Transcript
Speaker: Hi it's Dan here for Dusty Discs Radio and this is the podcast Liner Notes revealing chats with Canada's retro music makers.
Speaker: Today, I'm very honored to have as my guest keyboardist, vocalist, harp man, songwriter, and the consummate blues man, Al Foreman. And we'll be talking about music and travels and the business of music, the life of a career entertainer, and we'll get some other insights as well about working on albums and so much more. So join me for a look inside the Canadian music scene from someone who's been around, as they say. Al Foreman has been an icon of the Vancouver music scene since the 70s, best known perhaps for his time with Scrugglo Kane, the former Young Band, as well as many and other
Speaker: subsequent projects that he's been involved in. He's basically done it all from touring and writing, recording, producing, and much more, which we will get into in our discussion. So thanks for joining me today, Al. How are you? You're welcome, Dan. Nice to be here with you. I'm fine. I'm fine.
Speaker: Right on. Well, I, uh, you're one of the guys I wanted to talk to, you know, we have a list of people we'd like to talk to and your name came up a couple of times. And so I'm, I'm very happy to finally get a chance to talk to you. I've seen you a number of times over the years, which I'll, I'll share with you as we, uh, as we get through our discussion here. Okay. So I'm glad to be here. Yeah. So you obviously play piano and harp and you, you've been active. Well, it's been a half a century now.
Speaker: Uh, 68, I joined the union. So yeah, that's, uh, that's pretty true. And then of course, I was playing, uh, weekends before that, uh, started off, I guess, playing weekends in the early sixties, but 68 joined the union. So yeah, it's been, uh, it's been quite a while now. Wow. It's been, it's been a lifetime, eh? And then I read here, you played with Tommy Chong for a little bit in your teenage years. Yeah. That was, uh, that was my first.
Speaker: first real band I guess that I was short -lived because I was attending UBC at that time but yeah he had a group while it was him and the guy named Tommy Milton they had a group called Little Daddy and the Bachelors and I got hooked up with them probably about 1962 and that was really my first sort of foray into the
Speaker: It was just weekends and wasn't even weekends. It was really just gigs that they would come up with and I was a part of the band for a while, but it was neat. It was a pretty good training school. And yeah, Tommy was the sort of consummate professional and, you know, as it were.
Speaker: We did a few gigs. Well, more than a few. It was a nice experience. Yeah. Yeah. Most people think of him as the comedian. Obviously he became a superstar with Chi -Chin Chong, but he was a musician and he, I guess he always was. And he maintained that through his life, right? He always plays music, right? Yeah. He, I don't know when he started playing guitar. They came out from Calgary, I think this is Hurry Roots and yeah, he played guitar and
Speaker: This guy, Tommy Milton, was the lead guy. They just called him Little Daddy. Tommy was the guitarist.
Speaker: no inkling of what was to follow. I don't think anybody did, but of course he went on to be a great fan with Cheech and Chong. Well, that's the thing, because I'm not quite where you are. I'm catching up to you, but I'm a little bit younger. In my teenage years and stuff, I mean, Cheech and Chong, when you were in high school, we did those skits all the time. They were classic skits for sure. Yeah.
Speaker: So then, so you were based in Vancouver. Like you were, you were born here or you're from here. Born and raised. Yeah. Born and raised in 1943. I was born. So I've been here for all my life. There you go.
Speaker: and then so you had lots of fun with your early bands I mean you get into music and it was an exciting time too because you were right at the perfect age for the onset of rock and roll and you know that's that's so true Dan I was so lucky uh you know to be born in uh 43 meant that I was a teenager and you know in the mid to late 50s when of course rock and roll was just coming on like a powerhouse and everybody had to uh
Speaker: adjust and adapt, especially parents. But for young kids, like myself, teenagers, it was just the greatest time to be alive and able to absorb all this music. Plus, I had begun taking piano lessons in 54. So I, you know, by the time 57, 58 came around, I was, you know, I sort of knew a little bit about this music that I was enjoying, and I could
Speaker: play it with some, you know, dexterity anyway. I don't know about much more than that, but I quite enjoyed it for sure. Well, that's, that's super cool. And being right there, like you're kind of a, I talked to Robbie Lane about that too. You're kind of a living historian because you've kind of lived it too. You've been, you've watched it and been involved in it. So you become kind of a historian. That was the other thing about it. At the time you don't realize that, but reflecting on it, of course, the years later, you're able to sort of talk about the onset of it.
Speaker: you know, could almost...
Speaker: you know with a fair amount of knowledge of exactly what happened to me as a sort of a musician in the transition from learning about rock and roll and then learning where it came from and learning about rhythm and blues and then blues music in general and then it just went from there. I always like to call it a voyage of discovery down through the years and it seems to never end, right?
Speaker: Yeah, then what's great. And then of course, like I said, you can share and it's neat because a lot of people are quite interested in that. I found that with this doing the podcast and stuff, there's a real interest out there and hearing what people have to say about the, you know, especially when the whole music business too, like the Canadian music scene, I've heard that over and over again was really in its infancy.
Speaker: Well, it wasn't much of a scene. So you were creating that scene. That's so true. And I wouldn't even say we would be creating a scene until really much later in the 60s and maybe even in the 70s when they got the Canadian content rules in place. That helped a lot of acts. But in the early years, you know, it was sort of a few and far between. I know that Les Voight had a record out. He had a group called the Blamers. And I think you've interviewed Les Voight. I've known Les for years and I did talk to him.
Speaker: so anyway at that time you know you there was very few canadian acts that were sort of um i guess the bow marks come to mind i remember that song called clap your hands i think they're from montreal and then you know in the early 60s there really wasn't a whole lot uh going on and well of course i think the big uh mainstay would be the guess who but they they came on you know in the late 60s early 70s i think yeah but uh yeah you're right you're already seen was a developing time for uh
Speaker: mostly the groups were from American and of course the British invasion came along but Canadians were involved but not in a huge way maybe just a few acts you know Ian and Sylvia and I guess there was groups out of Toronto but yeah it was an interesting time then the development of you know rock and roll in general and then the other aspects of it that came. That's part of the history of it and so you played in the late 60s in Night Train Review
Speaker: Yeah, that was my first, when I joined the union in 68, um, I actually got a, uh, an opportunity to join this group called, uh, night train. And they were, uh, they were like, uh, almost like a house band at, uh, this club called loyal can Harry's in Vancouver. And, uh, it was managed by a guy named Danny. And, uh, who a lot of Vancouver people will maybe recall from that time. But when we joined the night train.
