Friday, February 27, 2009

Salem Witchcraft

I left that CSNY/CANNED HT slide box on my desk after I shot it for yesterday's post. Today I decided to take another look inside since I hadn't been in there in a couple of years...back when I was looking for my Canned Heat pictures. At that time I probably zipped through the box at breakneck speed because I was trying to put a book together...quick-like. This time I went a little slower and found that, indeed, half the box contains CSNY...here's one I scanned to show you. It's the audience at the Vancouver Coliseum...lots and lots of fans...a new found photo that I really like...

The first picture I pulled out had nothing to do with CSNY or Canned Heat...

It's Jerry Jeff Walker - he's the one with the picture of himself in front of his face flipping me the bird - and a bunch of other people that may or may not have been in his band. They'd done a show at a Calgary bar called The Sports Page. I must have taken this on one of my trips home. I was hanging out with the owner of the bar and I think he actually paid me to take the pictures. His name was/is Mike Barnett and, after he was done with me and his bar, he went on to become hockey-stud Wayne Gretzky's agent, among others. I just googled him and it looks like he's now working with the New York Rangers. Maybe I should have stuck around.

And last but not least, I found a small stack of slides of the opening act from the Canned Heat bus across Eastern Canada in the dead of winter tour. I couldn't believe. And just as I was busting my brain trying to remember the name of the band, I pulled out this slide...

OK...I'm staring at it...something 'm' 'Witch', then I found another slide that gave me the 'Salem' part. With a google here and a google there, I came up with Salem Witchcraft. It was all coming back to me. I found their myspace page which linked me to Arlen Rocks. Arlen. I remember Arlen! Shit. He was the guitar player! The guy in the picture above. Totally remember him. I wonder if he'll remember me. I'm going to email him and find out.

Here's a couple more shots of him...

Arlen could jump.

Arlen liked to jump.

And they even had their own streaker. Not quite big enough to be The Bear. Too bad.

No comments: