About a month ago, I sat down with longtime Victoria street musician Dave Harris, to find out about the early days of the busking scene in Victoria, specifically some of the old busking locations which have disappeared along with some of the city’s architecture, and some of the musicians that were playing then. (photo of Dave circa 1979 - courtesy Dave Harris)
DH – Okay so well, when I started busking in 1977, there were quite a few different spots. I used to play mostly on the other side of Government Street (across) from Murchies, which wasn’t there at that time, it was Spencer’s Hardware store, and there was no doorway for you to play in there like there is now. But, the doorway that you could play in, was across the street at the old Eaton’s building, it wasn’t the Eaton’s (Bay) centre yet.
The (old) Eaton’s building was in two parts with a big gap in between where Broad Street used to go through. Trucks would come in the one end off of Fort Street to do deliveries, so there was a little bit of a driveway in there (but) you couldn’t drive through. You could walk through there, it was a big walk in mall. A lot of people used to busk in there, (it had) good acoustics. There was actually a covered walkway that went across from one building to the other on the second floor, so you could play underneath there, even if it was raining. So, that was another good spot to play, not as busy as Government Street or Douglas Street, but still a pretty good spot.
I used to play out on Douglas Street a lot too. I did that again later as well which is probably what you’d remember, but in those early years before you came, in the late ‘70s, early ‘80s, I played there a lot. There was an overhang, so you could play in bad weather there too, and then in front of Woolworth’s which is now Chapters, right at the bus stop, I used to play there quite a bit too. But bus stops are kind of funny, because you get the same people day after day getting on and off buses, so, it might be good for a couple of days, but then you’ve got to give it a break for a while, ‘cause you’re just gonna get the same people. And especially back then, the city wasn’t nearly as busy as it is now.
The Nootka Court liquor store (on Courtney Street), was another interesting spot. People used to busk in there, (and) it was sheltered, so it was a place you could go when the weather wasn’t good. And, as you know from your own experience, liquor stores can quite often be quite lucrative, that one wasn’t a particularly busy one, but none the less, it was sheltered. I played there once or twice.
Market Square was another place that people used to like to play, up on the top level in front of what then was Griffin’s Books, near where you used to be able to have the postings there, I don’t know if they still have that, Market Square’s changed quite a bit. And they didn’t pipe their canned music in, or at least they’d turn it off, and let people busk.
Bastion Square, right at Government Street was quite different. There used to be a big anchor there, and a bench, so there was seating, and it was a good busking spot. People used to busk there a lot, and of course that went on really up until the Irish Times (Pub) took over and started piping their music out and that killed that spot.
Other spots that used to be quite popular or used quite a bit anyway, were where the Christmas Store used to be, which is now the Bard & Banker (Pub), but of course that spot was killed when they moved in because, again they piped their music out, so, while they’re hiring live entertainment seven nights a week, in both the Irish Times and the Bard & Banker, they haven’t done a good service to the busking community at all by piping music out on the streets, and I personally, this is my own little personal bias, but I think they shouldn’t be allowed to pipe music out onto the streets. I don’t think that’s right, you know, if you own a store, you’re not allowed to play your music out onto the street. Why do they have special privileges, but anyway, that’s my own little personal bias. But that’s another spot that’s no good any more.
And then, another spot was across from Sam’s Deli, where Darth Fiddler still plays sometimes. Sometimes people would actually play right next to Sam’s Deli, where the art shop is, that wasn’t there at the time, (but) I remember there was a phenomenal steel drum player playing a single tenor steel drum, playing Bach on a steel drum. He was really amazing, this was way, way back when.
CD – Who were some of the musicians that were busking back then?
DH – There weren’t a lot of musicians out, (but) there was Fire Truck. They were kind of long-haired redneck hippies, (and) they used to play right up in front of the Empress Hotel, on the sidewalk in front of the hotel, on the other side of the street (from the causeway), and surprisingly they didn’t get kicked out. They were a trio. They had Ron Stanley, who’s back around town, I see him occasionally, he played rhythm guitar and did most of the vocals. Terry McDonald played banjo and did harmony vocals, and Mike Proklovich, played mandolin and sang harmony, and they did redneck country-rock sort of bluegrass, not really bluegrass, more like New Riders of the Purple Sage, Commander Cody and that kind of thing.
Mike would also play down at the Yates Street liquor store, which is long gone, on lower Yates Street, across from the parkade. He was a very loud singer, and he’d play guitar as well as mandolin.
