Remembering a Calgary Stampede Tradition

The Stampede has started in Calgary, Alberta. That venerable time of year when the city goes from urban to rural overnight. Wannabe cowboys appear everywhere, storefronts are decorated with barn boards and hay bales along with the requisite "yahoo" painted on the windows. Pancake breakfasts abound. This year there is an iPhone app that will find the elusive flapjack feasts. Maple syrup fans rejoice. Country music oozes out of stores, cars, and bars. The city fixes the roads. Okay, I was kidding with that last one.

Stampede's arrival used to mean the arrival as well of the Big Downtown Cabaret. A past hallmark of Stampede festivities, the Big Downtown Cabaret (BDC) was a popular meeting place, a keep-the-buzz-going-after-the-Stampede-bbq-at-work place. The BDC was a place where you could create Stampede stories that would be told and retold for years to come. "Remember when you [insert embarrassing activity here]?" It was a place where you could become someone else for a few hours. A someone that only comes out at night during Stampede. A someone that drinks beer from a cowboy boot.

There once was more than one BDC. And they had fanciful, good-time-will-be-had-by-all names such as The Golden Garter and The Silver Slipper. And the people would start queuing up as early as 2 pm. Doors open at 6. These BDCs were essentially big, empty boxes, convention areas in downtown hotels, filled for the occasion with tables, chairs, and "country" decorations. Usually three or four bands would provide the two-stepping fun. People would dance and throw up. A good time was had by all. The BDCs were the place to go.

Times changed and the BDCs moved from the downtown hotel convention facilities to downtown nightclubs. Cowboys erected a tent beside their building which added another 2000 or so drunken patrons to the already filled to capacity nightclub. Other nightclubs followed suit. There were lots of good bands playing. There was lots of beer. Good times continued to be had by all. 

Then Cowboys lost its lease.The owners tried to open another Cowboys a few blocks from its original location but downtown merchants wouldn't have it. "We don't want the trouble that comes with nightclubs," they said. "We are scared," they meant. The gentrification of Victoria Park, the area around the Stampede grounds, was in full swing. Another nightclub BDC conveniently located two blocks from Stampede Park was swallowed up by city appropriation. And with that, BDCs disappeared. Good times too. Now where can people go to gather and collectively get as drunk as possible? What can be used as the excuse for calling in sick at work the next day? Where do you go to hear Hank Williams' songs?

The end of the Big Downtown Cabarets is the end of a unique time in Calgary when live music was king, especially during the Stampede. This is not to say that live music has entirely disappeared during Stampede week, there are still bands and singers playing here and there, but the ubiquity of live music during Stampede has substantially dwindled. In a lot of ways it's too bad. The BDCs were the reason people went downtown. Stampede was sure to vitalize not only the hotels that hosted the BDCs but also the restaurants and other clubs in the vicinity. They were a destination. They added an atmosphere of decadence and depravity, a kind of safe walk on the Dark Side, complete with boots and hat. In short, they were a lot of fun, not only for the wannabe cowboys but the musicians that played them.

Here's to the Big Downtown Cabarets. May they rest in peace.

Festival Express: Rockin' Across The Country

Canada Day. July 4th. Big celebrations at the start of the summer. Woodstock, Monterey Pop, and Altamont Speedway, big rock festivals that have become symbols of the counter-culture and hippiedom. This weekend marks the 30th anniversary of another big celebration and festival - Festival Express. While the other festivals cemented their place in popular music history, Festival Express quietly slipped into obscurity.

What's Festival Express you ask? Well, it was a cross-country concert train that travelled from Toronto to Calgary, Alberta and included some of the more famous groups and singers of the time. Imagine The Band (above right), Grateful Dead (right), Janis Joplin (below), Mashmakan, Tom Rush, Buddy Guy, Ian and Sylvia, Delaney and Bonnie, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Mountain, Traffic, and a host of others gathered together at the same time. All the musicians were sequestered on a Canadian National Railways train and they travelled across the Canadian Shield and the prairies. They jammed together, drank together, and hallucinated together all in the name of freedom, peace, and musical goodwill. Sounds fantastic I know, but it really happened.

