Patrick Watson

Wow Patrick Watson died on my birthday. I was always a big admirer of Patrick from 'this hour has seven days" I met Patrick through Robert Markle. Patrick often showed up in the Toronto Art scene and we became casual friends. Then one day he called me to meet for drinks and he said his son had been going to my after-hours bar and had told Patrick how much he liked our late-night conversations with me. (I am not sure if I even knew he was Patrick's son) Anyway, Patrick just wanted to thank me for friending his son and hoped I would continue the friendship. I eventually lost contact with his son and I heard he died tragically.

I felt lucky to know Patrick he was an oner, one of those guys who was brilliant and creative. unquestionable integrity. he was a great guy to talk to. I will always regret not being able to have spent more time with him. 

 

henry winkler

I was Henry Winkler's Bodyguard. (Would you believe minder?)

At the second Festival of Festivals Film Festival in Toronto. I was a friend of Bill Marshals and ended up with all sorts of odd jobs. Like I was the host of the Hospitality Suite. However, at one of the celebrity parties, Bill asked me to accompany Henry. My job was to distract over-attentive fans and stop photographers from taking pictures of him smoking. I regret to say I didn't get much time to talk to him. I was kept busy with fans. When Henry had enough of talking to one. He would give me the nod. and I would enter the conversation giving Henry time to slip away.

Fats Domino

Fats Domino was playing the El Macambo. I was sitting in Grossman's when out of the blue Cliff Bastien asked I I wanted to go up the street and see Fats so I agreed we went up and caught the first set. Fats did his shtick with lots of hits to play with and had the place jumping.  When the set was over Cliff led me up to the dressing room and rapped on the door. Fats opened the door with a big smile and a hug for Cliff and invited us in. After the introduction, we sat down and cliff gave Fats the lowdown on a bunch of people in New Orleans. Fats smiled at me and said 'Damn he knows more about my family than I do." I learned that Cliff had lived in New Orleans for a while and Fats'uncle had taught Cliff how to play the banjo and Cliff was friends with quite a few of Fat's relatives. Fats dedicated a song to his friend 'Kid Bastien' in the second set. It was a night to remember. For the last number of the night, he thumps really hard and pushes the piano across the stage with his stomach as he plays.

Ian Tyson

I had known Ian for a bunch of years and he was a good friend of Morgan Vice who lived in one of my upstairs rooms. (Only musicians could live above an after hours club) Ian was going through a rough time when his marriage was breaking up and spent a lot of time in the bar and Morgan's place. One night Gary MacLean comes by. The Macleans had started as the folk group the vicious circle and Gary was a big fan of Ian's. SoI told him Ian was there. He was very excited to meet him and when I couldn't find him I led Gary up to Morgans's room. The door was open and in the dimly lit room, Ian was passed out on the floor. what could I do? "Ian Tyson, meet "Gary MacLean, "Gary Maclean, meet Ian Tyson.'
Gary bent down, "Jesus he said That is Ian Tyson."
(sorry Ian it was a long time ago)

Some weeks later Ian came in with Christine Wookie. He was schmoozing and I got into a long talk with Christine. We hit it off pretty well in a friend like fashion and she asked me why I was running a place like this. And I said i wanted to buy a sailboat. "That's all you want" heck we got a 70 foot sailboat that nobody has used in a couple of years if that's all you want why not.......
At that moment Ian grabbed her and whisked her out the door. wait a minute I holler. we will be back sys Ian says and is gone. Of course, I never saw her again.
I wonder how that would have finished.

Al Cromwell

 I knew Al from the early sixties. he was a talented folk singer. He got involved in Scientology and seemed to lose it. He was mostly driving Cab when he hung out at my place in the seventies. He talked about a comeback but it never happened.

Danny Marks

When I first opened there were a lot of nights when there would just be Danny, Mike MacDonald and Jim Jones and me listening to my fabulous juke box and drinking beer till dawn.

Rolling Stones

I get a phone call one night. It's Tom Hedley "Hey Mick Jagger wants to talk to you. "Allo Gary Mick Jagger here. "Tony Silverthorn says "we might get a drink at your club?' A little stunned I said 'sure.' "Can you guarantee my safety?' "No Problem!' I assure him. "We are in a limo outside your door Will you let us in." I went down and escorted them in. they stood at the end bar, not obvious but in plain site and a few whispers went through the bar but basically my very hip 

clientele ignored them.
They kind of got antsy after a while and Mick had to do a little prance on the way back from the washroom to get a couple of young ladies to harass them for a while. Mick got very drunk and he had to go and pick up Bianca at the airport so he asked me to get him back to the limo. I got Jesse Frayne to do that for me and she thanked me for months after that.
Tony Silverthorn was the manager of the Windsor Arms at that time. he had trouble getting the Stones to leave the Courtyard Cafe. so he got Tom and Bary Callaghan to show them the way.
the aftermath was amazing this happened on a Thursday night, on Friday and Saturday night I had line ups around the block.

Cathy Smith

I liked Cathy from the first time I met her in 1965, she was Paul 

Donnelly's girlfriend. We were social friends always glad to see each other 

Jerry Reed , Myrna Lorrie, Roseanne Cash, Eagle

 

Myrna Lorrie frequented my after-hours in the seventies, She was a lot of fun and I caught a few of her shows and liked her music. One night she showed up on the arm of Jerry Reed. (I'm a lover, not a fighter) Roseanne Cash was with them and she was with one of the Eagles. (I can never remember which one) apparently, she had a fling with him They were there almost every night for a week or so.

Helen Shaver

Helen was a night person, She was intelligent and sexy.

