…was written by Stephen Stills in 1966 as a response to the riots on the sunset strip where overbearing cops were beating up on young adults as part of an “imposed curfew”. It was also referred to as the “hippy riots" and was directly affecting where his band, The Buffalo Springfield, had been performing. The Whiskey a Go Go …..they even had to change their name for a bit.
It has also been described as (one of) the breaking point(s) of the counter culture revolution of the 1960’s. An era I’ve been quite interested in my whole life…mostly because of all the great music. A few years ago I toured through these locations with some close friends ... .the Whiskey a Go Go….the Sunset Strip. Even had breakfast at a place where Neil Young and Stephen Stills decided to start said band….in the parking lot.
As if in a fairy-tale, I got to see Neil and Stephen play the song at Willie’s 90th birthday party at the Hollywood Bowl the next day. This song is special in so many ways ... .and quite relevant once again.
We’ve been playing it for years so I thought it a great choice for our first official cover:) Our friend, the super talented Darryl Dozlaw, was nice enough to bring his Hammond to the recording session at R.A.I.S. (Recording Arts Institute of Saskatoon). He and Peter Abonyi (guitar) were a delight to listen to as they traded lead licks in the studio. All of us were super grateful to have our amazing drummer Wayne Cullen lay down such a tight groove for us to follow along with. Our new bassist Alex Lints expertly recorded his parts with Matt Stinn at Rainy Day Recording Co., Matt also mixed this up for us:). Trevor Case put the finishing touches on it, shining it up as only he can.
My friend Clifton Peterson designed the super creepy and wonderful cover art, please check out their other work! I only took creative liberty once where I changed the lyric from “step out of line, the man comes to take you away”, to…. “step out of line, ICE comes to take you away.” Strange times indeed…..but we’ve been here before….hope you enjoy our version of this classic protest song:)
Chris (& The Saints)
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We recorded this collection of songs ourselves in beautiful Stanley Mission, SK on Treaty 6A Territory.
Our guitarist Peter was teaching music up there so one holiday long weekend in April when much of the Reserve and town were almost empty, we loaded our gear into his residence basement and built a little studio we dubbed "Shabby Road". Then we made a lot of noise.
We recorded 10 songs over 4 days and are extremely proud of what we accomplished. A true "cabin album" in the same vein as Dylan's Basement Tapes or the Band's Music from Big Pink.
We were honoured and humbled to be able to record in such a magical place on the banks of the Churchill River, in the oldest community in Saskatchewan. A Woods Cree First Nation Settlement, it is truly a magical place.
The album was mixed by Matt Stinn of Rainy Day Recording Co. and Mastered by Case Mastering.
It is available to stream wherever you like and also available for purchase if you click the album cover done by Riley at Keethanow Elementary.
Do you have questions, want to book us for a show, or collaborate on a project? Reach out, and let's start the chat:)
