Canada’s Rock and Roller
Chris
Nov 28, 2019
If you spend much of your time following political news and recognize that Canadians seem more divided than they have ever been before, there is a good argument to suggest we have been divided based on particular “identity” categories.
Liberal-Conservative
Working Class-Middle Class-Elite
[insert offensive identifiers here, comparing human skin tones closer to a box of Crayolas than reality]
Now think about how you truly perceive yourself. What makes you who you are? Maybe a small part is your political views, your beliefs, values, culture. But besides that, what makes you the human you are today is a sum of the experiences in your life. Much of the impact on who I am today comes from experiences surrounding music. So, this week I would like to take some time to explore the goofy, hard-rocker, and one of Canada’s Rock Legends, Kim Mitchell, and the music who has helped define who I am.
In the era of some of the best rock bands at their peak, the mystical and grungy anthems of Max Webster with Kim Mitchell as frontman emerge.
I have fond childhood memories of my dad playing the first track on the CD album, The Best of Max Webster (1989). On the way to Wasaga Beach to visit my grandparents, he’d turn that car radio volume dial all the way up and check for my brother’s gaze in the rear-view mirror. He’d crack a smile only worthy of the coolest Rock stars and start rocking out to the epic guitar intro of Check.
This song remains a favourite of mine and a song that brings back the best childhood memories of family vacations, and frequent weekend road trips in Southern Ontario. It is absolutely mandatory that you play this tune at a medium-to-high volume and loosen your neck muscles for some headbanging. A portfolio of songs like this one make up a catalog of music my father has imprinted on me, inspiring me to maintain a devotion to rock (mostly classic rock, but also hard rock and progressive rock), and even to be a musician myself.
As a teenager and into my early twenties, when all my friends were listening to boy bands, R&B, and rap, I was still searching for the many songs I had missed being born thirty years too late. I stumbled on many great Canadian album’s in my dad’s collection like Tragically Hip’s Up To Here or Barenaked Ladies’ GORDON. Like these, many Kim Mitchell tracks have stuck with me through the years, and likely many other Canadians, take for instance, Patio Lanterns.
Kim Mitchell’s solo albums retained the interesting character familiar from Max Webster hits and offered a more “pop-rock sound”. This track was a “pain in the ass” in the words of Kim Mitchell when giving a Behind the Vinyl interview, admitting he requested that the record company remove the track from the album before release. Little did Mitchell know how successful the song would become.
I am not poetic enough to write my own songs, but I revel in replicating my favourite music with passionate, musical people. It’s absolute bliss that my partner-in-crime has the same love of playing music (and is more talented than he realizes). I am amazed at his versatility, swapping his guitar for a stand-up bass or a keyboard mid-set. It is incredible to work on your craft with talented people who push you to be better. Together, we play with a wonderful lifetime musician and great friend, and my equally gifted brother-in-law. We provide entertainment for our neighbours and friends performing songs from every decade over the last seventy years. When we stumbled on Kim Mitchell's Easy To Tame, it quickly became one of our favourite’s to play together.
Playing music together has created such a special bond between the four of us (and any other musicians who offer to join in on a jam session). We were born in different areas of the province (now live in the same rural community), in three different decades, yet somehow songs like Kim Mitchell’s are easily appreciated and adored by all of us. From the first strum of a guitar chord, the world’s troubles melt away and we can share in the enjoyment of the music. These unofficial Canadian anthems can unite Canadians; and citizens from all walks of life, all backgrounds, spanning generations, can find harmony in the art of the lyrics and music.
Perhaps instead of distinguishing ourselves based on political viewpoint, economical status, or the colour of our skin, Canadians should appreciate what else makes us Canadian. What songs do you remember your parents listening to? Which musicians give you a community to belong to? What music takes you back to a wonderful time in your past? Find that album, gather your friends, and hail from the top of your lungs, the lyrics to one of those majestic unofficial Canadian anthems. Oh… and Go For A Soda!
Joseph Kim Mitchell was born in Sarnia, Ontario in 1952, and has been a "fixture" in Canadian music since the mid-1970s and has charted on the US Billboard Hot 100 with the hit "Go For A Soda". His career includes singer, songwriter, guitarist, and broadcaster. You can still hear Kim Mitchell play on the Summer Festival circuit and has Ontario shows coming up in early 2020 in Milton, Brampton, Brantford, North Bay, and Chatham.
The Canadian Encyclopedia
Behind The Vinyl: “Patio Lanterns” with Kim Mitchell
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