She came to my bar often and we enjoyed each other's company. She invited me for dinner one night,
And in her sensuous sultry voice recited one of her poems about losing her virginity to a sailor in my ear.
I suffered instant arousal. Unfortunately, it was not to be her sister dropped in and the situation never rose again so to speak. After she went to LA. We got together at a TO film festival. I introduced her to the MacLean Brothers and we had a great party. Ahh. . .Helen sigh

Robert Markle

  How I became an Artist and almost met Bob Dylan(I sat beside him)

 In 1964 I had a job as Stainless steel tube mill operator having formerly worked as a shepherd And decided to become an Artist. i had always been artistic but I thought I would make it official. How does one become an Artist? I tried to enroll in the Art College of Ontario but they wouldn't take me because I failed Math so I thought the next best way to become an Artist was to hang out with Artists. So I did this

   By now I had found out about 'The Pilot' A tavern at Yonge and Bloor.The pilot was reputed to be the Mecca of Artists this is where most of the famous ones hung out. Barry Hale was the Art Critic of the Telegram and wrote lots of stories about Artists at the pilot. (mostly because he hung out at the pilot)

At that time the pilot was a bit of a problem for me because of the shifts I was on at the factory.

So I show up at the pilot around noon. There are no artists and I didn't even notice the back room. I sat at the bar and had a sandwich and a beer. A guy who sat beside me looked like an ad man, very dapper in a gray flannel suit trimmed mustache gray hair, he ordered a martini. We chatted he was a really nice guy and seemed to know a lot about art. Over the next few weeks, I went a couple times a week and met the same guy often and we became very friendly but I never saw any of the artists Barry Hale wrote about in the Telegram.

One time I asked Jack if any artists hung out there and he said he thought so but they came later in the afternoon and hung out in the back room. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed the back room, it was like a large dark cavern It had a continuous upholstered seat right around the room with an exit door at the back and a dozen or so table with chairs. One wall was mirrored and the other had a very strange mural. But it was almost in complete darkness. So I started coming at 5 pm and soon began to recognize the ones from the art articles (at that time Jerry Santbergen was the featured Artist)  Robert Markle was an unlikely looking guru he looked like kind of a slob he was overweight, he only wore blue jeans and navy sweatshirt and often rubber boots with a motorcycle jacket and a scarf.  But he was brilliant, wonderful, witty, and sort of a snob.

Markle sort of held court at the Pilot. At 5 he would appear and sit in these funny little corners at the Pilot Tavern on either side. The pilot had benches along each wall with tables for four and 2 chairs outside. But at the entrance, there was a sort of cul de sac on each side of the stairs that they made into a seat like a mini throne. Markle always sat there and woe be on them that took his seat. The inner circle sat up on that side on that day. The Pilot was always very dark at any time of day. The five o clock crowd was very much an In Crowd outsiders were made uncomfortable and soon moved on. I came in as an outsider and was strongly ignored. But I wanted to be in the art scene and persevered and sat off on the fringe trying my best to get any drift of the conversations. I vaguely remember words like ‘ramifications’  that sent me running for a dictionary.  But I lingered on the fringe even though Santbergan was more or less on the fringe and managed to talk to him a few times, he was fairly new to Toronto and had just come from Saskatchewan. One thing I knew for certain if I was going to get into this Artist World I would have to be accepted by Markle. Markle was a bit of a celeb at that time too He was friends with Patrick Watson and was on CBC quite a bit and also wrote articles for the Telegram. 

I hit the Pilot about once a week and met some other fringe artists and CBC people like Bill Mc Neil and Hans Pohl Larry Zolf etc but I was not accepted by the art crowd. I found out later some of them thought I was an undercover cop..

Then one night in February 1966 I drifted into the Pilot at ten o clock. The 5 o clock crowd is long gone. I sat and ordered a beer waiting for my eyes to get used to the gloom. It was not a busy night and not many around. then I saw Markle coming in with some guy. He walked by his usual throne and sat on the bench, a table away the other guy sat down across from him. Wow! he was sitting with Bob Dylan WOW!  I dared not approach and merely nodded as our eyes met. I couldn't hear what they said but I could tell Dylan was engaged and enjoying the conversation

The next day I was at the Pilot at 5 o clock. Markle was soon in his seat bubbling with the news of bringing Bob Dylan there the previous night. There was a mood of disbelief. Markle saw me and invited me over and offered a chair. "Hey man, you saw me here last night with Bob Dylan - right?"

"Yes," I said and was accepted into the in-crowd.

I started going to Openings and soon was invited to parties and studios and smoking dope and all that that entails.

The factory job was a conflict  I wasn't cut out for factory work and it was spring I quit my job and moved to a house on McAlpine near Yorkville (the same street Markle lived on) And somehow got unemployment insurance as an unemployed shepherd. it seemed my Artist life was starting. One of the things that impressed the Pilot Artists is that I was friends with Jack Bush who was the guy I had been talking to at the bar.

In 1965, Markle's paintings shown in the exhibition Eros ’65 at the Dorothy Cameron Gallery were seized on a charge of obscenity, drawing considerable media attention. In the mid-1960s Markle began to write for magazines such as the Toronto Telegram Showcase, Maclean’s, and Toronto Life, publishing widely on topics as diverse as striptease, hockey, childhood Christmases, and Gordon Lightfoot. Markle also worked extensively as an illustrator, contributing images to magazines and literary journals. His work as an educator included terms at The New School of Art (1966-1977) and Arts’ Sake (1977-1982) as well as OCA and the University of Guelph. From the early 1960s, Markle played tenor saxophone and piano in the Artists’ Jazz Band. In 1970 the Markles moved to a farmhouse outside of Holstein, Ontario, although Robert re-established a studio in Toronto from 1979 to 1982. In 1979, he won a commission to decorate a Toronto hamburger restaurant, which was named Markleangelo’s in his honour. His other large-scale commissions include wall sculptures for the Ellen Fairclough Building in Hamilton, Ontario, and the MetroToronto Convention Centre. He executed and painted outdoor murals in Owen Sound and Mount Forest, Ontario. Markle was killed in a traffic accident in 1990. Of Mohawk ancestry, Markle used his mother’s spelling of his surname, although it was spelled “Maracle” on his birth certificate. Markle worked primarily in painting and ink drawing, and also explored photography, collage, printmaking, wooden sculpture, and neon. He collected folk art, which inspired a number of whirligig works later in his career. His work is in numerous public and private collections, including the Art Gallery of Ontario and the National Gallery of

Canada.

