This is a fabulous way to kickstart a solo career! This star-studded project has everything from the deeply personal to the downright quirky. Every song is infused with own feel and will have you contemplating or shaking your moneymaker.
It is with sadness that we report the passing of legendary multi-instrumentalist Garth Hudson, the last surviving original member of the Band. He died on January 21, 2025. Our condolences to his family, friends and fans.
Born in Windsor, Ontario, Garth was invited to join Ronnie Hawkins after being impressed with his performance in London, Ontario. That backing group would then join Bob Dylan and set off on their own as Levon and the Hawks and later, the Band. This legendary collective changed music history and almost single-handedly created the Americana genre.
The Band broke up in 1976 and reunited in the 80's and 90's with a new lineup, which included Garth. He also had a successful solo career and did a bit of studio work.
Today, we sadly say goodbye to Garth "Honey Boy" Hudson, the last living original member of The Band. A musical genius and cornerstone of the group’s timeless sound, Garth once said, “I found some true enjoyment in helping people get to the bottom of their feelings.” Through his music, he did just that—helping us all feel more deeply and connect to something greater. Rest easy, Garth.
Garth Hudson was by far the most unusual person I ever met in my life. Every thought, conversation, memory was told in the same way he played the organ/piano/sax. With an improvisational style and total uniqueness, that left me puzzled more than once.
He was a gentle soul. A genius, yet so helpless in many ways. It felt like you were talking to a deer, or an animal that you only got a fleeting glimpse at. He talked slowly and deliberately, but if you waited for it, there was always a gem or little humour. or twist.
I got in touch with Garth when I was thinking of doing a follow up recording to 2B3 The Toronto Sessions that would be the New York sessions. I called him and he said he would do it but only with Wild Bill Davis. (Organist for Count Basie's band and others in the 50's.) he gave me a number for Bill, but I only got his widow on the line as Wild Bill had died the year before.
I thought that was it, but months later he called me and asked if I wanted to record a performance with his Wife Maud at the opening of the Wolf Theatre in his hometown of London ON. I said "of course". The concert was only weeks away. Eddie Baltimore brought some recording gear and the result is LIVE at the Wolf.
When I showed up that afternoon, I had only heard his few piano performances on the Band songs like The Weight, and Rag Mama Rag. To say I was shocked by the breadth of his knowledge and ability doesn't do it justice.
That recording started an 18 month journey with Garth and Maud, rerecording the same tracks, recording new material and generally driving me to distraction. But only because he wanted it to be right. I will tell some of those stories in other posts.
One such session at Cherry Beach Sound happened about 6 months after the Live recording. The session was booked at 4PM at $250.00/hr. Garth and Maude did not arrive until 10PM. Luckily since I was a in-house producer the studio gave me some grace on that. I remember Garth coming in and placing a large vintage suitcase on the Leslie. We had the piano all mic'd and were rarin' to go. We left him in the room to gather himself and go to the piano. From earlier sessions we knew we had to be ready with the record button, a he would just sit down and start playing, or start playing before he sat down.
But he was taking a long time at this suitcase. It was 3' x 2' and 10" thick. Was he getting charts? cassette recordings, old FX gear. Who new? Anything was always possible with Garth. After about 20 min. of this (the clock is now running) I went out to him and said "Garth, the piano is all mic'd and ready for you."
He was intently going though the thousands of connectors of ALL kinds for any audio connector you might need in your lifetime, that lived in this suitcase.
RCA to mini, mini to XLR, stereo 1/4" to mono neutrik. The whole gamut of connectors. Thousands of them.
I said, "Garth we are all ready and we have all the connectors we need." He looked at me and in his growl said "You never know when you might need a connector." He was prepared.
It seemed to be part of a ritual.
After my first conversation with him about the 2B3 project, I asked if I could send him my SHORTHANDED solo piano CD. Shortly I was getting calls at 3am from Garth. Garth was up most nights and slept during the day. He would be commenting in detail about a certain track. Telling me the whole history of the piece and where the left hand had been used back to the turn of the 20th century. He was a fountain of knowledge. He would put the crook of the phone on his shoulder and then play me (and sometimes sing-a-long) to examples of where I could take these tunes. had I heard of this player. do you know about this technique?
I remember looking around my kitchen thinking "Whose going to believe me that Garth Hudson is giving me piano lessons over the phone in the middle of the night."