Speaker: Uh, within about, I'm going to say five to six weeks, uh, we went from having this little kind of a steady engagement or oil can Harry's to, uh, an opportunity to travel to San Francisco. We did an exchange, but see to put all this together. He did an example. He did an exchange with a band on in San Francisco. They came up to oil cans and they played there for six weeks. And we went down to San Francisco. We played a place called the dragon, the dragon, a go -go for six weeks.
Speaker: And while we were there, Pacita, in his infinite wisdom, got us a showcase gig down in Los Angeles. And we went down to Los Angeles for one night and we did this showcase gig that allowed people to see us because this gig was set up for promoters, agents, and
Speaker: sort of people in the industry to check out these acts. And we were sort of like this, you know, import act from Canada, if you will, that that did this little showcase. And from there, believe it or not, Dan, we got another gig and that gig went from that to another gig. And we were on the road for two and a half years. I never got back to Vancouver until the Christmas of 1970.
Speaker: Wow. And so you were in San Francisco right in the late sixties. That was right. The Haight -Ashbury time of, uh, yeah, it was a unique time to be there. We weren't really down there very much because we were working all the time and club, but that's right. Haight -Ashbury was happening. And, uh, so, uh, you know, like I say, the big thing for us though, was the fact that these other gigs followed. And next thing you know, we were in.
Speaker: Well, the next gig was Boulder, Colorado, and then it went on to Chicago and New York and Miami. We went all across the United States. It's covered a lot of territory and it was just a great, wonderful time.
Speaker: The band was a sort of a, I guess you would call it a show band, a review of sorts. There was two lead singers and a seven piece band. So it was pretty cool. Well, that's what I was going to ask you about Night Train Review because that's an iconic name around Vancouver. I mean, they carried on for probably a couple more decades, right? I mean, they were still going in the eighties, weren't they? Yeah, they did. When I got back in 1970, the group kind of drifted a bit and I kind of left and went on with other things.
Speaker: The band did go on for a number of years. Of course, I was with other bands at this time, but they did survive in Vancouver. And then more recently, although I think it's come to a conclusion now, but one of the original keyboarders named Chuck Cliff started a bit of a reunion with the Night Train and that was going strong, I think through the
Speaker: 90s and into the 2000s and then okay Yeah, cool. No, that's neat because I'd heard that name lots of times and of course It's one of those brands that yeah has heard of and and the revolving members I suppose to it to a large extent, but it was yeah Yeah, it was it was a great. It was a great training ground a good experience for well for all of us really and it was a great time
Speaker: So then I was curious about, so you ended up in Scrubble, Okane, but you were from Vancouver, but that band came out of Calgary, you know? Well, yeah, they kind of cut their teeth in Calgary. What happened was I went out from Vancouver. There were three of us that traveled out there. Jimmy Armada was a guitarist and a guy named Bob Kidd, original bass player, and myself traveled from Vancouver out to Calgary. And we hooked up with Henry and Paul Dean at the time.
Speaker: For the first few months, I guess, we were struggling to find a drummer. And then we finally settled on Billy Macbeth. And that was the roots of, well, first were called Cannonball, but that was the roots of Scrubble O 'Kane. And we headed out to Quebec City. And that was where we really cut our teeth as a bad witness. We worked there for
Speaker: think at least a couple of months maybe longer seven nights a week it was unbelievable but it was a fabulous club with a fabulous experience and the band got quite it was a quite a good band we got pretty tight and of course we got noticed by Don Hunter the management of the guess who was through Jimmy Kale that came into the band and
Speaker: Anyway, yeah, that was the early part of the script. Well, it was a great band. It was more than just a good band. It was a great band. I mean, you guys had a real magical sort of combination there, I think, in some measure. And then, of course, cutting your teeth in the clubs. I mean, it cuts both ways, right? You're playing all the time, but you're getting tight, tight, tight. Yeah, that's exactly what happened, Dan. And yeah, I mean, I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but it was a great band. It really was part of one of the best bands that I've been with over the years, for sure.
Speaker: And a lot of talent and just some great, great gig experiences and camaraderie. And it was a real, it was a powerhouse band. We had some pretty good times. Yeah. That's very cool. So, so the thing about Scrubble that got me was that you were, you were kind of all over the place because you ended up in Toronto and then you went to LA to record. Yeah. So how did that all happen? You got a record deal and then you ended up in Toronto? Well, the, um,
Speaker: The big factor, I guess, would be when we got out to, after we finished up in Quebec City, we were, you know, just a little bit in limbo, but we had gained some momentum because we had stopped in Winnipeg, and there Jimmy Kale had come out to hear us, and he had, at that time, wasn't with the Guess Who, and of course they were connected with this
Speaker: management company in Winnipeg and they they were quite interested in us and so that was the beginning with the Winnipeg sort of foundation connection they were our management company and that was where the deal got put together to record this album with RCA and they just flew us down to California to do the recording and we went to New York to shoot the album cover and you know it was kind of a really
Speaker: introduction to the big time, I guess, if you want to look that way for us. Exciting. Henry told me about the album cover, said you spent a pile of money and they brought the ring in.
Speaker: That was a great, that's right. I heard you talk about that. And it was exactly what happened. They brought all the staff in from the RCA offices in the New York building where they had all their staff and they built this actual boxing ring. And of course they had all the band decked out. Well, you've seen the cover, I'm sure. Yeah, absolutely. So that's the history behind the making of that cover. Yeah, it's classic.
Speaker: Well, I mean, I thought it was kind of funny because I thought, well, the band wasn't really a bunch of tough guys or anything. And then you're in a boxing ring. It's called Round One, I guess, was the album. Which is called Round One. I think at the time we were thought if we if we have a follow up, you know, we could call it Round Two. It was just the beginning of a set of what we thought might be a cycle. So that's why we called it Round One. Yeah, perfect. But it was it was a pretty significant album. The only album we had out quite significant at the time.
Speaker: We were a little bit dejected about the mix. Even when I listen to it now, the sound almost speeded up. And I learned years later, there was a way that the RCA people had recorded it. It had to do with, I can't remember the title of it now, but it was a way that it was recorded.
Speaker: something to do with Dyna Groove or something like that. I can't explain it. So do you think they sped the tape up a little bit? Well, I don't know. I don't know. But even when I listen to it now, it sounds so... I think we were excited for sure because we were recording. And the songs, no doubt about it. Some of them were a little bit fast and furious, but they have this tendency to almost sound like little chipmunks.
Speaker: Well, I guess, but you're kind of inside it too. Yeah, I know. The average listener just listens, right, you know, and goes, ah, I like it, you know, so. Well, there's definitely people that liked it, yeah, for sure. Well, it's funny, I just on my Facebook the other day, somebody put on their chill into some Scrubble O 'Kane. You know, I've seen the postings on there as well. I go on to Facebook sometime or whatever, you know, you'd just be curious about what's going on. Sure enough,
Speaker: People have downloaded parts of the album and it's quite a, I wouldn't say it's sought after, but it's up there amongst the iconic sort of albums that, you know, one hit wonder bands kind of did. Well, I think so. And so when you went to LA, were you assigned a producer or did you take one down with you?