Gary Kendall (writes_

 Gary was an early patron of my after-hours club. I talked to him on many nights when he was the only guy left. He was married and worried about money and maybe give up playing.
Now he is a giant bass player on the Toronto scene. playing for Downchild and many other bands.
he wrote these comments

I`m a little foggy on the time frame but I think your bar`s era was around 76/77.  Not the best time for my career as a blues musician.  Disco had taken out a number of live music clubs, punk and new wave were gaining a foot hold. Looking back, I think I was floundering with not much direction or creativity.  My music of choice was blues but I couldn`t get a good gig to save my life and I was burned out from being the band leader of Dollars through 74/75.  Making money was a challenge and hanging out in an after-hours bar wasn`t a wise choice for a guy with a family.  When I did get a gig, I`d spend a good chunk of my pay drinking at your place.

I guess that bar offered something more interesting than some of the places I`d play during regular bar hours.  The cast of characters was a pretty interesting mix of rounders, actors, and musicians, some of whom had happening careers and others who like me were waiting for something good to fall out of the sky.  I can remember seeing Murray McLaughlin and Ian Tyson there a few times.  Donnie Walsh offered me the gig playing bass in Downchild at least twice while we got loaded at the bar.  As much as I wanted and needed it, it was a job I couldn`t take at that time because his bass player, Jim Milne was one of my best friends.  Fortunately, Donnie would never remember the next day.  I had to wait until a couple of other bassists had gone through the band before taking the gig, that way my friendship with Jim stayed solid.  I`m still part of that band today although I`ve been there twice, 79-83, 95 to present.

It was fantastic when Handsome Ned would take out his guitar, stand in the middle of the room and knock off a short set of country standards.  Although I never got to know him I was always glad when he`d be there and couldn`t wait for him to bang off some tunes.

I was in the bar the night Mick Jagger and Ron Wood from the Stones came in.  I remember thinking that it would be great if everyone left them alone so they would stay for a while.  That didn`t happen. Billy Bryans and I were in the middle of a conversation and he made a beeline for Ronnie.  A friend's girlfriend who was talking to me mentioned she`d always had a crush on Mick, she immediately disappeared in the direction of the bar that the Stones and entourage were hanging in.  I stood at the end of the bar watching as everyone in the place started to gravitate to the corner of the room where they were.  As soon as some asshole started screaming "MICK JAGGER, MICK JAGGER" at the top of his lungs they were gone, along with most of the women who were there that night.  My friend`s girlfriend ended up with Ronnie Wood and the best line of the night was, when asked why they were in Toronto, they said for the skiing.  On his way out Mick walked past me and shot me a look that said, please leave me alone.  I kept my mouth shut and and gave him a friendly nod of my head.  A week or so later they played their infamous gig at the El Mocambo.

The bar`s era ran parallel to a pretty reckless time in my life, it was probably a necessary diversion for me, somewhere to hang while I waited for things to fall in place with my music and my life.  Eventually, things did come together for me.  A life in Canadian blues isn`t the easiest choice for a way to make a living but it`s been interesting, creative and I`m happy.  Shirley and I are still together, now grandparents, so as chaotic as the '70s were,  part of our lives made it through intact.

Feel free to edit and correct spelling if necessary.  Use whatever you want for photos.  If you want to send a graphic and link I`ll put your blog on the links section of my website. http://www.garykendall.com Gk

Joni Mitchell

Bernie Fieldler brought her to the club one night and she couldn't have been nicer. We sat and talked for a while and then she asked if I would like to hear her new record She borrowed Roy's guitar and got up and sang a whole set to my patrons. what a treat. She broke 2 strings on Roy's guitar and I bet he is still complaining about it.

Lou Miles

Lou Miles was a famous Toronto Tailor and a man about town. We became great friends and went out on many parties dinners and the like with his girlfriend Wendy. They also spent many nights at my bar.

Michael Ironside

 MICHAEL IRONSIDE(my crazy friendship with him.)

I used to be in the movie business but when I met Michael I was 

Toronto's leading  'bootlegger' I owned an after-hours club that was basically for musicians but I expanded it to the famous. And I had been notorious in the 60s for my lavish parties and I slowly built up an illegal business it was a lot of fun and very profitable and I met everybody and their dog. Mike was at the Art College of Ontario and had made this acclaimed 8mm film that won an award and thought he was somebody.

 Meanwhile, I was the King of Toronto in those days (lol) and we clashed often, it took a couple of years for us to become friends he kept after me. Finally, when we did become friends, we were good friends. 

People have often asked me how mike got his scar.

Mike got his scar before I met him. 

He told me he was sitting in his girlfriend's house having a beer and waiting while she changed as they were going out, suddenly there was a hammering at the door and when he opened it up this drunk guy attacked him screaming that he was stealing his girlfriend.  in the course of the brawl the guy broke the bottle and gashed Mike's face Mike thought he had lost his eye and he freaked out he actually tore one of the guy's eye 

out. After the police and the ambulance and everything was sorted out it seems the guy had the wrong house his girlfriend lived next door and Mike didn't even know her..

 

I got in the movie business after the after-hours business. I got into 

the movie business by phoning a producer twice a week for 2 years. 

I was an assistant producer on 'Double Negative. I got Mike a small role in it.

These stories about Michael seem rather wild and there is 

lots to tell but there are even some I can't tell. Mike's ex-wife is a 

policewoman named 'Ironside' 20

 I went to Peterborough with Mike just after the release of 'Visiting 

Hours". His father had a heart attack and I went with Mike to visit 

him. It was quite an experience a lot of people in that hospital had 

seen visiting hours and you should have seen the looks on their faces 

when Mike walked by. In the movie, Mike had a Canon Sureshot 35 mill camera prototype.

He stole it from the movie and gave it to me for my birthday. it was a great camera.

One afternoon Mike and I tried to seduce two young ladies by smoking a lot of dope and building a huge bowl of sangria. It backfired Mike and I both passed out and some weeks later when I developed the film I discovered the girls had stripped us and taken photos. of us naked. I thought that was hilarious. I shoved the photo of mike into a book and forgot which book. I expect somebody got a surprise one day.