I wish I had recorded them, but this was before cell phones. He did this to help me. To impart some of his knowledge. There was never any sense of him being anything but encouraging. He thought (rightly) that he had another blues piano enthusiast and that like him, I would be interested.
Garth was a savant and likely somewhere along the Asperger's continuum. He built a green house, made his own guns in his machine shop including his own bullets. He collected ancient medieval manuscripts by Ockegham a 15th century composer and other early church composers. He had an extensive LP collection and new the catalog numbers of every record in the collection.
On hearing a Dixie Hummingbird's song on the radio, he anounced that this was from a 1950's recording that had been the best selling gospel record at the time and then stated its catalog number that was something like CS 347920. He knew these numbers.
He was also a water diviner, dowser or water witching. and found an underground stream on our property when he stayed over in Orillia one night. My son was a science student and very skeptical, but they had hit it off over cheerios that morning. Garth offered to show him, and he did find the path of the stream that lay under our sod.
There is so much to say about this giant of the keyboard. The Genetic Method (solo before Chest Fever) shows the way his mind worked. Only a little of any of those performances would be 'prepared' in any way. His mind just freely associated.
In the studio, he would sit at the grand piano and start on a Duke Ellington tune which would remind him of another Duke song that would bring him to other standards and tunes by Basie, Cole Porter etc. He would switch between the songs and play bridges from another song, go from Harlem stride, to walking tenths, from Fats Waller to Teddy Wilson. He had the musical breadth of Art Tatum going from Classical to jazz in the same few bars. Whatever hit his remarkable ear. He would play for 25 minutes at a time. It was magical to be around such a talent. Such a gift.
I will write of other experiences with Garth later.
My condolences to his family, many friends and legions of fans.
I will include a link to one of the pieces from Live at the Wolf.
It is stunning in its inventiveness and virtuosity.
May the wonders of the universe be yours now dear friend.
So saddened by the passing of my great friend and hero, Garth Hudson. Garth was tremendously kind, Mensa smart, and constantly fascinating and fascinated with music. He had a wonderful sense of humor and was greatly encouraging to musicians of all ages and interests. As Richard Bell used to say, “There’s all the musicians in the world… Then there’s Garth”
Sad news today with the passing of Garth Hudson - this grainy photo of Garth and myself was taken in 1989 when Garth spent a number of days working with the Northern Pikes while we were recording our Snow in June album at Bearsville Studios near Woodstock, New York. Garth subsequently appeared in 2 music videos with us, and we had some crazy fun experiences together. Garth was a brilliant musician and an amazing human being, and I feel extremely blessed and grateful to have had the opportunity to work together musically and to become friends - sending love and prayers to Garth’s family and friends .
Canadian music icon Gordon Lightfoot passed away Monday, May 1, 2023. The legendary singer/songwriter left an indelible mark in the international music scene. Our condolences to his family friends and fans.
The world is still reeling from the loss of Lightfoot and this is also being felt in the local music scene where quite a few musicians knew and worked with the musical giant.
Long before recording with Gord, long before singing and playing this song (Home From the Forest) in Ronnie (Hawkins)'s room after a gig, and I was still just learning to play guitar a little when I'd first heard it.
How many thousands of songs have I heard and how many I've loved so much how many have I played?
There is one song that from the very first time went beyond anything I knew about anything from a song, inside myself somehow,
I'd spent many a quietly desperate night roaming the dark lonely streets of Toronto when I was young, my dad was also a deeply alcoholic individual, I had an uncle that suffered the same fate in Toronto as the storyline in this song depicts.
I'd spent lonely nights looking down on various Toronto streets at night thru many different windows, I'd watched with heartache Native brothers staggering in rags with paper bags of booze, and many older men huddled in doorways sleeping on steps, these things and much more were in some sense just too hard for my inexperienced mind to come to terms with, somehow in a strange way, it helped me thru the personal pain and hardship of home life knowing I wasn't alone, what's going to become of me? will I wind up like that? them?
And that's just one small angle of the picture
My heart was broken long before it had a chance to experience it's own growth
To this day and to my grave this is the one song of them all that taught me the meaning of life and death in my heart, its taken a lifetime of proof of it's truth
For this one song I've been and will always be grateful for Gord's insight and ability to put it so simply and deeply in words.
