Gary'sGlimpses

I had known Ian for a bunch of years and he was a good friend of Morgan Vice who lived in one of my upstairs rooms. (Only musicians could live above an after hours club) Ian was going through a rough time when his marriage was breaking up and spent a lot of time in the bar and Morgan's place. One night Gary MacLean comes by. The Macleans had started as the folk group the vicious circle and Gary was a big fan of Ian's. SoI told him Ian was there. He was very excited to meet him and when I couldn't find him I led Gary up to Morgans's room. The door was open and in the dimly lit room, Ian was passed out on the floor. what could I do? "Ian Tyson, meet "Gary MacLean, "Gary Maclean, meet Ian Tyson.' Gary bent down, "Jesus he said That is Ian Tyson." (sorry Ian it was a long time ago) Some weeks later Ian came in with Christine Wookie. He was schmoozing and I got into a long talk with Christine. We hit it off pretty well in a friend like fashion an...

 I knew Al from the early sixties. he was a talented folk singer. He got involved in Scientology and seemed to lose it. He was mostly driving Cab when he hung out at my place in the seventies. He talked about a comeback but it never happened.

When I first opened there were a lot of nights when there would just be Danny, Mike MacDonald and Jim Jones and me listening to my fabulous juke box and drinking beer till dawn.

I get a phone call one night. It's Tom  Hedley  "Hey Mick Jagger wants to talk to you. " Allo  Gary Mick Jagger here. "Tony  Silverthorn  says "we might get a drink at your club?' A little stunned I said 'sure.' "Can you guarantee my safety?' "No Problem!' I assure him. "We are in a limo outside your door Will you let us in." I went down and escorted them in. they stood at the end bar, not obvious but in plain site and a few whispers went through the bar but basically my very hip  clientele  ignored them. They kind of got antsy after a while and Mick had to do a little prance on the way back from the washroom to get a couple of young ladies to harass them for a while. Mick got very drunk and he had to go and pick up Bianca at the airport so he asked me to get him back to the limo. I got Jesse  Frayne  to do that for me and she thanked me for months after that. Tony  Silverthorn  was the manager of the Windsor Arms at that ...

I liked Cathy from the first time I met her in 1965, she was Paul  Donnelly's  girlfriend. We were social friends always glad to see each other 

  Myrna Lorrie frequented my after-hours in the seventies, She was a lot of fun and I caught a few of her shows and liked her music. One night she showed up on the arm of Jerry Reed. (I'm a lover, not a fighter) Roseanne Cash was with them and she was with one of the Eagles. (I can never remember which one) apparently, she had a fling with him They were there almost every night for a week or so.

Helen was a night person, She was intelligent and sexy. She came to my bar often and we enjoyed each other's company. She invited me for dinner one night, And in her sensuous sultry voice recited one of her poems about losing her virginity to a sailor in my ear. I suffered instant arousal. Unfortunately, it was not to be her sister dropped in and the situation never rose again so to speak. After she went to LA. We got together at a TO film festival. I introduced her to the MacLean Brothers and we had a great party. Ahh. . .Helen sigh

  How I became an Artist and almost met Bob Dylan(I sat beside him)  In 1964 I had a job as Stainless steel tube mill operator having formerly worked as a shepherd And decided to become an Artist. i had always been artistic but I thought I would make it official. How does one become an Artist? I tried to enroll in the Art College of Ontario but they wouldn't take me because I failed Math so I thought the next best way to become an Artist was to hang out with Artists. So I did this    By now I had found out about 'The Pilot' A tavern at Yonge and Bloor.The pilot was reputed to be the Mecca of Artists this is where most of the famous ones hung out. Barry Hale was the Art Critic of the Telegram and wrote lots of stories about Artists at the pilot. (mostly because he hung out at the pilot) At that time the pilot was a bit of a problem for me because of the shifts I was on at the factory. So I show up at the pilot around noon. There are no artists and I didn't even notice...

