cktimes.ca Archives for Classic Vinyl


Classic Vinyl

With John Gardiner

The King is dead

Tuesday, January 7, 2003

The King is dead...long live the King. Richard Newell died this week in Hamilton and some of you are likely scratching your head and wondering who the heck Richard Newell is and how he's mixed up with Elvis. But if you're a blues fan, and especially if you were a blues fan back in the magical 1960's, there's a good chance you'll understand my intro.
Richard Newell was and remains the legendary King Biscuit Boy, arguably the finest blues harp player on the planet for a period of time back some years ago. I saw the Biscuit on stage at my high school back about 1969-70 when he visited with another legendary Canadian rock outfit, Crowbar. It was one of the highlites of my musical upbringing back in Hanover.
According to a news story in one of the mainstream rags, Newell died peacefully in his sleep in front of his television at his home in Hamilton. Quite an ending for a guy who played with Muddy Waters, Joe Cocker, Doctor John and Etta James. His fans included Duane Allman and Keith Richards.
In addition to his outstanding harp playing, he was an amazingly soulful blues vocalist. "He was the best blues singer in Canada. There was nobody his equal. Nobody could touch him." – those comments from a Toronto DJ.
It's interesting, but I wrote about King Biscuit Boy only a few short months ago in another publication. It was after roots blues master Michael Pickett was in town for a show at the Wallaceburg Arts Council's Glass Onion Folk Club. Michael is one of the finest blues harmonica players in the land himself and knew the Biscuit well.
He told me that Newell was having trouble keeping it together as he got older. He was having some difficulty coping with life and the many challenges it throws at us as we say farewell to our youth. Michael said that Biscuit had tried several comebacks in recent years, mostly at the urging of friends, but the old magic just wasn't there any more.
Anyway, the reason I was writing about King Biscuit Boy a few months back was because of what he stood for back in the late '60's and early '70's. To me, and I didn't know the guy at all personally, he was the epitomy of raw original creativity. When he played and when he was into it, it was nothing but pure musical energy.
That type of energy is mostly gone in today's musical world. It is overproduced and programmed out of nearly all modern music. You can still hear it in coffee houses and smaller concert venues across this great land, but it is mostly gone – and that's too bad.
But you know something? It's still all there on vinyl. And if you want an explosion of that energy to wash over you, put a little King Biscuit Boy on your turntable and listen to him kick out the jams. It's the only way to live, my friends – the only way.



John Gardiner is a 25-year-veteran of the community newspaper business, but he is also a prolific writer of moralistic short fiction he refers to as "emotional thoughtscapes" or "adult fables". Samples of his fiction can be found at:

He has also produced a noteworthy piece of humanist philosophy which can be found at: http://www.xs4all.nl/~aboiten/ad502.htm He welcomes comments on his work.