I found myself thinking about Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee today, and it transported me way back to the time me and a buddy saw them play at the old El Mocambo. We were teen-aged blues freaks I suppose, and this was a big deal. There we were, sitting at a table not twenty feet from these fantastic musicians, drinking watered down draft and taking it all in. We were very fortunate here in Toronto. A lot of the blues greats performed on town. Later, when I was in university, I saw Bo Diddley at a joint up in Markham somewhere, and then a long string of great players at Albert’s Hall, which was upstairs at the Brunswick House.
I was at Albert’s Hall for Buddy Guy and Junior Wells – twice in fact; Eddie “The Chief” Clearwater; Sun Seals; Sunnyland Slim; Koko Taylor; Hubert Sumlin, and more. At the Ontario Place Forum, we saw The James Cotton Band opening up for Muddy Waters, and then there was Ray Charles and even Willie Dixon.
Some zydeco performers also made their way up to Toronto. I recall seeing Fernest and the Thunders at the Horseshoe, and Terence Simien and the Mallet Playboys at Harbourfront. That must have been in the mid-80s sometime, or was it the early 90s?. And also for dancing, there was Hank Ballard and the Midnighters on a sweaty night at the Horseshoe. Wasn’t that a time.
27th Street 