I was approached by a fan and I wrote some stories for them.

I really don't think about 'spilling the beans' I find it amusing that 

Mike has such a big fan club. For me, it was just fun to remember what a wildman he used to be and write some of these things down. Anyway, I hope you enjoy these tales they are written just as I remember them.I had a stalker fan of his pump me for the information she had a good story and I passed it on to mike.

Then I get a phone call from Mike, his lawyer, and his agent accusing me of giving her information about mike. like phone number and address. Not only did I not give her any information I did not have his latest info.

 Mike sort of brushed me off and wouldn't believe me. 

Which was a little disappointing as we were such close friends and our list of adventures together read some like sort of weird underground action-adventure. I understand why. I was a part of his past that he doesn't particularly remember. He is and has been clean and sober for about 12 years and this is probably good as he would most likely be dead or in jail if he had kept on. I wouldn't say that I liked him better as a drunk but he certainly was interesting and we had a lot more in common than we do now. 

By the way, it was Mike's sister who gave her the information.

A mike story: We used to drink at the Club 22 at the 

Windsor Arms in Toronto. One night my friends Johnny Hart and Jack Caprio who draw the cartoon BC were in town and I joined them for a few drinks with Mike in tow. Michael got fairly hammered. I got up to meet another old friend Catherine O'Hara from SCTV she had her parents with me and introduced them to me as I shook hands with her mother, I gave a bit of a bow, and as I did Michael came up behind me and bit me on the ass and wouldn't let go. It was unbelievable I jumped and hollered and leaped around the room but he wouldn't let go. It took Jack and Johnny and a couple of waiters to get him off of me and I don't know why, he just thought it was funny, and when it stopped hurting I laughed too. Mike was barred for that but I managed to get him reinstated and the next afternoon we drank $400 of margaritas between us.

 I remember the next morning after that we went for brunch at Joe Allens with lady friends Mike ordered a triple Bloody Caesar with a shot of Vodka on the side. This is Mike's favorite story at AA

Back in the mid-seventies, I used to own an after-hours club and Mike spent a couple of bad years drinking himself into the ground. As often as not he would pass out in the club and I would just put a blanket over him and leave him there. I lived over the bar and one night I woke up with this horrible thumping through the floor. I go downstairs to find Mike with his face stuck to the bar. He had managed to get a hold of a pool cue and thumped it on the ceiling. I had just put in a new bar and got this guy to put a plastic top on it. He made a mistake and the bar top didn't set properly. Michael in his stupor crawled up on the bar and fell asleep on it. His face was firmly stuck to the bar It was quite a job to pry him loose without any more damage to his face.

I had somehow become a movie producer and Michael and Winston Reckert were going to be in it. 

We hung around together and Mike and Winston got really crazy sometimes they got banned from several restaurants and bars and I saved them from arrest a couple of times.

One day Winston had just finished a movie and was flush. So Winston and Michel Ironside and Alberta Watson and Winston's accountant Jerry and I are sitting around at Jerry's drinking beer smoking dope and snorting coke. We were getting pretty crazy and we thought we should order some food. the subject of ribs came up and Jerry said the best ribs in the world were from  Fat Willy’s Rib Shack in Chicago. So Winston says can we get some?. Jerry got on the phone with plane tickets and taxis etc we had ribs from Fat willy's in 4 hours for about a thousand dollars or so.

Mike and I had several pretty good fights. One night Michael and Winston Rekert  (Neon rider) went to see Willie Dixon at the El Mocambo. This is after both of them had made a couple of good movies and things were beginning to happen for them. We had met some interesting young ladies and wanted to party later. Well, I have this very fussy friend who had gone to Poland for a month or two and had left me the key to his apartment. So I invited everyone back to his place which was just down the street and Mike used the phone to phone his girlfriend. when he couldn't get her he threw

the phone out the window right through the screen I bopped for that one. it was a real hassle to get it all repaired.

Craig Russell

I met Craig Russell in the subway one night.

He was on his way to his hit show at the Royal York.

Here he was in the subway entertaining about 6 people.

He was sitting beside a wino and a small group had gathered around him and he had them in stitches. I stood and watched for awhile and when I got an opening I held out my hand. "Hi Craig I always wanted to meet you. I am a friend of your friend Sandy's." " oh Sandy, How is she? he pushed against the wino slightly to make room for me to sit down.

We talked about Sandy for a couple of minutes and suddenly he stopped ans sniffed loudly, still sniffing he asked

"What is that horrible smell?" he gasped.

"I am afraid it is your friend," I said nodding to the wino.

"Shit!" he said, "there goes the promise I made to myself to fuck anybody that asked me."

Harry Hibbs

I met Harry Hibbs at the Horsehoe in Toronto about 1977.  He carried two cases his accordion and a briefcase for his music he said. He was there for the week and after a few days, we became pretty good friends so I got invited to the dressing room. He opened the briefcase to reveal two bottles of rum. Harry started off with a bang but by the end of the night he was getting a bit maudlin and as he sang 'Me mother thee tears streamed down his face. He struggled with booze but managed to open his own club 'Conception Bay. (My grandfather was from conception Bay. ) he was a grand entertainer.

Jacqueline Bisset

There was a big birthday party for Bob Markle at at the Masonic Temple. Gord Lightfoot highlighted the show. Old friend Michael Sarrazin came with his steady girlfriend Jacqueline Bisset I was out with them at the bar the night before and she was kind of shy and didn't really meet a lot of people. I think Jackie was a bit fed up with Michael's drinking and by the time they got to the Masonic Temple they were barely talking. As I was the only one else she knew at all she hung out with me most of the night. A nice line in my memoir 'spent the evening dancing with Jacqueline Bisset stoned on acid.'

Roy Payne

Roy Payne does not get his due as a great Canadian songwriter. he wrote two truly great songs. 'I wouldn't take a million dollars for a single Maple Leaf' which he wrote when he was in the Canadian Army in Egypt. And 'There are no price tags on the doors of Newfoundland ' both of which can be considered anthems

No question he was a character

I met him in Toronto in the summer of 75. The Horseshoe was still Country and Western. I had moved in across the street in June and the Horseshoe had become my local and by then i had set up an after hours club. (booze can).

