Reviews/Comptes-Rendus Live Perfonnances
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32 Reviews/Comptes-rendus Live Perfonnances Cal Cavendish, Jubilee Auditorium, Calgary, Alberta, April 5, 1994 On April 11, 1975, Cal Cavendishmade what we might Auditorium himself, and he must have been disappointedat call musical history in Calgary. I supposeit might be called the turnout. No prophet, it seems,in his own city. "And if by other names,as well, but that can passfor now. His you don't believe it's my city," he quipped, "look at how pilot's license had been suspended,apparently because the much it's grown since I fertilized it." He kept any Ministry of Transport had discoveredthat Cavendishhad disappointmentto himself, however, and was clearly beenunder psychiatric treatment, so the pilot/singer/ warmedby the admiration the severalhundred who did songwriter loadedup his single engineLuscombe 8A with a show up offered him. hundredpounds of cowshit and a hundredcopies of a recent Referring to himself frequently as the Mad Manure single of his, "GovernmentInspected," buzzed the control Bomber, Cavendishhad prepareda model of the Calgary tower at the Calgary airport and the Calgary Tower, a Tower to standto his left on the stage.Audience members revolving restauranton a spaceneedle (both of which were were given 81h x 11" programmes,with the notice that evacuated)and performed what he called an "aerial ballet" during the intermissionthere would be a PAPER PLANE over the city, dumping his load of recordsand manure. He CONTEST, with the instructions, PROGRAMS ARE claimed that he cameclose enoughto the restaurantto see REQUIRED FOR THE PAPER PLANE CONTEST. As he the facesof diners. left the stagefor his break, he informed the audiencethat The subjectof an NFB film, Cavendishhad made the winner would be whoever managedto get his or her severalIps and singlesbefore his adventure,and he con- plane closestto the mock Tower. The audiencehappily tinued to perform sporadically in the city and in the small complied, and in less than the twenty minute intermission, towns nearby, but gradually disappearedfrom sight as the the stagewas littered with airplanes,particularly since quite Seventiesdrew to a close. I saw that he was booked to play a few peoplewent back for more than one throw-there at rodeo star Ivan Daines's country music picnic in the were, you understand,a lot of programmesto go around! summerof 1988 or '89, but I didn't make it to the gig Many saw the winning plane hit the Tower, and the thrower was informally and enthusiasticallycheered. I myself. During the intervening years, the singer has worked at a gather that he won a flight with Cavendish,which the singer variety of day jobs, someof which clearly meanas much to joked about as a fearsomething. him as does music, particularly trucking. He has been at the One interestingaspect of Cavendish'ssongs is that, latter for 15 years, owns his rig, and has recordedtwo although he identifies himself powerfully as a working class cassetteswhich feature recordingsof semisas accompani- Albertan, he notably avoids the stereotypicallycowboy mentsto his songs. CBC Radio's As It Happens image. As attractive as the cowboy stereotypeimage is, and interviewed him and sampledone of thesea couple of useful for the political right (seethe note on the Alberta months ago. He's also regainedhis pilot's license ("Let's Report feature on Ian Tyson in this month's News, Views, have a big hand for the good judgementof the Ministry of & Stuff), it is at best an incompleteicon for Albertans, Transport!... I wouldn't spit out of an airplane now-I since so many other occupations-oilfield work, farming, couldn't afford another 14 years!")-and has recordeda mining-and their attendantsupport systemshave given cassetteof songswhich feature "the beautyand humor of workers in this province their livelihoods and helpedto flying." form their cultures. This April 5, the 53-year-old Cavendishgave a sort of Cowboysonly cameup twice in Cavendish'sconcert. comebackperformance, a benefit for STARS, the Alberta One was a quip: nowadaysmost cowboyswear sneakersso ShockTrauma Air RescueSociety. He entitled the concert, they won't be mistakenfor truckers. In the song "Passand which featuredhis own songsand parodies,Wheels Wings the Drum," the narrator and Dynamite Mac, two coal And Other Things. "Wheels" representedtrucks, primarily miners on a spreein Calgary, precipitatea fight with the his belovedeighteen wheelers, but a few others as well. call, "Let's have somegood stuff, not that cowboy beer." "Wings" were his own planes,as well as planesthat he had After they've laid out their shareof buckaroos,been ridden in (transportplanes) and read about (bush pilots). arrestedand hauledup before the judge, they learn that "Other Things" included oil rig work and workers, Cowtown has "... got a cell reservedfor the Passand the waitresses,his wife, and the allegedbenefits of drinking Drum," for CrowsnestPass and Drumheller, that is, two of non-alcoholicmalt beveragebeer (the primary one being the major coal mining