REDDON: It must have been an incredible rush to play in front of that many people.
COTTRILL: Oh, I’ll say! The whole tour was a sensational experience from start to finish.
REDDON:
Getting back to your beginnings as a musician…you and your band from Owen Sound, The Rembrandts, were one of the first acts ever to play on the television show Canadian Bandstand. If I understand it correctly, this program was modelled after its U.S. counterpart, American Bandstand with Dick Clark. How did all that come about for you and The Rembrandts, who were essentially a bunch of sixteen and seventeen year olds from Northern Ontario? That was quite an accomplishment!
COTTRILL:
Yes, we were all very happy about appearing on Canadian Bandstand. I was from outside Paisley, a town about thirty miles away from Owen Sound. A friend of mine from school, Bob Becker, an amazing keyboards player then and now, hooked up with these guys from Owen Sound. It’s kind of funny how we wound up with kids from another town - it was like we went for an audition, actually. We started playing and we all kind of fed off each other.
REDDON: What kind of music were you playing when you first got together?
COTTRILL:
We all liked the same kind of music -- the British bands, as well as the American rhythm & blues stuff. I was especially interested by The Yardbirds. I’ll never forget what sold me on The Yardbirds the first time I heard them. It was their song Shapes of Things. I heard it on the radio and it was probably from one of the larger stations because where I was from was quite rural and that kind of music wouldn’t likely be played. When I heard Jeff Beck’s solo on that song, I thought to myself instantly, “What the hell is this, what’s going on here? I have to be a part of this kind of music somehow.” I was that overwhelmed with The Yardbirds immediately. This was around 1966 or so, when Jeff Beck was with them before Jimmy Page.
At that time, we were used to “The San Francisco Sounds” of groups like The Mamas and The Papas, The Byrds with their 12 string guitar “softer” work, that kind of music. But The Yardbirds were completely revolutionary to my ears. I know you want to know about Jimmy Page, but it was actually Jeff Beck when he was with The Yardbirds before Page, who first made such a profound impression on me. The Yardbirds were also less known and more obscure than other British bands. Jeff Beck put such an amazing lead guitar solo on Shapes of Things, I even remember where I was when I first heard it!
REDDON: Oh really? Where?
COTTRILL:
Bob and I were going down the highway. That song came on the radio, three miles outside of Walkerton, Ontario. Bob showed me the first Stratocaster I ever held. I still think of that when I go down that road.
REDDON: What a great memory that must be. Your memory certainly serves you well.
COTTRILL:
I don’t know about that, but those were such significant times in my life and were likely part of growing up.
Getting back to your original question on how The Rembrandts were booked to play Canadian Bandstand…our band became somewhat of a regional success. We played lots of high schools in the area around Owen Sound and throughout Ontario. We were doing the British material and American rhythm and blues. We weren’t doing much Beatles stuff or the softer love songs that other high school bands were covering; that wasn’t our interest at all. As it happened, many other people were interested in the type of music we were playing, as well. We had a great deal of work. I must say we were intrigued by the harder-edged British bands, most especially TheYardbirds.
The American rhythm and blues numbers consisted of material such as Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and B.B. King. The Yardbirds’ songs were actually a perfect fit for what our band was doing musically. We kept getting bigger and better gigs and dances. We did the winter carnivals, the Owen Sound Coliseum dances and many other summer lakeside resorts such as the pavilions at Sauble, Kincardine and Wasaga Beach. Of course, this was in the ’60s when communication and travel were difficult. We were very happy to be getting jobs that were usually given to the bigger, better known Toronto bands.
As the ’60s went on, the British bands became more and more well known and the kids who were at our performances increasingly wanted to hear this kind of music. At this point, it was 1966 or 1967. When we did Canadian Bandstand, it was actually quite remarkable. Nobody had really heard of us a year earlier, other than regionally, and here we were doing a national show! When we were on the program, there were other bands on the season’s roster including from Toronto: David Clayton Thomas, who would go on to form Blood, Sweat & Tears, Gordon Lightfoot and Ronnie Hawkins, all Canadian stars. It was a “once- only” live taping, but we did it!
REDDON: Do you recall what songs you did for Canadian Bandstand?
COTTRILL:
We did a few American rhythm and blues numbers, which I don't remember, as well as a few Yardbirds’ numbers, which I do remember! There was only so much time. We had to select our better material and go with that. We did two sets for Canadian Bandstand. The Yardbirds songs we did? Heart Full of Soul, Mister You’re a Better Man Than I, The Nazz are Blue, I'm Not Talkin’. I recall the sound guys worrying about the overdriven amps and trying the get the levels right. Ha ha! The performance on Canadian Bandstand went well and we were all pleased. I really should name the band members at that time. Pat Haley, lead vocals; Ray Hewitt, bass; Warren “Cuban” Carr drums, Bob “Bo” Becker, keys and rhythm guitar and me, Gord Cottrill, lead guitar.
REDDON:
Did you and the other members of The Rembrandts get to see yourselves on Canadian Bandstand, which was filmed and recorded in Waterloo, Ontario?
COTTRILL:
Yes, we did, but with some difficulty. You have to remember we were from rural communities and we could only get Channel 8 on our televisions. Canadian Bandstand was on Channel 2, so we had to travel to where we could pick up that station…out of town! We did manage to do it and I’m glad we did. It was a great experience to see and hear ourselves on what was the highlight of our career at that time as a band.
The picture quality was pretty grainy, but it was something to see ourselves like that. Come to think of it, television hadn’t been around all that long at that point so it was more than adequate the way we saw the program. It’s something I know all of us will always treasure. Too bad there is no tape.
REDDON:
I also interviewed your bass player with The Rembrandts, Ray Hewitt. He told me you were able to figure out the sounds that Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and a host of other musicians were using, without even having all the proper gear. That’s quite an accomplishment! How did you manage that?
COTTRILL:
My friend, Bob, and I spent a great deal of time and effort trying to figure out and attain the sounds that were on The Yardbirds’ records. We envisioned (imagined or fantasized) Beck going into the studio and coming up with all these ideas; i.e., using feedback, overdriving amps, etc. Page and Eric Clapton were also capable of similar solutions; Page especially so, due to his production knowledge.
As for me, most of the time I managed to copy the guitar sounds I heard from The Yardbirds’ recordings and work them into my guitar playing. Again, Bob Becker was a significant influence at that time; he and I would experiment wiring amps together. “Let's just see what