Speaker: No, we were assigned a staff producer, a guy named Dave Personbaum and we didn't know much about him or his track record and you know, really weren't that knowledgeable about producers and who to get. We just sit with a staff producer with RCA and we went down there pretty prepared anyway. So he didn't have to do a whole lot. We just sort of tore into the stuff that we did and you know, not to sort of
Speaker: Discreted him and all he was a fine producer, but we were already stoked and ready to go with the material. So yeah Yeah, and Paul Paul Dean was in the band too and he's pretty intense I mean, he's pretty involved in pretty much every aspect of everything, right? Yeah, they get along. Okay. Did there was there any oh, yeah
Speaker: That was the thing about the band. We were all very much in tune with each other. Paul and Jimmy Harmata, the twin guitarists, they were having a field day with each other because they came from different backgrounds and styles.
Speaker: very compatible in the whole unit and of course the fact that Henry could sing his ass off and play violin and you know when I'm playing B3 and we had a great little rhythm section and of course Kiel was a you know a decent bass player and so it was a pretty strong little unit when we started to record on it. And then the producer got along with everybody he didn't he didn't like was he the executive producer kind of telling everybody what to do or just kind of
Speaker: More or less he kind of sat back. Paul was more interested in the production side and the mix and that kind of thing. I was pretty naive about all that stuff back then. But Paul was quite interested in it even from the early days. But as far as Kirschenbaum, the producer, he kind of had to let us have free reign into how our arrangements went. In fact, he was taken of quite some of them. There's an arrangement of Trouble, which is
Speaker: Quite significant. That was our own sort of idea of Elvis. You've probably maybe heard the song. Yeah, I have. I listen to the whole album. Yeah, so Elvis' version of Trouble is pretty much completely different. So to answer your question, Kirsten Baum was there, but I think really the band had a lot of input as to how we'd already structured our arrangements. Oh, good. Well, that's good to hear because sometimes when you get a staff producer and the guy's a little bit harsh and
Speaker: You know the band isn't really feeling the vibe and stuff. I've heard that a few times. Yeah, I'm not surprised. No, we didn't experience any of that. Well cool. And the album of course sounds great. And then so you did Edmonton Rain. That's cool. That's you playing piano in the beginning of that? Yeah, that was my, I began writing
Speaker: kind of when I was at the tail end of Night Train and you know I had some ideas about some songs and so by the time I got to Scrubbleau I'd already written some things and so that was that was kind of a nice advantage for me and you know the guys like the material and so yeah that was that was part of my introduction. No it sounds great too and I was wondering about Do I Love You like there's
Speaker: There's a double lead vocal in it. How much singing did you do in that band? Was that, is one of those voices yours or did Henry do? No, no, I sang with Henry. Henry was the lead singer, no doubt about it. But we would do, we would trade off, but primarily he was the lead singer. And sometimes we'd sing together, you know, there'd be certain harmony parts that we'd work out. And do I love you with, that was a gas just doing that because he was,
Speaker: Just a wonder to work with, you know, because he had such a gifted voice and, you know, we both loved the material. It didn't really matter who wrote it, whether it was myself or one of the other guys, or even if it was a cover tune, you know, we would just act with it as a unit. Yeah. Yeah. So, so there's one of those voices yours on, do I love you? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That's what I thought when I listened to it, but then I thought, Oh, I better ask you.
Speaker: No, that's him and I singing is it? Yeah, it's doing it. Yeah, it was pretty tight. And then feeling good on Sunday is same deal, like it's double vocals too, right? Yeah, that was one. I think we shared the bridge. He would sing one line, I would sing the other, but primarily it was him and I doing both parts.
Speaker: And it would depend on the song. If the song felt like to have either an alternate vocal or a harmonized vocal, we would sort of tackle it that way. Yeah, good. So you and him were the two main singers. Yeah, that's very cool. And then on Traveland, that's you playing the piano, which is super nice, right? Yeah, that was one I wrote for my parents.
Speaker: My parents are a little alarmed that I was going to become a professional musician. So I went back to my decision to become a musician in the sixties and my parents were, they had this vision of me being, I don't know, doctor or lawyer or something. Cause I had spent some time out at UBC and, um,
Speaker: actually four years out there but I flunked the last two because I was so involved with music playing it on the weekend yeah and so I wrote this song you know just kind of to let them know that I probably was going to be all right and so that's the history of traveling now but you didn't you didn't get to sing that though was that Henry singing or is that you singing
Speaker: No, no, Henry sang it, yeah. He liked that song. I think that all of us could sort of possibly relate to the lyric because it was, even though I had written it from a personal standpoint, trying to appease my folks or let them know that I was going to be okay. I think all of us were in the band and, you know, kind of just single and just heading out and doing whatever we do, right? Yeah. And then you did Crazy About a Blues Guitar, which is almost like, that's a kind of an epic, right? It's long. You know?
Speaker: Yeah, that is so cool. That goes back to early love of electric blues guitar. When I was in the bands, both Night Train and even earlier with Tommy and those guys, I kind of already knew about rhythm and blues. And I definitely, by the time the sixties came along,
Speaker: was completely immersed in what would later become soul music, but I just knew it as rhythm and blues. And I loved the sound of electric guitar. I think the first one I probably got to know of any significance was BB King. But as the years went on in the early sixties, especially, I got hip to, I think first Freddie King and then Albert King. But the bottom line was I just loved the electric guitar.
Speaker: and the sound of it and the way they could express themselves on it. And that was the reason for writing the song. I just didn't write that song and it became, it was a huge sort of success for the band when we would play that song. People would go nuts.
Speaker: because if it had this middle part, we'd break into a slow blues. And it was quite the iconic tune. Yeah, I remember hearing it too. So listen, let me take a break and we'll be right back. We're talking to Al Foreman.
Speaker: Hey, do you want to hear about new episodes before they go live? Then join the Liner Notes VIP community. You'll be able to listen to the weekly podcast before the general public, plus the episodes have no ads, breaks, or interruptions of any kind. You'll also hear exclusive bonus episodes and be the first to know about upcoming guests. To check out the details and become a member, go to linernotes .ca. Now let's get back to our special guest. All right, we're back. We're talking to Al Foreman about Scrubble O 'Kane and
Speaker: what happened with that band. And then we're gonna get into some of the stuff he did after that as well. But welcome back, Al. I just wanted to ask you about Scrubble O 'Kane because there's so many bands, you know, that made it in the past. We used to say, you're gonna make it, right? And then there's a whole bunch of bands that kind of almost made it, you know? And, you know, I think of bands like Scrubble O 'Kane, like all the pieces are there. You got the album, you got the record deal, you're touring, you're doing everything that you're supposed to do to make it work. And then it doesn't work out. So what happened?
