I am amazed by the contacts that I receive through Active Rain and my music blogs. And, I do not mean just contacts from other Active Rain members. It is astounding to me the contacts I receive from the general public. Bellingham is located just below the larger city of Vancouver, British Columbia. Because of that, many of us who live in Bellingham have close connections to Canada that are unique when compared to most U.S. cities. This story ties in to that close connection to Canada.
I expect a number of visitors to my home inspection information, thanks to the search engines. After all, that is a primary benefit of working in the rain -- raising one's public profile. But what about all those other people? Wow! Some of the most interesting contacts come not from my home inspection posts but from my "Stories Behind the Music" series. I have been contacted by people ranging from Patti Page's manager, to Soldier of Fortune magazine's publisher, to Sam Cooke's nephew, to a friend of the leader of the UK instrumental band, the Tornados. One interesting contact I received, as a result of the music posts, was from a fellow in California. He had lived in Canada as a youth and he was the first roadie for a band known as Chad Allan and the Expressions. The man was trying to track down Chad Allan and he had found some of my related posts on Canadian music so he thought I might be able to help. Let me tell the story from page one. Back in the early 1960's Chad Allan was a youngster from Winnipeg who was hooked on rock n' roll. He had formed more than one band in those days but he had a successful recording with Chad Allan and the Expressions. The guys in that band, photo below, ultimately gained their fame with another name -- after Chad left. Chad is on the far right, next to him is the well-known guitarist Randy Bachman. The British Invasion was in full swing and everything British was hot. In 1965, the boys covered a song that had been recorded years earlier by a British band. It was, at that time, hard for Canadian artists to get radio airplay in their own country. Chad and the group was advised to promote the record under another name -- let people guess as to the origin of the band. A few copies of the song, with Chad Allan as the lead vocalist, were released under the name "Chad Allen and the Expressions", but the main release, the big distribution, was under the name "Guess Who." If people thought the guys were British, or even a famous British group in disguise -- who cared? Allan left the band about the time Shakin' All Over became a hit not only in Canada but also in the USA. I only know this story as well as I do because, as a kid, I listened to CKLG-AM out of Vancouver. That station would play Shakin' All Over and state that the Guess Who was Chad Allan and the Expressions out of Winnipeg. After Chad left the band, the Guess Who had a few exclusively Canadian hits -- with Burton Cummings as the lead singer -- before they conquered the U.S. pop market with songs like These Eyes, Undone and American Woman. Now shoot forward forty years to a weekend two weeks ago. I received an Email, because of Active Rain, from a former roadie for Chad Allan and the Expressions. He asked me if I had any idea how he might locate Chad Allan. I like a challenge. It helped that the man provided me with Chad's birth name, spelled correctly unlike the way it is listed at many websites. It did not take long to discover that Chad is not hard to locate. He lives just north of me, in Vancouver B.C., and he still plays music -- often entertaining old folks in nursing homes. There were articles on his recent activities online in community newspapers. I found another interesting morsel. Being a legend of early Canadian rock, Chad had been asked to perform at a public concert just last year. It was fun to see Chad, not a kid anymore, performing the song that he made famous but never got credit for. I think most people think it was Burton Cummings on the lead vocal. This video turns back the clock or stares time right in the eye. Shakin' All Over - Chad Allan from Don Xaliman on Vimeo. I found that Chad and his wife live in a suburb of Vancouver. And, thanks to online research, public information, I was able to direct this man to contact information for Chad Allan. I have yet to hear back, so I do not know if he was able to re-connect with his friend from forty years ago or not. For more "Stories Behind the Music" click on the guitar Steven L. Smith Bellingham WA Home Inspections
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