Festival Express was supposed to begin in Montreal on June 24, but the date was cancelled; so instead FE began at the CNE (Canadian National Exposition) grandstand in Toronto on June 27 and 28. Riots occurred during the TO shows largely as a result of Woodstock, the famous festival at Max Yasgur's farm in New York state in 1969. There, over 300,000 people essentially stormed the gates and turned what was originally a ticketed event into a counter-culture love-in (see my previous post on the anniversary of Woodstock). Because Woodstock was ostensibly "free," thousands of concert-goers in TO thought FE should be free too. TO police quelled the uprising adding a black mark to the reputation of the show. The Grateful Dead ended up performing a free concert in Varsity Park to placate the protesters.

From Toronto the train rolled west to Winnipeg, Manitoba for a show on July 1, which was Dominion Day back then not Canada Day. The show went off without a hitch and the train chugged off to Calgary for the July 4 show, which was the last one on the bill. The final show was supposed to be in Vancouver but, like the Montreal show, it was cancelled leaving the McMahon Stadium show in Calgary the final one (video clip below the fold). An amusing event occurred after leaving Winnipeg when the train ran out of liquor. It made a pit stop in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and the musicians descended on the closest liquor store buying all of the Canadian Club rye, among other things, the store had. Restocked and happy, FE trundled on to Cowville.

Financial difficulties plagued the tour from the start and when it was all said and done, the organizers and sponsors, which included Maclean-Hunter and Thor Eaton (remember Eaton's department stores?), lost close to half a million dollars. In Calgary as well, controversy hit again as then-mayor Rod Sykes confronted the promoter Ken Walker demanding the show be free, like Woodstock. Walker, smarting from the financial debacle as it was, responded by punching the mayor in the face.

I remember when FE came to Calgary. I was a young, impressionable teenager that just started playing the guitar. As I recall, tickets were around $14.00 or $15.00, which was pricey for the time, and there was no way my parents would let me attend a festival that had The Band, Grateful Dead, and Janis Joplin. Horror of Horrors! So, despite the best laid plans of me and my best friend (his parents wouldn't let him go either), attending FE ended up being something we wished we could have attended.

Festival Express faded into oblivion until 2003, when the movie Festival Express premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Originally, the tour was filmed and the audio recorded for a concert movie and soundtrack album, again like Woodstock. But this was not to be as the film production company went bankrupt. The original film footage was lost and then discovered gathering dust in the garage of Gavin Poolman, son of Willem Poolman the producer of the 1970 footage. Anecdotal evidence reveals the film cans were used in a quintesstially Canadian way - as goalposts for road hockey games. Apropos? I think so.

Festival Express (the movie) is a valuable piece of popular music history. Mostly because of the performances and partly due to the fact the Calgary show was one of the last concerts that Janis Joplin would ever play. She died of a heroin overdose in October of 1970 a scant two months after FE (note: Joplin's last performance was August 12, 1970 with The Full Tilt Boogie Band at Harvard Stadium in Boston). Festival Express (the movie) is available on DVD and comes loaded with a host of extras such as concert performances not featured in the film along with commentaries by musicians, journalists, and academics. My Ph.D. supervisor Rob Bowman gives his usual astute analyses in the movie, for me this is worth the price of admission alone.

Festival Express (the DVD) is available at HMV, Chapters, and Amazon for less than twenty dollars. If you haven't added it to your collection, I highly recommend you do so. Festival Express (the DVD) is entertaining and enlightening, plus seeing and hearing these artists is a walk down memory lane you won't soon forget. And it's educational for the youngsters that have no idea about these artists or the movie.

Festival Express. Only in Canada, eh? Sweet.


Check out this performance of Janis Joplin doing "Tell Mama" in Calgary.

Happy Birthday LP and The Ten Best Album Covers Of All Time

June 21 marks an auspicious day in popular music history. 62 years ago, June 21, 1948, Columbia Records introduced the world to the twelve-inch, 33 1/3 rpm, long-playing vinyl record, forever changing the way we listen to music.

