MacLean and MacLean

MacLean and MacLean

The MacLean’s came to my club one night in Toronto and we immediately became fast friends. Being from Louisbourg. I joined them in performing singing the second oldest recorded song in the English language. It is an old Scottish Ballad called the ‘Lobster’ and I was known as the Lobsterman. I couldn’t sing that well but mostly got through it. To begin with, I took it very much in stride. But eventually, I begin to care about how I did. That is when I ran into trouble and got stage fright and I actually used to sweat before I did my bit. Then one night I did it, I forgot the words. They waited through a chorus and then Gary Looked at me. “Did you forget the words?” I nodded my mind racing trying to find the words. “You Arsehole!” says the ever-helpful Gary. Somehow I found the words and finished the song and never really had much trouble again.

One of my favorite memories of the boys is with Murray McLaughlin. Murray was a good friend and I used to drag him along when I sang. He didn’t like to go, not so much that he didn’t like the MacLeans I think but just didn’t’ t like to be seen at their performances. We were playing ‘The Chimney’ on Yonge Street and there was an hour between shows and we were all sitting in the dressing room with a couple of girlfriends drinking Heinekens when somehow we all started singing Show Tunes. It was hilarious. They are all good singers and we went through an incredible repertoire. I can only think of the dressing room door opening and the startled audience looking in At Murray McLaughlin and MacLean and MacLean singing Oklahoma at the tops of their voices.

That night we ended up back at the boy’s Hotel room. Gary and I were trying to impress a couple of tag along sweet young things and Gary asked Murray if he would sing the Farmers Song for us. Murray grabbed a guitar and obliged us. Murray did a beautiful job and Gary thanked him.. “Thanks Murray that was very nice I know it is just like me being at a party and someone asks me to do ‘The Shit Routine.”

On Sundays, I used to entertain whoever was in town with free drinks a huge dinner (mostly seafood), and a Jam Session. MacLean and MacLean loved to run the bar and they were excellent bartenders. I especially remember Burton Cummings sitting on the counter in my kitchen singing ‘I got a letter from the postman’ with MacLean and MacLean and Murray McLaughlin doing the harmony. It was magic. I swear half the audience was Capbreton grandmothers.

On Sundays, my bar was invitation only and everything was free. I would cook my famous seafood chowder and we would invite whoever was in town for a massive jam session like Burton Cummings and Murray McLaughlin for example. the McLean's would always bartend and it was great fun. When I closed my bar McLean's Invited me to Winnipeg for a couple of weeks. they said you have been so good to us we are going to treat you the way you have treated us.

"You mean you're going to charge me $3.50 a drink I asked."

Burton often took a break to sing with the boys and of course, I never got to sing on those nights.

One night Burton sang with them at the Knob Hill Hotel and the management tipped us a case of dom Dom Perignon champagne.

My career with the MacLean's ended because Of Billy Joel. The MacLean's were playing the El Macombo and as I was coming up to do my song late in the last set. I saw Billy Joel and his band storm into a reserved table. (He had been playing maple leaf gardens)

I sang it thus

I met a jolly fisherman down by the sea

Have you a lobster you can sell to me?

'Singing row tiddly over fart or bust

never let your bollocks dangle in the dust'

So I took the lobster home and couldn't find a dish.

so I put it in the pot where the missus has a piss.

'Singing row tiddly over fart or bust

never let your bollocks dangle in the dust'

In the middle of the night I heard a grunt

and there was the lobster hanging from her "front'

'Singing row tiddly over fart or bust

never let your bollocks dangle in the dust'

So I grabs a brush and the missus grabs a broom

And we chased that bloody lobster round and round the room

'Singing row tiddly over fart or bust

never let your bollocks dangle in the dust'

We hit it on the head and hit it on the side.

We hit that bloody lobster until the bastard died.

'Singing row tiddly over fart or bust

never let your bollocks dangle in the dust'

the moral of the story is very plain to see

always have a look-see before you have a pee.

'Singing row tiddly over fart or bust

never let your bollocks dangle in the dust'

that is the end there is no more.

there is an apple up my asshole and Billy Joel can have the core.

