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.