Some Canadian Musicians

Bernie Toorish - 94 - Singer with 1950's Pop vocal group The Four Lads

THE FOUR LADS ~ "STANDING ON THE CORNER";


THE FOUR LADS ~ "WHO NEEDS YOU";


THE FOUR LADS ~ "THE MOCKING BIRD";


Bob Burgess ~ 80 ~ Singer for 1960's Montreal Garage band the Haunted ("1-2-5")

THE HAUNTED ~ "1-2-5";


THE HAUNTED ~ "SHAKE":


THE HAUNTED ~ "VAPEUR MAUVE":


THE HAUNTED ~ "8 O'CLOCK THIS MORNING";



William Cudmore ~ 70's ~ Sax and harmonica player with Toronto 1960's band Robbie Lane & the Disciples

ROBBIE LANE & THE DISCIPLES ~ "MEMPHIS";


ROBBIE LANE & THE DISCIPLES ~ "THE GAME OF LOVE";


George Oliver ~ 79 ~ Singer with 1960's Toronto bands the Five Rogues and the Mandala

THE FIVE ROGUES ~ "CAN'T HOLD OUT NO LONGER";


THE MANDALA ~ "SOUL STEPS";


THE MANDALA ~ "OPPORTUNITY";



Kenny Marco ~ 78 ~ Canadian guitarist (Grant Smith & The Power, Motherlode, Blood, Sweat & Tears)

GRANT SMITH & THE POWER ~ "KEEP ON RUNNING";


BLOOD SWEAT & TEARS ~ "SPINNING WHEEL";


Garth Hudson ~ 87 ~ Canadian keyboardist with Ronnie Hawkins & the Hawks and the Band

THE BAND ~ "CRIPPLE CREEK";


RONNIE HAWKINS & THE HAWKS ~ "WHO DO YOU LOVE";


THE BAND ~ "THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN";



Paul Weldon ~ 70's ~ Keyboard player with 1970's Toronto band Edward Bear

EDWARD BEAR ~ "LAST SONG";


EDWARD BEAR ~ "FREEDOM FOR THE STALLION";



Terry Draper ~ 73 ~ Drummer & songwriter with 1970's Canadian Prog Pop band Klaatu ("Calling Occuppants Of Interplanetary Craft")

KLAATU ~ "CALLING OCCUPANTS OF INTER PLANETARY CRAFT";


KLAATU ~ "CALIFORNIA JAM";


KLAATU ~ "A ROUTINE DAY";


Serge Fiori ~ 73 ~ Singer with Quebec Prog Rock band Harmonium

HARMONIUM ~ "DIXIE";

HARMONIUM ~ "FIORI/SEGIUN";


Ray Rabbit Harrison - 70's - Toronto Blues Rock keyboardist w/Downchild Blues Band, Greaseball Boogie Band, Cameo Blues Band, Shooter

DOWNCHILD BLUES BAND ~ "IT'S BEEN SO LONG";


DOWNCHILD BLUES BAND ~ "BOP TILL I DROP";


Nobu Kubota ~ 70's ~ Sound artist with Toronto Free Jazz collective CCMC

CCMC;


Peter Verity ~ 60's ~ Toronto Country Rock singer/guitarist with Delta Tango and the Heymacs and solo folk singer

DELTA TANGO ~ "SO SORRY";


Jane McGarrigle - 84 - Quebec Folk singer and author, sister of Kate & Anne McGarrigle

JANE & ANNA McGARRIGLE;


Claude Morrison ~ Singer with vocal group the Nylons

THE NYLONS ~ "THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT";


Stu Phillips - 92 - Alberta Country singer

STU PHILLIPS ~ "HAVE A NICE DAY";


STU PHLLIPS ~ "SPEAK SOFTLY MY LOVE";


Tim Williams ~ 70's ~ Calgary Blues & Country guitarist

TIM WILLIAMS ~ "I CAN'T BE SATISFIED";


Howard Willett ~ 60's ~ Toronto singer/harmonica player with Western Swing band the BeBop Cowboys

THE BEBOP COWBOYS ~ "COWBOYS THEME";


THE BEBOP COWBOYS ~ "THAT'S WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE NORTH";


