Scotty Campbelland His Wardenaires
The Cadillac Lounge, Toronto
June 21, 2009
On the first day of summer in Toronto,
Scotty Campbell and His Wardenaires
were setting up the stage,
while out on the patio of the Cadillac Lounge,
Big River by Johnny Cash played.
Campbell and I both have familial roots in Eastern Canada;
mine in Glace Bay and his in Pictou, Nova Scotia.
Before set one began
we were told the pedal steel player was missing,
and for the opening Waylon Jennings number
it was a power trio for
The Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line.
But it didn't sound anything like
the recording I know by Willie Nelson and Family.
From a big black cowboy hat in the back,
Jack Diamond gave the front man a funny intro.
Diamond’s not only the drummer,
but also the announcer for sponsor appreciation,
station identification, and witty band introductions.
Sitting on a stool front and centre,
Scotty sang into an Elvis-style microphone
wearing a 50s style shirt and black shades.
With Peter Sisk on bass
and a twenty-something on the electric twang,
the third song had a guitar sound similar to, I think,
Poke Salad Annie.
And then suddenly it was time to
“cry in your beer, she done left me”.
The real down home country songs began,
and I’d Follow You Anywhere was sweetly sang.
Hearing titles like,
“If You’re Leavin’ Me Darlin’, Can I Come to?”
not surprisingly caused some to spit up their Labatt’s Blue.
My Heart Skips a Beat was written by Buck Owens,
but I believe the gum-chewing
trailer park rap of Double Wide Blues
was a Wardenaires original.
There was a retro popcorn machine to my right
with a sign that read,
“hot, fast, air popped, and healthy”
and it made me hungry.
“Up next is a song about a guy
who picks up a girl in a bar
and begins a superficial relationship.
After a while the guy,
who plays in a band,
comes to realize that the girl only gets aroused
when he does his Willie Nelson impression.
So he writes a song and calls it
She Only Loves Me for My Willie”.
Ha, Scotty Campbell is hilarious!
Nichol S Robertson was the young fella on the big ass twang
and apparently N.S.R. played the Bluegrass Sunday Brunch
at the Dakota Tavern earlier in the day.
During the break,
I got an autographed complimentary cd,
but Double Wide Blues isn’t on it.
I chatted with Mr Sisk about Sun Records,
The Good Brothers,
Shure microphones and cb radios,
before I got him to sign the cd too,
even though he doesn’t play on it.
Sisk hails from down east as well;
New Brunswick to be exact.
I’ll Give You Something to Drink About opened the second set,
and kudos to whoever was responsible for mixing the sound,
and the cook who made me a delicious veggie wrap.
“We hired Nichol because we needed someone with abs.
Someone unlike the rest of us,
who isn't fat and ready for euthanasia."
With fries on the side,
I almost choked on an ice cube hearing that.
And then it was time to pass-the-hat.
I didn't hesitate throwing paper dollars in.
The hat was the same cowboy hat that only moments ago
rested atop the head of the Diamond drummer.
And not only that,
but the hat travelled 'round the room
to the beat of what sounded like
a twisted Tom Waits ala Frank Sinatra in Vegas!
Well, at least that’s what it sounded like to me.
“Music to have emphysema by”, Campbell called it.
The next number had a title that couldn't be more country...
Don’t You Ever Get Tired of Hurtin’ Me?
East coast roots these boys may have,
but rumour has it they reside in the ‘burbs of the west,
like Hamilton and Port Credit.
Before the show came to a close,
I snapped a few sepia toned digital photos.
Cycling home,
I realized I'd had a countrified weekend.
Having attended the NXNE Canadian premiere of the documentary
Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison on Friday,
giving me cause to deliver a copy to my dad
for Father’s Day in Mississauga on Saturday,
and then finishing off Summer Solstice here
with the Wardenaires on Sunday.
Long live country music!
Scotty Campbell on Myspace
http://www.myspace.com/wwwmyspacecomscottycampbell
The Cadillac Lounge
http://www.cadillaclounge.com/