Another busker around in those days, was a guy named Don Willkie, who’s sort of gone on to a little more celebrity, he’s an accomplished slide guitar player, and was back then too. He was about my age and he played with a fiddle player named Paul Jackson and they would, Paul particularly, they’d make enough money to go get a beer and then that’s what they’d do, go have a beer, and then they’d come out and make enough to get another beer (laughs), it was that kind of a thing. They used to play at Bastion Square. But, Don was quite an accomplished guitar player and singer, he lives up in the Cowichan Valley area now. I’ve seen him at a couple of festivals and things like that.
Other buskers from that era, there was Murray Drew, he used to play banjo, he played kind of old-timey music on a banjo. There was a guy we called Mississippi Dave, his name was Dave Glover. He played Mississippi John Hurt stuff really well, and old country-blues tunes, finger-picking, he was really good. This was back probably around 1980, ’78, 79, somewhere in there.
My buddy Paul Creasey, of course, on the recorder. Dale Mitchell, who now lives in Chemainus, and I believe still busks. The three of us would team up.
Iain McIntyre, the banjo player would come out sometimes, he was the best banjo player I’ve ever heard in my life, phenomenal 5-string banjo player. This guy was absolutely phenomenal, he’s in the Earl Scruggs league, this guy, he’s that good. And Rod Thomson played mandolin, and we’d all team up sometimes and play bluegrass stuff, and I learned a lot of my bluegrass from playing with Iain actually, he taught me, not the songs so much, I went home and learned the lyrics of the songs, but he taught me a lot of instrumentals, I used to back him up.
Dale Brophy, used to be around with his wash-tub bass, he’s passed now. Rhonda Broadfoot, I think I first maybe met her singing by herself down in Market Square, and then of course, we ended up being together for three years and having Blue Sky band.
Next week: Scene Changes, when I will talk about the busking scene in Victoria from the time that I arrived in 1989 and through the '90s. As well as some of the spots and musicians, I will also touch on some of the changes including the introduction of licensing, etc.
DH – Okay so well, when I started busking in 1977, there were quite a few different spots. I used to play mostly on the other side of Government Street (across) from Murchies, which wasn’t there at that time, it was Spencer’s Hardware store, and there was no doorway for you to play in there like there is now. But, the doorway that you could play in, was across the street at the old Eaton’s building, it wasn’t the Eaton’s (Bay) centre yet.
The (old) Eaton’s building was in two parts with a big gap in between where Broad Street used to go through. Trucks would come in the one end off of Fort Street to do deliveries, so there was a little bit of a driveway in there (but) you couldn’t drive through. You could walk through there, it was a big walk in mall. A lot of people used to busk in there, (it had) good acoustics. There was actually a covered walkway that went across from one building to the other on the second floor, so you could play underneath there, even if it was raining. So, that was another good spot to play, not as busy as Government Street or Douglas Street, but still a pretty good spot.
I used to play out on Douglas Street a lot too. I did that again later as well which is probably what you’d remember, but in those early years before you came, in the late ‘70s, early ‘80s, I played there a lot. There was an overhang, so you could play in bad weather there too, and then in front of Woolworth’s which is now Chapters, right at the bus stop, I used to play there quite a bit too. But bus stops are kind of funny, because you get the same people day after day getting on and off buses, so, it might be good for a couple of days, but then you’ve got to give it a break for a while, ‘cause you’re just gonna get the same people. And especially back then, the city wasn’t nearly as busy as it is now.
The Nootka Court liquor store (on Courtney Street), was another interesting spot. People used to busk in there, (and) it was sheltered, so it was a place you could go when the weather wasn’t good. And, as you know from your own experience, liquor stores can quite often be quite lucrative, that one wasn’t a particularly busy one, but none the less, it was sheltered. I played there once or twice.
Market Square was another place that people used to like to play, up on the top level in front of what then was Griffin’s Books, near where you used to be able to have the postings there, I don’t know if they still have that, Market Square’s changed quite a bit. And they didn’t pipe their canned music in, or at least they’d turn it off, and let people busk.
Bastion Square, right at Government Street was quite different. There used to be a big anchor there, and a bench, so there was seating, and it was a good busking spot. People used to busk there a lot, and of course that went on really up until the Irish Times (Pub) took over and started piping their music out and that killed that spot.
Other spots that used to be quite popular or used quite a bit anyway, were where the Christmas Store used to be, which is now the Bard & Banker (Pub), but of course that spot was killed when they moved in because, again they piped their music out, so, while they’re hiring live entertainment seven nights a week, in both the Irish Times and the Bard & Banker, they haven’t done a good service to the busking community at all by piping music out on the streets, and I personally, this is my own little personal bias, but I think they shouldn’t be allowed to pipe music out onto the streets. I don’t think that’s right, you know, if you own a store, you’re not allowed to play your music out onto the street. Why do they have special privileges, but anyway, that’s my own little personal bias. But that’s another spot that’s no good any more.
