A rare glimpse of early Canadian rock
High school dance recording of band
that became the Guess Who released after 46 years
Vancouver
Sun ~ February 09, 2008 ~ John Mackie
In 1962, someone set up a microphone in front of a young
group at a high school dance in Winnipeg. Forty-six years later, the recording
is being released. The group was Chad Allan and the Reflections,
which would later achieve fame and fortune as the Guess Who. And
the long-delayed recording is a charming glimpse into pre-Beatles rock
and roll in Canada.
The songs on Early Roots are mostly covers. Guitarist
Randy Bachman leads the group through a letter-perfect version of the Ventures'
instrumental
Walk, Don't Run, while piano player Bob Ashley rips
it up on another instrumental,
Bumble Boogie, originally recorded
by the immortal B. Bumble and the Stingers. But if there's a revelation,
it's the lovely version of
I Love You More Than I Can Say, a Buddy
Holly-style song written by Holly's former bandmates Sonny Curtis and Joe
Allison. In 1961 it was a hit for Bobby Vee, a Holly soundalike from Fargo,
N.D.; in 1980, it was a hit for Leo Sayer. Chad Allan's vocal is subdued
and heartfelt, subtly channelling Holly in a vocal hiccup. It's a reminder
that once upon a time, Allan was arguably Canada's top rock and roll singer,
equally proficient on ballads like I Love You More Than I Can Say
and rockers like the Guess Who's breakthrough hit, Shakin' All Over.
But that was a long time ago. Sadly, all that rockin'
and rollin' did a number on Allan's voice, which is more or less shot.
"My doctor told me not too long ago that my right vocal chord is actually
paralysed," says Allan, who turns 65 March 29. "Which means my left vocal
chord is doing most of the work. So it is a bit thrashed. As a matter of
fact, it's a miracle I'm able to talk right now." His voice ailing, Allan
left the Guess Who in 1966, before they made it big. He later formed a
band called Brave Belt with Bachman, but quit it as well, just before
the band changed its name to
Bachman-Turner Overdrive.
Thus, he now lives in a small apartment in Burnaby with
his wife Christine rather than in a mansion. And he still makes his living
playing, rather than living off royalties. Most of his gigs are at old
folks' homes, where he plays piano, guitar and accordion. "I can sing when
I play the seniors' homes and hospitals," he explains. "I sing to the extent
to lead them in singalongs; that seems to work fairly well."
Allan had the tape which became Early Roots. Actually,
his father William Kowbel did. (Chad Allan is a stage name -- he changed
it because his real name, Allen Kowbel, wasn't "very commercial.") "My
dad was the librarian," says Allan. "He collected and compiled all this
stuff way back from when we started in the late '50s and '60s. He kept
scrapbooks and saved posters and stuff." William Kowbel passed away in
2005, five years after his wife. After his death, Allan moved stuff out
of their Marpole apartment with Marty Kramer, an old Winnipeg chum who
has worked on and off with the members of the Guess Who for decades.
Kramer spotted the 1962 tape, which was probably recorded
at Melrose school in Winnipeg, where Allan and the band's then-manager
Brian Roberton (the man who taped the show) had gone to school. He hatched
a plan with Jamie Anstey and Larry Hennessey (of JACK-FM's Larry and Willy
show) to release it on CD, plus make copies of some early '60s gig posters
to sell. The disc kicks off with four studio tracks, including the eerie
lament
Tribute to Buddy Holly, the Reflections' debut 45.
Buddy Holly was Allan's hero. "When he passed away in
1959, ohhh," recalls Allan. "It was February, wintertime in Winnipeg, and
I remember coming back from school. I saw the newspaper lying on the front
step as I was coming in. The headline was 'Big Bopper, Richie Valens and
Buddy Holly die in a plane crash,' and whoa -- I felt like a brother had
died. Because I was learning all his songs: I would play those records
'til they were like white, the 45s."
Allan didn't write Tribute to Buddy Holly, Geoffrey
Goddard did. It was a minor hit for Mike Berry in England, largely because
of the imaginative production by the legendary Joe Meek. Allan heard it
through his high school friend Wayne Russell, a music nut who would send
away to England for the latest hits."The British would take chances, whereas
Canada seemed kinda conservative," says Allan. "He would bring out [45s
by] Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, Cliff Richard, Shane Fenton, all these
bands. Gerry and the Pacemakers. We knew of the Beatles way before they
hit North America, because Wayne had all this stuff. I would take tapes
of these songs to the guys. 'Who are these Beatles? The harmonies are just
amazing!'"
In any event, Tribute to Buddy Holly is impossibly
rare. It was released on Canadian-American records, which agreed to press
and distribute the initial run of 300 copies if the band gave the label
$100. The first 100 singles are even more collectible -- the label mistakenly
pressed Allan's ballad I Just Didn't Have the Heart on the A-Side,
but listed it as Tribute to Buddy Holly. It was corrected on later
editions. Both songs appear on the new CD.
Some of the early Reflections posters are also reproduced
in the CD booklet. One advertises "a terrific three-hour show of distinctive
vocal and instrumental stylings" at a roller rink in Winnipeg Beach, a
resort town. "We were basically set up in the middle, and they would roller
skate all around us," Allan chuckles. "They started roller skating at midnight,
for 75 cents or a dollar."
The CD and posters were originally supposed to come out
last September, when the original Guess Who (that is, pre-Burton
Cummings) was going to reunite for a one-off show in Winnipeg. But the
show never happened and the CD wasn't released until now. It's available
at Neptoon records on Main Street in Vancouver. Copies of the posters should
be available for sale at the next Vancouver Record Collectors Association
show, April 6 at the Croatian Cultural Centre.
