Here’s a fantastic EP featuring some otherworldly music from Vancouver, Canada. There’s a a sweet innocence to the best songs on this record, and a melancholic feel at times.

Both sides of the sleeve read “Rols Royce Bookings 683-5332 Presents … Live from Vancouver”, obviously intended to promote bookings for the bands, but none of the songs were cut live. The label, SGM Records was located at Station “D”, Vancouver 9. All songs published by Astral Music BMI.

The Sound Set

The Sound Set’s “Mind in a Bottle” is one of the highlights of the EP. The influence of the Beatles is apparent, but the song comes together beautifully, with cool guitar and organ sounds, great harmonies and an interesting song structure. Robert Turner and Ken Dedrick wrote “Mind in a Bottle”.

The members of The Sound Set:

Rob Turner – organ and vocals
Ken Dedrick – bass and vocals
Gerry Tomey – drums
Murray Raymond – guitar

Rob Turner wrote to me:

The Soundset was originally formed by Ken Dedrick and myself in South Burnaby, Gerry Tolmey on drums and Murray Rayment on guitar. We played at Gassy Jacks Disco in Richmond a lot and had an ongoing Sunday evening gig at the HMCS Discovery naval base in Vancouver Harbour. We also did a lot of casual gigs in the Vancouver area. Unfortunately I don’t have any photos.

We recorded another song after Don joined called “Everyone’s Born Under the Same Old Sun” at Psi Chord but it was never released. We also recorded several original songs for a CBC radio show, produced by Ray McGuire of Trooper, with Derek Solby on drums. I remember a song called “Someone in the Shadows”. Unfortunately the tapes from both those sessions got lost.

The band had by this time (1968-69) changed its name to Ichabod Crane and we were playing gigs in the interior of BC and on Vancouver Island as well.

The Reign

The Reign’s “Sea of Dreams” is another standout, the lead guitarist bouncing licks through an Echoplex while the singer quietly intones the lyrics. Following a drum break there’s a brief impassioned section over a distorted lead.

The Reign were together from 1965-1968. Their members were:

Steve Nordin – lead vocals
Don Geppert – guitar
Russ Sankey – guitar
Bob Douglas – bass and vocals
and four drummers: Jack Matches, Frank Gigliotti, Graham Walker and Ken Erickson.

Don Geppert gave me some background on the Reign and sent in the fantastic photos of the group:

Here are a few shots of “The Reign” with then drummer Frank Gigliotti. The first shot is in my basement where it all began.

Stan Cayer was the owner of “Rols-Royce Bookings” and our manager. The record came about totally through Stan who put up the $ and used it to promote his bands at the time. It was recorded at Psi-Chord by Robin Spurgeon in 1968. I still have the contract we signed with Stan.

We believe the drummer on “Sea Of Dreams” (who was absent from the photo) is Jack Matches.

We were very young at the time so the record was exciting. Unfortunately we weren’t rocketed to the top of the charts with it.

After The Reign fizzled out, Rob, Ken, Gerry (Sound Set) and I formed a band called Icabod Crane and played around the Vancouver scene. No recordings.

Bob Douglas was later in Soul Unlimited / Mantra after Carl Graves left the band, and Five Man Cargo (see comments on that page). Don Geppert is now a recording engineer in British Columbia. Russ Sankey passed away in 2008.

Thanks also to Don for filling me in on some of the members of the Sound Set.

The Look

The Look from Vancouver originally consisted of:

Bob Warden – lead guitar and vocals
Dave Boucher – guitar
Barry Warden – bass and vocals
Jack Willander – drums

Bob Warden wrote “In a Whirl”, another gentle song with good harmonies and a nice balance between the rhythm guitar and the drums. I believe after this release Bob Rowden and Barry Rowden joined from the Painted Ship.

The Silver Chalice Revue

With heavy drumming and a horn section “Soul Drifting” by the Silver Chalice Revue sounds a little out of place next to the other three cuts of psychedelic pop balladry on the EP. It’s a strong track, though, and there’s an edgy sound to the guitarist and the lyrics.

Members of the Silver Chalice Revue were originally in a group called the Squires. Silver Chalice played around Vancouver from ’67-’69. Guitarist Daniel Orlando wrote “Soul Drifting”.

Billy Regan (Billy Ostendorp) – vocals
Danny Orlando – guitar
Charlie Howard (Charlene Howard) – keyboards
Brian Linnit – sax
Terry Linnet – trumpet
Bobby Regan (Bob Ostendorp) – bass
Tom Watson – drums

Stan Cayer owned both Rols Royce Booking and the SGM label. He had his own 45s on the label, from the fine rocker “3 Wild Women” and the ballad “Crying on My Pillow” in the early ’60s to a release in the early ’70s, “My My Gemini!” plus an LP I haven’t seen.

The only other releases on SGM that I know of come from a group called Long Time Comin’ (formerly the Shags and the Shapes o’ Things) with “Paper Rose” / “Downhill Slope” on SGM 5-S from 1970 and “Part of the Season” on SGM 12-S from 1972. “Paper Rose” was written by Gary Webstad and produced by Stan GM Cayer. Long Time Comin’ also released one 45 on London Records of Canada in 1971, “Magic World”, written by Mike Bosley and produced by Stan Cayer. All of these are published by Astral Music as well. You can see a few photos of Long Time Comin’ on the PNW Bands site. Other members included Jerry Lipinski and Howie Atherton.Thanks to Ed for the photos of the Silver Chalice Revue.