British Columbia. 

We have been assured that the plan no longer exists, but what about today?  One wonders what colour of plan might unfurl if say Quebec were to separate from the rest of Canada, or we were to all suddenly embrace Islam and Sharia Law, or say, God Forbid, legalize Marijuana.

Researchers have calculated that 14 percent of the Arctic ice melted away between 1978 and 1998, and but signs indicate that soon the permanent frozen crust on the Artic seas will completely disappear every summer.  This should be of great interest to Canadians, and should perk up the ears of all those who call themselves patriots.

A reliable Northwest Passage is a dream that goes all the way back to when the Europeans discovered a huge land mass in their way.  Even today, a route through Canada’s northern islands would shave 5,000 miles off the connection between Japan/China and Europe.  For the Americans, who do not currently recognize our right to control these waters, Alaskan oil could flow easily to refineries on the eastern seaboard.  Germans could drive Toyotas, and the Chinese could drive BMW’s.  Sadly though, it would take no more than a single ballast spill to seriously damage the delicate ecology on the pristine northern shores of Nunavut.

The U.S. claims that the stretch of water in question, clearly bounded by Canadian islands, is a strait open to international navigation where Canada has no authority over shipping.  Official US policy states that: “The Law of the Sea provides a right for all ships to transit that strait.”  Pitifully, Canada seems unable to do no more than petition the United Nations for new international standards which might lawfully enable us to protect our Artic ecosystem.

In August 1997, a Chinese government research vessel showed up unannounced at the Tuktoyaktuk pier. Some of the passengers disembarked briefly for a mosquito-bitten stroll, but then quickly returned to the ship slapping themselves silly. However, in 1999 150 Chinese entered Canada as “Japanese eco-tourists.” They traveled from Greenland to Nunavut, and bolted to Montreal, that I guess was their convenient stepping stone to the “Big Apple”, New York City. 

American concerns about a porous northern Canadian frontier are probably somewhat warranted.  For instance, our northern sea routes are scantily protected from illegal immigrants and smugglers, who no longer require icebreakers to reach our rocky shores.  Conceivably, once on land they could eventually make their way over the muskeg and through endless clouds of blackflies to southern cities where they would blend into the urban chaos.   It is more likely though that they will just continue to use the airports busses and ferries. Our slackly fortified polar frontier concerns Americans greatly, and so it should.  Just as Canadians ought to be concerned about the USA coveting part of our territory, a rich region where we are just starting to appreciate its potential. 

A few summers back, for the first time since the end of the Cold War, the Canadian navy sent some warships north of the Arctic Circle in something called “Operation Narwhal’.  It was the largest Canadian military exercise ever held in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Interestingly, US military participants and observers were not invited.  We sent our largest warship (yes, apparently we have one), a fleet of helicopters, and 200 very chilled troops. As all this was going on, the U.S. Navy circulated a report entitled “Naval Operations in an Ice-Free Arctic”, a discussion of the need for a new class of ice-strengthened warships to patrol newly opening Arctic waters.  Could those be OUR open waters?

I would like to see MDL deal struck down before it turns such an important piece of Canadian technology like Radar Sat II over to irretrievable American control.  I worry that the relinquishment of this programme will be remembered the same way we remember the Avro Arrow today, opportunities lost to lead the world in innovation, and protect our own interests.  It may be a bit late to make a difference at this point anyway, because the real movement toward a more American Canada came in the nineties with the arrival of Starbucks, Toys ‘R’ Us, and Wal-Mart.  In Short, we are already infiltrated, but I am not quite ready for complete despair yet my fellow subjects.  Currently, we are setting up Tim Horton outposts all around America that offer scrumptious doughnuts and reasonably priced tasty fresh coffee.  It’s an old battle to the last drop that began with a little tea party in Boston.  . 

I drove up Island on a sunny September Sunday afternoon, to meet Paul Keim at his studio. It was obvious from the moment Paul opened the door of Dove Creek Studio that much love and effort went into the planning and building of the place.  It is very comfortable and relaxing, especially when you consider that it is a place of work.  As we talked, I sat on a big comfy couch with a coffee table between us.  Paul’s amazing guitar collection sat on a rack on the floor to my right.   

