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.
the look actually played shaows a s the painted ship on vancouver island. they also recorded 6 songs.
Always love to hear the lesser known Canadian content.
Jim:)
I am very very intirgued! Usually I only go for your SOuth Seas and other such far-off-the-beaten-path stuff.
Hey is was cool to find this site. I was one of the guitar players in The REIGN. The remaining members are still in touch with each other and all live in BC, Canada. I have sent Chas some information on the members of the Sound Set although I don’t remember who the guitar players was.
Thanks for this one! I’ve been curious about the rest of the EP since The Look were comped on Fading Yellow Vol. 6 Always great to hear these obscure CDN bands; how about a another one from Quebec? ; )
Sebastien
The Look actually originated in Comox on Vancouver Island and were a very popular group locally. Great vocal harmonies were a trademark and one of the best covers of The Beatles Mr. Moonlight I’d ever heard.
Nelson McClinton was a member of the original Knights of the Silver Chalice, which later became the Silver Chalice Review. The Knights of the Silver Chalice was originally co-led by Adrian Messner the drummer of the band and Dan Orlando the guitar player. I was 15 when I joined the band. We rehearsed at Adrian Messner’s home and one time at my parent’s home in Surrey BC. It had an unusual name: The Knights of the Silver Chalice and casually called The Silver Chalice, when we added a trumpet and another saxophone and an additional solo vocalist it was called the Silver Chalice Review. Dan Orland (guitar), Adrian Messner (drums), Dan’s brother Rick Orlando (organ) and Kirk Walker on Bass and Nelson McClinton on Tenor Saxophone. I have a PHOTO of the group on Nelson McClinton Facebook page.
I was an original member of the Silver Chalice which began as the Knights of the Silver Chalice and eventually changed to the Silver Chalice and then the Silver Chalice revue I was with the band in all it’s changes. a Few years later I was studying music at the University of Victoria and Douglas College so I could only play with them now and again. I was not on the recording when Dan recorded the one song – I played with them a few times after they did the song as well as the Silver Chalice Review. The band was originally co-led by Adrian Messner (drum) and Dan Orlando (guitar). Adrian’s father was our promoter. This band did not form from some other band as was mentioned previously. Dan was in other bands as was I but we joined together to form the Knights of the Silver Chalice and I only performed with them. I have a photo of the original band practicing at my home in Surrey on my (facebook page Nelson McClinton). It has Kurt or Kirk Walker (bass) (never did know what to call him hehe) with Dan Orlando (guitar) Rick Orlando (organ), Adrian Messner (drums) and Nelson McClinton on Tenor sax. Later as the band changed we added a guitar and eventually added another sax and a trumpet player and turned into the Silver Chalice Revue. But most of the gigs were played under the name of the Knights of the Silver Chalice and the original members. Due to conflict we replaced the organ player – I don’t have his name but we remained the same for most of the time. It would be interesting to find out what happened to each member of the band. I am in contact with Dan on Facebook and I visited with Dan a number of years ago while I was on tour with the RCMP Band in Vancouver – I met Dan at a blues club he was playing at in Delta or Surrey on a hill (best I can do) it was nice to chat with him and hear him play. I remember one NewYears Gig we played for the AA – we got $125 each (well, I got that amount). They even had an hypnotist there as well – we really felt they just wanted to have a party and didn’t care to hear too much music but it was fun for us as well. We used to play for the Volvo Club in a basement club called the Steering Wheel Club. Our main gig was in a greek club in Vancouver – Granville street I believe, near Nelson – I believe it turned into a Pharmacy in later years. It was a trans club as far as I knew – great fun for sure and a great experience meeting all kinds of people. We used to pass the hat at 2:00 am and play for another hour! Those were the days that clubs made money from booze and live bands. In those days, even at our young age we were “permitted” to drink behind the stage at the breaks as long as we behaved (manners) – it was a great time.. we never did drink too much but was still nice. I had a 1961 Vauxhall that had everything wrong with it until I completely overhauled it myself doing all the repairs…. thanks to a neighbour who had a dirt pit and Woodwards which used to have an automotive parts store. I would get pulled over often heading back to Surrey from Vancouver and just kept my insurance and registration on the dash for the police. I was pulled over almost every night until one police officer greeted me with “Good evening Nelson” he just was making sure I was safe and not drinking while driving… those days safety was the big issue and politeness was important.
After University of Victoria and Douglas College in New Westminster I was asked to audition for the RCMP Band in Ottawa by the president of the musicians Union in Vancouver. My first union gig was the top floor of Vancouver Hotel with a piano, drum and sax trio. Henry Waack on piano – a student of Oscar Peterson – Henry taught piano at Douglas College. I finished college in May and went by train to join the RCMP Band in Ottawa. I remained there until the band was disbanded in ~1994. I transferred to do stationary guard work for the Governor General and Prime Ministers protective directorate. I as with the band for 21 years and then stayed in the RCMP until I retired at 32 years.
I conducted a community band in New Westminster before coming to Ottawa and then when I got here I eventually formed the Gloucester Community Concert Band, the Ottawa River Youth Band and the NEON big dance band. After passing on my baton only the Community Concert Band remains. I retired from all music in 2015 all in one day. I was teaching music in private schools, Montessori schools, taught music for the City of Ottawa, taught at home part time as well. I was performing mainly duo or solo gigs (with my computer made background music) but also enjoyed “flying in” to play with big bands in town. Sight reading was my fun. Eventually just before my Dad HL McClintonn passed away he asked me to give art a try. I did and signed up for a course at the Ottawa School of Art fundamental program and eventually gave up my full complement of one hour students at my home studio. I did very well and was quite content but my little elementary school was closed because of the downturn so I decided to close with it while all things music was doing so well and still having a great time. I stopped on one day…. never went back and so I continue with my art and love it, I love the people, the conversations – I paint with a group every Friday (all day) and I have also signed up for 6 hours of class this year 2023 at the Ottawa School of Art.
The Knights of the Silver Chalice was highly motivating for me and kick started my life in the arts from community work to playing and teaching professionally. I never did get my dream of getting my Masters and teaching college but I managed to fulfill dreams that were not on the list. I am married with a “boy” and a “girl” and have 4 grandchildren – we are all close and live nearby. We own our own home and have been building a cabin in Quebec for 30 years…. as soon as it is finished we will sell it. (like all cottages). I am bilingual mostly with a small glass of wine in my hand. We have a townhome condo but that is going to be for sale in the Spring. I don’t miss the late nights of music, the unpaid rehearsals but I do miss the people. I am on facebook so send me a note or want to see a picture of the Knights of the Silver Chalice with the original members.