The Story of Good Ol' Rock N' Roll: January 2007

The Story of Good Old Rock and Roll

ALMOST FAMOUS

Picture: Ducats, circa 1960's

Idea for Music Oriented Reality TV show
By Rob Crewe

In the 1960’s my father was in, by many accounts, one of the hottest Rock bands in Canada. They were touring a week behind the Stampeders and drawing significantly larger crowds. They Mingled with Little Richard, Bill Halley, Johnny and the Hurricanes, Harry Bellefonte, and Leslie Gore, had one album out with RCA-Victor and actually got signed to the pre-Motown label, Smash Records…
Things were about to get Really Big for them, well… Almost…...

(Pic: Ducats with Leslie Gore)
The Stampeders had taken a sabbatical, retiring back to the Prairies, and my dad’s band, the Ducats, were about to be the First Canadian, and ALL Newfoundland Band to be signed to the Motown label.. But, blame it on their youthful ignorance, in short… the Flubbed up, and they got thrown out and the deal never happened, and you’ve likely never heard of them until now.

A short time later Pierre Trudeau enacted the Canadian Content Law requiring Canadian

Stations to play a certain Minimum of Canadian Bands. With such a scarcity of good recorded Canadian Music, the Ducats had missed their Golden opportunity. They split up, moved back to various parts of Newfoundland, started careers and families. Meanwhile, the Stampeders got back together and went on to experience significant success in Canada. I can only image how things “could have been” for my dad’s band had things worked out differently.
(Pic: Ducat's Guitarist Butch Skinner with Scotty Moore, of Elvis Fame)

I can't remember all the names of the people involved.... and its not often you'll get my dad to talk about it.. But there were two brothers, Molten and Karl Yakus** who believe were studio engineers, (I've likely Miss-spelled that) Larry Jaspen** I think was the agent/scout And I think the main producer/writter was a man named Joseph Renzetti**.I don’t think Mr. Renzetti met the entire band, he did apparantly fly the lead singer, Claude Caines, to New York to meet him.. As the story goes, he, (Joseph) was going to give them a song he'd written to record... and that was to be the albums 1st release.

(** I should point out that I've yet to confirm their involvment in this story, but am trying to reach each of them for comment and will post their responses once I obtain them)
any way... it doesn't matter, because it never ending up happening for them.... but Most of these other guys are still in the industry... and the Ducats faded to music history's dustbin...

This news reel gives a brief Bio of their journey..

The singer, Claude, later went on to sing in Garrison Hill, which also featured Brian McLeod who latter went on to be part of the Nova Scotia Rock band Peppertree and then went on to be part of Chilliwack Claude then started a Recording Studio called Clode Sound, State of the Art in fact for the 70's, and was one of the engineers behind Wonderful Grand Band's Album that featured Ron Hines Imortal "Sonny's Dream". the rest of the Ducats have been still in and out of the music scene over the years, but purely on a minor league level..... Nothing would ever come close to where they were in the 60's.

If you haven't noticed, I really I love telling that story. I tell a significantly longer version of it every time I meet a fellow musician or a music fan. I believe that people genuinely love to hear it to, and more often then not, once I’ve finished it, they have a similar story about another band that they knew of who “Should have” or "Almost" made it… and I love hearing those stories as well.. Many of them are even Cooler then the story of my dad's old group... ..

I guess the point is that I just Love music. Everything about it. I love to play it, listen to it, going to concerts, bugging sales people at music stores, even just talking about it with other musicians and fans. It’s a passion, bordering on addiction. I can’t count how many other musicians I’ve meet who feel the same way and there are even more people who can’t play a note, but still share the same enthusiasm. We love the success stories, but we also love to hear about the “should have” stories, and even the “I knew a guy whose roommate used to be a roadie for Loverboy’s 1986 tour.” We relish in these stories, and can’t wait to repeat them.

I think that’s possibly why most musicians say that we love to hate these new Idol shows…. We’re bitter that these kids have an express ticket to what so many of us tried so hard to achieve and couldn’t. Having said that, however, if you probe a little deeper you’ll find that we really don’t hate these shows… we’re just really jealous. We’d rather hear about the struggles, the underdog, the band who slept in their cars before making it big, and even about the ones who made the sacrifices and didn’t make it. We can relate, sympathize and commiserate.

To get to the point, while there are certainly a lot of established bands that I love, I’ve always believed that some of the world’s best musicians and songs out there, we’ve never heard and likely never will. The Music industry is tough. Hard work and talent do not entitle you to a break. It’s about talent, and hard work, sure, of course.. But those two qualities alone do not guarantee success. Much of it is about Timing, Luck, business skills and of course, marketing. For every great musician who's made it, there are hundreds who didn't.

So if most of us know and accept that theres a whole world of great talent out there that we've never heard, what if there was a TV show, a “Rock-u-mentary”, that celebrated these unsung heroes. Not just my Dads former band, they were just one of many, but other bands from across North America that were also “Almost Famous”.

Each show would start with a brief biography of the featured band by the shows host, complete with pictures from the era, with that particular group’s music providing the background. Then we’d cut to the band members, and interview them about some of the more interesting highlights of their musical journey. For collaboration, we’d also interview the bar owners, patrons, fans and industry executives from back in the day, and/or (for some Star Power) where possible, actual musicians who are now famous themselves by their own merits, or by becoming part of a different group that did "make it", but back in "the day" may have played with the "Almost Famous", band, heard them, and/or just had a frienship with them. We could show clips from any available video from the era, especially video of the band in action.

