In the summer of 1967 I hitch hiked from Victoria to Montreal for Expo…while there I met a young lady from Toronto who remains a friend to this day…returning home to the coast I stopped in Toronto where her mother let me stay a couple nights…Jennie had just acquired Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow and played it non stop while I was there, and this song stands out even as much as the two big hits on the album…
Greg is taking a Christmas break. This will be the last post this year. Greg returns on New Years Day!
Greg Simpson firmly believes his career in the music industry officially began on March 14, 1965 when a band gave him ten dollars as commission for helping them find a gig. He hasn’t looked back since then and looks forward to celebrating his fiftieth in 2015 with an enormous party paid for by the hundreds of dollars he’s made since then.
His career has covered all aspects from radio for many years, and including working for record labels, artists and, since 1992, Canadian Music Week where he programs the radio stream and manages all conference streams and events in real time annually. He also attends half a dozen conferences a year doing research for CMW and is generally accepted as a knowledgeable cat with a few stories to tell. At the root of it all, though, is his undying love for music and musicians.
Greg Simpson is the author of ‘Today’s Almost Forgotten Track’
Email Greg: gr*************@sh**.ca
Greg’s Website: http://www.mindbenders.ca
Visit his Facebook Profile Page: HERE
A few years later, Montreal was just as magic a place for me. While working and studying there in 1974, I took in a summer concert by Joni Mitchell backed by reed wiz Tom Scott and his LA Express. Paris chanteuse Veronique Sanson opened the show. During Sanson’s set, who should climb into the midfield sound compound but Stephen Stills. Grasping a Jack Daniels bottle in one hand, he used the other to show the techs that Veronique’s vocals needed boosting. I briefly chatted with him and found out they’d recently been married.
Anyway, a few minutes later, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn around and find a couple of cute gals I’d gone through school with back on the West Coast. So the three of us sat down and witnessed the transformation of Joni from confessional folkie to newly jazzy musical adventuress. An unforgettable night.
As for the Airplane, it’s so sad that Grace Slick hung up the mic in the early ’90s after turning grey. No hair dye for her. She simply quit the business, convinced that America was no country for old rock stars. (Where would retro rock be if that idea had ever spread?) Earlier this year, Airplane founder and Grace’s ex-husband Paul Kantner died. But co-vocalist Marty Balin, guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady are still around. It’s never too late to reconsider, Grace.