These days Keim does not have as much opportunity to play blues as he used to, because of his ongoing collaboration with his wife, Mary Murphy, on her Celtic music projects. However, sometimes when she books the two of them into music festivals she suggests that the organizers put Paul on a blues panel.  This is how they discovered Vancouver Island about seven years ago, when Paul found himself at Duncan’s Folkfest in a slide guitar workshop.  Keim was in a swivel chair with his sophisticated studio control board behind him as he was remembering that Providence Farm gig, “I was on stage with Dave Harris, and Ken Hamm Dave Kay (sp?).  At some point we kinda looked up at each other like ‘This is a trip!’ None of us were playing in the same open tuning. We were all trying to play songs for each other.  We all hit it off right away and continue to cross paths.” 

Paul and Mary both liked it here so much they left their digs in California to eventually settle in Courtney, where Paul and Mary have created one of the most picturesque settings for sound recording one could ever imagine.  

It is safe to say that Paul is a journeyman of the blues with plenty of road and touring behind him.  He is almost fifty-two and he has been recording since he was twenty-eight.  He grew up in the San Diego/ L.A. area, but moved with his parents to the Washington DC area later on.  He remembers sneaking out from his downtown home bedroom at night and ride his bicycle to Georgetown where he would hang around outside clubs listening to local legends like Danny Gatton and Roy Buchanan wailing away inside.   

He did the same thing at seventeen when the family moved back to San Diego, when he rode his motorcycle down to the rougher areas of town to see artists like Joe and Jimmy Liggins.   Good recorded music wasn’t all that easy to find either, so he would go down to Rhino Records, which was pretty much just a cheesy storefront at the time.  He says that, “It wasn’t like the musical renaissance of today where you can get anything”.  You had to look around a lot or suffer with old fourth generation tape overdubs to have it. 

He was greatly influenced by the music of a large gospel radio station broadcasting out of Los Angeles.  “I remember as late as 1977 having a car that only had an AM radio so I always tuned in to it.  I drove a lot on Sundays and I remember these Holy-Roller shows that seemed to merge from the sacred to the profane over the course of the programme.  At least as far as how the grooves went.” 

Dove Creek studio was not built to be a business three years ago, but rather a high-end recording room for the Keims to work in, and they record a lot.  Paul enjoys the engineering aspect as well, and would probably want control of process anyway.  He looks as comfortable at the controls as he does with a guitar in his hands saying, “Almost every engineer I worked with said, “You of all people should be an engineer because you end up doing it anyway.  So I sold a couple of guitars and bought some really good mics.  But the first year we were open I did seven projects for other people, but that wasn’t the original intent of it.  It wasn’t meant to be a commercial studio”. 

“Music to some degree has always been a commodity, but we didn’t necessarily see the music itself as a commodity.  Now, and it isn’t just music, everything is for sale.  Everybody seems more interested in how it’s marketed than the music itself.  They seem to think that being successful at pop culture is an end, and that the achievement of pop cultural status is a single goal.  Then they wonder why their lives are so empty.” 

“I don’t know how artistic directors of festivals weed through all the stuff they receive.  I know how many submissions they get, but the submitters are more worried about becoming a star than they are making music most of the time.  Things like Youtube get people thinking that that’s what they should be doing to get famous.  Like it’s always been, the arts are like a microcosm of what’s going on in the world, like a mirror.”  

“Today everybody just expects that because you want to do something and there is all this information around you can just do it.  Well I don’t entirely buy that.  It not just paying dues but there is something to be said for working at something and getting to know it.  Its about craftsmanship.”   

Music cannot be a cut-and paste effort according to Keim.  “It’s like push a button and it’s done, but have they ever thought about learning a song and playing it all the way through?  Just for the heck of it?  For the fun of doing it?”  

“I have a friend who works at a small public radio station as a reviewer and DJ in Germany.  He and many other performers have said to us as we travel around that there are so many musicians around now too because it is so easy to produce a cd.  People who figure that the music industry is a good way to participate in pop culture inundate programmers with new product.  My German friend says that he has boxes and boxes of unsolicited product by there would-be singer songwriters. He gets rid of hundreds of cds without ever having listened to any of them.”  

“Mind you when people tell me they have an independent recording contract I think yo myself, “so the company gave you two thousand dollars to make an album that will cost you eight thousand to make, and then you have to buy your cds back at eight to twelve dollars a piece so you can sell them at shows for twenty bucks?”  But if you make your own product without a distributor, artistic directors won’t even listen to it.  So if you want to be taken seriously you damn well better have a serious product.”   