 Gary was an early patron of my after-hours club. I talked to him on many nights when he was the only guy left. He was married and worried about money and maybe give up playing. Now he is a giant bass player on the Toronto scene. playing for Downchild and many other bands. he wrote these c omments I`m a little foggy on the time frame but I think your bar`s era was around 76/77.  Not the best time for my career as a blues musician.  Disco had taken out a number of live music clubs, punk and new wave were gaining a foot hold. Looking back, I think I was floundering with not much direction or creativity.  My music of choice was blues but I couldn`t get a good gig to save my life and I was burned out from being the band leader of Dollars through 74/75.  Making money was a challenge and hanging out in an after-hours bar wasn`t a wise choice for a guy with a family.  When I did get a gig, I`d spend a good chunk of my pay drinking at your place. I guess that bar o...

Lou Miles was a famous Toronto Tailor and a man about town. We became great friends and went out on many parties dinners and the like with his girlfriend Wendy. They also spent many nights at my bar.

 MICHAEL IRONSIDE(my crazy friendship with him.) I used to be in the movie business but when I met Michael I was  Toronto's leading  'bootlegger' I owned an after-hours club that was basically for musicians but I expanded it to the famous. And I had been notorious in the 60s for my lavish parties and I slowly built up an illegal business it was a lot of fun and very profitable and I met everybody and their dog. Mike was at the Art College of Ontario and had made this acclaimed 8mm film that won an award and thought he was somebody.  Meanwhile, I was the King of Toronto in those days (lol) and we clashed often, it took a couple of years for us to become friends he kept after me. Finally, when we did become friends, we were good friends.  People have often asked me how mike got his scar. Mike got his scar before I met him.  He told me he was sitting in his girlfriend's house having a beer and waiting while she changed as they were going out, suddenly there wa...

I met Craig Russell in the subway one night. He was on his way to his hit show at the Royal York. Here he was in the subway entertaining about 6 people. He was sitting beside a wino and a small group had gathered around him and he was entertaining them and had them in stitches. I stood and watched for a while and when I got an opening I held out my hand. "Hi Craig I always wanted to meet you. I am a friend of your friend Sandy's." " oh Sandy, How is she? he pushed against the wino slightly to make room for me to sit down. We talked about Sandy for a couple of minutes and suddenly he stopped and sniffed loudly, still sniffing he asked "What is that horrible smell?" he gasped. "I am afraid it is your friend," I said nodding to the wino. "Shit!" he said, "there goes the promise I made to myself to fuck anybody that asked me."

I met Harry Hibbs at the Horsehoe in Toronto about 1977.  He carried two cases his accordion and a briefcase for his music he said. He was there for the week and after a few days, we became pretty good friends so I got invited to the dressing room. He opened the briefcase to reveal two bottles of rum. Harry started off with a bang but by the end of the night he was getting a bit maudlin and as he sang 'Me mother thee tears streamed down his face. He struggled with booze but managed to open his own club 'Conception Bay. (My grandfather was from conception Bay. ) he was a grand entertainer.

There was a big birthday party for Bob Markle at at the Masonic Temple. Gord Lightfoot highlighted the show. Old friend Michael Sarrazin came with his steady girlfriend Jacqueline Bisset I was out with them at the bar the night before and she was kind of shy and didn't really meet a lot of people. I think Jackie was a bit fed up with Michael's drinking and by the time they got to the Masonic Temple they were barely talking. As I was the only one else she knew at all she hung out with me most of the night. A nice line in my memoir 'spent the evening dancing with Jacqueline Bisset stoned on acid.'

Roy Payne does not get his due as a great Canadian songwriter. he wrote two truly great songs. 'I wouldn't take a million dollars for a single Maple Leaf' which he wrote when he was in the Canadian Army in Egypt. And 'There are no price tags on the doors of Newfoundland ' both of which can be considered anthems No question he was a character I met him in Toronto in the summer of 75. The Horseshoe was still Country and Western. I had moved in across the street in June and the Horseshoe had become my local and by then i had set up an after hours club. (booze can). It came to pass that Roy owed Morty Star (The manager of the Horseshoe) $3,000.00. so Morty hired Roy for the whole month of August. the idea that he could get his money back. He made strict rules that Roy could have no bar privileges and he wasn't to drink. So I am sitting in a booth in the east half of the huge bar. Drinking jugs of drafts with a couple of friends Roy was just setting up for the gig on...

