I know Led Zeppelin was a big influence on our ’60s band and groups everywhere like ours. The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin were as much a musical education as they were a listening experience, not having to accept the status quo. That’s one of the reasons they will always remain so popular and so studied. I know they were for us and countless others. Above all, in my case as a musician, they influenced us to continually be creative, to this day, no matter what style of music we might be asked to play. Thank you, Jeff and Jimmy (and Keith and Eric)!
REDDON:
All right, that’s about it. Thanks very much for your time and extremely valuable perspectives.
COTTRILL:
You’re welcome, Frank. If there’s anything further, please let me know. I wish you the best of luck with the book.
REDDON: Thanks and good-bye, Gord. I’ll be in touch!
COTTRILL: Any time. Good night!
GREG EVANS
MEETS THE YARDBIRDS AT THE LOCAL MALL
One of the first large shopping malls in the Greater Vancouver Area was called the Guildford Town Centre in Surrey, south of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. At school sometime in 1967, (I don’t know when but you could look at the poster), some friends said, “Come on! We’re going to Guildford to see The Yardbirds at the music store.” After this long, I’ve forgotten the name of the music store. They were there to do an autograph session.
Most people got them to sign CKLG Boss 30s, the hit chart from one of the local AM stations. I wanted to impress The Yardbirds with how hip I was, though. So I removed a piece of lined paper from one of my school exercise books and wrote “Yardbyrds” in psychedelic letters in an hourglass shape. I assume you have already picked up on my mistake but, as a 15-year old teenybopper, I managed to mix them up with The Byrds.
I remember Jimmy Page showing my piece of paper to the others and them discussing it. I thought they were really impressed with my groovy artwork! Later, when I realized my mistake, I was plenty embarrassed! The only other thing I remember about that day was that Jimmy Page was the first male I ever saw wearing a fur coat! I still have their autographs.
RAY HEWITT
DESCRIBES A YARDBIRDS’ CONCERT IN ONTARIO’S GREAT WHITE NORTH
Rare shot of Jimmy Page using a Les Paul guitar. In these early days, when he played with The Yardbirds, he favoured his psychedelic “Dragon” Telecaster.
Courtesy: Howard Mylett Collection, used with permission. Enzepplopedia Publishing, Inc
Ray Hewitt is a bass guitar player who played as a teenager with a couple of his buddies in a group called The Rembrandts. The group hailed from Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. The Rembrandts have the distinct honour of being the first band to have played live on Canadian Bandstand in 1967.
Who was Ray’s inspiration in the world of popular music along the way? Among his major influences were the British Invasion Bands, including The Yardbirds and newly formed Led Zeppelin, circa 1968. Ray and a couple of his friends had the added pleasure of seeing The Yardbirds with Jimmy Page perform at a very unlikely venue: Hidden Valley Ski Resort, in an out-of-the-way part of north/central Ontario.
REDDON: Hi, Ray. It’s great to talk to you!
HEWITT:
It’s my pleasure, Frank. Ask whatever you want and I’ll try to recall. It’s been awhile now!
REDDON:
All right, thanks! The best place to start is by asking you a bit about your musical beginnings in high school. How did you get interested in rock’n’roll; in particular, The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin?
HEWITT:
I was in a band called The Rembrandts with a few of my buddies from high school. Our lead guitarist, a guy by the name of Gord Cottrill, could play anything and everything he put his hands to, as far as the guitar went. He was, and still is, an unbelievable player. He was from Paisley, which is fairly close to my hometown of Owen Sound, Ontario. In fact, he didn’t have any special guitar effects gadgetry much of the time in our band. Yet he could somehow get the sounds he heard on the records he liked by manipulating what equipment he did have. It was amazing and he’s always been one of the best guitarists in the country.
Gord is a professional musician today. He’s done everything from studio sessions to playing with the likes of Canadian country music legend, Stompin’ Tom Connors. Our band, The Rembrandts, had everybody down pat…Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards. We formed a five-piece band – guitar, rhythm guitar, bass, drums and vocals – around grade eleven, in high school. I played bass. We loved The Animals, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, The Rolling Stones. All the stuff that nobody else was playing at the time in our town, we were doing it all and having a great time with it!
REDDON:
Yes, from what I understand, you guys did very well; even played on a program called Canadian Bandstand in the late 1960s. I have to be honest. I didn’t even know there was a program called Canadian Bandstand, until I heard about you and Gord from your friend Dave at a recent record show in Toronto. That’s why it’s so much fun doing this research…always learning something that’s right under your nose you never managed to come across until a circumstance like this, interviewing you.
HEWITT:
I can imagine you’ve talked to many fascinating people during the course of such research. Good for you, it’s a lot of work.
REDDON:
Thanks, yeah it is. But learning so much new information about the late 1960s and Led Zeppelin has been reward enough. Anyway, I’d like to find out more about how your Canadian Bandstand gig came about in a moment or two. What an experience! But, for now, would you tell how you happened to see The Yardbirds at a rather remote location in 1968, of all places, Hidden Valley Ski Resort in northern Ontario? I couldn’t believe it when your friend David first told me about that one!
HEWITT:
Certainly, I’d be glad to! And you’re right - it’s not really a place you would think of if you wanted to go and see The Yardbirds.
I think maybe we first heard it on Toronto’s CHUM radio. We used to go to Toronto to buy records at places like Sam The Record Man on Yonge Street. I get a kick out of this when I look back on it today. I used to take orders from anybody in Owen Sound who wanted records when I knew I was making a record-buying trip to Toronto!
I’d go down to Toronto every so often and I enjoyed those trips very much, since I was very excited about getting the latest records from the groups I loved. So, I think I probably heard about The Yardbirds from CHUM. As well, the Toronto Star newspaper had a section for teenagers and that’s maybe where I saw that The Yardbirds were coming to Hidden Valley.
REDDON:
That’s very interesting. It would be incredible to hear such an old radio ad, for such a great group in a rather remote location! It’s impressive that you would take record orders for people. Very considerate.
HEWITT:
I don’t know about that, but I didn’t