Speaker: Well, I think I was somewhat discouraged. I think maybe most, not most of the band, but we felt that we were sort of just more spinning our wheels and we didn't really feel that we were getting the attention that we deserve. We always thought we would be more suited for, uh, that we did open for a couple of times for the guests who, and we always felt that, um,
Speaker: that the management kind of sidelined us for whatever reason. We were doing a lot of high schools out in Toronto, and we played clubs as well. But I don't know, it wasn't a time that we felt that we were getting as much attention as we should have.
Speaker: It was a little bit discouraging and I got a little bit discouraged about the scene and I decided to leave. It probably may not have been the best decision at the time, but I kind of made up my mind about it and I decided that that was it. I was going to be moving on and I left in 1975. Okay. Yeah. And then you came back to Vancouver. I did come back to Vancouver, but not for very long.
Speaker: I had gotten married to my second wife, and we came back to Vancouver, and I hooked up with a guy named Mike Young, who was working as a part of a duo down at Gary Taylor's Club. I was in the
Speaker: Not the Cecil Hotel. Forget the name of the hotel. Anyway, that was when I met Mike Young. And that was the very early beginnings of the association with the former Young. Yeah. No, very cool. Well, yeah. So just on the Scrubble O 'Kane thing for a second, it seems kind of like there were six of you in the band, right? So it's a little bit like herding cats, as they say. And then, of course, there's always money issues and
Speaker: You know, what are we going to do from here on? And we've got some sort of level of success, but what the heck do you do after that? So I always wonder why you didn't do a follow -up album. Did you lose the record deal? Because you were with CBS records, right? And you were in the scene. No, it was RCA records. Yeah, that's okay. It was RCA. And we may have been able to do a follow -up album had I stayed with the band, possibly. I'm not saying that I was sort of the main length that everything fell apart when I left.
Speaker: For whatever reason, once I had left, they had tried to carry on. Things didn't materialize for whatever reason. I think, like I say, there was a bit of a discouragement factor that was prevalent even prior to my leaving, but maybe reading too much into it there.
Speaker: But yeah, that's kind of what happened when I moved on. And then I guess the band struggled a bit and I'm not sure after all that. Okay. Well, thanks for sharing that because you think when you put all the pieces together and you have some level of success, like it's only up from there usually, right? Yeah, you would like to think so. Yeah. But you know, I'm sure we're not the first band to have a limited success. Yeah. No, it's true.
Speaker: Yeah, it is kind of a shame because the band was a powerhouse unit. Well, it's true because I'm often in doing all these interviews and all these discussions and that. What does it take to really punch through the top? And Pauline obviously figured it out with Loverboy because they got to the top. But there were so many bands that were
Speaker: Capable of doing that and they were kind of right there just right grabbing for the rain You know, but yeah, I think the main thing is you have to stay together Yeah, kind of through thick and thin and I I wasn't actually Prepared to do that to a full commitment. That's kind of why I left that thing. Yeah, fair enough And so, you know, that's a factor for sure because we did have most the other pieces were together I wasn't really that
Speaker: Totally enthused about our management, but that's another story. Yeah, and you know You know getting back to Scubalo for just a sec That's that was really there was a lot of pieces that were there and it was you know, it was a shame that it didn't do more Yeah, yeah, and then you ended up in Vancouver and it's funny because I met you probably 1978 you wouldn't remember but you had the song on the radio wonder what you're doing and
Speaker: And my, the guy that I was playing with was a bass player and he was taking lessons from Lawrence. And you guys were playing at Patties in Gastown. And I was underage. I was about 18. And, uh, and my buddy said, we're going to go see Lawrence and the Foreman Young Band. And I knew you had the song on the radio and I loved it. And so we came down to Patties. It was downstairs and you were, you guys were down there. It sounded great. Wow. Loved it. That's crazy. Yeah. And you guys were, you had a good hype going. I mean, you had the song, you had recorded that song.
Speaker: I wonder what you're doing tonight. It was on the radio, so you guys were doing the thing, right? I had a pretty good second chance there when the former Young Band started to develop.
Speaker: I was pretty enthused and it went from a duo, just me and Mike Young, to a five -piece band and then we got hooked up with this guy Ray Pettinger with Casino Records and he knew of another trio that he was working with called Gary Betty and Blue, which is Gary Colliger and Betty Chab and Blue Williams.
Speaker: uh we all just we decided to kind of join forces and that was the former young man so we had uh uh that was the and then the song i wonder what you're doing tonight uh was actually started written started being written by billy mccbeth the drummer in struggle oh yeah he had a uh he just had the son of the hook but he didn't have any of the story and so uh we'd already parted company of course because i was with the former young man and i
Speaker: I wrote the song thinking about him. So that lyric about, uh, how's it going? My friend, you know, I've been thinking about, that's just me talking about Billy. And so, you know, in this day and age, you just pick up a cell phone and call him and say, how's it going? But back then I wasn't even sure where he was. And, uh, so that was, and then I played him the song.
Speaker: and he thought this is great so then I showed it to the guys and it ended up being the one that they chose as a single and of course the other aspects of the band were the other people had written some stuff too and so that was the former young bands in Rhodes that was pretty strong as well we had good management for a while unfortunately there was a control
Speaker: control issue by the record label who almost wanted to manage this and control everything else. So that whole thing really was not a good scene at all. Yeah, I'm sorry to hear that. So you were on CKLG, you got charted, you were peak position 13 is what I'm reading here. Okay, I wouldn't be surprised. It was kind of a national hit right across Canada. That was a pretty good feather in our cap. We managed to tour
Speaker: You know on the strength of that and uh, you know we did a cross -canada tour and You know, it was everything was going actually along quite well. We had uh, this american management company was interested in it And so did you have a record deal like was that just a single that you put out? You didn't put out an album at all, right We had a single and we had a lot of stuff uh, sort of in the can ready to go for an album and uh that never came to fruition uh because the uh
Speaker: management and the record label got into a pretty significant, well, more than just a disagreement. Things were, I don't want to get into all the gory detail, but suffice it to say that things did not work out. Band was kind of caught in the middle. And by this time, we had been taken down to California by the management company and they put us up in a
Speaker: in a motel and we rehearsed our first six days straight preparing for this because we were going to be opening for the Beach Boys. And we ended up doing that concert. That was a highlight of my life. One of the main ways. Very cool. Yeah. So that was cool. And then, of course, it wasn't long after that that this management and recording label dispute started to escalate and we were caught in the middle. We had to get a lawyer and I was
Speaker: Kind of fortunate to get my publishing back on that one song and and everything else that was on the label Uh or on the you know prospect of another album or the first album actually Uh never came to fruition. So Yeah, there's another example of just about right like you you got you got pieces in place You got a song on the radio. I mean, that's what everybody wants, right? Yeah there definitely was pieces in place and the strength was there and uh this uh
Speaker: sort of misguided dispute that we were caught in the middle of. It really wasn't pretty. There was lawyers involved and we were pretty much cut off by both the label and the management company were kind of left out in limbo really.