Thomas Edison pioneered the first technology that could preserve a conversation or musical performance in 1877. His wax cylinder "talking machines" were the first devices that allowed recording and playback. In 1889 Emile Berliner perfected the technology and developed flat-disc recording; instead of a cylinder now the records were flat discs that rotated on a turntable. Unlike the wax cylinders, though, recording was not possible on this medium. The flat disc innovation was adopted by the fledgling recording industry and became the standard. The fact that Berliner had a hand in creating the three largest record companies in the world, EMI, Deutsche Grammophone, and RCA Victor, didn't hurt either.

The discs were known as 78s because they rotated at 78 rpm. They were about ten inches in diameter and somewhat fragile. (right) Sound fidelity was the best that could be achieved at the time. Very quickly 78s and the record players, known as grammophones, graphophones, and other "phones," caught on and there was big money to be made.

78s were extremely popular in the early twentieth century. Most households had a grammophone in the living room. Musicians became stars. Songs became hits. Record companies sprang up everywhere. But 78s were limited by the amount of information that could be recorded on a single side. One side of a 78 could only take about three minutes of music or one song.

Since the 1930s, Columbia Records had been working on technology that would allow more recording time and better fidelity. The rotation speed of 33 1/3 rpm had been decided upon and work progressed on reducing the groove size to allow 22 minutes of space per side. (left) Now instead of one song there could be five or six songs per side. Once this had been perfected, Columbia released the first twelve-inch, long-playing record on June 21, 1948. It was a recording of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor performed by Nathan Milstein and the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York.

The new long-playing records were slow to catch on initially. Virtually every household already had a grammophone and a collection of 78s, so the technological shift took some time.

In the 1950s, record companies discovered an untapped market in the teenage baby boomers. RCA Victor had countered Columbia's long-playing record with the development of the 45. It was seven inches in diameter and had a giant hole in the center. (right) It too used microgroove technology, but was a throwback to the days of 78s. 45s, so called because of the rotation speed of 45 rpm, could only hold one song per side. The rotation speed of the 45 was not arrived at scientifically either. RCA simply subtracted the rotation speed of the long-playing record from the rotation speed of the 78. 78 minus 33 equals 45. Simple math that changed music.

LPs were commonly a collection of songs by one artist, or a classical work like an opera or concerto. The big seller was the 45, aimed squarely at the youth market. As a result, record companies used the 45 more as a promotion vehicle than to sell an album. Very often the album would not contain the song released as a 45. The 45 or single, was played on the radio and its primary function was to sell the artist. Plus, most teenagers at the time could only afford the single, the album was somewhat cost prohibitive.

By the mid-1960s, the album had evolved into something more than a collection of songs. Helped by the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds (1966) and The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) the idea of a narrative thread or concept that ran through the songs on an album became the norm. Now albums could be a cohesive work. Artists could realize creative concepts beyond the pop music platitudes of girls, cars, high school, and love.

Coupled with the narrative paradigm, the idea of the album cover as art also took over. Kick-started by the Sgt. Pepper album, cover design quickly became as esoteric and artful as some of the music. Famous graphic artists like Andy Warhol and Richard Hamilton would lend their talents to creating some of the most iconic album covers.

So, in honour of the LP's birthday, I present my choice for the ten best album covers of all time.

1. Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon (1971)

From its gatefold design, to the posters and stickers, the graphic design company Hipgnosis took the idea of cover art to a new level. Hipgnosis would design the covers for almost every Pink Floyd album.

2. The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

The one that started it all. How many hours of teenage life have been wasted staring at this cover? It was also the first album to print the lyrics on the cover. Plus it used the gatefold design, which was innovative at the time, and the album included an insert with cut-out mustache and sergeant stripes.

3. Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers (1971)

Andy Warhol design complete with real zipper.

4. Cream Disraeli Gears (1967)

The album that almost singlehandedly codified the artistic style of the counter-culture.