Rave On Gordon Lightfoot - My Mother used to come and visit me from time to time when I was a kid. I was maybe six years old or so. One time she showed up with an old portable record player with a shitty needle that made every record I played sound like it had a five o’clock shadow in the grooves.
She came through the door one day with a copy of a record by a guy she used to go see at Steele’s Tavern on Yonge Street. Across the top of the record in big letters LIGHTFOOT and a photo of a guy leaning back in a studio chair holding a guitar up towards the ceiling and looking cool as shit.
The photo alone captured my young imagination. He looked serious, like he knew something that he wanted to tell me.
Dropping the needle on that record changed my life immediately. It was responsible for igniting the devil in me and stirring the sludge up at the bottom of my lake. Everything sounded so real like the guy was standing right there beside me in my bedroom fingerpicking that guitar and singing in my ear. He opened up the doors of possibilities with the haunting Oh Linda, Steel Rail Blues and Rich Man's Spiritual.
Gordon Lightfoot has left us but he lives in our blood. His voice will always raise up our ghosts and reunite us with a tremendous joy we all hold in our hearts but may have forgotten about. Thank you Gordon.
Brian Mee (local fan)
I was in attendance at the Grand Hall at Hamilton Place in Nov 2004 for his first concert back after suffering / recovering from a life threatening aneurysm he incurred in 2002.
Gordon was treated at McMaster Health sciences and he showed his appreciation by donating many tickets to the medical staff that could attend and publically thanked the surgeon that headed the operation that saved hid life.
Understandibly, Gordon was initally a bit shaky to start off with, however the audience positive reaction to see him back on stage soon brought him back to form.
A memorable night and a win win for McMaster Health Sciences since Lightfoot also gave a generous donation to them as well as raised their reputation with the life saving surgery they gleaned with a celebrity patient such as Lightfoot.
Canadian Bluesman Colin Linden (member of local group Blackie and The Rodeo Kings) made his country proud when he won a Grammy on Sunday, January 26, 2020. He was the co-producer of Keb' Mo's latest album Oklahoma, winner of the Best Americana Album award. The pair even accepted the hardware together.
His Rodeo Kings bandmate, Tom Wilson had this to say on Facebook:
I am bustin’ with Joy and yes that is in fact how it’s done baby!!!!
Congratulations to my brother Colin Linden and my friend KEB ‘MO for winning a damn Grammy last night in LA for the poetic genius of #Oklahoma
Stephen Fearing (also from the Rodeo Kings) was proud his buddy as well"
So excited to watch my fellow Rodeo King, Colin Linden walk onstage with Keb Mo who accepted the Grammy for his Americana Album of the year “Oklahoma”, which Colin co-produced.
Say It, the fantastic new album from BC's Judy Brownis replete with marvelous songs. This is thanks, in part, to some musical talent from the Niagara region. Gary Kendall(bass, co-producer) and Jim Casson (drums) of the St. Catharines Blues group, the Mighty Duck Blues Band. They were part of the band that made this fabulous recording.
The album is Judy's first after a long hiatus from the music industry. Now she's back with a vengeance and exploring different aspects of the Roots sound. While Blues is the main vibe of choice, she and the group also dip their toes into soul, country, folk, boogie woogie rock and more.
Shake the Love Around, the latest album from Wainfleet's Suzie Vinnick, finds our heroine with a more electrified but still rootsy sound. While the quieter, beautiful numbers are here, Suzie and her cohorts prove they can unleash some unabashed, bluesy rock if the need arises.
You'll find some gospel, funk, folk, soul and more gracing this amazing album. The lady's voice and incredible storytelling permeate the recording with power and emotion. Her guitar and bass work also stand out.
International Americana online magazineNo Depressionis holding their annual year-end readers poll (for best album) and a few local artists on on the ballot.
The Best of Canadian Blues was on display for all to hear at the Koerner Hall in Toronto on Monday, January 18, 2016. The 19th Annual Maple Blues Awardsgala celebrated the immense talent this country has to offer.
Tom Bonaof Kitchener band Soulstackand Toronto's Raoul and the Big Time won the Drummer of the Year award. Cambridge Bluesman Conor Gains received the coveted $1000 Cobalt Prize for his song Leave it on the Line.
The big winner of the night was Montreal's Steve Hillwho took home 3 awards (Entertainer, Electric Act, Guitarist). Blackie and the Rodeo Kings member Colin Linden earned two (Producer, Songwriter) as well.
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