| |
The Amen
Carnivals and Cotton Candy / Peter Zeus - 7"
Algoma Productions - 1967
Michael Panontin
|
The Amen got their start up in Sault Ste. Marie in the early part of 1966. The band were weekly regulars at their local Teen Centre and spent much of that year toiling about northern Ontario, venturing as far as Lakehead University in Thunder Bay as well as to such teeming pop meccas as Nipigon and Espanola. By October, they had even made it onto the telly, with local TV station CJIC featuring the A Men (as they were also known), the Odds and Ends and the Rogues on their annual telethon. RPM reported that these local groups were "beginning to make a noise in the north country with requests coming in from as far away as Timmins and The Lakehead".
And so, after eight months together, the Amen (at the time a five-piece of singer Tim Ryan, guitarists Ed Schryer and Nick Scali, bassist Dave Wilson and drummer Bob Clarke) made their way down to Toronto to record their lone seven-inch single. The guys, it appears, were brimming with confidence. "We can all play each other's instruments," Ryan told the Sault Daily Star, "and Nick and Bob can read music as well." "With the right breaks at the right time, I know we can do it," Wilson added. "We're just as good as a lot of groups who are recording now."
That confidence can certainly be heard on 'Carnivals and Cotton Candy', which came out on the tiny Algoma Productions label. The spectre of the Turtles or maybe even the Byrds seems to loom large over much of the song, which channels some jangly guitar and a staccato drum roll into a rather fetching slice of romantic garage pop. 'Peter Zeus', on the reverse, is even better, with some handsome harmonies and cool guitar hooks.
The Amen may have landed in Toronto as proverbial hicks from the sticks, but they definitely returned to the Soo as local heroes. Throughout much early '67, they were regulars at Boris's in Yorkville, appearing there (both on the main stage and upstairs in The Red Gas Room) no fewer than seventeen times. By July, the band were headlining the Sault Memorial Gardens and then in September they were back in Toronto to support the soon-to-be-huge Guess Who at the Princess Theatre.
And that, I'm afraid, is where the trail goes cold. Copies of 'Carnivals and Cotton Candy' almost never come up for sale, so a decent one will probably set you back a couple of hundred USDs easily.
|
|
Suggestions
(Those) Rogues
Wish I Could See You Again / Girl - 7"
Algoma Productions
The Mike Jones Group
Each and Every Day / Funny Feeling - 7"
Jet
Jerry Toth
A Place to Stand b/w A Place to Stand - 7"
Arc
Les Sinners
Sinerisme
Rusticana
Luke and the Apostles
Been Burnt / Don't Know Why - 7"
Elektra
|