It came to pass that Roy owed Morty Star (The manager of the Horseshoe) $3,000.00. so Morty hired Roy for the whole month of August. the idea that he could get his money back. He made strict rules that Roy could have no bar privileges and he wasn't to drink.

So I am sitting in a booth in the east half of the huge bar. Drinking jugs of drafts with a couple of friends Roy was just setting up for the gig on the stage on the west side of the bar and Morty was behind the bar on the westside front of the bar. there was a half wall down the middle and I was on the other side. I was sitting talking and drinking when something grabbed my leg. I looked down at Roy under my seat holding up a dollar."Give me a beer will you?" He had crawled under about 5 booths to get to us and that is how we became friends. He spent almost every night at my bar for the rest of the month and we hung out quite a bit

Roy was mostly drunk or whatever and crazy but he knew all the country stars and introduced me to many like Billy Joe Shaver etc. He could write a song in a minute I watched him write one about the liquor menu.

By the way at the end of the month, Roy owed Morty $6000.

Roy Payne is an icon of Canadian Country music. He was born in Trout River, Newfoundland, and was raised by his grandparents. He served 12 years in the Canadian army and was a truck driver amongst other odd jobs before making music his full-time vocation.

David Crombie Wilt Chamberlin and Mayor Mel Lastman.

David Crombie Wilt Chamberlin and Mayor Mel Lastman.

In 1976 I was the host of the Hospitality Suite at the Toronto Film Festival. Bill Marshal asked me to open early one day for his friend mayor David Crombie and guests. I always liked David he was smart and positive. The guests were Wilt Chamberlain and Mayor Mel Lastman.

For a couple of hours, I sat between Wilt the Stilt and David the perfect tiny mayor listening to Wilt tell funny self-effacing stories of how he got ripped off on a million dollar racehorse etc. Not to mention too much about the twenty thousand women he slept with. I was impressed with Mel Lastman. He was a good listener and asked good questions.  At a later festival, I attended a Festival party at City hall and ended up smoking a joint in the Mayor's Office with a city Councillor.

Neil Young.

I had the strangest meeting with Neil Young. I shared a Roast turkey dinner with him backstage at Maple Leaf Gardens. I was hanging out with my buddies MacLean and MacLean and kinda strange too they opened up for Neil. As it was we all shared the same huge dressing room and on his contract rider neil had demanded a full Roast Turkey dinner with all the trimmings. I cant remember whether this was before the show or after. anyway neil invited us to join him and i sat beside neil and we had a most pleasant conversation while we enjoyed the meal.

Dinner at Fridays

  A friend of mine Beau Chorney had this lawyer ( I am embarrassed i cant remember his name.)who I met on a deal we were working on.  

So I ran into him in the 22 in Toronto, and after a drink, he invited me to join him for dinner at Fridays. he only said was meeting with his some of his clients. so I had no idea until we sat down with Yvan Cournoyer, Guy LaPointe, Henri Richard, and Frank Mahovlich. Peter Mavolich was late he had just bought a Rolls Royce and as he pulled up and we all went out to the street to see it. When he got out an empty Heineken bottle fell out which made us all laugh. 

I was out of my league in the conversation, I was like the fifth wheel with this lot so I didn't say much just a few bon mots during dinner and mostly listened. I wish I remembered more but I guess I was a bit awed as it was such a surprise. meeting so many Hockey heroes at once is a bit much. I have always been a habs fan and peter was a favouite.

Lee Majors

 I met Lee Majors at the 22 in Toronto in 1980.

He came in with Chris Makepeace who was still a teenager.

they sat at the producer's table with a bunch of us. (I was actually trying to produce a movie at that time)

Lee and Chris had just finished shooting 'The Last Chase" and Lee was hanging around Toronto for a bit and dating Karen Kane.

Daytime Don the waiter came over to take their orders. Lee ordered a drink and Don looked at the obviously underage Chris and not wanting to be a spoilsport said"You are an actor I guess you can act 21" and brought him a glass of milk.

Lee was much cooler than I had thought. he was friendly, funny, and self-effacing and I immediately liked him. He hung around over the next couple of days shooting the breeze sometimes a bunch of us sometimes just the two of us. He showed up one night for dinner at the Courtyard and drinks in the 22 with Karen. Which was all the gossip of course. One afternoon he acted as an extra in one of the movies shooting close by. One afternoon when there were just the two of us. and after a few drinks, he glanced at a photo of him and Karen in a newspaper.  He turned to me and said with a sigh "I am still in love with Farrah you know." I bought the round. Nice man.

Howard Duff

I met Howard Duff making Double Negative. I was the assistant producer and it was my job to look after Howard. I met him at the airport. "Hi I'm Howard Duff and if you don't think I'm tough, Remember I was married to Ida Lupino for twenty years". Howard and I became great friends and his girlfriend Judy. We spent many pleasant hours together over about 6 weeks. I showed them around Toronto and we had many lunches and dinners together. And far too many drinks. I took them to some clubs. One night he was a bit long in the washroom and I went to check. he was being hassled a bit by some punks (not too seriously) I come in and say Ready to go Mr.Duff and flashing my genuine RCMP key chain. The punks evaporated and Howard thought that very cool and subtle.

If anything like Richard I found Howard a bit fragile. I was on Howard and Judys Xmas card list until they died and I feel really privileged

My short Friendship with Leonard Cohen

 

This was in 1979 I had just quit the booze can biz and was transgressing into the Movie biz.

Club 22 at the Windsor Arms was my principal milieu. I was at home there comfortable and confident.

