cktimes.ca Archives for Classic Vinyl


Classic Vinyl

With John Gardiner

Crowbar: They really could be larger than life

Tuesday, March 4, 2003

Back during the years 1970-71, yours truly was a member of the Students' Council at John Diefenbaker Secondary School in Hanover and that happened to be during a period when we brought some great Canadian talent to the gym at old JDSS. For example, there was the Guess Who, Mashmakan, Lighthouse and a whole list of great bands.
But one of the finest live shows I never did see in the JDSS gym involved one of my musical favourites from that era. It was the excellent electric blues band, Crowbar. I'm afraid to say that when the boys from Crowbar arrived at the front door to JDSS it was about 11:00 p.m. and they were in no condition to perform for a bunch of goodie, two-shoes high school students in Hanover.
So, our principal refused to let them in and it almost led to a riot by several hundred angry teenagers who'd been ready to rock 'n' roll. I remember standing as part of a confrontation on the front steps of my old alma mater with Crowbar and roadies on one side, the principal and some nervous teachers on the other and us in the middle. Leave us to say that the principal held his ground, the town police showed up and the show was cancelled. It was a big disappointment.
I remember being especially disappointed because I was a huge Crowbar fan at the time and I'd lobbied to get them for the school. I'd seen them in a couple of other venues and I saw them a few times after that and they were great every time. In fact, the confrontation on the steps at JDSS was just another part of the legend that was Crowbar.
Because these guys were the ultimate party band when they were big stuff. They were the epitome of high energy, spontaneous creativity and they knew how to rock like no other band on the planet at the time. For me, Crowbar simply lifted rock 'n' roll music to a whole new level. It was awesome stuff.
The thing that got me going on this Crowbar tangent was stumbling across an old 1971 album the other day – one that had sort of gotten lost in my collection. It's a double live Crowbar album called "Larger Than Life". And if any of you weenies who think there's any good modern music out there at all want to listen to some "real" music, I suggest you pick up this album.
I threw it on the turntable and listened to the introduction and the first side – some solid blues boogie stuff – some truly good tunes. Then, a guest artist comes on stage and it's none other than Richard Newell, the King Biscuit Boy, to add a little harp – And, wow, what harp!.
So, I finish with that side and flip it over, then settle in to listen. And who comes on stage with Crowbar for this set – it's the combined horn sections of Dr. Music and Lighthouse and there's Skip Prokop who was really Mr. Music in T.O. back in those days. I mean, can you imagine what that side of music sounds like with all those great musicians on stage at once. It's incredible, folks.
I think most modern music that makes mainstream radio is really junk. It's over polished and over produced and over everythinged else. Good rock 'n' roll is raw and filled with energy that gets totally polished out most of the time today. Bands like Crowbar just got on stage and let it happen. They were great musicians for sure, but that wasn't really what it was about. There are plenty of great musicians out there today – some really great players – but most of them have been pre-programmed into playing what people expect.
You can still find the great players out there, but you've got to look harder. In today's world, high school students prefer MuchMusic Video Dances to live music and that's a sign of the times. I've got no patience for it. It's a crock.
I'm telling you that if you want to really experience rock music for what it once was listen to a little Crowbar – they were terrific. I might even revisit that album tonight. You just can't get enough classic vinyl.



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.