April Wine - Tonight is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love

Speaking of Canadian classic rock, April Wine is one of the best bands we ever created.

Similar to other Canadian classic rock bands, April Wine in the current day is a group that primarily tours Canada playing their classic hits, of which they have many. I grew up with April Wine being mentioned in the same breath as Rush and the Guess Who, but when I reflect on it now maybe they have more in common with Chilliwack and Prism. All five bands mentioned in this paragraph are freaking awesome, so no insult is intended, or even possible, by any comparison, and while Rush and the Guess Who are celebrated as cultural icons, Chilliwack and Prism are great gems unjustly mostly forgotten, and maybe April Wine is somewhere in the middle.

April Wine formed in 1969 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Forty-nine years and twenty studio albums later, it is probably safe to say April Wine is a legendary Canadian rock band. Like any band that survives so long there is a single man driving the dream onward into eternity, and that man is Myles Goodwyn. Goodwyn functions as guitarist, lead singer, primary song writer and leader of April Wine. He is the only remaining original member of the band, and it is probably safe to say that April Wine is his band, his dream.

Of all the albums April Wine has produced, the only one I actually own is “Stand Back” (1975) their forth studio album, I also own their greatest hits, and god I am such a poser sometimes. The principle reason I sought out a copy of “Stand Back” was that it contains a hit song “Tonight is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love.”

There is a instant charm to “Tonight is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love,” the opening chords are immediately catchy, and that initial rhythm carries the song through out. Like many radio perfect rock songs, “Tonight is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love” is a three-chord song. There is a many a joke about how three chord songs are cheap, and easy to play, but like anything, and everything, in life, just because something is not high level deep art does not diminish it’s quality or it enjoyment level. The sad truth that the technically talented and critically analytic must accept is that three chord songs are fucking catchy, and some of them are simply, perhaps by their simplicity, really good songs. The three chords in question for ““Tonight is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love” are G, C, and D.

I sat down to learn how to play “Tonight is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love” and god am I rusty. In theory it is an easy song to play, what being three chords and all, and I used to be really good at moving from G to C to D, but I will need to practice getting back into the groove of it. Alternatively, I could learn the bar chords that are correctly being used, but I was never good at those, so I do not know about that.

So “Tonight is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love” open with Goodwyn hitting us with the iconic three chord guitar rhythm and then he hits us with the iconic opening verse:

“Red and yellow, seasons changing gear,
Giving her all I am, reaching out with loving care.
You know she can feel it, oh yeah, she never has to try,
Going on forever, oh yeah, knowing that's the reason why.”

Maybe this verse is not as iconic for others as it is for me, but for me, it is very special. I believe I heard “Tonight is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love” once a day for most days of my childhood when I used to listen to the radio, exactly the right amount of times to fall deeply in the love with the song and not become overplayed to me.

As stated at the beginning of this ramble, I mentioned that I do not know how well known, or remembered, April Wine is outside of Canada. Perhaps they benefitted from the Canadian content laws like Chilliwack, and like Chilliwack, April Wine is a good enough band they should not have to rely on the governmental assistance to be heard, classic rock stations the world over should be including April Wine songs in their repertoire.

Of all the many April Wine songs I know, when I sat down to write this up a review about the band, the song that first came to mind was “Tonight is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love.” Sweetly upbeat and wonderfully catchy, it is a perfect radio friendly classic rock song, and that is probably why it has stayed with me, and so many other Canadian’s for so long.

Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.

- King of Braves

Chilliwack - Fly at Night

Speaking of Canadian classic rock not too well known outside of Canada, Chilliwack is an excellent rock band most non-Canadian’s do not remember.

Named after their hometown, the city of Chilliwack, British Columbia, and yes, that is the name of an actual city in Canada; Chilliwack the band formed in 1970 by lead guitarist Bill Henderson. The band would be active eighteen years, and in that time they would produce eleven studio albums and at least six big hit songs in Canada, including my favorite “Fly at Night.”