I came in one evening and not seeing any friends I got a drink at the bar. in a glance around the room There was Leonard sitting by himself and nursing a drink at a nearby table. my milieu what the hell, I walked over "hey Leonard I'm Gary leDrew, I am a friend of Lesley McDonells she talks a lot about you. Leonard's eyes lit up. "The beautiful Lesley. have you seen here lately" "Not much since she married that St. Nicholas guy,"I say. I sat down and after a mutual admiration of Lesley's conversation our talk drifted to other things. I was born in Montreal and gave my brief history there. He told me he was in town for an opening at an Art Gallery on Dundas St., and that the Artist had painted pictures of some of his released songs and he had to go. We drank pretty much till closing time covering a lot of subjects from gossip to philosophy. he said he had some meetings the next day but we would meet later. 

The next day I got a surprise phone call from my ex-wife. She had not let me see my daughter in 5 years and I had lost contact completely. She had broken up with a guy she said was responsible for the ban and if I wanted I could pick her up the next evening if I took her sister as well. Sarah was now seven and Shaleen was four. I was ecstatic.

Leonard was emerging as a star about this time with  3 records and a tour. He still seemed a bit shy, he wasn't that comfortable in Toronto and had no friends around at that time. We had a very comfortable few hours of drinking and talking and he invited me to the opening the next night. I explained I couldn't go and why. Leonard was insistent "look man I really need you to go. I really don't know anybody there and frankly, the whole thing is a bit embarrassing. I need the support and you at least know the art scene. I protested that I hadn't seen my daughter in 5 years. So bring them I'll take care of it.

So I showed up the next night with Sarah and Sharleen. We drank a lot of wine the kids tore around the Gallery with Leonard's blessing. I don't remember the art I don't think I was not too impressed and Leonard was polite in a couple of interviews but soon drank more wine and was terrific with the kids. Somewhere there is a videotape of Leonard with Sarah in one arm and Shaleen in the other one with a glass of wine too.

I got the kids home happy and made arrangements to take them out on Sunday.

I got to see Leonard for a bit the next day and a few drinks before he caught the train to Montreal. As was usual for me then I never thought to get phone numbers etc. (i always just expected to see people) As it happened I had to move back to Uxbridge for a bit when I got back to the 22 I was told Leonard had asked about me a few times but I never did see him again. I managed to get a message to him when he went through here on tour but he didn't reply after all it was 40 years before.

Leonard's email was baldymonk@aol.com

Berkeley Breathed

In 1993 I was a software buyer for Wiseguy computers (5 stores) I was in Los Vegas for the computer Show and I was invited to meet Berkeley Breathed at the opening party for his screensaver in Las Vegas in 1993. it was at a hotel cottage type thing. About 50 people all ad men, promoters and other 'suits' and a dozen or so gorgeous models. Berkeley had not much interest in any of them and either did I . I was there for the week at the computer show and was glitzed out. Anyhow Berkeley and I ended up ducking out of the main room and we chatted for an hour or so and quaffed a few nice cold beers. I remember him as sort of nicely outre type guy that would come across as standoffish but we had a pleasant conversation.it was not long after this he went into a self-imposed exile for a few years.

Larry Zolf

Larry introduced me to Moses Znaimer." Do you know Ledrew I got him out of jail" Larry wrote a letter to the parole board when I was busted and never let me forget it? 

I met Larry at the Old Pilot back in the '60s. We used to have a few drinks occasionally and had many late dinners at Kwong Chows. The barbs were obligatory. You had to have thick skin to dine with Larry but what a treat. He knew politics inside and out and he had all the real stories.

I last talked to him just after Peter Czowski died. I called to find out if knew anything about the funeral.

"LeDrew where the fuck you been? "Czowski! whatta calling me for I never hung out with those guys." 

"So you Ok? good, Keeping out of jail, good. I gotta go I'm writing.

Larry Zolf (July 19, 1934 – March 14, 2011)^[1] was a Canadian journalist and commentator.

LARRY ZOLF Veteran journalist, author and political pundit extraordinaire Larry Zolf passed away peacefully on Monday, March 14, 2011 at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. Known variously as a 'national treasure,' 'Canadian icon,' 'political guru' and 'CBC legend,' Larry irreverently provoked and engaged Canada's political and social culture for over 40 years, and his presence in the Canadian public sphere will be sorely missed. Larry was born in North End, Winnipeg in 1934, received his bachelor's degree from the University of Winnipeg and did graduate work in history at the University of Toronto. He joined the CBC in 1962 and worked as a reporter, producer, critic and radio and TV host on several shows, including the legendary current-affairs TV show This Hour Has Seven Days as well as Sunday, Weekend, and Take 30. His documentary on the 1964 Toronto printers' strike won the Anik Award in 1965 and was rebroadcast as one of the 100 best documentaries at the National Film Board's 50th birthday celebration. He is the author of several books, including Dance of the Dialectic, Just Watch Me: Remembering Pierre Trudeau, Survival of the Fattest: An Irreverent View of the Senate and Scorpions for Sale, which was shortlisted for a Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. Until the very end of his life, Larry's engagement with thinking and writing and Canadian public culture never waned. In the fall of 2010, his memoir, The Dialectical Dancer, was released. Larry leaves behind his wife, Barbara Diakopoulou, his children David and Rachel Zolf, his former wife Patricia Zolf and nieces and nephews Stephen, Janice, Sharon, Allan, Barbara, Audrey and Susan, as well as many friends, colleagues and admirers. Funeral service will be held at MOUNT PLEASANT CEMETERY VISITATION CENTRE, 375 Mount Pleasant Road, Toronto (east gate entrance, north of St. Clair Ave., 416-485-5572) on Thursday, March 17 at 10:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations in Larry's name can be made to the Kidney Foundation of Canada. Information and condolences available at www.etouch.ca Larry Zolf (July 19, 1934 – March 14, 2011) was a Canadian journalist and commentator. Zolf was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba
- See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thestar/obituary.aspx?pid=149360388#sthash.vTcOlBV0.dpuf

Keenan Wynn

Keenan Wynn

This is me with Keenan Wynn during the shooting of 'The Ballonist' a "Littlest Hobo" episode shot in my parents home in Uxbridge Ontario in the Summer of 1980. It was directed by Allen Eastman (Alien) and Keenan enjoyed tormenting him a bit. Keenan and I spent the breaks talking about movies like 'Dr. Strangelove' etc. it was a fun afternoon. Keenan had the shakes a bit and didn't want to sign autographs, he always had the continuity girl around to take poloroids and gave out pictures instead .

