Genre: garage
Rating: 3 stars ***
Title: The Great Lost Great Scots Album
Company: Sundazed
Catalog: 5052
Year: 1997
Country/State: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Grade (cover/record): VG+ / VG+
Comments: --
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 5
Price: $20.00
Mid-1960s French Canadian bands were reknown for their goofy marketing efforts - think about outfits like Les Gendarmes, Les Hou-Lops, Les Toutes Blanches, etc.. Well, they had nothing on the Halifax, Nova Scotia-based The Great Scots and their highland kilts.
Starting out in 1962 as the surf instrumental combo The Shadows, the original line-up consisted of drummer Gerry Archer, bassist Dave Isner, lead guitarist Bill Schnare, and rhythm guitarist Wayne Forrest. By 1963 they'd opted to change their name to The Beavers (complete with scary mohawk haircuts - see below), adding vocalist Doug Billard to the band. In 1964 The Beavers enjoyed a Canadian hit with a cover of the Big Bopper's 'Chantilly Lace' b/w 'Love Me' (London catalog number ), making them one of the biggest acts in the Canadian Maritimes. American labels began to take notice and late in the year band traveled to New York City to talk to Columbia Records executives. The band's manager suggested a new gimmick might work for an American audience and in short order the group adopted a new identity - The Great Scots and their infamous kilts. They also ended up with a new singer; Billard replaced by Rick McNeil.
The Beavers left to right:
Bill Schnare - Wayne Forrest - Gerry Archer - Dave Isner - Doug Billard
1965 found the band in Los Angeles where they scored a contract with Epic Records. Working with former Challengers drummer-turned-producer Richard Delvey over the next year the band recorded a series of three singles:
-
1965's 'Run, Run For Your Life' bw '' (Epic catalog number )
- 1965's The Light Hurts My Eyes' bw '' (Epic catalog number )
- 1965's (I Ain't No) Miracle Worker' bw '' (Epic catalog number )
National exposure including several tours and appearances on Dick Clark's American Bandstand and Shindig! saw Epic agreed to finance an album, but the project was subsequently shelved as being non-commercial. Even through they were Canadian, the fact that they were in the States on permanent working visas subjected the band members to the US military draft. In early 1967 Isner found himself in the US Army. The remaining members soldiered on (ha), releasing a couple of singles as The Free For All before returning to Halifax.
Some three decades later, in 1997 Sundazed Records released the "". Technically that was a misnomer since the set featured the group's first three singles (the 'B' side '' was missing), along a couple of tracks intended for the original album.
"The
Great Lost Great Scots Album" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) On
The Road Again
2.) I Ain't No Miracle Worker (Version 1)
3.) Someone That I Can't See
4.) Don't You Believe
5.) Ball & Chain
6.) Show Me The Way
7.) The Light Hurts My Eyes
(side
2)
1.) I Can Do It Better
2.) Honey And Wine
3.) Lord, I'm So
Lonely
4.) Blue Monday
5.) What Am I To Do
6.) Run, Run For Your Life
7.) You Know What You Can Do
Thanks to YouTube you can actually get a taste of what these guys were like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPgTQywJy8o
"Don't Want Your Love"
Released three singles for Epic Records during 1965 and appeared on several US television shows "Shindig!", "American Bandstand", "Where The Action Is", etc. Band then signed with Triumph Records in 1966 and issued two singles as "The Great Scots" and one as "The Free-For-All" on Challenge Records. The idea of releasing a single under a different name was an attempt to get airplay at stations that weren' t playing The Great Scots - the one-off single was more R&B oriented than their usual British Invasion fare. At this time the band performed primarily in Canada and the southwestern United States. While working on their first album in October 1966, the US armed forces drafted the band's bass player and the LP was never completed. Although a Canadian citizen, he had been working with a permanent visa which left him susceptible to the military draft.
The members still live close to each other and reunite regularly. In 1997, Sundazed Records issued a CD compilation of tracks recorded in 1966, including the Triumph singles and several unissued tracks intended for the first album. The Beat Rocket/Sundazed label also issued a vinyl compilation in the same year titled "Arrive!" which included some of the band's 1965 Epic efforts.
Don't Want Your Love / Give Me Lovin' (Epic, 1965)
Rockin' Robin (Epic, 1965)
That's My Girl (Rotten to the Core) / Lost in Conversation (Epic, 1965)
Ball and Chain / Run, Run For Your Life (Triumph, 1967)
The Light Hurts My Eyes / You Know What You Can Do (Triumph, 1967)
(As The Free-For-All):
Blue Monday / Show Me The Way (Challenge, 1966)
Album:
Arrive! (Beat Rocket/Sundazed, 1997)
CD:
The Great Lost Great Scots Album!!! (Sundazed, 1997)
While determining just who was America's or
Britain's greatest rock & roll band will forever be in doubt, the list
gets whittled down to one name when figuring out who was the biggest group
from Nova Scotia: the Great Scots. From Halifax, the Scots cut three singles
of wild punk music, loaded with solid playing and great screaming vocals.
This actually has only five of the dozen cuts the group released officially; the rest of the 16-song disc is filled out by unreleased tracks recorded by the band in May 1966. It's tight mid-'60s rock with a wide range, but not much personality, although executed fairly enjoyably. "Show Me the Way" (included in the Pebbles series) is here and is an obvious highlight, though they sound a lot like Manfred Mann on Goffin-King's "Honey and Wine" and "What Am I to Do," and "Lord, I'm So Lonely" (an obscure Billy Vera composition) is pretty fair White soul in the Animals mold. Barely any of the songs were written by the group themselves, which prevents this from being a notable effort even for '60s collectors, although they most likely could have been stars if they'd been picked up by big-time producers and given commercial material, a la Paul Revere & the Raiders.