Speaker: And we just came back from California and I was really discouraged after this one. And I just took a complete break from the scene of going out and getting with bands and struggling to do whatever. This is 1978 now and I just decided I was going to take a little breather from all that.
Speaker: Yeah, it's a long, lonely road, boy. It can be, uh, it can be done. So let me just put a plug in here for Ray McGinnis. He's doing this, uh, Countdown Vancouver and it's a Vancouver signature sounds .com and he's got you on there at number 889 with, uh,
Speaker: How's it been going, my friend? You know, so it's a wonder what you're doing. And so he really liked it and he's got some information on there. So if people want to check it out, it's vancouversignaturesounds .com. And he sent me a copy of that. And so we're going to try to get you some airplay on Dusty Discs Radio and let people hear that song again. I think it needs to be brought back out and let people hear it. It's a great song.
Speaker: That sounds fine to me. I've seen that signature sounds and yeah, I don't know who put all that together. But yeah, I've seen the song on there and that's cool. Well, I tried to get because you can play the song on his website, but you can't download it. So I just emailed him and he sent it to me.
Speaker: Oh, cool. And then I got it to the ladies at the radio station. So, uh, nice. Here we go. Yeah. And then you teamed up with, uh, Jim Burns. Cause you, I know you had Foreman Young and then Foreman Burns. I think I saw you guys downtown. I can't remember where though I'm scratching my head. Cause it was talking 40 years ago here now, right? Yeah. That was the next phase actually. Cause when I got to, uh, back home in 78 from, uh, Donna and California, um,
Speaker: Like I say, I took a little bit of a hiatus from all the craziness and I was living in a little apartment and kids and I had decided I was going to put together this blues show and I decided that I was going to do it as a concert and I wrote the script. I got my buddy Bill Reiter to do a narrative. I brought the people together that I wanted to have and that was when I first met
Speaker: Tom and Jack Lavin, just prior to their Potter Blues. These are just sort of people that I got to meet when I'd come back after the former Young Fiasco. And I got the venue. We did it out at the place on Venables in the East End, the Vancouver East Cultural Center. And it was called Summertime Blues and Appreciation.
Speaker: And it was quite a success. It got really good reviews. And of course, that's where I met Jim Burns. I seen him perform at Rohan's. And I brought him on board as a guest on the show. There was a number of people that were in the show, of course, but Jimmy was like a special guest because he just arrived in town from St. Louis. And of course, he
Speaker: He played slide guitar and sang and so that was the impetus to start working with him after that initial show that I did, which was quite a success. Jimmy and I decided to kind of work together and put a band together and that was the beginning of the former Burns Blues Band. Cool. And then you guys did a bunch of gigs around town and did you tour at all or record? Not really. We didn't do any touring or recording.
Speaker: We did some gigs around town, we traveled a bit, did a lot of work over on the island actually at Harpo's and over in Nanaimo. But no, we did get interest actually from a management company, they're actually there, an agency, the guy that was connected with Bruce Allen, Sam Feldman.
Speaker: I turned him down at the time. I was really gung -ho, but sort of looking after the group myself. And so we went along as sort of unmanaged and just decided what we wanted to do ourselves. And then at some point, I decided I wanted to go back to school to get some more education about music and arranging. And I was a little bit
Speaker: Although I like blues, I grew up, I loved it, I still love it. But as a performance entity, it was somewhat limiting. And I wanted to, I just wanted to see what else was out there and expand a bit. So that was the impetus for the next sort of phase in my life, which was when I went back to school. And it was when I went to cap college and learned how to arrange and
Speaker: and delved into the various aspects of the commercial music program.
Speaker: When I had that song, I'll call it Everybody Wants More Money, that was the result of me being able to, or I arranged the horns for that song, plus I had written the song, but I did the horn arrangement as well. And it was pretty, I quite enjoyed this whole year that I was at school. And so that was the next phase of my, that was when I started just working just under the Al Forman band with various configurations of guys that would come and go, yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. Well, that's cool. No, that speaks well of you to do that. You know, you already had some, a certain level of success. You'd been playing your gig and then you went back to school and, and well, cap college for those people who don't know if they're listening across Canada, cap college was the place to get an education in music in Vancouver for decades. Still it's cap university now. No, it's cap university. Yeah. Right.
Speaker: But that was the place to go. So you went there and got some training and then everybody wants more money. You put that out on Munchkin Records. Now that was your own record label? You started your own? I formed my own record label, yeah. I don't know whether I, if it had a huge success, I probably would have got sued by the guys who won that name Munchkin. I'm sure it goes back to the days of
Speaker: of the Wizard of Oz. The song never, it was just sort of a regional hit, but that was fine. And, you know, I quite enjoyed it. I think I got on the charts on LG for a bit.
Speaker: Yeah, I've seen you play it too. It must have been at the Fairview or I think I was up in Powell River one time too. And we were up there at the same time. I think you were playing somewhere in Powell River and I was too. And when I came over and saw you and I heard you play that too. So you used to play it in your shows all the time, right? Yeah, I did. Yeah, I still do. Yeah, very cool.
Speaker: Yeah. So that's neat. Well, the interesting thing, like from my perspective is, and I've asked a few other people like Al Harlow and those guys about this, but a lot of the bands, they seem so short lived, you know, like everybody was just bouncing around and you're in this band and you're in that band and this band lasts six months or a year. And what do you think the reason was for that?
Speaker: I'm not really sure. I could speak for myself. I think I would get sort of anxious to sort of have either something happen or I would just feel like it was time for me to do something else. I wasn't that totally committed.
Speaker: to working with whatever unit I was, well, the former young thing, that fell apart. There's no way anybody would have stayed in that. And then working with Jimmy, like I say, I was enjoyable, but it was somewhat limiting in the way of the type of music that we played. And I also, for whatever reason, I just wanted to get some more education. So and then when I worked after that, when I was just under my own name, it was my first sort of
Speaker: uh where you're completely responsible for sort of hiring and firing guys and then you know you get into that aspect of keeping a band together and uh that was always a difficult thing for me i never really liked to uh i didn't mind being a band leader but that aspect of it always uh did not really sit very well with me so i was on a very cutthroat kind of man you got to be uh talk about successful bands if you're a single guy or a single artist
Speaker: you have to be able to know what you want and set a higher end fire the guys who are going to make you a more of a success because your name is out there and so if you don't have proper personnel that are you know and so that I think that's a part of it as well Danny why it doesn't really sort of work out. Yeah he makes some fair points there.