“You can make that product for ten thousand dollars when it used to cost you sixty thousand to do the same thing, so wanna-be stars are making vanity albums that they have zero hope of ever recreating on stage.  What these people are deluded by is a pop cultural notion that they should be musicians along with everybody else, but that’s a whole other kettle of fish.  For one thing, you have to learn some people skills, and some stage presentation chops. Bobby Blue closed off the Filbert Festival singer-songwriter category after receiving just about four-hundred submissions.” 

Despite all this, Paul says that there are some truly great players around, and he points to local guitarist Paul Piggat as being one of them.  “That gentleman blows the doors on just about everybody these days.  The thing I like about Paul is that he is taking it and owning it” 

Keim doesn’t care much for blues imitation, “I am not going to feel that I have to wear the suit and play out of “X” amp and play such-and-such guitar.  I am going to play it how I want it to be because that’s right.  And that is what is going to keep it alive too. There’s a few musicians out there who are really in the idiom and keeping it fresh like Duke Robillard and Jimmy Vaughn, two diametrically opposed as guitar players: one crude to the point of silliness and another who is so slick and has so many styles under his finger tips it’s scary.  I think Rick Estrin and Little Charlie Baty are doing it too.” 

“Don’t get me wrong though I still like playing blues a lot.  But I don’t like to play loud and I haven’t found a rhythm section that I like quite yet.  I’m sure it’s out there though. I really like playing when its right.  But like my dog out there.  She can’t run anymore but when I throw the ball for the other dogs she whines.  God give me the strength to see when its time for me to quit.  But I really like playing music.  I can sit for three hours at a dinner show and play instrumentals all night.  I realize though that being a musician is a pretty bad day job.  You talk to anybody that is doing it and they wish they didn’t have to work so hard at it.  There is no middle class position for working musicians. The ones who are trying to do it are teaching, touring, backing up others and selling cd’s, so they have no spare time.” 

Paul’s style is polished, understated, often quite rhythmic.  He is one of the few guitarists around who prefers playing rhythm parts, and he loves the back-up role he plays for his wife Mary, because, as he says, “when in an Irish setting, the guitar is both the percussion and the harmony instrument.  

“I’m a control freak I guess,” he confessed near the end of the interview. All the same, as far as Keim being in the audience goes, he told me with a wink and a smile that, “I am just arrogant enough to be able to say that if I am going to go see some white guy play the blues, it’s gonna be me”. 

by David L Gordon  

These days having the daylights scared out of you with graphic images seems to pass as entertainment, but I grew up in the more innocent era of early broadcast television.  A very early Saturday afternoon offering that sticks out in my mind to this day, was a quirky 1953 anti-television waking-dream satire called “The Twonky”.  It is about a TV set that takes on a life of its own and then does chores with light beams, while hypnotizing anyone who tries to stop it.  The promotional tagline for the movie was “Out of Your Own Tomorrow… Out of Time and Space a Fearsome Power!”  It was a corny promo, however, in retrospect, the movie quietly stands out as a cool metaphor for our present-day electronic screen-filled preoccupations.  The plot of  “The Twonky” has college English Literature Professor Cary West’s wife, Carolyn, buying him a TV to keep him company before she leaves town for a weekend with her mother. She forgot to leave the $100.00 needed to pay for the TV, and professor Cary, played by Hans Conreid, is relieved when he does not have the money to pay the serviceman.  He assumes that the man will just take the TV back. However, a $5 bill the prof accidentally drops on the floor suddenly develops 19 duplicates, which the TV guy grabs as payment. West soon realizes that the animated television has a mind of its own, but at least it appears to be his willing slave.    

The TV set creature lights his pipe, washes his dishes, and vacuums his rugs. Interestingly however, it also chooses what he can read, and write.  Then in a stunning display of postwar era special effects, the TV marches around to military music.  It also zaps some treasury agents investigating the duplicate $5 bills, and later some the police and a female bill collector.   

Back at school, Cary tells gym coach Trout about his new acquisition.  The coach theorizes that a being, which has time-traveled from some authoritarian society of the future, now inhabits the set.   He calls it a “twonky”. The two of them try to get rid of the twonky with humorous results, but it has a survival instinct that supercedes serving its new master, Cary.  The Twonky just wanted to be loved!  Is that so wrong? 

