Richard Kuzniak sent me the photo above of the Private Collection, a band he used to see weekly at the El Patio nightclub in Yorkville. Ivan Amirault wrote to me with info on the band and the clippings seen below:
from left: Aldo Tarini, Dan Salhani, Jacques Chartrand, and Dave Mouslaison
Dave Mouslaison – lead guitar, organ, vocals
Aldo Tarini – rhythm and lead guitar, vocals
Jacques Chartrand – bass, vocals
Dan Salhani – drums, vocals
The Private Collection were from Sudbury but relocated to Toronto. They performed regularly at The Flick and El Patio, managed by Mike Burak, a part-owner of the clubs. RPM magazine reported on October 2, 1967 that the band had just done a session at Sound Canada with Rick Shorter producing.
Ivan wrote to me “They were a very good harmony band. Dave Moulaison was later in Aaron Space who recorded a great LP on Warner Brothers only in Canada.
“Jocko Chartrand was also in Buckstone Hardware who had a 45 on Apex here in Canada. It also came with a picture sleeve. The core of that band was from North Bay, about 1 1/2 hours east of Sudbury. Joko also made a couple of fairly good solo singer/songwriter type LPs in the 80s.”
Ivan has over two hours of home recordings of the band, plus a few songs from their never-released studio sessions.
when i heard the private collection after being in toronto refining their musical talents….they played the mine-mill hall on regent st. here in sudbury…they sounded fantastic…the BEATLES tribute set was one of the best i’ve ever heard…i was in awe and so very proud of our local talent… too bad they didn’t stick together for awhile longer!!
I totally agree
One week after Sgt. Pepper came out in the summer of 1967, The Private Collection were already performing A Little Help From My Friends, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, and Fixing a Hole and doing them all really well! These were songs the Beatles said they couldn’t possibly duplicate on stage. The Private Collection should have been huge!
I guess by the looks of it theses guys they wanted to be The Lovin Spoonful. They dressed like them what I can see and even posed in the same positions as the Lovin Spoonful did in one of their photo ups
What do you know about them? I’m guessing…not much.
PS: I have a photo of John, George and Ringo wearing t-shirts with wide stripes in the dressing room at maple Leaf Gardens in August 1966. Do you think they wanted to be the Lovin’ Spoonful as well?
My old buddies I sure miss them
Hey Lynn,
Were you a waitress at the El Patio or the Flick?
No I know them from our Sudbury days
No I know them from our Sudbury daysiwish they would do a show again for old times sake anybody got any strings they could pull
As a 14 year old very green bass player in Sudbury, I idolized “Jocko” playing his white Fender Jazz. The epitome of cool. And he was so good.
I got to know him in the early Seventies when we both attended the music program at Cambrian College.
Jocko, if you see this, greetings from Larry now in Toronto…
I guess I heard this band for the first time at a dance at Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School, around 1965(?). I think they might have been called, “The Classics” or the Classics 4″(?) back then. I think I recall them singing, “Love Potion Number Nine”. Anyway, they did a super job as a band! I saw them a few times after that, and at least once at the Sudbury arena. I can’t recall if it was as a band contest or if it was part of the 1967 Canada Centennial celebrations. I distinctly recall what an awesome job they did of the Hollies’, On A Carousel”! Such a great band! Aldo did a lot of the main vocals, and yes, Jocko did a fantastic job on bass and harmonies. Hard to understand how some of the wonderful bands I’ve witnessed never achieved greater heights in the music business. They were as good as any I’ve ever seen/heard!
The “preview of my post says, “DECEMBER 4, 2019 AT 2:35 AM” but it actually was posted about 9:40 p.m. in Ontario, on Tuesday DECEMBER 3, 2019.
So are any of them still playing
I knew David, Jocko, Aldo and Danny back then. They were a great bunch of guys. Our band had the same manager and played at the El Patio and The Flick where they played. They did a lot of Hollie songs back then. After Aldo left the band and was replaced with someone else, they broke up shortly after that. We bought their organ and 12 string Vox guitar from them. I have great memories of them and Other bands back then and the Yorkville Village scene.
It would be a shame to have their studio recording being dusty and mouldy on a shelf or in a drawer somewhere, where nobody can enjoy them. Have they, or can they, be made available to listen to?
JOCKO /Retired Looking to sell his 69 FENDER jazz bass .Here’s a little known fact .The PRIVATE COLLECTION recorded the 1969 Centenial song CANADA under the Pseudonym D.O.P.W. (DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS ) in TORONTO at RCA with Andrew Meltzer & Brian O’Hearn at the board