By the time the Brass Union returned home from their first Quebec City shows in the early part of 1970, the band had changed a great deal from those early days of searsucker jackets, white shirts and black ties. They had their own trucks now – a black, 9-passenger, window van and a matching white equipment van. The staging was all there, a full light show (complete with every kind of visual effect that was available back then), and a top-of-the-line sound system, board and road crew that traveled with them everywhere. Their songlist which had started out as ‘cover tunes’, copying the originals as faithfully as possible, hadbeen reworked and rearranged with the band’s imprint fully stamped on each number they did. Many of the band’s members (myself included) had their musical roots in the more ethereal world of classical music and its effects showed up fully in the band’s songs – with things like a Mel Tormé song and an arrangement of Anton Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” included in their regular songlist. The Brass Union were not the only rock band incorporating ‘classical’ elements into rock music during this time, but they were definitely one of them. And their arrangements of cover tunes and their band original numbers showed this. The band had changed a great deal in 3 years. And as Cliff Hunt mentioned just recently: “The suits were gone, the hair was longer, and the beards were growing. It was not just a visual transition but a musical and social one as well.” By the time the two trucks rolled back into the Hamilton/Burlington area at the end of February 1970, they had been playing together every night for three weeks, practicing nearly every day and spending countless hours together on the road. They were ready for the next step – releasing their own record. And it took them no time at all to do so.The band recorded two numbers at the RCA studios in Toronto in, if memory serves me correctly, a one-day session: “It Won’t Be Long” (side A of their 45 rpm record) and “Restaurant Encounter” (side B). Both songs were written by the band’s lead guitarist, Len Blum and arranged by the band. In truth, neither of these tunes were the band’s favourite originals (they had quite a few written by this time), but they were the ones that the record company felt would be the best pick for their first record. And who were these young kids to argue with proven professionals? The songs were recorded, mixed, produced and pressed rather quickly and by the end of April 1970, the song “It Won’t Be Long” was ‘chartbound’ on Hamilton, Canada’s CKOC 1150 Top 40 chart (see below). The song stayed on the chart for a number of weeks, reaching as high as No. 7 locally, at one point. As a young kid, still rather ‘green’ to the world of professional music, it was rather nice to turn on the radio at night and hear my own band playing. And with the success of this record, by the end of the summer the Brass Union had secured a show at the biggest venue available in the Southern Ontario area at the time – the CNE Grandstand Show in Toronto.
BRASS UNION 45 rpmSide A -- It Won't Be LongSide B -- Restaurant Encounterboth written by Len BlumProduced by J. Driscoll & R. MartinExecutive Producer G. Salter
By 1970, the phenomenon of teen idols was everywhere. It was another facet of the music industry, created in the corporate offices, that swept over everything it touched. Posters, pin-ups were everywhere as teen magazines proudly displayed the latest teen idol each week to thousands of screaming and adoring fans. The North American invasion of the British groups like the Beatles, the Hollies and the Stones probably set the tone for artists like David Cassidy, Davey Jones (of the Monkees), Donny Osmond and Michael Jackson (of the Jackson 5). And right up in the mix was a California boy named Robert Cabot Sherman Jr. – a.k.a. Bobby Sherman. Bobby had made his initial mark in 1964 as a regular on the television musical show Shindig! In 1968, he was cast in the popular weekly series, “Here Come the Brides”. By 1969, he had released a hit record and in August of 1970, he came to Canada to play at the Toronto CNE Grandstand show – one of the largest concert venues in Canada. From his biography at bobbysherman.com, it states: “His first hit record, ‘Little Woman’ came in 1969, which led to concert tours on the weekend where Bobby was mobbed by adoring fans. His face began appearing on every teen magazine cover. Lunch boxes bore his picture, and love beads and ‘Bobby Sherman Chokers’ became the rage.” And the band that opened his show for him that summer at the CNE Grandstand show in front of a sold out crowd of 22,500 people was the Brass Union.