The MacLean's looked askance they had no idea Billy Joel was in the audience.

After the show, Billy Joel and the band came to the dressing room and the El Mo supplied cases of Heineken's and we partied on into the night.

Billy Joel raved about the act but all he could remember was me. He thought I was really part of the act rather than just a guest.

I was never again asked back to sing with the MacLean's.

Even years later I would go to see them and they would say do the lobsterman and it just wouldn't happen. I never sang with them again They denied this but it is my story and I am sticking to it.

Charles Bronson

I met him, I worked briefly on Death wish 5, My sister Gaille was the production secretary, I set up their computer with the accounting program. it wasn't easy first I had to download it on a 90 baud modem over the phone from L.A. it took hours.
My sister met Charles when she had to go to the Airport in the middle of the night and rescue
 Charles (who she called mister B) Charles had told the Pakistani Immigration agent to fuck off and he was about to be deported. Gaille had lots of experience with this and managed to get him in the country with some inside contacts. Charles took a liking to my sister and phoned our parents home a few times looking for her. Much to the delight of my mother.
Charles ruled that nobody could talk to him on set he didn't like small talk. My sister got a small part she got beat up in the movie.
 I got an old friend a job in accounting. He had been working for the government and wasn't ready for the movie biz. He phoned me one day said He couldn't believe this,that  he had a million dollar petty cash to deal with.

Billy Joel & Maclean & MacLean

Billy Joel

Billy Joel Cost me my Job!
I loved singing the Lobsterman with Maclean & Maclean. The lobster song is the 2nd oldest dirty song written down in English in the tenth century.
My last performance was at the El Mocambo. We were doing the last set and as I was getting ready to go up to the stage I saw the manager whisk Billy Joel and his band to a nearby reserved table. The Macleans of course couldn't see for the lights' there is a place in the song where you can throw in a name so I stuck Billy Joel's name into it. The Maclean's looked askance. So I told them after the song.

After the show, we all got together in the dressing room and found that Billy Joel was a big fan of dirty Humour . The management provided cases of Heineken's and we drank and partied late into the night.  He raved about the show. But all that he could really remember was me. He would point at me and say how blown away he was when I picked him off.
The verse goes
that is the end.
there isn't anymore,
there is an apple up my arsehole,
and Billy Joel can have the core.

As a guest performer, you should never upstage the act. The Macleans never asked me back to sing again.

Cayle Cherin Paul Bradley and ; Going down the Road

Going Down the Road.
When I was living at Hazelton Ave. in Toronto (we had a commune)  there was a premier or preview of 'Going Down the Road' at the New Yorker.
I went with Melinda, Carla and Helen, and Pauline. Pauline and i were going together at the time.
We were knocked out by the movie and afterward, we went to the Pilot and we all raved about it. we felt it was a big step for Canadian Movies. Pauline really liked it. anyway, they wanted to go back to Hazelton and i stayed on for a few more drinks.
so I am sitting there and who walks in but Paul Bradley. We hit it off we were friends from almost the first moment we met. We had a couple of hours of drinking and storytelling and somewhere in
this haze, i got a great idea. it was Pauline's birthday on Friday and we were having a party. So I talked Paul into coming and playing his character of Joey from the movie (this was not difficult). This was my idea of a crazy birthday present for Pauline.

Friday night Paul showed up with a friend (who kinda looked like McGrath) Introduced as Joey and acted like his movie character and just blew Pauline and the girls away.
Paul is a traveling roadshow by himself and after a couple of hours went into entertainment mode. we had lots of drugs and booze and food and he ended up staying for a couple of days and we were good friends forevermore. Over the years we would get together every once in a while and have a  good get together.