Patrick McGoohan

I met Patrick in The 22 and asked him what he was doing? This was his answer. We chatted for a couple of hours. I think he had just finished Scanners.

The Club 22 at the Windsor Arms was an amazing place in 70's & 80's. It was like the hub of movie business in Toronto. Every day there was an adventure of some kind. Robert Miller was a writer for McLean's Magazine and CTV and had recently turned to novels like Dreadlock and some movie biz with Bill Marshall. I had bravely written my first screenplay and had given a copy to Bill Marshall. So we are sitting at the producers table with a few cronies at the mostly empty Club 22 and Bobby says come here I want to talk to you. he leads me to the empty piano bar. He tells me he picked up my script at Bill's office and read it. He than told me I shouldn't be in the movie business and picked my script apart line by line. He was good, he had a photographic memory and a grounding in writing and English and literature that was unmatched. I sat there speechless looking for anyway out. When I looked up in the mirror and said. "Hey isn't that Patrick Mcgoohan coming into the bar?"Bobby hardly broke stride he looked up briefly and went on. See that's what I mean, you don't even know who is who, that isn't Patrick McGoohan, Patrick is a personal friend of mine and that definitely isn't him.I got up and went back to the producers table ready to give up.

I looked again and went up to the gentleman at the bar. Hi aren't you Patrick McGoohan? Yes he replied I introduced myself and So Mr McGoohan what are you doing these days? "The manly sort of thing" he says"I try to drink a bottle scotch and write 2 poems everyday."I invited him to join us. I introduced him around the table, Robert Miller meet Patrick Mcgoohan I smirked as I watched the now speechless Bobby Miller sink low in his seat.

Donnie Downchild

Gary's Glimpses
#1 Donnie Downchild

I was one of the early habitues of Grossmans I became great friends with Al
and he let me make and sell my Grossman's T Shirts (I made up to $300 a week off them)
One of the first articles Richard Flohil wrote was for the Toronto Star Weekend. It was about Grossmans but he interviewed me so it ended up mostly about me and my T shirt etc.

I don't really remember when Downchild showed up, It seems like they were always there.
They were a fun band to know and hang with and Donnie would play anything you wanted for a shot of Jameson's Scotch.
I organized a small baseball league Grossman's, Pilot, Paramount, Vagabonds and anybody else that would play us. I did this for fun and to sell T-shirts. This was the 60's and I umpired in a dashiki and wearing a Fez.I usually smoked quite a bit of reefer before the game to keep me calm and slow the ball down. I remember Donnie sitting in the outfield with a dixie cup full of Jameson's. "Pop Up! Donnie someone yells" he carefully plants his drink and lurches to feet slipping and sliding in his leather soled cowboy boots looking for his mitt. Somebody retrieved the ball and he sat down again. It was not unusual to have Kid Bastien's marching band take the field in between innings. I remember Donnie playing at Krash's studio for the season baseball party until his fingers were bleeding.

My friend Hodge had a corn roast every year at his place in Whitby every year.So for fun I decided to turn it into a pop festival to surprise him. He was building a large trimaran in a barn and was surrounded by a hundred acres of Libby's cornfields. I got 3 bands, Downchilds, Kid Bastien and 'The Lubor K Zinc band. I had posters and invitations printed and on the Friday afternoon of the corn roast I rented a truck and loaded up the bands and lots of beer and a piano and whatever sound equipment they needed. We had a rollicking ride to Whitby I had no shortage of drugs in those days too. It was a wonder we weren't stopped I am sure they heard us singing long before we got there. Hodge wasn't too surprised as people with campers and tents had started showing up  a few days before. I think about 500 people showed up and I was told everybody had a great time but after everything was set up I dropped acid and I really don't remember much after that. It lasted pretty much until Sunday and Hodge wasn't' too mad at me except for Krash taking his corvette. He was just thankful nobody burnt the barn down. And I think he got about a hundred dollars when he took the empties back.

I guess we kinda took Downchilds for granted as a good party band and then I walked in  to Grossmans one afternoon and they got some black dude playing and singing with them and in few minutes realized it was none other than Albert King (Wow) I bought him a drink in a rest break (he must of played with them for 4 or 5 hours) "Wow man" he says "These guys are good." We started to realize that maybe we should take these guys seriously.
It was around then the band started playing all over town and it seemed to be a slightly different band every time I saw them.
I got married and moved back to Uxbridge for 3 years. Split with wife came back to T.O. and then went sailing down south for 15 months.
When I came back I opened up a booze can across the street from the Horseshoe. In the early days in a moment of madness I set up drums and a sound system and let musicians play for free beer. I must of been nuts and almost went broke. I remember towards the end of this experiment Roy Buchanan coming in from a ten thousand dollar gig at the Horseshoe. He sees my set up and says "Hey me and the boy's will play for free beer." "I never met a musician that wouldn't,"I said walking away.
Anyway one hot summer night Donnie was jamming about 3 in the morning and it was great unless you were trying to sleep. the windows were open and I bet you could hear them  6 blocks away. I was putting a fan in the window when I look out on the street and see dozens of police cars a Paddy wagon and loads of policemen. Before I could react there came some big knocks at the door. I opened it a crack, a line of policemen filled the stairway led by a large Sergeant. Yes I say. "We have a complaint about the noise," He hollers above the band."Just a minute." I say and close the door. I quiet the band and everybody else and close the windows. Back to the door"There you are ." I say and close the door. 3 big knocks and I open it again. The sergeant is bewildered " I have half the police force here." he complains. "So I took care of the noise right?" Anything else"? and closed the door. Donnie and I peeked out the window as the police all talked together in little groups looking up but finally shrugged and drove away. We kept very quiet and I got rid of the setup.