Unlike the Twonky, television today is not trust worthy. The Twonky’s descendants, cable TV and the Internet, have us under their hypnotic control.  The viewer is a somnambulant slave living virtually in a cyber-stitious situation, where interacting with nature is now done digitally.  Writer John Lilly might claim that a powerful solid-state intelligence uses TV to punch its way into our dimension, surreptitiously attempting to hypnotize us toward rendering the earth anti-organic.  It is a vision worthy of consideration.  Will Fox and CNN usher gung-ho patriots to a new John Wayne fantasy in Iran?  It seems likely at this point.     

The Twonky marches around professor West’s living room.  Howdy Doody waves.  Clarabelle claps and we watchers live in a matrix world where the bell constantly rings as we salivate before our fearsome cathode-ray god.  In fact, I am sitting in front of one right now.  Yikes!

David L Gordon

by David L Gordon

“Who is that on bass?” I asked myself as I picked up the cover of the Doors’ Strange Days. The record had just been released, and it still had the cellophane protectingly in place.   Lubahn’s catchy intro on “You’re Lost Little Girl” had caught my attention.  When I heard it I suddenly realized how strong the bass work was.  I mean, who hears bass up-front like that?  I recall that moment clearly, because it seemed so unfair when I considered his contribution to what I was hearing, and learning to love. I had to wonder out loud why he wasn’t an official band member.  He seemed to me to be the fifth member of the band, so why wasn’t he included with Jim, Ray and the boys? 

I loved Lubahn’s trundling overweight sound. It perfectly complimented the Doors rugged, and roughneck style.  It was and still is obvious to me that almost all of the early bass-lines are the beating heart of those early Doors songs, and an important part of their overall sound, maybe some of their best work too.  Apparently, it wasn’t just an exclusionary thing. Doug was still with and loyal to his own band Clear Light, a group that featured Danny Korchmar, and Dallas Taylor. 

Anyway, he went on to help found Dreams, the early and amazing experimental jazz-rock fusion group, with John Abercrombie, Billy Cobham, and the Brecker Brothers.  He didn’t just turn down the Doors.  Lubahn also declined membership in The Buffalo Springfield and (!) The Mahavishnu Orchestra.  The Doors valued his playing so much in those obscure early days that Morrison would pick him up in a VW Bug every session to drive him to the studio personally. 

Doug also did studio gigs for Billy Squire (and appeared on SNL with him), Ted Nugent, and The Monkees.  He and other members of Clear Light appear on Goffin & King’s ‘Porpoise Song’ from the soundtrack to the Monkees film, Head (1968), which was, believe it or not, a Frank Zappa project.  He also appears in the cosmic and quirky James Coburn film The President’s Analyst.

Lubahn has a book that tells about his experiences in and around the music scene.  It will no doubt be worth a close read.  You can find out about it at:  http://www.douglubahn.com/ 

As Ray Manzarek says, “Hey, this guy is the real deal! Doug was there for all kinds of Doors’ art and mayhem. I suggest you check out his very fine book and read what this good man has to say. He speaks the truth!” 

JAMES MINGO LEWIS: Master of Latin Fusion  by David L Gordon

This article is a requested follow-up to my recent review of Al Di Meola’s record Land Of The Midnight Sun.Sometime in 1972 growing resentments between Carlos Santana and Michael Carabello over (hmmm) lifestyle issues resulted in Carlos’ departure from his own band. Carlos had recently met his wife to be, and was becoming more serious about the type of music he wanted to play. He felt held back by the band’s chaotic democracy and undisiplined approach. On top of that, Coke Escovedo had convinced him that he should take control of the band’s helm, whereas guys like bassist David Brown, and percussionist Carabello thought that the band’s sucess was due to its collaborative nature.

To put it simply, Carlos had met his wife-to-be, and was (in some band member’s minds) “going straight”. Santana actually toured for half a month without him, until of course Carabello and his giant afro were finally kicked out. James Mingo Lewis was hired at the last minute, plucked from the audience as a replacement during a concert in New York City. David Brown left shortly after due to substance abuse problems. This new Santana was to be the tenth version of the band (according to Santana’s website).

Then In January 1972, Mingo, Santana, Neal Schon and Coke Escovedo joined Buddy Miles for a live concert at Hawaii’s Diamond Head Crater, which was eventually released as Carlos Santana & Buddy Miles Live. It sounds as if it was recorded inside a volcano too. There is even a song called Lava!