Cayle Cherin was Salina. She went off to Hollywood and Dennis Hopper etc. Anyway just after I opened my after-hours club about 5 years later. Cayle showed up on the scene I didn't recognize her to me she was this mysterious beautiful girl who started hanging around the 22 and Grossman's etc.
Then one night she shows up at my bar with some guy. Didn't like him much but ended up playing poker dice with him. I won about $300 off him. it was late and we all had a bunch of drinks into us. When he said he didn't have any money left. I said half-joking I will play you one more game. you win you get your $300 dollars back I win I get your girlfriend. He said ok and we rolled the dice as  Cayle looked askance. When I won Cayle went into a bit of a tirade about the whole sexist thing and told the guy to get lost who did he think he was etc. I guess she thought I was a better deal because we dated for a while but even better became really good close friends. For the rest of her life, we were really good buddies and enjoyed our friendship. I skyped her just a few days before she died. I really miss her. She was an extremely brilliant writer, actor, and producer.

Darts With Ned Beatty

Back in the mid-eighties I’d had a few pints with Graydon Gould at The Artful Dodger.
He is an icon of Canadian Television he used to be the Forest Ranger in the ’50s.
I had been involved in the movie business and we had a few mutual friends. One afternoon he invited me to go with him to the 22 to meet Ned Beatty who was shooting ‘Switching Channels’, and to go to supper with them. We met in the 22 and Ned was very subdued. He was very quiet and had an orange juice in front of him and said he just didn’t feel like drinking or eating. We talked a bit but Ned excused himself.” I have just had a terrible day.” So I am going to turn in early”. He apologized to Graydon and started packing up his stuff. He reached into his shirt pocket and moved a set of darts to his kit.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my darts. “Would you like a game?” I asked.
Off we went to the Artful Dodger I was a pretty good dart player at that time and we took on all comers and won every beer. We drank long dark pints and ate meat pies long into the night. You know he said you guys will be making movies no matter what the dollar is. You guys got the best crews I ever worked with. Trading movie stories and playing over our heads it was just a wonderful evening He was really a brilliant, erudite, interesting and knowledgeable guy, he seemed to enjoy himself immensely and I was told he came back a couple of times over the next year looking for me. What a fun night.
 

Cannonball and Nat Adderly

I met Cannonball and Nat Adderley at the Colonial Tavern in 1969. Mickey Handy introduced me. Cannon and Nat became good friends and I was their Toronto buddy whenever they came to Toronto, we spent many days hanging out at the underground railroad, etc

I once cooked a seafood chowder dinner for them at Grossman's Tavern. Al let me use the kitchen and was the special of the day. It sold out quickly.

One night I took them to Gordon Rayner's Studio to watch an Artist's Jazzband rehearsal. they liked it but would not jam.

This was very much a "Black power time and they got invited to all the Black after-hours clubs. But they would not go without me. I knew most of the black clubs and we had a lot of fun.

I was on their permanent guest list at the Colonial and I got to listen to great jazz and meet their fabulous sidemen like  Louis Hayes, Ray Brown, Walter Booker, Bobby Timmons, Victor Feldman, Joe Zawinul.

One night I was late getting to the Colonial, they were halfway through the set and the bar was packed full. The only place for me to sit was at the staff table. They would not serve me unless I moved and there was nowhere else so i sat there drinkless till the set was over. They joined me at the end of the set and ordered us drinks. They still refused to serve me. So Nat called the manager over and told them they were not going to play until I was drinking. needless to say that never happened again.

After Cannonball's tragic death in 1975, Nat played Toronto regularly and he was always glad to see me. He embarrassed me on my birthday at the Montreal Bistro by dedicating almost every song to me all night long. Vincent Herring was with him.  I met his wife too and spent a few nights sitting with her.

Cannonball had never heard Paul Desmond's tribute to him until I told him.

Paul Desmond won the Evergreen Review's  Higgledy piggled contest with

Shubada Shubadee

Cannonball Adderley

Came on the scene with a belt of the blues.

His popularity

Coincidentally

Gives me more time

For women and booze.

: Paul Desmond 

Catherine O'Hara

Catherine O'Hara

 Catherine was a good friend she loved the after-hours scene. Her brother Marcus ran the 505 an after-ours owned by Dan Ackroyd on Eastern queen Street. We spent many nights there long into the morning with her and Mary Margret. After this  she often came to my place and always brought interesting people. One night she brought the whole cast of the Second city. One of her first movies was double negative and I was Assistant Producer.