David Crombie Wilt Chamberlin and Mayor Mel Lastman. In 1976 I was the host of the Hospitality Suite at the Toronto Film Festival. Bill Marshal asked me to open early one day for his friend mayor David Crombie and guests. I always liked David he was smart and positive. The guests were Wilt Chamberlain and Mayor Mel Lastman. For a couple of hours, I sat between Wilt the Stilt and David the perfect tiny mayor listening to Wilt tell funny self-effacing stories of how he got ripped off on a million dollar racehorse etc. Not to mention too much about the twenty thousand women he slept with. I was impressed with Mel Lastman. He was a good listener and asked good questions.  At a later festival, I attended a Festival party at City hall and ended up smoking a joint in the Mayor's Office with a city Councillor.

I had the strangest meeting with Neil Young. I shared a Roast turkey dinner with him backstage at Maple Leaf Gardens. I was hanging out with my buddies MacLean and MacLean and kinda strange too they opened up for Neil. As it was we all shared the same huge dressing room and on his contract rider neil had demanded a full Roast Turkey dinner with all the trimmings. I cant remember whether this was before the show or after. anyway neil invited us to join him and i sat beside neil and we had a most pleasant conversation while we enjoyed the meal.

  A friend of mine Beau Chorney had this lawyer ( I am embarrassed i cant remember his name.)who I met on a deal we were working on.   So I ran into him in the 22 in Toronto, and after a drink, he invited me to join him for dinner at Fridays. he only said was meeting with his some of his clients. so I had no idea until we sat down with Yvan Cournoyer, Guy LaPointe, Henri Richard, and Frank Mahovlich. Peter Mavolich was late he had just bought a Rolls Royce and as he pulled up and we all went out to the street to see it. When he got out an empty Heineken bottle fell out which made us all laugh.  I was out of my league in the conversation, I was like the fifth wheel with this lot so I didn't say much just a few bon mots during dinner and mostly listened. I wish I remembered more but I guess I was a bit awed as it was such a surprise. meeting so many Hockey heroes at once is a bit much. I have always been a habs fan and peter was a favouite.

 . The Club 22 at the Windsor Arms Hotel in Toronto was a hub for the who's who of the film industry in the 70s and 80s. Many big-name actors frequented this spot when they were in town shooting movies. It was also a de facto office for many movie people. One sunny afternoon, I found myself hanging out in the quiet ambiance of the Club 22, when none other than The Million Dollar Man, Lee Majors, walked in accompanied by a very young actor, Chris Makepeace. Lee had been a familiar face over the past few evenings, often spotted with Karen Kain, the renowned ballet star he was dating at the time. I was an assistant producer back then, working for Jerome Simon. We had offices both at the Park Plaza and around the corner, but the real business took place here in Club 22. We had just wrapped up a film titled "Double Negative" and were in the midst of negotiating another project. With nothing pressing on my schedule that afternoon, I found myself striking up a conversation with ...

I met Howard Duff making Double Negative. I was the assistant producer and it was my job to look after Howard. I met him at the airport. "Hi I'm Howard Duff and if you don't think I'm tough, Remember I was married to Ida Lupino for twenty years". Howard and I became great friends and his girlfriend Judy. We spent many pleasant hours together over about 6 weeks. I showed them around Toronto and we had many lunches and dinners together. And far too many drinks. I took them to some clubs. One night he was a bit long in the washroom and I went to check. he was being hassled a bit by some punks (not too seriously) I come in and say Ready to go Mr.Duff and flashing my genuine RCMP key chain. The punks evaporated and Howard thought that very cool and subtle. If anything like Richard I found Howard a bit fragile. I was on Howard and Judys Xmas card list until they died and I feel really privileged

In 1993 I was a software buyer for Wiseguy computers (5 stores) I was in Los Vegas for the computer Show and I was invited to meet Berkeley Breathed at the opening party for his screensaver in Las Vegas in 1993. it was at a hotel cottage type thing. About 50 people all ad men, promoters and other 'suits' and a dozen or so gorgeous models. Berkeley had not much interest in any of them and either did I . I was there for the week at the computer show and was glitzed out. Anyhow Berkeley and I ended up ducking out of the main room and we chatted for an hour or so and quaffed a few nice cold beers. I remember him as sort of nicely outre type guy that would come across as standoffish but we had a pleasant conversation.it was not long after this he went into a self-imposed exile for a few years.

