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The Canadian Squires


The Canadian Squires - Uh Uh Uh / Leave Me Alone - 7

Uh Uh Uh / Leave Me Alone - 7"
Apex - 1965


Michael Panontin
In 1963 Ronnie Hawkins was the unofficial mayor of Toronto's Yonge Street strip. He and his backing band the Hawks belted out their brand of southern r'n'b, like the thunderous 'Who Do You Love', nightly at places like the Le Coq d'Or (which boasted a third-floor "office" with a waterbed for those female patrons wishing to answer that question). And though the Hawks - Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Levon Helm and Richard Manuel - would ultimately surpass him as the Band, at this point it was clear that Hawkins, or 'the Hawk' as he was known, ruled the roost - with an iron claw, it would appear.

Hawkins is well known for helping introduce Toronto to the Bo Diddley beat, which was the backbone of what would become 'the Toronto Sound'. He was also a perfectionist, often forcing the guys into post-gig rehearsals that sometimes lasted until 4 AM. But the ever-improving Hawks were growing too big for their britches, or in this case the black Lou Myles-designed mohair suits that control-freak Hawkins had insisted on.

So the fledgling rockers decided to leave that year in November and, as Levon and the Hawks, were making regular tours down to the southern states by mid-1964. This caught the ear of the legendary Henry Glover, who had worked with Hawkins over at Roulette. Glover promptly ushered the group into Bell Studios in New York and recorded a couple of Robertson's songs, and as the Canadian Squires (an alternate name they sometimes used) issued them on the tiny Ware label in the U.S. and on Apex up here in Canada.

'Uh Uh Uh' is a bit of novelty number longer on swagger than on sweat, but with a fine candy-coated harmonica wafting in and out, and lyrics that suggest the boys took notes around Hawkins ("Baby, baby, baby, whatcha gonna do? / When you get to Toronto, I'll be chasin' after you"). The flip is the big winner here, though. 'Leave Me Alone' packs a wallop - it's a potent blast of swinging r'n'b/rockabilly full of brash, in-your-face bravado and blustery defiance. In other words, a superb slab of wax.

The record unfortunately tanked (with Hawkins later suggesting their name may have put off American listeners). But it hardly mattered, as the skies were opening for the lads. After a follow-up record on Atco, this one as the hipper-sounding Levon and the Hawks, Dylan came knockin' on their door, inviting them to play five apostles to his Judas on the infamous '65/'66 electric tour. And the rest, as they say, is history.

(Both tracks were included on the 1987 soundtrack to the Tony Bill movie Five Corners.)
         
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