Speaker: Yeah, you make some fair points there because being the band leaders is a challenge in itself and then hiring and firing and then no one's coming there to see you. If it's the Al Foreman band, then you're the guy. And of course I've heard about various guys who over the years that are successful acts, but they're not that pleasant to work for. You know, like James Brown comes to mind or Ray Charles, you know, people that
Speaker: for whatever reason, they wanted a certain way. And if you don't like it, or you're not capable, or you don't sort of toe the line, you're out. Well, I've had some success in that, of course, around Vancouver, because I don't like to tour. But it's been that way. You have to be firm, but nice. And I have a formula for success. And I will not stray from that formula for success, because it's too tenuous. If I don't do what I need to do,
Speaker: So I'm willing to argue about that if we need to argue about it. So I can see that mentality. You still want to be nice and personable and you want to be fair to the people around you. But by the same token, there's a certain intensity, like a Bruce Allen kind of intensity that he can be nice to you and then smack you upside the head two minutes later because something's not quite right.
Speaker: But I mean, that's their formula for success. So I was going to ask you about the Tom Lavin thing. Did you ever record a Blue Wave? Did you have an association with him? No, I did a couple of little segments of Blue Wave, just as a sort of not even recording, just a session musician or session singer. There was a time in the early 80s when I was working just on my own, even when I had a band.
Speaker: I got a fair number of calls for doing session work, not as a player, but as a singer. So I did some stuff. One specifically comes to mind because they aired it for about 20 years and I didn't get a whole lot of it except I took my 100 bucks, which I got for recording it, but there was a commercial that came out there and
Speaker: It did reasonably well and it was on the air for about 15 years.
Speaker: And so yeah, you may have heard a song called Everybody Wants More Money. And I also did a little jingle that went our way to the USA. Yeah, West Coast Studio 3. Yeah. Yeah, West Coast Studio 3. That's you on there. That's me singing that crazy. But you didn't get any residuals. You got to get residuals. I didn't get any residuals. I give you a little history. You can probably edit this open. Tell me. It's quite a riot.
Speaker: When I went down there to do it, of course I was flattered to even get the call. You go in there and it's going to be a demo. And I knew that and you get a demo rate. It's usually a hundred bucks. I was quite happy with that. And I got my demo fee and I was in and out of there in a half hour. So I thought, okay, I'll probably get a call back and that'll be good.
Speaker: Well, I didn't get a call back because they use the demo. Oh, the client, the client was satisfied with the demo and Griffith Gibson, of course, who were, who had produced the demo. They were, if the client satisfied, they're satisfied.
Speaker: This thing comes out on the airwaves, not just on the radio. It was on TV for a while sometimes. Oh, I heard that thousand, a thousand times. I know. And so I was just, people would say to me, God, what are you doing? You got to go take them to court or whatever. I said, no, I can't be bothered with all that. But it was funny, you know, that was exactly what happened. It was a demo that the client was satisfied with and that was what was out there. Amazing.
Speaker: Too funny. Well, I'm glad you told me that because I never knew who did that, but it sounds great. That's their hook. That's their whole advertising hook. I know. Too funny. So in 1986, you did this deep in the heart of Vancouver. I couldn't find a copy of that anywhere. I tried. I've got about 200 in my garage, so I'll send them over there. But there wasn't one online, like on YouTube.
Speaker: No, yeah, you know what? It's funny. I just saw I went online to see if there's anything out there and Someone had put one up for sale on Craigslist and they wanted 50 bucks. Oh, it was a it was an unopened vinyl and Of course, I got an unopened vinyl in my garage. I'll give you a little history of that one I wrote it for Expo as you may know. Yeah, and I was completely
Speaker: driven I thought for sure this would be a surefire hit and I had 5 ,000 copies of this it was a four song extended play but it was a it was a large LP so in other words it was a
Speaker: It was an album LP size, but only four songs, so it's an LP. It plays at 45, but it's a LP size. Anyway, that was the song. I did the album cover myself, wrote the song, and then tried to get the expo people interested in it. I put together a presentation and they didn't bite. I had this vision of having Brian Adams do the lead vocal on it and just having a whole
Speaker: you know, gamut of Vancouver based entertainers or even Canadian entertainers to that matter, that would be sort of the best of the best. You know, Dean was around with Loverboy at that time and they didn't bite. And so I just put the song out anyway, just under, I recorded it and got some players together and put this EP together. And so that was when that came out, but I couldn't get any airplay. I learned quite quickly that
Speaker: The top 40 format was still strong as ever and they really weren't that interested in the fact that a local kid had sort of written a song about Expo. I got some airplay on CKW Expo, believe it or not, which is kind of strange because it wasn't really a country song.
Speaker: At any rate, that's my story. Okay. No, I wanted to ask you about that because yeah, it's a four song EP and of course people that don't know Expo 86 in Vancouver was a big deal, right? And everybody was, there was a real buzz around this town for many years leading up to it and during it and good on you for doing that. But I guess like I'm reading that book Hitman and stuff, right? And there's a whole sort of dirty under
Speaker: business that goes on in the music business as of course not surprising, but unless you have pockets full of money and you're splashing cash around or you've got one of the gatekeepers management record companies sort of pushing everything out there, it's real hard to even make a dent in anything, right? Yeah. Yeah. Well, listen, let me take one more break and then we'll come back and do our last segment. Sounds good. All right. We're talking to Al Foreman and we'll be right back.
Speaker: Check out songs from today's artists and other Canadian music makers of the 60s through the 80s on Dusty Discs Radio. Each Tuesday and Thursday, it's nothing but Canadian oldies. You'll hear songs you know, others you've forgotten, and maybe a tune or two you've never heard. Listen online at dustydiscsradio .com or download the TuneIn Radio app to your tablet or smartphone. Search Dusty Discs Radio and make it a favourite. Let's get back to our special guest.
Speaker: All right, welcome back, everybody. We're talking to Al Forman about the Vancouver music scene and, oh, across Canada.