And then, another spot was across from Sam’s Deli, where Darth Fiddler still plays sometimes. Sometimes people would actually play right next to Sam’s Deli, where the art shop is, that wasn’t there at the time, (but) I remember there was a phenomenal steel drum player playing a single tenor steel drum, playing Bach on a steel drum. He was really amazing, this was way, way back when.
CD – Who were some of the musicians that were busking back then?
DH – There weren’t a lot of musicians out, (but) there was Fire Truck. They were kind of long-haired redneck hippies, (and) they used to play right up in front of the Empress Hotel, on the sidewalk in front of the hotel, on the other side of the street (from the causeway), and surprisingly they didn’t get kicked out. They were a trio. They had Ron Stanley, who’s back around town, I see him occasionally, he played rhythm guitar and did most of the vocals. Terry McDonald played banjo and did harmony vocals, and Mike Proklovich, played mandolin and sang harmony, and they did redneck country-rock sort of bluegrass, not really bluegrass, more like New Riders of the Purple Sage, Commander Cody and that kind of thing.
Mike would also play down at the Yates Street liquor store, which is long gone, on lower Yates Street, across from the parkade. He was a very loud singer, and he’d play guitar as well as mandolin.
Another busker around in those days, was a guy named Don Willkie, who’s sort of gone on to a little more celebrity, he’s an accomplished slide guitar player, and was back then too. He was about my age and he played with a fiddle player named Paul Jackson and they would, Paul particularly, they’d make enough money to go get a beer and then that’s what they’d do, go have a beer, and then they’d come out and make enough to get another beer (laughs), it was that kind of a thing. They used to play at Bastion Square. But, Don was quite an accomplished guitar player and singer, he lives up in the Cowichan Valley area now. I’ve seen him at a couple of festivals and things like that.
Other buskers from that era, there was Murray Drew, he used to play banjo, he played kind of old-timey music on a banjo. There was a guy we called Mississippi Dave, his name was Dave Glover. He played Mississippi John Hurt stuff really well, and old country-blues tunes, finger-picking, he was really good. This was back probably around 1980, ’78, 79, somewhere in there.
My buddy Paul Creasey, of course, on the recorder. Dale Mitchell, who now lives in Chemainus, and I believe still busks. The three of us would team up.
Iain McIntyre, the banjo player would come out sometimes, he was the best banjo player I’ve ever heard in my life, phenomenal 5-string banjo player. This guy was absolutely phenomenal, he’s in the Earl Scruggs league, this guy, he’s that good. And Rod Thomson played mandolin, and we’d all team up sometimes and play bluegrass stuff, and I learned a lot of my bluegrass from playing with Iain actually, he taught me, not the songs so much, I went home and learned the lyrics of the songs, but he taught me a lot of instrumentals, I used to back him up.
Dale Brophy, used to be around with his wash-tub bass, he’s passed now. Rhonda Broadfoot, I think I first maybe met her singing by herself down in Market Square, and then of course, we ended up being together for three years and having Blue Sky band.
Next week: Scene Changes, when I will talk about the busking scene in Victoria from the time that I arrived in 1989 and through the '90s. As well as some of the spots and musicians, I will also touch on some of the changes including the introduction of licensing, etc.
Really nice edit on that, Dave, and thank you for posting it! I remembered a couple more important early guys: Texas Ray (Whitfield, from S. Ontario) and Tennessee Mike (Dulcey, from Virginia, now know as Rivermouth Mike). They used to play Nootka Court, Govt St and even the causeway ca 1979/80. Rod Thomson (as he said, "a dry Thomson, no p"). Even Yates St at the bus stop saw the odd busker, I tried it!
ReplyDeleteHere I am again! I figured since you're starting in 1989 next week, I should mention Special Delivery AKA The Shmoes - myself - fiddle, mandolin, guitar, harp and vocals, Mike Kraft, banjo, guitar and vocals, Jim Sinclair - guitar, bass, mandolin and vocals and Jeremy Rogers - keyboard (often playing bass), vocals. We played nightly through every summer from 1982 - 90 as that combo. There were a few others that busked in the 80's but not that many, as I recall. Red the Juggler is most worthy of mention! Belanos busked in the early 80's and then not again until 2004. Thanks Dave!
ReplyDeleteOne day, when you guys are REALLY old and crusty. I'm going to petition the city to make Dave statues and a red the juggler statue along the harbour (real statues, not those silly pretend ones)
ReplyDelete