So there I was at Club 22 at the Windsor Arms. With my then buddy Michael Ironside. Michael and I were trying to break our record of drinking about 80 margaritas. When Johnny Hart and Jack Caprio the cartoonists showed up and we were really throwing the drinks back and having a great time. When I saw Catherine waving at me. She had just come from the Courtyard Cafe where she had treated her parents to dinner. She waved me over and I gave her a peck and she says Gary I want you to meet my mother and father. 'Really How nice"I said trying to be polite and bent over with a little bow and extended my hand when: from out of nowhere Ironside bit my ass. I don't know how he did it, but I screamed and jumped and kicked. He hung on like a pit bull. I writhed around to hit him while the stunned O'Haras wondered what was going on. I finally shook him off and everything settles down but I am sure Catherine's parents wondered what kind of friends she had. Everyone else was laughing but I was limping. Ironside could be a real

Elizabeth Ashely

 

I used to hang out with Elizabeth Ashely when she came to town, sometimes she came to my club and sometimes I was free to just hang out. We were great friends. Eating at the underground railroad and drinking at the 22. She usually stayed at the Windsor Arms. We would ride around in her limousine supplied by the movie company smoking weed and snorting you know what. She was married to a buddy of mine so we were mainly friends came close a couple of times. She was passionate about everything.

(I have to leave some blank spots)

She got in trouble over a couple of late nights with me made her either late or no show at the movie set. I wasn't exactly heartbroken when she broke up with my buddy but I was when she got busted at the border and couldn't come to Canada anymore. Anyway, this is a good article she is a brainy broad and has a lot of good lines. we laughed a lot.

Peter Gzowski

Wilde said people shouldn't be judged on whether they are bad or good but whether they are charming or tedious. The CBC nickname for Peter was Saint peter and Peter was no saint but he was charming.

I met Peter when he was doing his TV Show. I guess it put him under a lot of pressure. He would come to my bar a couple of times a week to unwind. We spent many a night just the 2 of us in my backroom playing pinball for 20 bucks a game. We talked about a lot of things. One morning for some reason we were both chasing the same lady and neither one of us would give in. We ended up back at his place, with the lady making breakfast or  At eight o clock in the morning we were sitting at his kitchen table on Yorkville Ave. with a bottle of wine on the go. We were very very drunk.
Out of the blue he stops and says. "Want to know what is the most important thing I ever did in my life?" Of course, I said "Sure." he proceeded to tell me about a hockey game he had played. Something about beating a really tough team from another town. I don't remember how old he was when he played this game or anything. I just thought of all the things he had accomplished and that is what he thought of. It was not long after this that Peter wrote "The Game Of Our Lives."

Peter sometimes brought some of the guests to my place. through his show, I met Jack Webster, Hunter S. Thompson, and Tom Waites to name a few.
a lot of Peter's staff were regulars at the bar. And many the day I had to send a taxi to CBC with the master script of the next night's show that somebody left behind. I did many favours for Peter like lending him a room for card games with Michael MacClear, Bobby Miller, etc.
Both Peter and I liked to play the horses and I met him at the track more than a few times. Once I met him after the first race and was surprised that he left. He left his pile of tickets behind and he had lost over 500 dollars on the first race.


After The TV show ended I didn't see him for some years.
Then I ran into him on the Esplanade one day.
"Peter," I said where the hell have you been."
"Sorry, man he said but you just remind me of a very bad time in my life."

Peter Gzowski

Wilde said people shouldn't be judged on whether they are bad or good but whether they are charming or tedious. The CBC nickname for Peter was Saint peter and Peter was no saint but he was charming.

I met Peter when he was doing his TV Show. I guess it put him under a lot of pressure. He would come to my bar a couple of times a week to unwind. We spent many a night just the 2 of us in my backroom playing pinball for 20 bucks a game. We talked about a lot of things. One morning for some reason we were both chasing the same lady and neither one of us would give in. We ended up back at his place, with the lady making breakfast or  At eight o clock in the morning we were sitting at his kitchen table on Yorkville Ave. with a bottle of wine on the go. We were very very drunk.
Out of the blue he stops and says. "Want to know what is the most important thing I ever did in my life?" Of course, I said "Sure." he proceeded to tell me about a hockey game he had played. Something about beating a really tough team from another town. I don't remember how old he was when he played this game or anything. I just thought of all the things he had accomplished and that is what he thought of. It was not long after this that Peter wrote "The Game Of Our Lives."