5. Joni Mitchell Blue (1971)

Its unique photography technique creates a cover that is evocative of the music.

6. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young Deja Vu (1970)

The initial release used textured paper to resemble the cover of a hymnal. The printing was gold-leaf and expensive. The Civil War-era photograph was glued on and expensive as well. The whole project was costly from start to finish but worth it. Platinum worth it.

7. Led Zeppelin IV (1971)

The band name does not appear on the cover nor does the title. Simply known as "Led Zeppelin Four" the cover evokes the folksiness and fantasy of the music.


8. Meatloaf Bat Out Of Hell (1977)

The motorcycle explodes out of the grave, like a bat out of hell. Awesome. Perfect mural for a Chevy van too.


9. The Beatles The Beatles (1968)

Richard Hamilton design. Minimalism at its finest. Known as "the white album" because of the cover, included in the album jacket were four individual colour 8" x 10" photographs of the band and a collage poster.The band name was embossed on the jacket and first pressings had a serial number printed in the bottom right corner.

10. Moody Blues Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1971)

A textured cover and fantastic painting. The title is the mnemonic device used to remember the lines on a musical staff.

This is by no means the definitive list, just my top ten favourites.

Feel free to comment. What's your vote for the top ten album covers of all time?

Copywrong: Harper Conservative Copyright Reform Misses The Mark...Again

Bill C32 is coming. Be afraid, be very afraid.

What's Bill C32 you ask? Why it's the new copyright reform bill from the Harper conservatives. Canada needs to modernize its copyright legislation and C32 purports to do just that. Harper's conservatives have toiled long into the night, asking for advice from U.S. special interest groups and, of course, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) along with the U.S. ambassador to Canada. I wonder too, what the U.S. ambassador knows about copyright or the needs of Canadians. Ask Harper, he knows the answer to that one.

The last time copyright reform was tried (2008), it died a merciful death because of the election. That bill was deeply flawed and garnered a response from across the country the Harper conservatives did not expect. Bill C32, though, was expected to take into account the concerns of consumers but after much discussion, deliberation, and even online public forums last summer, consumers were ignored and the Harper conservatives went forward with drafting Bill C32.

On the surface, Bill C32 looks impressive. Whereas it is presently illegal in Canada to record TV shows (seriously), Bill C32 allows for PVRs and time-shifting (time-shifting is when you record a show on Monday and watch it on Wednesday). It allows for format shifting. This is when you take the CD you just bought and rip it to your iPod. Awesome you say? Maybe not. It also allows consumers to make backup copies of CDs, DVDs, and software they own. Swell. And it allows for satire, parody, education uses, research, and library archiving. Again, swell, right?

Well, with all the new stuff we Canadians will be able to do with our music and DVDs, we should be rejoicing. Now Canada will be as modern and forward-thinking as the U.S. We sure are lucky. Yet, when the veil of misinformation is lifted, the ugly truth is revealed.

Sure, Bill C32 allows for all of the things listed above, but there is a fly in the ointment and it's known as TPMs or Technological Protection Measures. More commonly TPMs are referred to as DRM (digital rights management) or digital locks. 

Try to wrap your head around this one. Backup copies, time-shifting, format shifting, all looked after. Yes we can finally legally make backup copies of software, music, and video; yes we can watch Glee three days after it airs; yes you can rip your newly purchased CD into the portable music device of your choice. BUT (and this is a big but), if there is a digital lock it will be illegal to break the lock or to own software that will break the lock. In other words, all of the provisions allowed in Bill C32 are moot if there is a digital lock. And a lot of media (DVDs, CDs, software, etc.) have digital locks. Even some TV shows have them, they're called broadcast flags and if a show is "flagged" you can't record it.

Michael Geist, law professor and Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, gives a succinct analysis of the consumer rights portion of Bill C32. It's worth a read. Also, major newspapers across the country have published op-eds regarding Bill C32. Two of them are here and here. There is also an excellent website called Speak Out On Copyright that has a lot of useful information. As well, Prof. Geist has started a Facebook page Fair Copyright For Canada. Please join the group.

