Well, the craptop finally derped out on me last Friday. Column done, ready to go up, and the damn thing crashes like a drunk driver into a short bus. I plotzed.
The horror of a computer crash when you write can only be understood if experienced. For men, it is like getting kicked in the grapes while someone knocks your beer on the floor.
For women, it is probably something different.
Today we forsake the Mailbag (not to worry, it will probably be back next week if I don’t toss this brick with a keyboard through the window) and catch up with the last week or so of goings-0n in our quest to never sleep, the music we’ve heard, the Lennon Suite, and Greg Simpson’s Roast.
I also promise to hit ‘save’ every time I write a sentence…
Harlan Pepper at the El Mocambo…
Tom Wilson has been making great music for a looong time. We met when he was in The Florida Razors and during an interview on Q107, harmonized together with the rest of the band and started a friendship that carries on to this day.
Tom is a musician’s musician. He writes and plays for all the right reasons, and is surrounded by the cream of Canadian players who share his passion for good, honest songs and performances. Together with Stephen Fearing and Colin Linden, Tom created Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, a roots band steeped in traditional folk and country music and who bring an Indie sensibility to the proceedings and never fail to entertain both live and onstage. Tom’s other major music project is the psychedelic/folk tinged Lee Harvey Osmond, the wonderfully named collection of old fart minstrels whose shows are must-sees and whose music borders on the seriously 
twisted bonding of Phil Ochs metaphor laden story telling, Grateful Dead musical adventurism, and Frank Zappa/Kinky Friedman ‘music-as-therapy’ art. Lee Harvey Osmond’s music is like driving through a hot, dusty desert on a 2 lane blacktop in an old Chevy truck. A singular kind of beauty appreciated by those who understand the lure of wide open spaces, agave, and air as pure as the finest silk.
Tom also manages to find the time to apply paint to canvas and create some wonderfully striking and colorful artwork. No less an authority than Pie also adds that Tom always smells nice.
Among the other fine art Tom has produced are two very talented children. Madeline, his daughter, helps out at gigs, and manages Tom’s other progeny (her brother) Thompson and the band he plays bass in, Harlan Pepper.
Pie and I have been fans of the band since we first heard them last year opening for dad’s Lee Harvey Osmond at the Dakota Tavern. We’ve attended every show we can get to since then. The acorn, as they say, does not fall far from the oak.
Dan Edmonds, the lead singer banjo player, and sometimes harmonica, Marlon Nicolle the drummer, and Jimmy Hayes, who plays guitar and keys make up the rest of the 
band. It is easy to see Tom’s background and the mentoring of these kids’ parents has allowed them to grow into such a fine band at such a young age, nourished along by understanding parents including the drummer’s dad who filled in for him on drums one night when Marlon was incapacitated, and did an admirable job. Being surrounded by dad’s friends, all fine musicians and performers, probably had an influence as well. It was a joy one night when folk legend Brent Titcomb (a member of Lee Harvey Osmond) had his son, up and coming singer/songwriter Liam Titcomb, fill in on bass with the band while Tom’s son’s band opened up for them. In case you haven’t had the pleasure of hearing Harlan Pepper yet, you can catch a live performance of two of their signature tunes here.
They tore it up at the ElMo the night we saw them, and it occurred to me that by the time these guys can legally drink and drive on the 400 series of highways, they will have already put in their 10,000 hours. They are about to leave on a tour with Lee Harvey Osmond, have their first CD released, and are playing tomorrow night (Tuesday, October 19th) at The Dakota Tavern in Toronto, on Ossington just north of Dundas Street. If at all possible, try and see them there. This group has all the makings of a career not unlike The Band’s
Here’s Tom and a couple of members of LHO with Harlan Pepper. This is real music played by real musicians. Enjoy.
Ritchie Yorke, Rich Dodson, Doug Thompson, and Lennon’s John…
Doug Thompson, one of Canada’s finest radio and television producers called me up and asked me if I would like to be interviewed as part of a series of brief film clips to be used on new Cable weblet Treasure HD. Any time you get asked to work with someone like Doug, leaping at the chance is pretty much a given. Sweetening the pot was finding out that Ritchie Yorke was also going to be interviewed on the same day in the same place: The John Lennon Suite at The King Edward Hotel in Toronto. I’ve posted them before, but if you would like to know more about Ritchie, check him out here, and here. He is a fascinating character.
Ritchie and I became friends back in the 70’s and used to see each other regularly back in the day, but since he moved back to Australia, I only get to see him once a year or so. His latest trip here was a working holiday and opportunity to visit with old friends, do some networking on his forthcoming book about Lennon’s Peace movement, and to attend the debut on Broadway of Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles, that he was instrumental in having produced.
What allowed us to spend an hour or so talking was the arrival of another legendary figure in Canadian circles, Rich Dodson. Is there anyone alive that wasn’t forced into a big grin by the Stampeder’s Sweet City Woman? One of many fine songs written by Rich. It was great to see him, his lovely wife and talented singer/songwriter daughter, Holly. We promised to stay in touch and then headed 
downstairs to visit with Ritchie and his lady, Min. It seems that Rich had told Doug he would be unable to be interviewed that day and would reschedule. That’s when Doug called me and asked me to fill in. Rich was able to make it after all, and I have been rescheduled for November at Cherry Cola’s along with Ian Thomas. Looking forward to it.
What was cool about being there at all was nosing around the suite where John and Yoko stayed when in Toronto. It was smaller than I had expected, 
but while Doug, Ritchie, and Rich and I talked, Jade took some pictures of the bedroom, and a couple of other places in the suite. Oddly, there is no plaque commemorating the John Lennon Suite as such…if such a plaque existed, it was probably stolen so many times that they just gave up.
Jade gives ‘thumbs up’ to John’s John in the Lennon Suite.
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The Yoko and John in the John Lennon Suite.- Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–
The John and Yoko at The El Mocambo            .———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–
Tough Love: Roasting Greg Simpson…
Around 200 of us showed up in London Thursday night to make sure Greg Simpson got a proper send off to the Left Coast next week.
Greg has helped more musicians than a prescription for penicillin and a bottle of crab remover over the years. An award winning music director, record promoter, organizer, stage manager, and MC, Greg is forsaking his adopted home in London Ontario and heading back to BC to be close to his kids and his supply of fresh greens.
Health conscious since a mild stroke earlier this year, Greg will continue to consult DAWG FM in Ottawa and work tirelessly to make sure CMW remains the world class gathering it has grown into over the years while he watches his diet, whittles on the porch, and protects his garden from revenuers.
I only wish someone would have filmed the proceedings…it was waaay too much fun. Some shots taken by Pie and a 
few lines from my speech and intros. I would quote some of the other speakers, but I was laughing so hard I missed half of what they said.
On second thought, I can’t really print any of what was said that night except this: “In all honesty, I love Greg Simpson. You cannot find a more generous and giving individual. He truly has been a friend for over 30 years, and has stuck by me through thick and thin. His efforts on behalf of the blues, Canadian artists, and Canadian music in general is equaled by no one. He is a devoted father and an outspoken, honest person that says what he means and means what he says. Greg will be missed far more than he realizes when he moves to the Left Coast next month, and I for one, am 
sorry to see him go. Ladies and Gentlemen, the man of the hour…Mr. Greg Simpson.†Shine on you crazy diamond…
Among the speakers and guests, Linda Dawe, Robert Charles-Dunne, Julian Tuck, Pam Beatson, Shelly Rastin, Dave MacMillan, Todd Miller, Wolfgang Spegg and Garwood Wallace. Among the musical performers, Shelley Rastin, Donna Creighton, Steph Martin, Bill Durst, Jim Corbett, Chris Murphy, and George Oliver.
You should have been there…
Harlan Pepper: Tuesday October 19th The Dakota Tavern Toronto
Courage My Love: Wednesday October 20th the Hard Luck Bar Toronto
Dave Borins: DVD/CD filming and recording October 20-21 Hugh’s Room Dundas at Roncesvalles Toronto
Next: The Rock Files: You think Rock is dead? Think again…
That’s enough for now. Email me at segarini@fyimusic.ca with your comments, complaints, and thoughts…and remember…don’t believe a word I say.
Bob “The Iceman†Segarini was in the bands The Family Tree, Roxy, The Wackers, The Dudes, The Segarini Band, and Cats and Dogs, and nominated for a Juno for production in 1978. He also hosted “Late Great Movies†on CITY TV, was a producer of Much Music, and an on-air personality on CHUM FM, Q107, SIRIUS Sat/Rad’s Iceberg 95, (now 85), and now provides content for radiothatdoesntsuck.com with RadioZombie, The Iceage, and PsychShack. Along with the love of his life, Jade (Pie) Dunlop, (who hosts and writes “I’ve Heard That Song Before†on RTDS), continues to write, make music, and record.
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Great column…Ochs, not Oakes, though.