Peter sometimes brought some of the guests to my place. through his show, I met Jack Webster, Hunter S. Thompson, and Tom Waites to name a few.
a lot of Peter's staff were regulars at the bar. And many the day I had to send a taxi to CBC with the master script of the next night's show that somebody left behind. I did many favours for Peter like lending him a room for card games with Michael MacClear, Bobby Miller, etc.
Both Peter and I liked to play the horses and I met him at the track more than a few times. Once I met him after the first race and was surprised that he left. He left his pile of tickets behind and he had lost over 500 dollars on the first race.


After The TV show ended I didn't see him for some years.
Then I ran into him on the Esplanade one day.
"Peter," I said where the hell have you been."
"Sorry, man he said but you just remind me of a very bad time in my life."

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

 

Elizabeth Ashely

 

I used to hang out with Elizabeth Ashely when she came to town, sometimes she came to my club and sometimes I was free to just hang out. We were great friends. Eating at the underground railroad and drinking at the 22. She usually stayed at the Windsor Arms. We would ride around in her limousine supplied by the movie company smoking weed and snorting you know what. She was married to a buddy of mine so we were mainly friends came close a couple of times. She was passionate about everything.

(I have to leave some blank spots)

She got in trouble over a couple of late nights with me made her either late or no show at the movie set. I wasn't exactly heartbroken when she broke up with my buddy but I was when she got busted at the border and couldn't come to Canada anymore. Anyway, this is a good article she is a brainy broad and has a lot of good lines. we laughed a lot.

Born	August 30, 1939 in Ocala, Florida, USA
Birth Name	Elizabeth Ann Cole
Height	5' 5" (1.65 m)

Mini Bio (1)

Catherine O'Hara

 Catherine was a good friend she loved the after-hours scene. Her brother Marcus ran the 505 an after-ours owned by Dan Ackroyd on Eastern queen Street. We spent many nights there long into the morning with her and Mary Margret. After this  she often came to my place and always brought interesting people. One night she brought the whole cast of the Second city. One of her first movies was double negative and I was Assistant Producer.

So there I was at Club 22 at the Windsor Arms. With my then buddy Michael Ironside. Michael and I were trying to break our record of drinking about 80 margaritas. When Johnny Hart and Jack Caprio the cartoonists showed up and we were really throwing the drinks back and having a great time. When I saw Catherine waving at me. She had just come from the Courtyard Cafe where she had treated her parents to dinner. She waved me over and I gave her a peck and she says Gary I want you to meet my mother and father. 'Really How nice"I said trying to be polite and bent over with a little bow and extended my hand when: from out of nowhere Ironside bit my ass. I don't know how he did it, but I screamed and jumped and kicked. He hung on like a pit bull. I writhed around to hit him while the stunned O'Haras wondered what was going on. I finally shook him off and everything settles down but I am sure Catherine's parents wondered what kind of friends she had. Everyone else was laughing but I was limping. Ironside could be a real crazy asshole sometimes.

Cannonball and Nat Adderly

I met Cannonball and Nat Adderley at the Colonial Tavern in 1969. Mickey Handy introduced me. Cannon and Nat became good friends and I was their Toronto buddy whenever they came to Toronto, we spent many days hanging out at the underground railroad, etc

I once cooked a seafood chowder dinner for them at Grossman's Tavern. Al let me use the kitchen and was the special of the day. It sold out quickly.

One night I took them to Gordon Rayner's Studio to watch an Artist's Jazzband rehearsal. they liked it but would not jam.

This was very much a "Black power time and they got invited to all the Black after-hours clubs. But they would not go without me. I knew most of the black clubs and we had a lot of fun.

I was on their permanent guest list at the Colonial and I got to listen to great jazz and meet their fabulous sidemen like  Louis Hayes, Ray Brown, Walter Booker, Bobby Timmons, Victor Feldman, Joe Zawinul.

One night I was late getting to the Colonial, they were halfway through the set and the bar was packed full. The only place for me to sit was at the staff table. They would not serve me unless I moved and there was nowhere else so i sat there drinkless till the set was over. They joined me at the end of the set and ordered us drinks. They still refused to serve me. So Nat called the manager over and told them they were not going to play until I was drinking. needless to say that never happened again.

After Cannonball's tragic death in 1975, Nat played Toronto regularly and he was always glad to see me. He embarrassed me on my birthday at the Montreal Bistro by dedicating almost every song to me all night long. Vincent Herring was with him.  I met his wife too and spent a few nights sitting with her.

Cannonball had never heard Paul Desmond's tribute to him until I told him.

Paul Desmond won the Evergreen Review's  Higgledy piggled contest with

Shubada Shubadee

Cannonball Adderley

Came on the scene with a belt of the blues.

His popularity

Coincidentally

Gives me more time

For women and booze.

: Paul Desmond 

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.

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.

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.

Darts With Ned

Back in the mid-eighties I’d had a few pints with Graydon Gould at The Artful Dodger.
He is an icon of Canadian Television he used to be the Forest Ranger in the ’50s.
I had been involved in the movie business and we had a few mutual friends. One afternoon he invited me to go with him to the 22 to meet Ned Beatty who was shooting ‘Switching Channels’, and to go to supper with them. We met in the 22 and Ned was very subdued. He was very quiet and had an orange juice in front of him and said he just didn’t feel like drinking or eating. We talked a bit but Ned excused himself.” I have just had a terrible day.” So I am going to turn in early”. He apologized to Graydon and started packing up his stuff. He reached into his shirt pocket and moved a set of darts to his kit.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my darts. “Would you like a game?” I asked.
Off we went to the Artful Dodger I was a pretty good dart player at that time and we took on all comers and won every beer. We drank long dark pints and ate meat pies long into the night. You know he said you guys will be making movies no matter what the dollar is. You guys got the best crews I ever worked with. Trading movie stories and playing over our heads it was just a wonderful evening He was really a brilliant, erudite, interesting and knowledgeable guy, he seemed to enjoy himself immensely and I was told he came back a couple of times over the next year looking for me. What a fun night.
 

Duke Redbird, Willie Dunn and Shingoose

 Curtis Jonnie aka Shingoose with Duke Redbird

I have been friends with Duke Redbird since 65 We even shared a house in Toronto for a year. Duke was President of the Indian/metis Assoc. and through him I met most of the leading native politicians and performers etc. of that era. 1972-74. Somehow Duke and I  had to move. I found a superb 3 bedroom apartment on Spadina and moved in. i wasn't there a couple of weeks when Duke called. he couldn't find a place. so I gave up my bedroom to him and girlfriend. Then Curtis Johnnie (Shingoose) and Willie Dunn showed up with their girlfriends. they just got to Toronto and needed a place to stay. i was relegated to my 3rd bedroom with my 25 aquariums. I lasted 3 months before I said enough. But I remained friends and appreciate their enormous talent. 

Cayle Cherin and ;Going down the Road

Going Down the Road.
When I was living at Hazelton Ave. in Toronto (we had a commune)  there was a premier or preview of 'Going Down the Road' at the New Yorker.
I went with Melinda, Carla and Helen, and Pauline. Pauline and i were going together at the time.
We were knocked out by the movie and afterward, we went to the Pilot and we all raved about it. we felt it was a big step for Canadian Movies. Pauline really liked it. anyway, they wanted to go back to Hazelton and i stayed on for a few more drinks.
so I am sitting there and who walks in but Paul Bradley. We hit it off we were friends from almost the first moment we met. We had a couple of hours of drinking and storytelling and somewhere in
this haze, i got a great idea. it was Pauline's birthday on Friday and we were having a party. So I talked Paul into coming and playing his character of Joey from the movie (this was not difficult). This was my idea of a crazy birthday present for Pauline.

