Gary Kendall Writes


 I`m a little foggy on the the time frame but I think your bar`s era was around 76/77.  Not the best time for my career as a blues musician.  Disco had taken out a number of live music clubs, punk and new wave were gaining a foot hold. Looking back, I think I was floundering with not much direction or creativity.  My music of choice was blues but I couldn`t get a good gig to save my life and I was burned out from being the band leader of Dollars through 74/75.  Making money was a challenge and hanging out in an after hours bar wasn`t a wise choice for a guy with a family.  When I did get a gig, I`d spend a good chunk of my pay drinking at your place.



I guess that bar offered something more interesting then some of the places I`d play during regular bar hours.  The cast of characters was a pretty interesting mix of rounders, actors and musicians, some of whom had happening careers and others who like me were waiting for something good to fall out of the sky.  I can remember seeing Murray McLaughlin and Ian Tyson there a few times.  Donnie Walsh offered me the gig playing bass in Downchild at least twice while we got loaded at the bar.  As much as I wanted and needed it, it was a job I couldn`t take at that time because his bass player, Jim Milne was one of my best friends.  Fortunately, Donnie would never remember the next day.  I had to wait until a couple of other bassists had gone through the band before taking the gig, that way my friendship with Jim stayed solid.  I`m still part of that band today although I`ve been there twice, 79-83, 95 to present.

It was fantastic when Handsome Ned would take out his guitar, stand in the middle of the room and knock off an short set of country standards.  Although I never got to know him I was always glad when he`d be there and couldn`t wait for him to bang off a some tunes.

I was in the bar the night Mick Jagger and Ron Wood from the Stones came in.  I remember thinking that it would be great if everyone left them alone so they would stay for awhile.  That didn`t happen. Billy Bryans and I were in the middle of a conversation and he made a beeline for Ronnie.  A friends girlfriend who was talking to me mentioned she`d always had a crush on Mick, she immediately disappeared in the direction of the bar that the Stones and entourage were hanging in.  I stood at the end of the bar watching as everyone in the place started to gravitate to the corner of the room where they were.  As soon as some asshole started screaming "MICK JAGGER, MICK JAGGER" at the top of his lungs they were gone, along with most of the women who were there that night.  My friend`s girlfriend ended up with Ronnie Wood and the best line of the night was, when asked why they were in Toronto, they said for the skiing.  On his way out Mick walked past me and shot me a look that said, please leave me alone.  I kept my mouth shut and and gave him a friendly nod of my head.  A week or so later they played their infamous gig at the El Mocambo.

The bar`s era ran parallel to a pretty reckless time in my life, it was probably a necessary diversion for me, somewhere to hang while I waited for things to fall in place with my music and my life.  Eventually things did come together for me.  A life in Canadian blues isn`t the easiest choice for a way to make a living but it`s been interesting, creative and I`m happy.  Shirley and I are still together, now grandparents, so as chaotic as the 70`s were,  part of our lives made it through in tact.

Feel free to edit and correct spelling if necessary.  Use whatever you want for photos.  If you want to send a graphic and link I`ll put your blog on the links section of my website. http://www.garykendall.com Gk

1 comment:

Mike Bacon said...

Gary, I've still got that pic, and a couple of others. I'm really stoked that you're still in the biz! I stumbled on a link to Downchild yesterday on allabouttheblues.com; had forgotten how good that band was, and is, and was really jazzed that you're their bassist. And I was sorry to read that Jane and Cash have both passed.

Vicki & I are still together, married 50 years as of last November. We're grandparents to a 10-year-old girl, Kira, daughter of Alex, who'll hit 50 in June. We left TO in the fall of '78 and moved back to SoCal. It was a terrible grind trying to get work in music, doing one-nighters where the guitar player always seemed to have to front the pick-up band, hitting Local 47 weekly to check in, jamming at Jimmy Smith's on Monday nights, etc, trying to get myself known. It was really cutthroat (obviously). I packed it in in 1980, eventually started as a programmer, and retired from writing back-end software for medical offices and hospitals in 2011. We visited friends in Toronto in Spring, 2010 for a couple of weeks, and Vicki had a wild idea to buy a lakefront condo for summers there until she saw the going prices! We still love it there though...

Until 3 1/2 years ago I'd get my musical rocks off jamming at monthly sessions put on by SoCal Blues Society. That ended in May, 2013, after I got hit by a large falling rock while riding my motorcycle up a local mountain. That accident messed up my left hand hard enough that I can't bend it's index finger enough to articulate on the fingerboard; I'm still really bummed by that, but thankful to still be riding.

Would love to hear from you!!
mbacon333@gmail.com