Susan Wheatley ~ 40's ~ Alberta Blues/Country singer/guitarist solo and w/the Fallen Angel Band

SUSAN WHEATLEY ~ "BRICK ON BRICK";


Teddy Hawkins ~ 68 ~ Toronto Jazz and Country drummer and singer with the Thelonius Hank, Scotty Campbell, Lori Yates, Root Down Trio, Jack Diamond, Hocus Pocus, Corktown Cowboys, Hulagoons, Kid Cajun and solo

SCOTTY CAMPBELL & THE WARDINAIRES ~ "SMOKING & DRINKING";


THELONIUS HANK ~ "SILVER WINGS";


THE CORKTOWN COWBOYS ~ "ALL OF ME";


Alfred Gertler ~ 50's ~ Toronto Country and Jazz bassist with the Gypsy Rebels, the Advocats Big Band

THE GYPSY REBELS ~ "THE KING OF KENSINGTON";


Ron Sellwood ~ 74 ~ Toronto Jazz and Country pianist

KID CAJUN ~ "THE MONSTER MASK";


Corey Crewe - 80 - Member of Newfoundland Folk duo Corey & Trina

COREY & TRINA ~ "THE NORTHERN LIGHTS OF LABRADOR";


Rick Scott ~ 70's ~ British Columbia Folk singer and Mountain Dulcimer player

RICK SCOTT ~ "THE ELECTRIC SNOWSHOE";


Martin Murray - 68 - UK born Niagara Falls Ontario singer/guitarist

MARTY MURRAY ~ "SOUTHHAMPTON"

A trio of Canadian music figures pass on

It didn't get much notice and probably didn't really warrant much but we'll take a sec and mention a trio of figures from Canadian music who died recently;

Connie Codarini;
Bass singer with the Four Lads; Granted the Lads were not even vaguely cool even by the standards of the Pat Boone era of white schmaltzy pop of the early rock era. Hell, they were not even as cool as their Toronto mates the Crewcuts, and definitely not the Diamonds. But they were the first, scoring their first hit in 1952 and following up with 26 more top 50 Billboard hits in the next decade, making them the first Canadian group of the Rock and Roll era to do so. They also managed to score hits in England, Australia, New Zealand and Europe making them the first international Canadian stars.
Of course they weren't really a rock vocal group unlike the Diamonds who clearly were, or the Crewcuts who weren't but were able to fake it for a few years anyway. The Lads never tried to be either, they belonged firmly to the ultra white vocal groups like the Four Freshmen, Four Preps and Five Keys, and none of these groups even tried to figure out the new sounds of Doo Wop which were about to make them obsolete. However by sticking to what they knew they manged to keep their syrupy sounds around well into the rock era, scoring their last chart positions in 1959 and influencing Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney among others. They also recorded as back ups with Johnny Ray and Frankie Laine, including some credible gospel numbers. Then they went off to the adult contemporary circuit for the next thirty years with some success, albeit with numerous lineup changes over the years. Connie Codarini was a founding member but he left some years back, he did live to see the lads honoured by the Canadian Music Hall of fame in 1984 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003. Codarini was 80 when he died of heart failure on April 29.

The Four Lads with Frankie Laine;



Rob McConnell;
Trombonist Rob McConnell was born too late to be part of the Big Band era he loved but he still managed to become Canada's most successful big band leader from the 1968 when he formed his Boss Brass on till he died of cancer at age 75 on May 1. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1997, was given the Order of Canada in 1998, won a bunch of Junos and also recorded with Mel Torme and Maynard Ferguson all without acknowledging that anything had changed in jazz since the end of World War 2.

Gene Lees;
A well respected jazz historian (and hater of rock and roll) from the late 1940's on. Lee's wrote for a number of papers and magazines as well as his own Jazzletter along with hosting a show on the CBC. He also wrote a number of books including the definitive bios on Oscar Peterson, Woody Herman and Henry Mancini as well as a study on the effects of racism on early jazz. Lees was actually a successful songwriter as well having songs recorded by Frank Sinatra, Charles Aznavour, Sarah Vaughn and Bill Evens. He also found time to record a couple of albums of his own. He died of heart disease at 82 on April 22.