Oh, to be a long-haired rocker touring Alberta in the early 1970s — for Red Deer musician Lorne Hallet it meant “living a little bit of the dream.”
By the time his local country-rock group, Bedford Page, played a bittersweet farewell concert at the Westerner fair for 2,000 fans, as opening act for Tommy James and the Shondells, the band members were old enough to realize they weren’t going to be rock superstars.
It was 1976, and the 20-somethings were pulling in different directions, recalled Hallet — some were looking to get married and start families, others wanted to pursue career paths other than music.
The keyboardist, who now works in the social services field, said everybody knew the band had run its course. But what a four-year run it was.
“We played most points between Edmonton and Calgary. ... Locally, we really enjoyed a lot of support,” he recalled, so that last concert “was a really emotional time for us. We’d kind of grown up doing this. ... Having to let it go was very hard to do.”
Fortunately, good-bye doesn’t have to mean forever.
On Friday, June 28, Bedford Page will be part of a six-band Rock and Roll Reunion at the Rink fundraiser for the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery. The event, slated for the Red Deer Curling Centre, will also feature local 1960s and ’70s groups The Gaetz Ave. Dance Band, Sam, The Drifters, Easy Street and Six Pak.
“It’s almost like we’re getting a second chance at this,” said Hallet, who had reformed Bedford Page after a 1999 band reunion.
The group, now made up of three members of the original five-man band (Hallet, guitarist Dave Gauthier and drummer Guy Stenberg) and a new musician (bassist Ted Hiscock), continues to perform covers of ZZ-Top, Roy Orbison and the Kentucky Headhunters at special events across Central Alberta.
“That’s the most gratifying thing. ... It’s nice to see crowds still appreciating the music when it’s played live and played well,” added Hallet.
The six local bands reuniting for the museum fundraiser in June are just a sampling of the rich pickings that were available in Central Alberta some 40 years ago. Harley Hay, a drummer for Gaetz Ave. and Sam, said not only was the groovy, flower-power era overflowing with music, in the wake of the British Invasion and the explosion of groups after Woodstock, but there were so many more local venues that booked live music.
Central Alberta hotels offered dine and dance nights, featuring local bands. Most bars preferred to hire live bands to play covers and original tunes than offer patrons canned music. And Red Deer-area musicians could get gigs at no-alcohol dance halls that catered to older teens, since the local drinking age was then 21.
There were also community hall dances, church events, weddings and school dances, said Hay, whose band regularly travelled all the way to Kelowna to perform. “One month we were booked for 23 one-nighters out of 30 days!”
While the late ’60s and early ’70s music scene was synonymous with sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, Hay said there was little bad behaviour in Gaetz Ave. — or any other local group that took music seriously.
“We weren’t prudes. We met our share of fans and had a great time, but we weren’t into life in the fast lane. We were more interested in the music and the friendships,” recalled Hay.
The biggest problem that he remembers from those days is the fuss made over his long hair.
One restaurant in Red Deer flat-out refused to serve long-haired hippie types. “We were hassled on a regular basis,” said Hay. “I remember clearly being pushed around in broad daylight on city sidewalks by meathead strangers just for having long hair.”
During one band trip to Medicine Hat, the musicians were approached by “thugs,” who threatened to damage their touring bus.
“Our roadie and bus driver calmly got up ... and took the fire axe from its place by the driver’s seat. (He) stood on the bus steps holding the axe until we were all on board . . . we got the heck out of there!” said Hay.
Richard Hayhoe, who now runs Old Mill Custom T-Shirts, also played all over with Easy Street and a band called The Coal Company — including east-central Alberta and several small towns in Saskatchewan.
One weekend, the drummer remembers travelling to a Lethbridge gig in a repainted school bus. Hayhoe recalled being surprised by the low audience turnout for the gig, even though the band had sent a lot of notices to be posted around town.
The musicians soon noticed hundreds of vehicle going by, heading for the local fairgrounds. “Guess what? It turned out that Tommy Hunter was in town and he filled the local arena!” said Hayhoe.
Another time he was en route to Hanna with Easy Street when the controls to switch to the second gas tank on his truck went on the fritz and the musicians ended up having to borrow fuel from a farmhouse.
Dozens of other stories will be shared at the reunion — and so will tons of classic rock. Hay promised nothing after 1975 will be on the play list. Audience members can expect to hear covers of Van Morrison, Del Shannon, Santana, Edgar Winter, Steely Dan, Wilson Pickett and Lighthouse tunes.
Hay, now a local music producer, writer and videographer, recalled this time period as being pivotal to his generation.
He’s looking forward to the reunion, and is particularly interested to see if fans will remember a certain tradition: Whenever The Gaetz Ave. Dance Band played Jackie Wilson’s Higher and Higher, guys in the audience would lift their girlfriends up onto their shoulders.
“They’d better start practising. ... We’re beefing up the first aid presence,” Hay added, with a laugh.
Tickets for the 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. reunion are available for $35 from the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery, or at www.reddeermuseum.com/exhibits/events. Call 403-309-8405 for more information.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com