 During the studio sessions in may 1972 Mingo, and what was left of Santana, began working on the masterpiece Caravanserai. I was lucky enough to see this band play this music at Maple leaf gardens on Tuesday, February 20, 1973, and I assure you that it was a totally trancendant experience.In the spring of 1973, Corea replaced some of the original members of Return To Forever with rock guitarist Bill Connors from Spiral Staircase, drummer par excellance Mr.Steve Gadd, and young percussionist Mingo Lewis. Chic unveiled the new lineup to little acclaim in New York City at the Bitter End in April. They actually cut an album, and you can listen to 3 of the cuts from the session on the Verve release, Return To The Seventh Galaxy. However, Steve was out when it became clear to Gadd that it wouldn’t be worth-while touring, and Mingo left RTF at about the same time.

Some time later, Mingo Lewis went off to collaborate with Al Di Meola for his first six (and I think best) solo albums. These records sound as much like Mingo albums as they do Al lps. In fact, by the time of Tour De Force Live, Lewis was the only other remaining player from the original solo record, yet the music sounds very similar. Once Mingo was out of Al’s band, Dimeola had, and still has, a completely different sound. Keep in mind that Mingo is also a keyboardist and a fine composer. In fact, he was also one of the first great synthesizer wizards. Lewis’ only solo album Flight Never Ending appears to be a very enjoyable blend of Return to Forever and Santana, but it is all Mingo, and a very progressive sounding record.

There are 8 songs on Flight Never Ending, with 4 of them being over 7 minutes long, and all the tunes are arranged in similar fashion to Return to Forever songs, except they are even wilder and spicier. Mingo not only plays some pretty intense percussion, he composes much of the music and lays down some very groovy and crazy keys. There are 3 keyboard players on Flight Never Ending working synthesizer, piano, organ and clavinet. It is old school jazz fusion at its finest: fast and furious.

It is one of the all-too-few Latin Fusion masterpieces still available today.

The players on Flight Never Ending are:Mingo

Lewis: percussion, synthesizers, congas, clavinet, and vocals
Louis Bramy: percussion, bells, vocals
Mike Kapitan: keyboards
David Logerman: drums
Eric McCann: electric bass
Kincaid Miller: synthesizers, keyboards clavinet
Randy Sellgren: electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Michael Kapitau: organ, synthesizers, piano, drums vocals 

I put a CDR together of complete albums of mp3’s of what I believe to be the most groundbreaking and important Fusion records of all time for Carson, the Drum Roaster Cafe Guy.  I thought that it might be more interesting to listen to these LPs as complete albums, as they were released, and in their original form.  These are the building blocks of Jazz Fusion, one of the most maligned, yet exciting musical genres around, the way I see it anyway.  So, at the risk of an over-glut of greatness, here they are:

Billy Cobham – Spectrum (1973) Billy proved, with this amazingly well constructed and exhilarating record, that drummers could be far more than just “Timekeepers”, as he once put it.  Bringing his old Mahavishnu band-mate Jam Hammer along for the ride was a smart move, and an even smarter move was getting some of Tommy Bolin’s best licks ever down on record.  Just marvel at Stratus if you will. 

Al Dimeola – Land Of The Midnight Sun (1976) It’s a guitar player’s album, but it’s really all about the drumming.  In truth, this first Al solo album is different that his later stuff; more raw and fiery, less contrived, and far more spontaneous.  That’s because of Mingo Lewis, percussionist extraordinaire.  When doing this album Mingo had just emerged out of the wonderful chaos of a transitional Santana, and the resulting recording Caravanserai, another album worth checking out.  In my opinion of all the records Carlos and crew did, Caravanserai is the best one, and that is really saying something.  Anyway, if there is any doubt about Mingo’s influence on Land of the Midnight Sun you must listen to Lewis’ solo album, The Wizard.  The two records are very similar, and equally fantastic.  There is little latiny sweetness in evidence here, and definitely no wanking.  The music is straight ahead, full-on throttle, and propelled by a young Al’s naively youthful attack.  Dimeola never achieved this level of intensity again.  Alphonse Mouzon drums and Jaco Pastorius plays a much more straight ahead sounding bass than he does with Weather Report.  Barry Miles handles the keyboards.

 Tony Williams Lifetime – Believe It (1975) Alan Holdsworth’s Guitar work is the standout here.  This is probably my favorite from the ten albums listed here, and it certainly is the record that got the most plays on my old turntable.  A very good artist friend of mine worked on a single piece for about three weeks just replaying Fred over and over again.  It’s a very cool painting now.  I’ll show you sometime.  And my buddy Bill still likes the track too! 

