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Mister hoot'n holler · 07-22-2002, 12:50 AM

Back in 1967 when I was 14 years old I bought a "passport" (kind of like a season pass) for EXPO 67 which was the World's Fair being held in Montreal, where I lived. Three or four days a week during our summer vacation my friends and I would take a series of buses and then the Metro (subway) to Isle Ste. Helen and visit all the International Pavillions and generally have a great time. I don't remember the exact circumstances but I remember seeing Gord in a large outdoor ampitheatre and I seem to remember hearing CRT. That same year I won a CFCF (good old cuf-cuf) radio station contest for 2 tickets to see Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention at a tiny club in downtown Montreal. My mother accompanied me to this bizarre concert and smiled all the way through it. As we left the club I was talking to her and she didn't hear me so I tugged on her arm to get her attention. She pulled out the cotton batting from her ears and I realized why she had been smiling. She had barely heard any of the music. Anyways, back to Gord. Seeing a man with an acoustic guitar, standing on stage, singing his heart out about things I could understand set the musical tone for the rest of my life.While I grooved to Led Zepplin, The Beatles, CCR, Cream, et al at parties and school dances, I listened to Gord, Peter,Paul and Mary, The Kingston Trio, Harry Belafonte, et al at home. The early 70's were a real treat for me. Gord and Bob Dylan had set the stage and the standards for a plethora of excellent singer-songwriters although if I've listened to a million hours of music in my life, about 850,000 of those hours have been spent listening to gord. Looking back, I see that I made a decision in 1967. One of the better ones I've ever made. I've also seen Gord in Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Fort Worth and Denver. The best concert (the word best doesn't come close to describing the totality of that concert)was the Reno concert in 1999 that was taped for PBS. Being in the last row of the balcony gave me the chance to see the whole of Gord and the band and the audience interacting. In a lifetime of ups and downs, ins and outs, forwards' and backwards', this a ways' and that a ways',and especially in dealing with the effects of time passing by so slowly and quickly, Gord has been a "constant" for me. The only thing that could top all of this for me would be seeing Gord at Massey Hall. I've ordered the tickets and if my creek doesn't rise too high, I'll be there.

07-22-2002, 12:50 AM	#29
Mister hoot'n holler Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Colorado Springs Co. USA Posts: 23	Back in 1967 when I was 14 years old I bought a "passport" (kind of like a season pass) for EXPO 67 which was the World's Fair being held in Montreal, where I lived. Three or four days a week during our summer vacation my friends and I would take a series of buses and then the Metro (subway) to Isle Ste. Helen and visit all the International Pavillions and generally have a great time. I don't remember the exact circumstances but I remember seeing Gord in a large outdoor ampitheatre and I seem to remember hearing CRT. That same year I won a CFCF (good old cuf-cuf) radio station contest for 2 tickets to see Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention at a tiny club in downtown Montreal. My mother accompanied me to this bizarre concert and smiled all the way through it. As we left the club I was talking to her and she didn't hear me so I tugged on her arm to get her attention. She pulled out the cotton batting from her ears and I realized why she had been smiling. She had barely heard any of the music. Anyways, back to Gord. Seeing a man with an acoustic guitar, standing on stage, singing his heart out about things I could understand set the musical tone for the rest of my life.While I grooved to Led Zepplin, The Beatles, CCR, Cream, et al at parties and school dances, I listened to Gord, Peter,Paul and Mary, The Kingston Trio, Harry Belafonte, et al at home. The early 70's were a real treat for me. Gord and Bob Dylan had set the stage and the standards for a plethora of excellent singer-songwriters although if I've listened to a million hours of music in my life, about 850,000 of those hours have been spent listening to gord. Looking back, I see that I made a decision in 1967. One of the better ones I've ever made. I've also seen Gord in Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Fort Worth and Denver. The best concert (the word best doesn't come close to describing the totality of that concert)was the Reno concert in 1999 that was taped for PBS. Being in the last row of the balcony gave me the chance to see the whole of Gord and the band and the audience interacting. In a lifetime of ups and downs, ins and outs, forwards' and backwards', this a ways' and that a ways',and especially in dealing with the effects of time passing by so slowly and quickly, Gord has been a "constant" for me. The only thing that could top all of this for me would be seeing Gord at Massey Hall. I've ordered the tickets and if my creek doesn't rise too high, I'll be there.