Speaker: down in LA and back in Toronto and all the stuff that he's done. And we were just talking about Expo. Of course, you're a Vancouver boy, so you were right in the thick of that. And did you do any gigs around Expo? Did you play at the Unicorn? Yeah, actually we did. I had the band down there and played some of the clubs. While there was one club that we played a lot, it wasn't the main venue though. There was one venue that would have been nice to
Speaker: to get on there but we were at a smaller venue which is fine and you know I did a lot of work around that around the time of Expo and then continued on after that although I was at that time also in the throes of doing some exploring over in Europe just working solo over there. I had this opportunity actually Doc Fingers got me a gig over in Germany and that I did some solo work over in Germany and Switzerland and
Speaker: Yeah, I did some traveling and then the next phase it was pretty cool. I got a house gig at a place called Jake O 'Grady's from 88 to 94 and that was wonderful. Yeah. Well, and you were still playing, you played the Yale and the Fairview and all the regular. Yeah, but primarily we were at Jake's. It was like a house band there and we
Speaker: We never moved, uh, unless we had some offer that was worthwhile and we'd bring in someone else to sub for us. But primarily we were at Jake's for six years, 88 to 94. Yeah. And I quite enjoyed that. And so did the guys that I was working with because it was steady income and we would be very hospitable to people that would come around because the band was pretty good. And, uh, and the club was, uh, was a happening little place at boundary and Hastings. Maybe you're listed by Nova that was in Vancouver at any rate.
Speaker: That was a pretty good little time for me and for the rest of the guys as well because we got established in in Real estate because we were able to have the steady work. Yeah, you know six years at a house gig was kind of rare anyway Yeah, so I took it kind of never looked back until the club moved on in 94 got sold to someone else Yeah, that's right. I've played that venue
Speaker: a number of times over the years, like in the eighties, I played, I think it was Jake's in the eighties too, but I can't remember, but yeah, I know exactly where it is. It was called Diamond Lills at one time. Diamond Lills. That's right. Oh, I forgot about that. That's what it was called. We played at Diamond Lills. And then it was something, what was it after that? It was something after that. I can't recall. Yeah, you're right. And then it went on. It was Jake's and now it's now.
Speaker: I just learned the other day, it's completely gutted. I don't know what's going on. It's going to be apartments, I guess. Yeah. Well, there you go. That's the way the music goes. Yeah. Well, you've had a sort of a circuitous route, if I may say, you know, with all the original music and then doing the blues, getting into the blues stuff, and then you went back to school and then you went back and did the music therapy program. Oh, yeah. That was an industry phase too. When Jake sent it, of course, I, you know, I was starting to
Speaker: getting into my fifties now. And I, you know, kind of was somewhat not really discouraged, but I was just kind of spinning my wheels, earning money, playing music, not really knowing that my sort of glory years were behind me. But I did enjoy playing, but my mom had taken sick and was in a place and I went there to take her there. And when I was there,
Speaker: was a piano there and I played for her and I was quite amazed at what a draw, what a magnet that was and all these people had sort of gathered around. And so that was my first sort of realization that was a whole sort of, I can't say I had an epiphany, but I realized that
Speaker: This was a whole population that I had ignored for whatever reason, because I was playing clubs and bars and you just get into that framework and you don't really think about, you know, playing in a care facility, because that's sort of like, then you've gone out to pasture, right? Well, that was quickly changed when I started playing. And I realized what a gift I had, because I was older, I knew the material.
Speaker: I had gone through this life experience and I was already sort of aware of performing. So I didn't have any performance anxieties. And so I started doing some entertainment at these facilities. And then I thought, I really, I met a music therapist and I was curious and she said, you know, if you want to, you should check it out. And they offered this course at cap college. So 1997 back, I went to cap college for two years and the music therapy program got a degree.
Speaker: in 2000. And from there until 2015, I was a music therapist and I loved every minute of it. It was just great. Yeah. That's so neat. And actually there's so much in what you just said, but the first thing is about, you know, being willing to go back and get some training and whatnot.
Speaker: But I think the overriding thing is sharing your gift with people and lifting them up with your gift. There's just something special about that that you can't. Absolutely. And it really did feel like a gift because you could go there and you just see these people light up. And you know, I'm not disparaging the people that are there. Of course, they've lived their life and that's where they are. And you just have this opportunity to bring them joy with entertaining or
Speaker: you can wear the other hat and do the music therapy, which is what I decided to do. And that is a joy in itself because it's another depth, another level that brings you and what you're offering even closer as a sort of way of communicating. I did about four or five different programs. I worked in one facility for a number of years and they were big supporters of music therapy.
Speaker: And so I would do a hymn sing. I would do a music and discussion. I would do my regular music therapy. And it was, I had about 23 hours a week there, which is a phenomenal amount for a music therapist. Usually you only get a couple of hours at a facility and then you got to move on and find other work. So I was really fortunate in that regard.
Speaker: Well, it's so neat. And you got the personality too, from what I know of you, right? You got that kind of personality offer. Well, I guess I've been told that. I think really, I knew the music. I enjoyed playing it. I was familiar with the population, of course, because I was getting older. And you sort of realize that your world is not really that far apart from theirs. And you go in there,
Speaker: And I could play songs like Blueberry Hill and some early Elvis, you know, with a fair amount of acceptance by that population. I mean, you can't sort of whip into some James Brown stuff, but you could certainly do more accessible material. And so I quite enjoyed that aspect of it. And then the other thing, of course, is that it enlightened me about the material that they would like to hear.
Speaker: which I had oftentimes dismissed in my sort of ignorance because it was material that was either too, I just didn't care for it that much. But once I got in there and had to play it, we don't have to play it, but you want to learn it because that's the music that they're asking for. See, I learned sentimental journey and different songs that were, You Are My Sunshine, songs that were significant for them. But there was also some standards I had to learn
Speaker: different things that were more melodic and meaningful that I quite enjoyed learning. So yeah, that's cool. No, that's cool. And that's a good word. And what you said earlier about the age thing, too. You get a little bit older, you're comfortable, you've played for decades. Like there's no sort of invisible wall between you and the people. You're just kind of like, yeah, I'm here. How are you doing? That's pretty true, Dan. There's a comfort zone that sort of sets in.
Speaker: Remember learning Unforgettable, the Nat King Cool song.
Speaker: and you already know that you're able to play and next of course is you know you're able to perform and now you're just trying to communicate and get especially with the music therapy you want to try and get people so that involves you know passing out instruments to feel more involvement with the people which is great
Speaker: No, that's super cool, man. It's not something that I would probably be gifted for. I've played for older audiences and stuff, but I usually just talk a little bit and sing my songs. But that whole other aspect of the therapeutic side of it is super cool and intriguing. It's not my thing, but I applaud it. Yeah, it is. It's quite interesting. I didn't think it was going to be my thing either. I think the thing that I discovered more than going to school is that I had this compassionate side of my nature, which had never actually been brought out, I guess.