In 1997 Bill Henderson reformed the band and has been touring Canada ever since. They frequently show up for the Calgary Stampede, and play the local casinos, I keep meaning to go and see them, but I have never gotten around to it. Similar to another Vancouver based band Prism, the lineup has constantly been changing and no new albums have come out in a long time, but both Canadian bands appear content to tour Canada playing their hits. It is a humble existence, but I think it is very wonderful in many ways, they are successful, they are paying their bills doing what they love, and they have many great songs and many loyal fans. That makes for a pretty good life.

As previously stated Chilliwack had approximately six significant hit songs in Canada, and the one I grew up hearing the most often on the radio was “Fly at Night.” It was among my favorite songs that got played frequently. Before I discovered the complete work of Chilliwack or knew their band name, I made the mistake of thinking “Fly at Night” was a Neil Young song, and they do sound a little alike to an untrained ear, but I made the same mistake with America’s “Horse With No Name” when I was kid, so maybe the problem is just me.

I believe “Fly at Night” is a perfect example of a perfect classic rock song. It opens calmly with just the acoustic guitar and the singer and after the intro the electric guitar replaces the acoustic and the drums and bass join in, the basic fundamental four-piece sound take over and the whole thing is mellow and real easy going. The acoustic takes the bridges and the outro. this brings a sense of balance and continuity to the song. All the fundamentals of a good old rock and roll song is present and everything is proficiently well done. “Fly at Night” belongs in every classic rock fan’s playlist.

The lyrical content is nothing too deep, Chilliwack recants the experience of about traveling by plane while on tour. While the subject matter is simple, the poetry is not, every line is a very clever way of describing the experience.

Like how they describe the expanse of their travel and now exhausting it is by saying:

“And when you close your eyes,
Sleep comes fast.
When you fly the universe,
Well, you need some rest.”

Or, how they describe the rock concerts themselves with:

“Ooh, we like the big wide spaces,
Yeah, we like a sea of faces.
Time is just a rubber band.
Time is at our command.”

It is really nice stuff and makes for two very good verses.

Of all the music genres in the world, classic rock is the deepest I listen to, and I can say without exaggeration that Chilliwack’s “Fly at Night” should be included along songs like America’s “Horse With No Name,” or Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth,” and while most people are familiar with the later two I hope one day soon people are equally familiar with “Fly at Night.”

While Chilliwack has faded into obscurity for the most part they are kept alive by a cult following and, I hate to say it, perhaps, Canadian content laws. I heard Chilliwack on the radio a lot growing up, and there is no doubt they deserve to be on all the classic rock radio stations in Canada, with or without government sanctioned Canadian content standards, but it is sad, to me, because I suspect they would not receive this well-deserved playtime if not for those laws. In reality, Chilliwack should be receiving similar treatment in US radio stations, and frankly globally as well. Satellite classic rock radio stations should be including Chilliwack, at least “Fly at Night” as a regular on their playlist. I grew up with this being normal, and it is strange to me knowing that it is not for most of the planet.

One of these days, hopefully soon, I will catch Chilliwack when they are playing at a local casino.

- King of Braves

The Guess Who - Running Back to Saskatoon

I have written on a couple occasions about music beloved within Canada’s boarders that is largely overlooked outside of the great white north. The most interesting reviews I have written about this subject revolved around the Tragically Hip, which is the best example of this phenomena. I have thus dubbed the Tragically Hip, the most Canadian band of all time. The only counter argument anyone offered up was the Guess Who.

The Guess Who are a really good pick to represent Canadian classic rock. While they are a very good band, they are even more so, a very Canadian band.

