VINTAGE continued from page 11
he has erected a building to accommodate his bikes. He also has a workshop. Now his son, Ian, thinks he’ll get
rid of his bike for awhile because he and his wife, Amy, are the parents of an eight-month-old. Patrick Hampson grew up in
England on a small farm and was practically raised on a motorcycle. His Dad was a motorcycle dispatch rider for the British Army. When Patrick was born, his Dad bought a sidecar to transport his little son. When the boy turned 13, he had a BSA Bantam that he rode all around the farm. And when he was 16, he had another BSA that he took on the road. He says he had a “minor
accident with a truck” (translation: “I survived”) – and by then “the girls were more interested in cars than bikes” anyway, so he stopped
riding. Life went on, he came to Canada, had a couple of bikes along the way, and then raised his three children: Christopher, Rosie and Claire. Christopher has a bike now, but he has taken a good safety course, respects his bike, and Patrick is confident in his son’s riding abilities. A British engineer,
Patrick worked for years for Bell Northern Research (then Nortel) until it collapsed and he suddenly found himself retired. He has built a workshop in his back yard, and his plan is to work on his bikes every chance he gets. How many does he have? “Oh, about seven completed and another couple in bits,” he says.
Learn and Burn The Sheepdogs (Independent)
The cover and title of the Sheepdogs’
third album is completely appropriate. The Saskatoon rockers have learned well from their predecessors, and the orange sleeve with three long-haired guitarists in red typifies the “burn” part − as in scorching licks throughout the 11 songs and four part medley that make up the album. That it’s the title track as well is almost an aside. And speaking of covers, probably
Both men say motorcycle riding
isn’t what it used to be. “It’s dangerous,” says Leighton.
“There are a lot of bad [car] drivers out there. Every time I go out on a motorcycle I have a close call.” The trick, says Patrick, is to drive
as defensively as possible, to keep your wits about you, and to know what’s going on around you every minute. “There’s an instinct you get
through experience,” says Leighton. “It’s a certain kind of awareness – you almost always know what a person’s about to do.” He says it’s a good idea to ride
with people who have the same riding style as you do and the same type of bikes. “Avoid the highways,” adds
Patrick. “If you’re travelling with others, go in small groups of three, four, maybe five people. And take the back roads.” Leighton’s interjects here: his
favourite is the Gatineau Parkway, which he calls “a beautiful ride”. If riding a motorcycle is so
12 BOUNDER MAGAZINE
dangerous, if there’s a “close call” on most trips, why do they do it? Leighton smiles. “It’s still a rush,” he says.
www.bounder.ca www.bounder.ca
most of the western world knows the band beat out 15 others to be the first unsigned band to grace the front of the venerable Rolling Stone magazine − all thanks to an internet-based popularity contest, primarily. The accompanying article pissed a lot of the locals off, but as Myles Goodwin from April Wine sang a long time ago: rock and roll is a vicious game. I’m certain the ’Dogs are learning that quickly. No doubt the boys should have taken the Rolling Stone writer to some more highbrow establishments so he wouldn’t denigrate the clubs, the locals and the city as much as he did.
BILL MACPHERSON MUSIC REVIEW The Sheepdogs have updated the
classic 70s sounds of bands like Big Brother and the Holding Company, the James Gang, Montrose, early Allman Brothers, etc. and they’ve adopted a similar look too. All long hair, beards, bell bottoms and lots of dope smoking (if you take Rolling Stone’s word, anyway). So be it. There are very few misses here. From
the ominous, Deep Purplish organ that kicks off “The One You Belong To”, itself flowing seamlessly into “Please Don’t Lead Me On”, the band establishes its groove. “I Don’t Know” is memorable for its sliding melody and chorus; “Southern Dreaming” channels early Allman Brothers through an infectious guitar lick that drives it. “Catfish 2 Boogaloo” is similar in mood, with some great psychedelic overtones a la Country Joe and the Fish or early Canned Heat. “Soldier Boy” sounds like a weird cross between Atlanta Rhythm Section and Lenny Kravitz but it works nicely, picking up steam from the get-go. To me their influences are many of
the classic Canadian bands − snippets of Big Sugar, the Guess Who and Crowbar are in evidence − especially Lighthouse. The title track, “Rollo Tomasi” (with its bleating trombone) and certain parts of the medley (“Baby I Won’t Do You No Harm” absolutely echoes vintage Guess Who, though) display those sudden directional changes in rhythm, tempo and feel while hanging together as a whole that personified a lot of Lighthouse songs. The bottom line is The Sheepdogs
have moulded a sound that pays homage to classic rock and roll from a particular era but is thoroughly modern. They’ve pulled from a lot of sources but the result is sweetly satisfying: sonic, catchy tunes that evoke a “70s sound” while retaining the band’s originality. The variety they display collectively
is enough to live up to the hype. One only hopes all the hoopla and attendant record deal with Atlantic doesn’t make them a flash in the pan. Learn and Burn indicates this
shouldn’t be the case. III ½ out of five
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