The general consensus is that Bill C32, while "modernizing" a lot of the activities the Great Unwashed indulges in everyday, actually handcuffs consumers, researchers, librarians, and educators because of the TPM provision. It's like saying "Sure, have a cookie, it's illegal to open the cookie jar, but you can have as many cookies as you want."

Despite public outcry, there is no way the Harper conservatives are going to pass up on this one. They view this as an important step toward bringing Canada's copyright laws more in line with what is happening in other countries (read: U.S.A.). They shout their self-congratulatory claims to the heavens (as conservatives are wont to do), but in reality Bill C32 is lip service to the Canadian public and a towing of the line to American special interest groups. I didn't realize the line needed towing. I thought Canada was capable of creating copyright legislation by and for Canadians, or more accurately, I thought the Harper conservatives were capable. I guess I was wrong.

The only thing missing in this debacle, is the creation of Copyright Police.

Maybe I shouldn't give Harper any ideas.
 

Learning To Play Guitar With A Video Game: Are Guitar Teachers Obsolete?

In 2005 Activision released the music video game Guitar Hero. The premise was reasonably simple. Digitally carve up a bunch of rock tunes into various sized pieces then use a guitar-shaped controller with coloured buttons to "play" the pieces of the song by timing the controller's button pushing with the appearance of coloured icons on the screen. That's a facile description, but the basics of what's going on.

To play any version of Guitar Hero (there are five so far) no musical ability is required. Push the buttons at the right time and the song plays, and you can pretend to be a rock guitarist. Awesome. Rock on dude, even. But remember it's a video game.

In 2008, Activision's competitor Harmonix upped the ante and released Rock Band, adding vocals and drums and a cool Stratocaster-shaped guitar controller (right). The "Strat" is even branded "Fender" with the authentic Fender logo on the wee plastic headstock. Now it is possible to have guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. Just like a real band. And, ironically, the addition of vocals and drums began to close the gap between simulation and reality. You need a modicum of rhythmic ability to play the drums and you have to sing in tune and know the melody to play (sing) the vocal part, kind of like karaoke. But it's still a video game.

Both Guitar Hero and Rock Band have become wildly popular. At first a lot of big name music acts were not on board with the idea of having their music in a video game, but the popularity and the amount of money that could be made off the music licensing changed their minds in a hurry. Artists like Green Day, Metallica, Aerosmith, and even The Beatles have their music in special editions of the games. Rock Band has an in-game store where you can buy and download tracks. In some cases, entire albums are available. For example, now you can play in its entirety (video game play that is) Rush's Moving Pictures album. Rock Band also features the Rock Band Network where independent artists can submit and upload their songs. The tracks are available for purchase and download into the game. It's a great way for new bands to have their music heard, and the financial rewards are considerable if the song becomes a game "hit."

Now the gap between simulation and reality has been closed even more. Harmonix announced the release of Rock Band 3 and the addition of a MIDI keyboard controller (left). Now you can have guitar, bass, drums, vocals, and keyboards. Just like a real band. Get your drunk friends to heckle you while you play and it will really be like playing in a band, especially if they throw beer bottles at you. But what is most interesting, is the addition of the new Pro mode. In this mode, the keyboard controller becomes more keyboard-like and instead of timing the button pushing, you actually have to push the right key at the right time. Like the drums and vocals, a modicum of talent is needed to pull this one off. Wait a minute, I thought this was a video game.

To go along with the new keyboard controller and Pro mode, Fender (maker of the Stratocaster guitar, the real Stratocaster that is) has developed a hybrid controller. Whereas other guitar controllers are stringless and have coloured buttons, this hybrid controller is a full-sized, fully functional electric guitar. Fender has worked closely with Harmonix since the release of Rock Band, so it is no surprise they would develop an instrument like this. Aside from the odd press release, not much information is presently available about the guitar. The Harmonix Rock Band website says the guitar "uses technology built into the neck and fingerboard of the guitar to track finger positions in real time. The guitar also transmits strum data for the six individual strings, allowing the game to give feedback to players as they make the leap from rhythm game rocking to real world skills. Players can unplug from the fun of Rock Band 3 and plug directly into an amp to rock for real."

