After a few months of hard work and sticktoitiveness, the CCPS is back and slightly improved. This old blogger-based site will be decommissioned in the coming months as content is migrated over to our fancy new website at calgarycassettes.org.
The new site is way more searchable, way more linked, and... just the beginning. We're going to be adding in new features, including our much dreamed of gig poster archive.
Huge thanks to Tom Atkinson and Aaron Booth for their help with migrating posts - we've brought over just under half of the content from this site as of this date. Phew! If you want to volunteer to help migrate content - or create new content (like adding in artist details), email us at info@calgarycassettes.org.
So, here's that other Highwood single - from the legendary Ian Tyson! We had to go back a revisit the timeline of his career to figure out how he ended up releasing this piece of vinyl (along with another) on such a small label. The duo of Ian & Sylvia called it quits in 1975, around the same time The Ian Tyson Show - and in 1980 Tyson signed on with a new manager that helped to reinvigorate his career.
In that interim period between 1975 and 1980, he put out a few recordings on smaller labels (Gary Buck's Broadland imprint, the Hitchner's Highwood, and Stompin' Tom's Boot Records). We've got a selection of singles (mostly) from that era of his career, including three singles that are Alberta-themed. Oh, and two of which are the same song. That second, major-label version of "Alberta's Child" is in here also because it was mixed by Richard Harrow in his Living Room Studios.
Today's seven singles come to us via siblings James Lee Hitchner and Keith Hitchner, and (mostly) the Highwood label. James got his start in music in the early 60's, playing in a country/pop outfit called the Cavaliers before going full country. We suspect that the Highwood label - which most of these singles are on - was a family business, as all the label seems to have put out are records by the brothers Hitchner. With one big exception, which we'll get to tomorrow. But for now, you can enjoy this ripper of a review of an early James Lee Hitchner show:
Well, we might as well go deep during our Stampede posts and turn to a few singles from the legendary Wilf Carter (aka Montana Slim). Born in Nova Scotia, Carter spent time in Calgary in the 1920s and 1930s, with his first radio broadcast on CFCN. Wikipedia says that Carter played his first Stampede show in 1964, but we found this 1961 article that suggests otherwise:
Carter's honest style is the kind of antidote we need to combat all the costume cowboys racing around on scooters this year. His Stampede tribute, "The Calgary Roundup," is really the B-side of his single, but it's the A-side in our heart. And the other three singles we've included have him backed up by the Calgary Stampeders (assumedly not the football team), giving us a good dose of yodeling goodness.
There are a few gaping holes in the CCPS archives, perhaps none more noticeable than the Stampeders. SO! Because we're suckers for stupid wordplay, we're pleased to present: A STAMPEDE OF STAMPEDERS SINGLES FOR THE STAMPEDE!
Roy Wilcox traces the history of the Stampeders in Garage Band Rockers; they formed out of the nucleus of the Rebounds, with Rich Dodson and Kimball Meyer (aka Kim Burley), and the Ronnie King (aka Cornelius Van Sprang) of the Ekotones and Paintbrushes. The band released a track on a comp put together by manager Mel Shaw before decamping for Toronto in 1966...
Which means that this stack of singles aren't really Calgary singles, technically. Plus, we don't have their signature tune in here, the 1971 #1 hit, "Sweet City Woman." But we think the sheer volume of other singles should make up for that - and since it spans their career (prior to their reforming in 1992), it's a pretty wide ranging bunch of stuff. Early tracks like "Carry Me" are in a distinct folk rock vein, while "Devil You" is more country rock. "Wild Eyes" is hard rock, "Ramona" is arena rock, and strangely "Bring The House Down" is funk rock. At least it's all rock. Thanks to garage rock guru Al Charlton for tipping us to the b-side track "Ride In The Wind," a great tremolo-laced, breezy track.
We're pleased to finally close up a bit of a gap in the archives - celebrate the return of the Stampede and Stampeders here!
Edit: we relented, and found a copy of "Sweet City Woman," adding to this post for completeness.
Pro tip: when you name your band after a very popular Waylon Jennings album, you're probably letting people know loud and clear what kind of music you play (outlaw country, hopefully) BUT you make it really hard for people to find out about you. But! The CCPS persevered - why? Because the label a bunch of these singles are on - High Octane Records - has an address that's just over five block away from the CCPS offices. On Wildwood Drive. On the NICE part of Wildwood Drive, backing onto the ridge. It's an unassuming place. Quite nice. Not like those big, overblow homes with three-car garages out front...
Oh, but we're not here to talk real estate. We're here to talk singles! Honky Tonk Heroes may have been based out of Vancouver at some point, based on what we could find out about them - which wasn't really much. All we know is that their drummer, Britt Hagarty, was also a writer. Sadly, Hagarty passed away in 1999.
Here's a bit of a blast from the (southern) past. Recorded in 2000 and shelved until now, this tape is a great blast of guitar rock from Lethbridge's Favour that sits somewhere between Thrush Hermit and the Inbreds. After sitting on the tapes and/or computer files for 18 years, guitarist Jeff King Kickstartered a physical release of the album - and we're pretty pleased that he did, this is quality stuff.
Okay, here's a good thing. Not just for the packaging (we're suckers for well-conceived packaging, and this is right up there with Th' Legendary Few's Smokes), but the selection of bands that Edmonton's Cups N Cakes has pulled together, which includes three Calgary faves.
This is a pretty rock-focused tape, so the inclusion of Valiska is a great breather, with their trademark atmospherics closing out side one. But instead of giving folks a breather at the end of side two, Night Committee and Napalmpom double down on the rock with both bands joining forces on a rave up of the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hanging On," throwing in novelty song "Captain Groovy and His Bubblegum Army" for shits and giggles. Hearing Andrew Wedderburn trade vocals with PJ Lavergne is amazing - it sounds like the best party ever.
The rest of the tape is packed with some heavy-weight non-Calgary content, too: Edmonton's Screaming Targets, Lethbridge's Body Lens, Vancouver's Dumb, and Ottawa's Expanda Fuzz. Come for the packaging, stay for the great tunes.
Looks like you might still be able to get a copy of this limited-edition tape if you act fast - copies are still available via the Cups N Cakes bandcamp.
We picked up a couple more tapes from Chad Vangaalen's cassette series at his show here in Calgary a couple of months ago (editor: man, are we out of practice. There must be a better way to phrase that...). There's nothing better than seeing a suitcase full of tapes from one of your favourites... except when you realize you don't have enough cash for all of them.
We grabbed two tapes, anyways: Raw Operator, a tape of infectious, electronic-based musics; and No Dust, b-sides/demos from Shrink Dust (including a version of the amazing "Primative (sic) Brain."
These pretty much cement our belief that Vangaalen is an other-worldly genius.
Here's another Lethbridge tape, courtesy of David Tighe. We didn't expect to find anything about this band (whose name at first we thought was Jiz, thanks to the typography on the j-card), but, lo and behold, they have a facebook page!
Which means you have something to browse while you grab this tape.
After a few months of hard work and sticktoitiveness, the CCPS is back and slightly improved. This old blogger-based site will be decommissioned in the coming months as content is migrated over to our fancy new website at calgarycassettes.org.