Friday night Paul showed up with a friend (who kinda looked like McGrath) Introduced as Joey and acted like his movie character and just blew Pauline and the girls away.
Paul is a traveling roadshow by himself and after a couple of hours went into entertainment mode. we had lots of drugs and booze and food and he ended up staying for a couple of days and we were good friends forevermore. Over the years we would get together every once in a while and have a  good get together.

Cayle Cherin was Salina. She went off to Hollywood and Dennis Hopper etc. Anyway just after I opened my after-hours club about 5 years later. Cayle showed up on the scene I didn't recognize her to me she was this mysterious beautiful girl who started hanging around the 22 and Grossman's etc.
Then one night she shows up at my bar with some guy. Didn't like him much but ended up playing poker dice with him. I won about $300 off him. it was late and we all had a bunch of drinks into us. When he said he didn't have any money left. I said half-joking I will play you one more game. you win you get your $300 dollars back I win I get your girlfriend. He said ok and we rolled the dice as  Cayle looked askance. When I won Cayle went into a bit of a tirade about the whole sexist thing and told the guy to get lost who did he think he was etc. I guess she thought I was a better deal because we dated for a while but even better became really good close friends. For the rest of her life, we were really good buddies and enjoyed our friendship. I skyped her just a few days before she died. I really miss her. She was an extremely brilliant writer, actor, and producer.

Billy Joel

Billy Joel Cost me my Job!
I loved singing the Lobsterman with Maclean & Maclean. The lobster song is the 2nd oldest dirty song written down in English in the tenth century.
My last performance was at the El Mocambo. We were doing the last set and as I was getting ready to go up to the stage I saw the manager whisk Billy Joel and his band to a nearby reserved table. The Macleans of course couldn't see for the lights' there is a place in the song where you can throw in a name so I stuck Billy Joel's name into it. The Maclean's looked askance. So I told them after the song.

After the show, we all got together in the dressing room and found that Billy Joel was a big fan of dirty Humour . The management provided cases of Heineken's and we drank and partied late into the night.  He raved about the show. But all that he could really remember was me. He would point at me and say how blown away he was when I picked him off.
The verse goes
that is the end.
there isn't anymore,
there is an apple up my arsehole,
and Billy Joel can have the core.

As a guest performer, you should never upstage the act. The Macleans never asked me back to sing again.

Charles Bronson

I met him, I worked briefly on Death wish 5, My sister Gaille was the production secretary, I set up their computer with the accounting program. it wasn't easy first I had to download it on a 90 baud modem over the phone from L.A. it took hours.
My sister met Charles when she had to go to the Airport in the middle of the night and rescue
 Charles (who she called mister B) Charles had told the Pakistani Immigration agent to fuck off and he was about to be deported. Gaille had lots of experience with this and managed to get him in the country with some inside contacts. Charles took a liking to my sister and phoned our parents home a few times looking for her. Much to the delight of my mother.
Charles ruled that nobody could talk to him on set he didn't like small talk. My sister got a small part she got beat up in the movie.
 I got an old friend a job in accounting. He had been working for the government and wasn't ready for the movie biz. He phoned me one day said He couldn't believe this,that  he had a million dollar petty cash to deal with.

Harold Town

Harold Town (not Harry, its Harold)