Donnie was a regular at the bar and there was a fad for really hot spicy food at the time and Arturo had given me a jar of really hot peppers, which were really too hot for humans. Donnie of course had to try one and we thought he may never play the harp again.
Then I went sailing in the Bahamas with Mclauchlan for a couple of months over Xmas and January. Now I had a lot of musician friends and I tried desperately to play the guitar. there were no auto tuners back then and I could even tune it. I was hopeless so for Xmas Mclauchlan bought me a huge chromatic harmonica with a slide and everything, it mus have cost $500.00. "Anybody can play the harmonica," Murray told  me. Except for me, I tried and tried early in the morning after everybody left. But again hopeless. So this is sitting on the bar one night when Donnie came in. "Whats this ?" I told him. He picks it up and makes a bit of music on it. "Wow he says I always wanted to try one of these lend it to me, I'll bring it back next week." I say sure what the hell and next week he come back and says" Shit i am sorry man but I broke your harp, that slide thing just snapped off and it's no good any more.' I was busy and I just shook my head and told him to  forget it. I wasn't going to play it anyway. So a few months later I see him in a concert somewhere and he has had a special holster made for my harmonica like a pistol with his smaller harmonicas in little holsters like bullets. I was really pissed off, I couldn't get backstage. So I didn't see him for a few years I got out of the bar biz and had some ups and downs and didn't see him until one night on Algonquin  Island - I had been living on the island for a while on a friend's sailboat. I just remember it was a great party and talking to Richard Flohil who was managing them. It was not a good time to bring up the harmonica and let it go. I tried may times to catch them in Florida but never did.
Many years later caught him at a cd signing at Grossman's and told him to give me a cd. "Why should I" he scowled. "For the harmonica," I cajoled. " oh yeah" He laughed and shook hands. I just got my latest signed dvd and cd from the band after I told Gary Kendall this story. I am so pleased and kinda proud to see the band win a Juno. I have always admired Donnie for his talents and his blues integrity and persistence through triumph and tragedy. I hope I can hit him for a bunch more cds.

Jerry Santbergan

I was soon good friends with Jerry Santbergen who was at least a bit of a media star. He had moved to Toronto with his girlfriend Kaaren Blatchford. Jerry rented the former Bohemian Embassy as his studio. I worked with Jerry a lot of the time and we moved a little dope to pay the bills

One of the more fun things was The Electro-Magnetic Spectrum Band also known as the silicon control or the Solid State Waste Removal Company orchestra and chorus. the rule was you weren't allowed to have ever played a musical instrument So tom Sinew was kicked out and I took his place.
Bart Scoales. Ziggy Blazer, Jerry Santbergen, Moses Smith and me had an avant-garde band in 1967

We played Tape recorders, movie and slide projectors and strobe lights and a wind machine and incense, etc. Sam The Record Man let Jerry and I use any of his records we wanted to tape. We had Philips 2 track tape recorders and taped different music on each track and blended it.
We played one gig at McGill University in Hamilton and got paid $2000.
Most people actually stayed to the end.
I was stoned turned on my tape and got caught up in the strobes and wandered away for a while

These Photos by John Radcliffe

We even got reviewed in arts Canada.

I made a great contact from Kitchener. who brought me 10 lbs of grass every week for $500.00 it was half homegrown and half Mexican and pretty decent stuff.I had a buyer who bought 5 lbs off me for $500.00 so I had 5 lbs to fool with. I cut Jerry in as a full partner just because we were friends.
it certainly made life easier and getting laid a lot easier. Around this time Jerry and Kaaren broke up.
Jerry also got caught up big time with acid.
We had the high park sculpture symposium and had a few parties with them. with all our pot we handed it out easily. One party at Gynts Skudras place Gynts and Rossa nailed themselves into their bedroom.
 Jerry was invited to give a lecture at the New School of Art so we showed up with a slide projector and slides of all his work and a large trunk. When we had the projector set up. We opened the trunk which was filled with beer. We handed out beer and joints to all the students who seemed to enjoy the show. The staff was not so happy and we were banned from the New school for life.
I get a phone call from Jerry at 8 am one morning. I can hardly hear him but he wanted me to come over right away. I get over expecting the worst. He tells me he dropped acid only he had a lecture to give at the Ontario Teacher's College. Then he pleads with me to do the lecture for him basically to show his slides and talk about his art. I decline but he says he will split the $300.00 fee with me so what the hell do I care. Off we go I introduce ourselves and set up the projector and start showing the slides
to a large room full of students and teachers. jerry sat behind me with a big stoned smile and never said a word. When people asked him questions he would just nod to me and I would answer them.
Somehow We got through it. I was sure we were not going to get paid.
Lo and behold it was a huge success they mentioned Andy Warhol said it was like a modern Art show totally impressed. We grabbed the cheque laughed and ran to the bank.

Jerry somehow got a Canada Council Grant to make laser art or something he was starting to get a bit weird and was dropping acid more frequently.  he had a how coming up at Carmen Lamanna Gallery and was sketching madly He ordered a dozen or so really fancy expensive folding stretchers about 6 ft by 6 ft.. he was not happy with his sketches and suddenly he just disappeared for a week. He had gone to New York and he came back with a load of new sketches. he bought a couple of rolls of canvas and we started stretching and taping the hard edge designs. Jerry did the actual painting following his sketches. I helped Jerry design these invitations to his show. The show was not received well.  I discovered later he had gone to new York and hung out with Frank Stella who he knew. he had copied Stella's show and that is pretty well what we had made.

Photograph i took for Gallery Invitation.

So one Friday I go to pick up the money to buy my 10 lbs of grass and I find Jerry already got it and I found he got the grass and said I would pay for it. i found he had sold it and flown to England.
He really left me in a bind. nd those deals were no more.
He returned about a moth later very spaced out he promised.to pay me back. I dont remember exactly but i started keep away.  Jerry started going with a new girlfriend (cant remember her name)
she was kind of beat looking black hair black turtleneck and skirt and leotards etc.They did a lot of acid  and would call me over as they thought they were moving ashtrays with there minds.Jerry told me they were going to do STP that weekend he called me aside and said he wanted the ultimate trip but if he got too high would I bring him down. Jerry was not really the same and I kept right away from him.He got into a whole thing were he set fire to one of his paintings at the AGO (see Photos by krash John Radcliffe)