Return To Forever – Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy (1973) It’s no surprise that this is the most keyboard-oriented item on the list.  It’s Chic Corea for cryin’ out loud.  Like Tony Williams Chic is ex-Miles Davis alumni, and he did this amazing piece of vinyl on the heels of Bitches Brew (the foundational cornerstone of all fusion I think, but a tough listen even for very seasoned ears).  Seventh Galaxy features Bill Connors and this is the electric version of RTF and before the emergence of Al Di Meola.  I like Connors playing more to tell you the truth and this is the more in-your-face version of this band.  They only did this one record together though and Connors more or less disappeared after his departure from RTF.  Lenny White is absolutely mathematic in his power drumming and propels Stanley Clarke’s bass with precision.   

Bill Bruford – One Of A Kind (1979) Yes took a break and each of the members did a solo project.  Bill did a mostly instrumental and fully experimental record called Feels Good To Me.  It’s a very good album, but this one, One Of A Kind, is a great one.  The same musicians return to perfect the formula, and Bill’s drumming and compositions shine.  Alan Holdsworth shows himself once again to be one of the greatest guitarists ever, and an overlord of fusion.  Catchy, funky, complex, it is truly one of a kind. 

Mahavishnu Orchestra – Birds Of Fire (1973) What a true wonder of the Universe this one is.  How the heck did these guys come up with this stuff?  I figure it was electronic computer messages from space, or at least that’s what I thought the first time I heard it.  I was, after all, and no big surprise, very high at the time.  From the opening sound of the gong, Birds Of Fire transports the listener to another dimension of jazz, and or rock, by bringing the two genres together so interconnectly.  I still marvel at this one, but you should be aware that your mood might partly determine whether you will like this one or not.  It’s intense alright.  Just try to follow Cobham for any length of time….. it’s exhausting.  Once again Jan Hammer shows why he too is an overlord of fusion.  All of these guys are.  Jerry Goodman from The Flock on Violin, Rick Laird on Bass and of course John Mclaughlin on guitar.  

Brand X – Unorthodox Behaviour (1976) I was very skeptical when my brother tried to turn me on to this record, primarily because I knew that Phil Collins did the drum work.  Well, was I ever wrong.  This is some of the most sophisticated electric music ever recorded.  It stands up very well against the test of time, and may still be their very best of all the many many albums Brand X recorded (and continue to record right up to today).  This is fantastic instrumental music, whether it is fusion I suppose some would argue with.  All I can say to them is “Check out Nuclear Burn”.  That’s a fretless bass that Percy Jones is playing.  John Goodsall is on guitar and Robin Lumley is on keyboards.  A very tight unit indeed! 

Stanley Clarke – Stanley Clarke (1974) Once again Jan Hammer plays the super sidekick role, and churns out some just awesome riffs.  One of the things that I most love about this era of fusion is the willingness to collaborate and provide the best backup that an artist like Stanley could rely on.  If that wasn’t enough, Tony Williams is on the drums, and Bill Connors is on guitar.  This is by far and away Clarke’s greatest solo record, and is enjoyable from beginning to end. 

Jeff Beck – There And Back (1980) Some folks would put Blow By Blow on this list, or maybe even Wired, but not me.  There And Back is where Beck was fully confident, and masterful, as he headed once again into the fusion realm.  Jan Hammer is back, and these two virtuosos play off each other with dexterity and control.  The Pump is one of those long grinders that just keeps on chuggin’ through to its conclusion.  Star Cycle!  

Herbie Hancock – Headhunters (1973) No guitar here, but lots of drums.  This is Herbie’s offering after his time with Miles Davis and Bitches Brew.  This is funky fusion at its finest, and if you like it you should check out the following album Thrust, which features Mike Clarke on drums replacing Harvey Mason.  These Headhunters sure know how to put a lock on a groove.  Believe it or not Chameleon was huge in the discos at the time this was released.  This is the only record that even made it slightly close to being a hit on this list.  These were the records I listened to during the disco era. I was safe from both punk and disco within my little fusion bubble. 

Thanks,I hope you enjoyed this and found it useful. 

David L Gordon  

Backwater Blues

By The Blues Hound

 I know it is too late for present season, but here is a list of ten Canadian records that stand the test of time and bear multiple plays.  It is by no means scientific or anything other than my prejudiced view, based on my own experiences and personal preferences. 