I met Harold one night at the Pilot Tavern he was not a regular there. We got into some long hot discussion and he invited me back to his place. We go in to his den and he takes two bottles of Scotch out of the cupboard and  hands me one and a glass. We tour around the house looking at works of Art, Mostly his, and they are really impressive. We end up in the basement sitting on carousel horses which he collects. He also shows me an old x-ray machine he was experimenting with. (I think it might have killed him) And so we talked and argued until the scotch was gone. He got me some blankets and a couch to crash on. Not much to talk about next morning heavy hangovers just a coffee and I was gone.
"Toronto is a one Town Town".
I dropped in on Harold several times after midnight always welcomed with a bottle of Scotch. I remember some people being there the next morning like wife kids? I was never introduced.One night after the Pilot had closed I dropped in with Duke Redbird. He went ballistic. He said he told me not bring any friends. Then he took a look at Duke and said “Hey aren't you Redbird that guy trying to smarten up ACTRA. “ “I'd like to talk to you. ‘So I was forgiven. He gives Duke and I each a bottle of Scotch and we take the tour. Only after most of the Scotch. Harold is somehow become a native and is Duke's ally against the Whiteman and that would be me. Duke and I were quite bemused as he seemed become an Indian and I was guilty of all wrongs against them.
Harold described one of favorite moments paddling a canoe on a very foggy night in a friend's swimming pool in Claremont. “It was so foggy it was like being on a lake somewhere.
I liked Harold a lot he was creative and quite brilliant, but he was difficult to be friends with. He was slighted easily and always critical. One night he did a sketch of me (I wish I had it) so I grabbed his drawing stuff and did one of him. "Hey that isn't bad." he said which is about as close to a compliment as you got. I went his studio a few times it had been owned by AY Jackson at one time. It was full paintings everywhere he had bought an adjacent studio just for storage and that was full.
One night I was going to a party and I stopped by his place and asked if wanted to go. It was basically an Artist's party and they were usually pretty good back then. It took some prodding but he finally agreed. He was concerned that all Artists seemed to be taking verbal shots at him. He grabbed a bottle of Scotch and a bottle of Vodka and away we went. It was at a studio on Spadina. We got there about 11 and lasted an hour everybody was taking verbal shots at him and he wanted to go. I was driving so we grabbed the bottle of Vodka and took off up Spadina. 
He swore he would never go to another "artist" party. Then he said “Doesn't Iskowitz live around here?”
I pulled over,” sure right there,” I pointed up to a window. It was a hot summer night and Gershon's studio window was open and the light was on he always worked late and I stopped by for vodka once in a while. So there is Town and me at one in the morning screaming at the 3rd story window, GERSHON!  Gershon ISKOWITZ! Over and over. Gershon comes to the window and looks down at us and closes the window. We leave laughing.
I started doing a lot of sailing around then.
One night Harold said I could have his sailboat. He says it had been sitting at boatyard in Kingston for a couple of years, He couldn’t sail it himself and he was afraid it would rot away. He owned it with his dentist and Jack McClelland. He said they never really got together on it, he said I was always waiting for a ride to Kingston and never getting there.  He got their permission to give it to me.  I was excited
It was a beauty from the photos a 40 ft. yawl of a Stephen’s design. I gather some sailing buddies and went down to Kingston to see it.  From the road it looked beautiful but up close it waterlogged and full of rot with our finances it was beyond repair.  We found out at the yacht club it had sat outside uncovered for 3 years with the hatches open. It was a real shame.
About that time my marriage broke down and I went off sailing for 15 months in the Caribbean and sort of lost touch with Harold and he really never forgave me.
I ran into him at the 22 once a few months before he died of cancer. He kind of gave me a hard time. “Like some friend you are where the hell have you been.” I am not sure he believed me. He was as contemptuous of cancer as he was of anything but he wasn't the same it was wearing him down.  I think of Harold often especially when I am being too critical but he was one of a kind.

Jack Bush

 I met Jack Bush a couple of times a week over about 6 weeks before i knew who he was.

In 1965 I was rejected by the OCA, I knew I was an Artist so I read that Artists hung out at the Pilot so I went there and sat at the bar. (mostly too early in the day because of my shift.)So there is a dapper little man in a quiet suit with steel gray hair and neatly trimmed mustache sitting beside me drinking Martinis. We struck up a conversation which rose to a level I wasn't used to. this guy had amazing insights into art etc and I really enjoyed talking to him. I ran into him several times and always had an enjoyable conversation.

It took me a couple of weeks to find out that the artists hung out in the big dark back room and rarely came in before 5pm.

It took me a while to break into the Artist clique in the back. I became friends with Jerry Santbergen who was a bit of an outsider himself at that time.

Jerry and I went into the Pilot for lunch one day and I passed my friend on the bar stool. I said Hi and he said" I see you found some artists." We went up to the back and Jerry said"Wow you know Jack Bush" He is a pretty good artist.

I didn't even know. Anyway I became a good friend of Jacks and we often talked at the bar He always invited me to his openings and he always was a joy to talk to.