Larry introduced me to Moses Znaimer." Do you know Ledrew I got him out of jail" Larry wrote a letter to the parole board when I was busted and never let me forget it? I went to jail for cannabis back in the dark ages. I met Larry at the Old Pilot back in the '60s. We used to have a few drinks occasionally and had many late dinners at Kwong Chows. Larry was a political Guru. Larry was fearless. I had many friends at CBC. He lasted through every change at CBC. I think they were all afraid of him. He knew where the bodies were buried. I loved sitting in Kwang Chows listening to him until the early hours. A conversation with Larry was like a contemporary history lesson with all the juicy bits left in. The barbs were obligatory. You had to have thick skin to dine with Larry but what a treat. He knew politics inside and out and he had all the real stories. I last talked to him just after Peter Gzowski died. I called to find out if he knew anything about the funeral.arranements...

Keenan Wynn This is me with Keenan Wynn during the shooting of 'The Ballonist' a "Littlest Hobo" episode shot in my parent's home in Uxbridge Ontario in the Summer of 1980. It was directed by Allen Eastman (Alien) and Keenan enjoyed tormenting him a bit.  Keenan and I spent the breaks talking about movies like 'Dr. Strangelove' etc. it was a fun afternoon. Keenan had the shakes a bit and didn't want to sign autographs, he always had the continuity girl around to take polaroids and gave out pictures instead.

I met Patrick in The 22 and asked him what he was doing? This was his answer. We chatted for a couple of hours. I think he had just finished Scanners. The Club 22 at the Windsor Arms was an amazing place in '70s & '80s. It was like the hub of the movie business in Toronto. Every day there was an adventure of some kind. Robert Miller was a writer for McLean's Magazine and CTV and had recently turned to novels like Dreadlock and some movie biz with Bill Marshall. I had bravely written my first screenplay and had given a copy to Bill Marshall. So we are sitting at the producer's table with a few cronies at the mostly empty Club 22 and Bobby says come here I want to talk to you. he leads me to the empty piano bar. He tells me he picked up my script at Bill's office and read it. He than told me I shouldn't be in the movie business and picked my script apart line by line. He was good, he had a photographic memory and a grounding in writing and English and literatu...

Gary's Glimpses #1 Donnie Downchild I was one of the early habitues of Grossmans I became great friends with Al and he let me make and sell my Grossman's T Shirts (I made up to $300 a week off them) One of the first articles Richard Flohil wrote was for the Toronto Star Weekend. It was about Grossmans but he interviewed me so it ended up mostly about me and my T shirt etc. I don't really remember when Downchild showed up, It seems like they were always there. They were a fun band to know and hang with and Donnie would play anything you wanted for a shot of Jameson's Scotch. I organized a small baseball league Grossman's, Pilot, Paramount, Vagabonds and anybody else that would play us. I did this for fun and to sell T-shirts. This was the 60's and I umpired in a dashiki and wearing a Fez.I usually smoked quite a bit of reefer before the game to keep me calm and slow the ball down. I remember Donnie sitting in the outfield with a dixie cup full of Jameson's. ...

MacLean and MacLean The MacLean’s came to my club one night in Toronto and we immediately became fast friends. Being from Louisbourg. I joined them in performing singing the second oldest recorded song in the English language. It is an old Scottish Ballad called the ‘Lobster’ and I was known as the Lobsterman. I couldn’t sing that well but mostly got through it. To begin with, I took it very much in stride. But eventually, I begin to care about how I did. That is when I ran into trouble and got stage fright and I actually used to sweat before I did my bit. Then one night I did it, I forgot the words. They waited through a chorus and then Gary Looked at me. “Did you forget the words?” I nodded my mind racing trying to find the words. “You Arsehole!” says the ever-helpful Gary. Somehow I found the words and finished the song and never really had much trouble again. One of my favorite memories of the boys is with Murray McLaughlin. Murray was a good friend and I used to drag him along whe...