McKenna Mendelson Blues – McKenna Mendelson Mainline 

Recorded a year before their famous recorded-in-a-single-day-in-London-UK album “Stink” this grittier and harsher-in-tone forerunner actually out smokes its more famous sibling.  There is zero polish and plenty of joyous emotion on this Paragon recording that may surprise fans of their more well-known stuff, and Mainline really hits the sweet-spot on this one.  There are no dogs here.   

The Powder Blues – Uncut 

Every tune on this record is a barnburner.  This is the classic version of The Powder Blues Band, featuring both of the Lavin brothers and David Woodward.  This band is slick tight and totally committed.  There are plenty of hits here: Buzzard Luck, Personal Manager, Hear That Guitar Ring and Doin’ It Right. Are just few.  It was recorded in 1979 and was pressed by Blue Wave Records, their own self-financed label. 

Dutch Mason – Wish Me Luck 

Dutch’s best album, and he has a few really good ones too.  He is at his creative peak and it is 1979.  After all, this Nova Scotia native was the Prime Minister of the blues, and he played longer, harder, and toured more widely than almost anybody else whoever picked up a guitar, or a harmonica.  Dutch was a truly great guy.  This is his finest studio achievement.  It’s an album of cover tunes, but he owns them now. 

Downchild Blues Band – Bootleg 

Other than the Blues Hound, this record is the greatest thing to ever emerge out of Toronto.  Once again we find David Woodward on board as well, so syncronistically speaking there is a BC/TO connection too.  remember watching these guys grind out this very music at a very skanky watering hole called Forbes Tavern, where we would guzzle 25-cent glasses of beer.  I remember one guy who puked his false teeth into the toilet and had to pick them out just as he saw them flushing away.  Ah …those were the days ay? 

King Biscuit Boy – Mouth Of Steel 

With his Crowbar days long behind him King Biscuit Boy (aka Richard Newell) re-emerged after a long absence to create this Stony Plain Records 1984 masterpiece.  The musicians backing him are equally talented to this harmonica wizard, and the album has an urgent edginess that suggests that Newell intended to prove himself after a ten-year absence from the scene.  He did.  On board we have Stan Szelest and Jack Dekeyzer and Necromonica by itself is worth the effort to try to find this over-looked classic Canadian blues recording.    

The Fundamentals – Cadillac Boots 

Humor, skill, and teamwork make this very cool offering from these North Bay Ontario natives what it is.  They abide by the old adage “Don’t quit your day job”.  There are some really great originals her like Hiding In Shadows, but the cover-tunes are good too.  Nobody can duplicate the Albert Collins sound like the guitarist “Dogmeat Jake. He’s a postman in the daytime.  I like this CD from beginning to end; it is a pleasant surprise. 

Michael Pickett – Blues Money 

This Maple Blues award winner has a very strong sound and varied song selection.  Pickett is a proficient songwriter and a damn fine harp player.  He was an original member of whiskey Howl and was in the trenches a long time before Blues money got the award and he got the recognition he deserves.  Okay, maybe he is the greatest thing to ever come out of Toronto.  Sure sounds good anyway.  Keyboard kings Richard Bell and Doug Riley both put in appearances.  

The Phantoms – Raw 

These Ottawa bad boys have had one truly great blues recording and this is it, mostly due to the presence of harp player Jerome Godbout.  He is a damn fine vocalist too.  Raw is just what the title tells you, but there is a slight psychedelic tinge too.  It’s a fun recording and their spin on Little Walter’s Mellow Down Easy is absolutely manic in its restrained intensity.  It sounds best when it’s turned up, so just ignore the banging on the wall and enjoy! 

Morgan Davis Band – Live 

A skilled blues man can sing about anything in his life and sound convincing.  Morgan is one of those few.  Rosalie is about his baby girl and it’s a real hoot, funny.  That’s not easy too do and make it work night after night.  His take on Robert Johnson is about as good as it gets.  This gem was recorded at Grossman’s Tavern, a place that certainly lives up to its moniker’s true meaning.  

Carlos Del Junco – Just Your Fool – Live

This is the most pleasant and relaxing recording on the list and I do believe it received awards as well.  If it didn’t it should have, Carlos is a genius.  This cd was also recorded at Grossman’s.  I can almost smell the bathroom from here.  You can always tell how good of a night they are having by the amount of urine flowing out the front door onto Spadina Avenue.  We really need a place like that in Victoria.