November 3, 2011
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An old haunt

I heard on the radio yesterday the Brunswick House, a landmark Toronto tavern in the Annex area, has been in the news. They want to expand and there is some opposition in the community. I only note this here because the Brunswick House is a place I haven’t thought about in many years, but one which I once visited semi-regularly. Back in my university days, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, the tavern operated an upstairs room called Albert’s Hall, which featured some of the best blues music anywhere.

My friends and I would go for dinner, often at one of the old Hungarian places on Bloor St. where a student could get a heaping helping of meat and potatoes for a modest amount of money, then head over to Albert’s Hall for a dose of the blues. We saw performances by musicians such as Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, M.T. Murphy, Koko Taylor, Mighty Joe Young, Eddie Clearwater, Sunnyland Slim, and perhaps best of all, the Son Seal Blues Band. The best blues acts anywhere were coming up to Toronto regularly back in the early 80s, and many times they landed at Albert’s Hall.

I don’t think I’ve been in the Brunswick House since they closed that fantastic upstairs space, and these days I spend little time in the Annex, so I know nothing of the current situation. I only hope the business and the community work it out to everyone’s satisfaction. We had some mighty good times there back in the day, that’s for sure.

A couple years later, I sought my entertainment down on Queens St. instead. Zydeco bands were coming to the city and I heard musicians playing this incredible music on button accordions. At the same time, I started to notice a number of local musicians. The late Handsome Ned was playing, often at the Cameron House…and Joanne Mackell could be heard regularly at the old Pine Tree Tavern, often playing with Shelley Coopersmith on fiddle.  Wasn’t that a time?

November 1, 2011
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You can’t get stuck in a book, silly

This is for all those out there who still have a bit of the kid in them. Me, I’m not nearly ready to grow up yet. I suppose there are a lot of people out there who have never seen Gumby. Fortunately for YouTube, there’s still hope….

October 31, 2011
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Just Kids

I read a review of Just Kids by Patti Smith over at my friend Bad Tempered Zombie’s place. Barbara writes about music all the time and when she recommended this book, I told Tuffy P about it right away. Tuffy came home with a copy shortly after. We had both recently really enjoyed Keith Richards’ book, Life and were both ready for another biography.

I’ve known and admired Patti Smith’s music since I was in my teens, but I didn’t know all that much about her life nor her relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe – so I was in for many surprises with this book. To start with I had no idea the poverty they endured in those early years. They had a really tough time just getting food to eat and a roof over their heads. And yet they managed somehow to get a room in that curious artistic hub known as the Chelsea Hotel. I’m reminded of the line from Bob Dylan’s Sara, “I’d taken the cure and had just gotten through, staying up for days in the Chelsea Hotel, writing Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands for you.”  One of the characters we’re introduced to is an eccentric fellow named Harry Smith. As soon as I read the name, I thought, Harry Smith, wasn’t that the name of the guy who put together the  Anthology of American Folk Music back in the 50’s (the recording that inspired so many young singers and musicians). I thought it couldn’t be the same guy, but in fact it was. Harry Smith lived in the Chelsea until his death in 1991. He was also well known as an experimental film maker. All this is of course just colour, the noise around the real story, the story of Patti and Robert.

Just Kids chronicles the bond that developed between Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe amidst all their adventures trying to survive and thrive artistically. It’s a beautiful story, although necessarily a very sad one, as Robert Mapplethorpe died from AIDs in 1989 in his early 40s. Along the way we meet many characters – from Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs to Janis, and Jimi to Bobby Neuwirth, who suggested Patti Smith write a song. These characters, and places like the Chelsea and Max’s Kansas City form the backdrop to the book.

Here’s Patti Smith reading from the book…

and more….

an interview…

Read the book.