In some cases, band members may have gone on to other bands and are still playing today. in other cases, many may have given up the music dream as performers to go on to "behind the scenes" success as agents, promoters, producers, etc.... Where feasable, we’d also reunite the members for an arranged gig, fill the venue with fans and extras, and get the whole thing on film. The Intent would not necessarily be to finally give these guys their break, as in many cases it would likely be too late, or commercially unviable, (although stranger things have happened). Alternatively, the intent would be largely to just pay some respect to these unsung heroes of Music and, essentially, Give them their 15 minutes in the spotlight..

Now I have been asked if this project is going be about just my fathers old group, and while initially thats where the idea did originate from, the answer is no... But I have started there simply because they are so accessible to me. From there I hope to "Connect the Dots" as they say, to Garrison Hill, then Peppertree, and maybe Oakly to name just a few, but there are countless other acts out there whose story I'd love to tell... Whats most exciting as that as I turn over each Rock, I find even more interesting stories and some really great music! Initially, I can think of at least four or five acts from Atlantic Canada (Im from there) that would be good candidates but I’m open to global ideas.

In addition my Dads band “ The Ducats”, Pepper-tree, Garrison Hill and Oakly, whom I've already mentioned, there's The Ravens from St. Johns, The Black Cats, from North Sydney, Blues Man, Roger House, The Bourbon Tabernacle Choir who I think are from Ontario, Wayne Smart from Lachute Quebec, Wayne Nickleson and from right here in Halifax to name just a few.

We could set up a website, and invite the public to email us their stories of their favorite stories of local music icons and we’d pick the most interesting among them. I think the emails will poor in from both the musicians and fans, and the range of content and music styles will be never ending. If this gains the momentum that I hope it will, I envision this being a cross country tour, telling the stories behind the music of some of Canada's best, but perhaps unknown bands.

For authenticity, the hosts would have to be musicians themselves. Perhaps a
collection of two or more has-beens or “Almost Was’s”. You’d have the straight laced suit and tie type, who used to be a rocker (OK, thats a shameless effort to get my self a job on this project see pic), and then, of course, you'd have the harder edged long hair hippie who never gave up the dream and maybe one or two others in the middle of those two extremes. This diversity would be key as while they may bicker, and argue, the Music would always unit them… (I have a few candidates in mind for each role already) It would be light hearted, and fun.

The crew would serve a few roles, beyond simple filming and production. For Example, should any of the featured bands be missing members, one of the crew could, where required, fill in that spot. But it could also lead to the audience growing to like the hosts themselves as artists.

I think the shows appeal would be universal to Music fans, regardless of where you are on the music food chain. Most Musicians I’ve ever met are also fans themselves. Bono and Bruce Springsteen were apparantly big fans of Roy Oribison, Travis Tritt Idolized Eric Clapton, and so on and so on… And each of them probably had other heroes, on a local level,who may have helped get them started and of whom we may have never heard about.... Until Now!!!! .

It's certainly a show I’d watch, and talk about weekly, around the office water cooler,in addition to the bars, music stores and rehearsal halls. I think it could grow an audience base almost on an underground level without a huge amount of P.R., but with perhaps a little push in the beginning to get it rolling. You could then attempt to license t-shirts, hats, etc, where struggling musicians, and fans alike might want to support the concept.

And last, but not least… It could serve as a podium against illegal downloading of music, as viewers would gain a new appreciation of how hard musicians actually work.

I believe this is a viable project that could have longevity and I am passionately committed to seeing it come to life. I've already collected about 3 hours of invterviews, and have more interviews booked in the near future. I do not have a sponsor, nor do I have any of the standard equipment, but I figure I'll capture what I can on my camcorder, edit it on my PC and Burn a 1 to 3 episode pilot. It will likley be a little rough around the edges, compared to what a real production firm can create I believe it will be enough to convey the theme and intent of the project. Worst case scenario, I'll have some fun doing it in my spare time, will meet some interesting musicians and learn more about their stories, capture it all on film and put it on the internet for free. Best Case scenario, a sponsor or network will see the merits in the project, and through some serious muscle behind it. While I obviously would preferr the later, I'm content just to be working on it.

So I have if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions.\ Please feel free to contact me. Especially if you work for a TV or radio channel and want to pick up or support this project. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Corporate Sponsors Also Welcome...(i.e. Korg, Yamaha, Roland, Tascam, etc...)

Rob Crewe
Bongwater Music Productions

bongwatermusic@eastlink.ca
robertcrewe@hotmail.com

APPENDIX:

If you want more info on Wayne Smart, the Ducats, or other some other great unsigned artists.. check out these links....

http://www.jonmatheson.com/
Halifax Based Singer/Song-writer Jon Matheson

http://www.intermediamusic.com/wayne.htm
Wayne Smart: Currenly Living in Nova Scotia, Wayne had 2 Independant Albums with Modest Success in Germany and Japan, but not enough to truly launch a career nor move it to North America. Wayne is now working in construction, and still writes/records as a hobby.