Speaker: And so that was what sort of carried me through to the music therapy side of things. Yeah. Cool. Well, thanks for sharing that. I really appreciate that. And that's a heartwarming story. So a couple other questions, just as we usually ask a half a dozen different questions at the end, but I'll just run through them quickly if you want to do a rapid round. But did you like touring? Were you a touring guy or did you? I didn't mind it. Yeah. No, especially when I was young and single and traveling through the US,
Speaker: Yeah, it was not as enjoyable later on, primarily because it was more of a struggle or a chore. When you're young and sort of unattached and traveling through the US, it's got some magic about it. So yeah, I didn't mind touring, but I certainly enjoyed the early part better.
Speaker: Did you have a, cause I didn't like touring, but I had a family and stuff and I was just missing home and just didn't want to be in the ozone as we used to call it, right? No, when I was, when I was the enjoyable part of touring, what I was talking about a minute ago, I was a single and you know, and I was an only child. I didn't have any, I had my folks at home, but no brothers and sisters. And although I love Vancouver, I was enjoying this two and a half year stint down on the street.
Speaker: So did you have a family and that later? Yeah, I got my first wife came on the road with me in 1968. That didn't last very long. And then the second marriage too, I met her on the road. She worked for the management company. And then the most recent marriage, one from
Speaker: 1985 onward actually had just lost my wife this past year to, to Alzheimer's, but we were very, 35 years. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. So that was, uh, that was ongoing. And then more recently, just within this last year, I have a reconnected with a lady that I had a relationship with 43 years ago. And, uh, we had actually met at Roe Hands and now we've rekindled this relationship. Nice.
Speaker: And that brings you right up to the present. And she's wonderful. Yeah. Yeah. Nice. It's funny. I wrote a song about that exact thing called Reflections in the Water and about people who had been together earlier in their life and got back together later in life. Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Well, very cool. Well, that's a nice story. And yeah, that's what I found. When you have a family and you have kids and you're on the road and stuff, those two lives just cannot coexist as far as I was concerned. Yeah.
Speaker: I had a daughter in my second marriage, Alicia, she unfortunately has passed away from leukemia. She passed away in 2012, but of course they have two grandkids. And when we were on the road,
Speaker: Uh, you know, she was just quite young at that time. And then, uh, when my, uh, second wife and I separated, of course, Alicia, our daughter, uh, she stayed with her mom, but then through the years, uh, she came to live with me for her high school years and beyond. So yeah, I've got a history with, uh,
Speaker: Yeah. Sounds like you've been through some, some tough times too, but, uh, I guess that's, that's what life is, right? It's funny, the curves that throws that shit because you just sort of deal with it. And, uh, like I say, when I lost my wife's this last year, after 35 years and, uh, the, uh, the, it wasn't, uh, it was a pretty, of course, uh, Alzheimer's such a lousy disease. And to have this, uh,
Speaker: Rejuvenation, if you will, it's from reconnecting with Lee's. That's been a wonderful sort of a, you know,
Speaker: out of the ashes comes a, you know, it's a reverse sort of thing. It's been quite, quite significant. Yeah, that's a good point. And I think as you as we get older, you become more philosophical about it and go, you know, you only get a certain amount of days on this planet, you might as well make the best of them. And, you know, yeah, the philosophical part kicks in big time. You know, I'm 78 years old now. So to have this happen is remarkable. And we both know it. I mean, we've had a lifetime of of to live
Speaker: In separate lives like I said, we haven't seen each other connected for 43 years. Well, no, it's it's quite a remarkable story Yeah, well good for you. I mean that that's nice to hear So just a big general question that I like to ask people just to get your take on it How do you think the music business has changed over the say the last 50 years or the time that you've been in it? What do you think the most significant changes are? Oh probably digital electronics sort of the lack of
Speaker: what will I say, the immediacy of what I would say, you know, real drums or just things that are, to me, are important. And I listen to stuff now that doesn't really do much for me. And, you know, I think, God, I sound just like my parents, you know, because they would say the same thing, but I really do. I think I was born at the right time and I listened to the stuff that I
Speaker: enjoyed back when i was a teenager and in my early 20s and i still enjoy it as much now and uh when i'm exploring on uh my Alexa device or on youtube invariably i'm searching around in the past for stuff i missed out on or people are sending me stuff that's no in no way connected with the with the current music scene i'll leave that for the younger people that are enjoying it but for me i just noticed the
Speaker: the the effect of electronics and the lack of immediacy of that. Yeah, the sort of heart, you know, saying from the heart, the stuff, right? Yeah. So what have you got going on now? Are you still singing and playing and got your piano? I got my first gig coming up in a year and a half. I haven't worked. I haven't worked since March 2020. Well, that was first when COVID hit. Yeah. And so
Speaker: Everybody while yeah, I don't have to mention it to you. Everybody knows the entertainment industry was one of the the hardest hit and so a lot of people were struggling and I wasn't that active on the scene much but I did have a fair amount of entertainment things that were involved in with Care facilities and of course, they were one of the worst hit early on. Yes, that's right A lot of gigs right away and over the course of a year and a few months and
Speaker: I haven't done much work at all, but I have got a gig coming up at the Cornerstone Bistro on the 22nd of July, so I'll put a little plug in for that. Oh good, yes. And where is the Cornerstone Bistro? The Cornerstone Bistro is in North Vancouver in Pemberton Heights.
Speaker: on 22nd Avenue, I forget the cross street, but people are interested. And I'm thinking of doing a little bit of a retrospective of my crazy life just that we've been reviewing here. Yeah, do it. It's great. I think people are interested in it and you've got lots of things to share.
Speaker: And it's, it's great. I really appreciate you taking the time and sharing some with me and being so forthcoming and stuff too. I really appreciate it. You got lots to share. Well, thanks Dan. It's been an enjoyable interview. And yeah, over the years there's, there's a lot more in my little history than I realized until we start talking about it. But yeah, over the years it's been quite the, uh,
Speaker: you know, quite the great adventure and I'm not ready to hang up my rock and roll shoes just yet. So no, I'll still be out there doing some entertaining more so as the COVID declines and see what's out there more for sure. Good for you. Well, that's an inspiration to everybody. And I want to be like that too. You know, I'm like I said, I'm catching up to you. I'm not quite where you are, but I'm catching up to you. I want to be like that too. I want to be an inspiration and just keep, keep singing as long as I can. And when I'm done, I'm done. But until then I'm doing what I can do. Great stuff. Yeah.
Speaker: Many thanks to Al Foreman for being part of the Line of Notes podcast and sharing some insights from his fun -filled life in the music business. And we hope you enjoyed the podcast and invite you to subscribe to it and share it on social media so others can enjoy it as well. You can also become a member if you'd like notifications and other inside information and perks we'd love to have on board. And we'd like you to listen to Dusty Discs Radio Tuesdays and Thursdays to hear music from the Canadian artists you are hearing on this show. So until next time, I'm Dan Hare.