I have heard multiple different versions of the origins story of the Guess Who’s name, so my confidence in getting it right is a little lacking, but I will try nonetheless. Formed by Chad Allan in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the original name of the band included his name and they quickly ran a gambit of various names soon there after:

- “Allan and the Silvertones”
- “Chad Allan and the Reflections”
- “Bob Ashley and the Reflections”
- “Chad Allan and the Expressions”
- “The You Know Who Group”
- “The Wonder Who?”
- And finally: “The Guess Who”

Changing the name to “Bob Ashley” after the keyboard player, I believe was done as a gaff. They dropped the “Reflections” because there was some kind of trouble, copyright or legal maybe, with an active rock band in the US called “The Reflection” and so they had to change it to “Expressions.” But then Chad Ashley left the group, and Burton Cummings took over as lead singer. The gaffs of silly names returned and they happened to be calling themselves “The Guess Who” when they finally hit it big with their fourth album “Wheatfield Soul” and their hit single “These Eyes.”

I think that is how it happened.

Today’s conversation is about being Canadian, and The Guess Who are Canada’s first notable big rock band, so by default they represent the nation in a significant way. Hence the Guess Who are a great choice for the most Canadian group ever.

The question I wish to ponder is, what is the Guess Who’s most Canadian song? Most of their songs are good rock songs about the things we can all relate to, but they do have at least one song that stands out to me as uniquely very Canadian and that is “Running Back to Saskatoon.”

What makes “Running Back to Saskatoon” so potently Canadian, I think is pretty obvious, it is a song about returning home to the province of Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan is one of Canada’s ten provinces, and a running joke is that nothing ever happens there. Geographically Saskatchewan is little more than a flat expansion of farmland. Driving through Saskatchewan on the Trans Canada Highway is considered by Canadians as an extremely boring endeavour. The city of Saskatoon is the largest city in Saskatchewan with a population of approximately two-hundred and fifty thousand people. It is a small city in the prairies that few outside of Canada know about. Singing a song about Saskatoon is an extremely Canadian thing to do. But it does not end there.

The Guess list out other obscure Canadian municipalities describing their travels back to Saskatoon. The chorus starts by listing three towns in Saskatchewan, and soon there after four more relatively unknown Canadian municipalities.

“Moose Jaw, Broadview, Moosomin too,
Running back to Saskatoon.
Red Deer, Terrace, Hanna, Medicine Hat.
Sing another prairie tune.
Sing another prairie tune.”

Yes. Those are all places in Canada. We have a town called Moose Jaw.

I Have been to Red Deer and Medicine Hat several times. Red Deer is the stop gap city between Calgary and Edmonton. I used to visit both Red Deer and Medicine Hat for wrestling tournaments when I was young. The only town I am not very familiar with is Terrace, a small town in Northern British Columbia.

All these little places throughout the prairies are Canadian gems, and there is a low chance of anyone outside of Canada having ever heard of them. The average American might think the Guess who were saying a bunch of gibberish, but I suspect they would figure it out pretty quickly if they decided to think about it.

“This tune is home grown,
Don't come from Hong Kong.”

There is a very large Chinese population in Canada, I can attest to this fact in Calgary, but as I understand it, Vancouver has a very influential population base originating from Hong Kong, so maybe the inclusion of that Southeast Asian metropolis, is used as a choice comparison for that reason, and not just because it is foreign and for it’s impressive size. I feel that this line is a self acknowledgement of the Guess Who’s blatant embrace about how Canadian this song is. Just a home-grown song about Canada, not giant China, not our neighbour the USA, just singing about the parries of central Canada.

The point is, how Canadian can you get? Cause it does not get much more Canadian than singing about Saskatoon.

Not unlike my last review of UFO’s “Only You Can Rock Me,” I am much more familiar with live versions of “Running Back to Saskatoon” than the studio version, so much so, I am not sure I have ever heard a studio version. I am no longer convinced there even is a studio version. From what I understand the Guess Who first performed the song live and it appeared on live albums after becoming a popular live track.

“Running Back to Saskatoon” is a simple song, a nice catchy tune meant to charm more than impress. Maybe that is why The Guess Who never bothered to record a studio version, and that is absolutely why it became a cult classic for live performances. Quirky and fun “Running Back to Saskatoon” is a nice little song about a humble little place, which is just like a slice of Canada.