Today marks a special anniversary for me. My first wife, Cindy, and I were married 45 years ago, and though it didn’t last, to this day we remain good friends, I think both of us seeing it as part of our evolution as individuals.
The song below I was reintroduced to the other day, thanks to Facebook friend, fellow poet/music lover, Don Kingfisher Campbell. The Guess Who was one band I never got around to seeing live, however Cindy and I were fortunate to see the lead singer, Burton Cummings, perform during one of his post-Guess Who solo tours; I think it was his My Own Way to Rock period. We saw him up at Camp Fortune, on the Quebec side of the National Capital Region. Also known for its winter skiing, in July of 1979, Camp Fortune was a popular venue for outdoor concerts, with barbeque food available, and alcohol for sale (if one didn’t bring their own), and was allowed to be taken to the sitting area. And there was no such thing as smoking restrictions, for tobacco or otherwise. Thank God for Quebec!
An amphitheatre had been set up at the base of a low sloping hill, where the audience could either sit in the short grass or on a blanket...lawn chair, if they brought them.
As synchronicity would have it, we ran into another couple we knew, and so sat nearby to one another for occasional conversation and sharing of tokes.
Cummings put on an excellent performance, including several Guess Who tunes. We didn’t realize how versatile his voice was/is until he did a cover of Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love, hitting all the high notes that Robert Plant does in the original.
One of the best musical memories of that period in my life.