I, personally, remember that show very, very well. Because of the nature of the ‘teen idol’ phenomenon, the band decided to add a new song to their set, specifically for this show. It was a 1957 hit by the Diamonds called, “Little Darling”. The song was back-up vocal dominant, with a Phil Spectre-like rhythm found in most of the teen idol/drive-in/Frankie and Annette types of music. And, I suppose, because most of the band members were needed for the vocal back-up lines, it was decided that I would sing the song. Make no mistake about it, I have never been known as a ‘singer’, but with me standing out front, creating my own parody of the teen idol image and the band backing with very strong vocal and instrumental lines, the song came off rather well. The part that is most memorable for me is that, up until this time I had never sang anything on a microphone in public before. We’d gone over the song in practice, but my first “singing on microphone in public” was at the CNE Grandstand show … geez !!The ‘Little Darling’ song was the fourth in a nine-song set – amazing how these memories stay with us – and I could barely play my horn during the first few songs. Petrified would be an accurate word here. I had heard that there were around 23,000 people in the crowd and that translated to 46,000 eyeballs and every one staring at me. But when it was my turn and I walked to centre stage to take the microphone it was like someone had just pulled a plug in the bottom of my foot and all the nervousness and anticipation flowed out on the floor of the stage. I’ll never forget that feeling. The only problem I had that night was during the middle of the song, I had to go to my knees, reaching dramatically skyward and do a talking part over the band singing in the background. I suppose I slid out toward the front of the stage a bit too far, because when I did, hundreds of young, screaming, girls' arms all reached up toward me. It scared da ‘ell out of me, let me tell you. I learned a lot about centre stage that night.The band went over great that night and were back at the Bandshell playing their own show a few nights later. Obviously, the bulk of the crowd at the Grandstand show were there to hear Bobby, but to hear the applause as we left the stage was very nice, indeed. Bobby’s show was quite amazing to watch, really … hundreds and hundreds of stuffed animals were thrown on the stage as he sang … 23,000 screaming young girls. It was quite the thing to watch from off-stage. When one of our band went to pick up one of the stuffed animals at the end of the show, one of his stage crew told us: “I’m sorry, but Bobby keeps all the stuffed animals”, as he was being whisked out of the area by limousine. I still wonder today what Bobby Sherman would do with (literally) hundreds of stuffed animals.
More from the 1970 Brass Union songlist
To the left:The Brass Union -- late 1970(taken at the CNE grounds)From left to right: John Willett, Bruce Wilson, Terry Bramhall, John Hannah, Darrell Nameth, Cliff Hunt (kneeling), Don Berryman, David Thrasher, and on top of the phone booths, Len Blum
By the time the band had finished at the CNE, they were back in Hamilton playing a week in the top club in the city, the Grange Tavern. All the top acts that came through the area played here. David Clayton Thomas was a regular. It is rumoured that Conway Twitty wrote his hit: “It’s Only Make Believe” in the dressing room of the Grange Tavern. And the Brass Union began one of their many weeks playing here, the week following their show at the CNE. The band had now secured their own booking agent, Herb Lock of Willock Enterprises. They were now performing regularly and having their own full-time agent was necessary. I remember living, at this time, in a house in what is now the trendy ‘Hess Village area’ of Hamilton, and I would be home for a week and gone for a week with the band. Between traveling, playing local venues, special events, clubs, another trip to Quebec City, another northern tour, practicing, constantly reworking the show, adding original material … the band was a very busy band by the end of 1970. It had come a long way since playing in the back of Archie Campbell’s pick-up truck, a few years ago.
To the left, is a write-up from another of the band's summer shows in 1970 -- this one, at Burlington Central Park. Directly below is a ticket from the band's Christmas concert at Cambrian College in December of 1970.With the band's increased popularity, there was a great deal of press coverage. I've closed out the year by including two of the write-ups about the band that have survived the 40 years since their last gig.With the trips to Quebec City, the release of their first record, their summer gigs at the Canadian National Exhibition, the addition of their own booking agent Herb Locke, increased exposure locally, club dates, another northern tour and the band's own continued work on their show, 1970 was a very busy year for the band. And this continued full speed into 1971 -- another full year for the Brass Union.
Note: Please be sure to turn off the mp3 player (above) before starting this video