I'm guessing here - the neck probably lights up on the fretboard to show where to put your fingers, similiar to the Optek Fretlight guitar. But how close is this to really playing the guitar? Harmonix says "Rock Band Pro is available in all modes of Rock Band 3, and features tutorials and a variety of difficulties, including Easy, meaning that real instrument performance is within reach of any player, no matter their experience level." Easy? Does this mean pluck one note and the entire riff plays? Not much of a gap closer there. In fact that is pretty much what the non-stringed controllers do. I imagine the Hard setting is more realistic. I can't say until I've played the controller.  

What does this mean for people like me? Guitar teachers. Are we going to become obsolete? I don't think so. There are other things besides putting your fingers in the right spot. Pressing hard enough on the strings to make them sound without buzzing is one, picking the right string at the right time is another, switching chords and chord positions is another and not that easy I might add. And let's not forget about tuning. Guitars have to be tuned. Then there's music theory. A daunting subject even with a teacher. You get the idea.

So it seems to me that this new hybrid controller, while attempting to close the gap between simulation and reality, will achieve that goal to a certain extent; however, I don't think it will be for everyone. Most likely a person that can already play, or at least make noise on a guitar, will buy one and use it to actually learn to play better. Fingers can get sore really fast and unless you keep up the practice, the ability goes away equally as fast. 

The learning curve on an instrument is incredibly steep. Satisfaction comes slowly, frustration comes quickly. A teacher can help motivate and work through the inevitable problems of technique. And what about feeling? Playing music is also about imparting some kind of emotion into the music. Having had experience with music video games, or rhythm games as they're called, there is no emotive quality whatsoever. I can't see the addition of a fancy hybrid guitar controller teaching someone about dynamics (there aren't any), expression (again, zippo), or interpretation (you're playing the recorded tracks, interpretation doesn't even enter into the picture). And like I said, you have to practice. Practice is the most important factor when learning an instrument. But practice takes time. Time that can be used for other things like shopping or watching a movie or playing a video game where you kill things and blow stuff up. Learning an instrument takes self-discipline, self-motivation, and a desire to get better. In today's fast-paced, Internet-based, instant-gratification world, time is a valuable commodity and not one that is given up easily.

What about the cost? You can buy an entire student electric guitar package complete with Squier Stratocaster, Fender amplifier, strap, strings, picks, cable, method book, and big cardboard box for around $350.00. The guitar doesn't interface with Rock Band 3 though and doesn't light up. Will the hybrid controller be in the affordable range for the average video game consumer? Hard to say at this point. There is no information on price available. My guess is the guitar will sell for around $200.00, in which case it becomes a cheap electric guitar or an expensive video game controller. Take your pick.

Undoubtedly Rock Band 3 will generate interest among certain gamers to actually learn to play an instrument. This is already happening. More music schools are seeing an increase in enrolment for guitar, drum, and vocal lessons as a result of these games. Some gamers want to learn to play the opening riff to "Carry On My Wayward Son" for real, not just pushing the buttons at the right time. In this way, the music video games bring more people into the world of music-making and there are numerous studies showing the benefits of learning to play music. Playing an instrument involves the entire brain. It's good for you. And playing music is a great way to relax.

There won't be a sudden influx of novice guitarists, or keyboardists for that matter, and guitar teachers won't be put out of work once Rock Band 3 is released. In fact, learning to play the guitar using RB3 is not much different than learning with Estoban's guitar method without the hat. But like the other versions in the Rock Band and Guitar Hero franchises RB3 will expose more people to music and might foster an interest in learning to play for real. That's never a bad thing.

And call me, I can help. Remember, it's a video game.

UPDATE: June 16, 2010

The website Engadget has pictures and video of the Squier Stratocaster hybrid controller guitar. Plus pictures of a Fender Mustang controller that features buttons for each string and fret. Both instruments utilize the new Pro setting in RB3.