areasof the province. that no one can be sure whether you're insaneor drunk!). Although he professedto have no truck with Apparently, he booked the cavernousJubilee helicopters,he offered, in honor of STARS, "The Jesus 33 Nut," about the nut which holds a helicopter's rotor in didn't recognizeany of that old crowd at the Jubilee. Most place: "The JesusNut can saveyour butt / be sure it's on of them have probably moved on to somethingtrendier, or there tight If that JesusNut comesoff, you can kiss your they don't attend concertsanymore, anyway. Perhapssuch a ass goodbye." self-identified proletarian image is too strong for most A number of Cavendish'ssongs assume a working working people, who often seemto prefer to be cowboys. knowledgeof the equipmenthe has operated.Cavendish D.r it may be the urban oneswho are afraid of this writes and sings for the people who work the controls of image. Called back for an encore(which he'd angledfor heavy machinery, of trucks, of tractors, of airplanes-and previously, in good spirit), Cavendishpromised to makethe who daydreamabout the machinesthey won't handle concertan annualevent, possibly holding it in a less themselves.Introducing a song about flying into Calgary in ambitious location, suchas in one of the nearbytowns. "If a transportplane, Cavendishnotes that most passengersare this would have beenin Balzac, we'd have had 'em packed merely annoyedby the shakesand tremors of the plane, but to the sides!" he always imagineshimself bringing the baby in. There's no As I was leaving, an enthusiasticaudience member said doubt that Cavendishis one of the peoplehe sings about. to me, "In better times, he'd a' madeit." But Alberta has Stylistically, he blends the raunchyhonkytonk -derived beenthrough somevery good times, indeed, during truckdriving style pioneeredby Dave Dudley with the Cavendish'scareers, musical and otherwise. Maybe the man gentler dissonancesof 1963 GreenwichVillage. His voice meant "better times" to mean "times of better taste." occasion-allyflattens out of control when he has to hold Cavendishis worth our attention now. notesin a ballad, but otherwiseit's an excellentinstrument for the moodshe intends to convey, particularly, but not The concertwas tapedfor issueas a cassetteor cd exclusively, the faster, humoroussongs. (Cavendishdidn't say which). In the meantime,he has two Why was the audienceso small? Tuesdaynight is cassettesof truck driving songs(beware, thosewhich feature probably not a great concert night. I don't know how well it the accompanimentof truck engineswill not be to was advertised;I myself managedto get there only by everyone'staste, though Cavendishprofesses to find them chance,but, then, I'm not part of any of the circuits by lovely), the one of flying songs,and an recording from the which most people learn of such events.Cavendish 70s, Cavendish Country, which featuresthe delightful commentedthat one Songhad beena favorite of the crowds "Good Old John" (Diefenbaker,that is) and "Foreign at the SanciousCoffeehouse during the Seventies,and, Cows." though the audienceseemed to include at least a broad For more information on thesereleases write Cavendish demographicin terms of age (it was definitely monoracial,1 at 2112 Vista StreetNE, Calgary. and other classfactors are not easyto judge), I certainly GWL IAn unpleasant note was struck with his old song, "Calcutta Cowboy," Cavendish's 1960s response to the raga rock phenonmenon. The mock-Pakistani accent the singer used to introduce the song has a provincial subtext that is at least worrisome. Winnipeg Folk Festival, Birds Hill Park, 1993 Birds Hill Park lies on the outskirts of Winnipeg, needlook no further. Notable Canadiansat the '93 festival Manitoba, and though it may seemjust anotherunassuming included the Lost Dakotas, Vancouver'sStephen Fearing, plot of grass,it is unique in its unrelentingability to bring and the quasi-acapella Moxy Friivous, back by popular peopletogether. Every year for the past twenty, Birds Hill demand. has been host to the Winnipeg Folk Festival. One of the One can also find, however, entirely foreign styles of largestin Canada,it has grown to include eight stages, music throughoutthe weekend,as well as styles you may featuring 90 groups in 200 separateperformances over a have thought long forgotten. The Fairfield Four and their a three-dayspan. While you certainly can't take in capellagospel bring back memoriesof the 1940s,while the everything, the variety and sheerquantity of great music solo harmoniesof the Tuva Ensembleconjure imagesof you'll hear eachday makesthis evemt one worth checking lands far away. [For thosewho've not heard the Tuva Ensemble,trust us that the tenn ..solo hannonies" is not a out. Everything at the Festival is weiliaid-out and planned, typo. GWL.] There is always somethingcompletely different from the schedulingof eachartist to the location of each to listen to, somethingnew to look at. stage,creating a simple, almost effortless experienceof Somethingelse that setsthe Winnipeg Folk Festival good feelin' and, of course, great music.