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T.O. BLUES - Blue
reflections of
Eddy's home, Toronto. |
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SATURDAY BLUES MATINEE'S at the COLONIAL TAVERN
, YONGE ST.
I used to work at the Avenue
Rd. Record Villa store on Friday nites after
school and then head down to Colonial Tavern if they had
Blues appearing. A
thought just came to mind, if anyone has some 45's that they
bought from
around this time and if they have black dots on them, they
were probably
purchased from Record Villa (one dot = .79c, two dots =
.89c, three dots =.99c, part of my job description there). On Saturdays I got
to do my thing
at the store on Yonge St. I always took a late lunch break
so I could check
out part of the matinee at the Colonial Tavern if Blues
artists were in
town. The matinee was a haven for a lot of our local Blues
artists who used
to show up in the afternoon as they would be giggin' later
that nite. The
touring bands knew that they also would be performin' later
that nite so
they took the musical thing at the matinees with a little
ease allowing many
of Toronto's Blues artists to get up and play with them. It
wasn't uncommon
to see, for example, Donnie Walsh performin' with Muddy
Waters and his band.
I think this is why we have so many great Blues artists here
in Toronto, not
only were they inspired by the music, some got to play with
their heroes and
it just made them better. |
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After workin' at the store all day I
would hang
downtown, grab some food, then it was back to the Colonial
for the evening
performance, which started about 9 PM and finished at 1 AM. Man,
those were great times! Eddy B |
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DON ARCHIBALD and RECORD VILLA at AVENUE
RD. & YORKVILLE.
Don Archibald meant a lot to me. I often have said that the first Stones LP
got me into the Blues, especially "I'm a King Bee". I
bought this long play from Don at Record Villa at the
Avenue Rd. store, hot off the press, in 1964. Much later after
buying a lot of singles and LPs, mainly British Blues, at the
store, I mentioned this fact to him and it was Don that told
me the original was by Slim Harpo and then found an
original copy for me. Over the years I would mention bands
like Fleetwood Mac, he would say then you gotta hear
Elmore James, or Chicken Shack, then listen to
Freddie King, and the list goes on. He got me to
understand all kinds of early black Blues and then he backed
up what he was sayin' with an armful of records. |
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TO's Ave.
Rd./Yorkville District
1960's photo by Eddy B |
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The time when he hired me was the biggest bonus I ever had in
my musical life. I got to work with this man that was knowledgeable
about the music I loved. He took this young
kid under his wing and was willing to share everything that he
knew and experienced in the Blues. If you ever talk to Mr.
Downchild, Donnie Walsh, he'll tell you same about Don
Archibald. Don gave without ever asking for anything in return
except for your love of the music. Nobody in my life taught me as
much about the Blues as he did, nobody. My times with Don taught
me a valuable part of life and that is to always share your
knowledge with those that are interested. I am very proud to have
known Don and I hope he is proud of the Blues man he has made of
me. There are many times in my life that I think about Don
Archibald. He was my mentor and he will never be forgotten in
my soul. Eddy B |
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