Uproar

Uproar formed in Vancouver in late 1970 around guitarist and vocalist Jeff Ridley, drummer Glen Hendrickson and bassist and vocalist Tom Lavin. All three already had roots in the Vancouver scene. Ridley and Hendrickson had played together in the United Empire Loyalists during that band’s final period, while Hendrickson and Lavin had been members of Orville Dorp in 1969 and 1970. Lavin later recalled that he and Hendrickson decided to form Uproar while they were still playing in Orville Dorp.

Ridley remembered the idea taking shape in October 1970. He and Hendrickson were looking for a bass player, and Ridley had already noticed Lavin performing locally under the name “Chicago Bo.” What stayed with him was Lavin’s stage presence. A couple of months later Hendrickson arranged a meeting with a prospective bassist at the Parlour on Main Street, an upstairs Vancouver club. When Ridley arrived, the musician turned out to be Lavin. The trio came together soon afterward.

The connection to the United Empire Loyalists gave Uproar a direct line back into Vancouver’s 1960s psychedelic underground. Ridley had spent several years with the Loyalists as rhythm guitarist and vocalist, while Hendrickson had been their drummer during the later psychedelic period and remained through the band’s final trio configuration. Uproar was therefore less a clean break than another step for musicians who had already spent years playing Vancouver halls, clubs and concert bills.

The new group rehearsed intensively. Ridley recalled that they would enter Robin Spurgin’s studio after normal sessions had finished, beginning around ten or eleven at night and continuing until six or seven the following morning. Those rehearsals produced a considerable amount of original material. Ridley remembered the group writing a number of songs and recording approximately half a dozen pieces, although the tape was later lost.

By 1971 Uproar had attracted the attention of Herschorn Productions and GRT Records. Their first and only commercial single paired ‘Different Drummer’, written by Tom Lavin and Glen Hendrickson, with ‘Look Who We Are’, written by Lavin and Jeff Ridley. It appeared in June 1971 as GRT 1230-05. Tom Lavin produced the session for Herschorn Productions, with Mike Flicker credited on the label as executive producer, and both songs were published by Downdraft Music.

The record was cut at the studio Jack Herschorn had just acquired at 1234 West Sixth Avenue, the former Aragon Recording Studios. Billboard reported in June 1971 that ‘Different Drummer’ had been recorded at Herschorn’s new facility and that Herschorn supervised the production. The purchase, announced that summer, brought him the studio along with its publishing operations and record labels and gave him a sixteen-channel room. Herschorn renamed it Can-Base Studios and installed Mike Flicker as chief engineer. The same building later became Mushroom Studios, where Heart recorded Dreamboat Annie. Uproar’s one release therefore sits at the very beginning of an important chapter in Vancouver studio history, and the Flicker credit on the label ties the record directly to it.

RPM Weekly reviewed ‘Different Drummer’ in its July 31, 1971 issue. The magazine called the Vancouver-produced session “powerful,” identified it as one of the first productions from Herschorn Productions, and gave the record an 83 percent Chart Probability Factor. The review credited Tom Lavin as producer and Downdraft Music as publisher for both sides.

The single found an audience in Vancouver. ‘Different Drummer’ reached number 19 on CKVN and number 26 on CKLG during the summer of 1971.

The same June 1971 Billboard item recorded two further developments. Uproar were already working in Quebec, and they had engaged Creative Management, a newly formed Vancouver public relations company headed by Len McMillen. Both details show the group operating well beyond Vancouver before the Zappa dates.

In early July they joined Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention for three eastern Canadian dates: Le Colisée in Quebec City on July 2, the Ottawa Civic Centre on July 3 and Centre Paul-Sauvé in Montreal on July 4. Contemporary posters, tickets, advertisements, reviews and later participant recollections confirm Uproar as the opening act at all three shows.

Ridley remembered the Ottawa show particularly well. Uproar shared dressing-room space with Zappa’s band, including former Turtles singers Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, then performing with the Mothers. At the end of Uproar’s set, the audience called them back for an encore. Ridley later recalled Zappa acknowledging the response backstage.

The Zappa dates were not the end of the band’s activity. Uproar remained on substantial Canadian bills through the summer. On August 5 they appeared with Procol Harum and Chilliwack at Edmonton’s Kinsmen Fieldhouse. On August 13 they were booked with Steel River and Uncle Slug at the Cloverdale Fair in the Fraser Valley, part of a four-day concert series whose other performers included Sugarloaf, Tom Northcott, Crosstown Bus and Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids.

On September 6 Uproar appeared at the Summer Sunset ’71 festival at Capilano Stadium in Vancouver. The bill included Country Joe and the Fish, the Youngbloods, John Hammond, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, Seeds of Time, Northwest Company and others. Less than two weeks later, on September 19, they were in Calgary at Foothills Arena with Quicksilver Messenger Service and Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band. A surviving handbill confirms all three acts on the bill.

The early rehearsal tape appears to have been lost, but separate studio activity may have continued after the GRT single. In September 1971 Billboard reported on the rapidly developing Vancouver recording industry and included Uproar among the acts then being recorded by Jack Herschorn’s operation. No second Uproar record has been identified, leaving open the possibility that additional finished or unfinished recordings were made during this later period.

A few weeks after the July Zappa shows, Ridley left the group and Lavin brought in a guitarist named Coleman. Sources give his first name as both Ron and Pat, and the point is not yet settled.

Uproar continued into the following period but left no second commercial release. Later sources generally place the breakup around 1972. Their recorded catalogue therefore consists of the GRT single ‘Different Drummer’ / ‘Look Who We Are’, while recollections and contemporary industry coverage point to additional material that has not surfaced.

Tom Lavin went on to a considerably longer career. He played guitar on Prism’s self-titled 1977 album for GRT and became the singer, guitarist and principal figure behind the Powder Blues Band, whose success beginning in the late 1970s took him onto the national stage. Glen Hendrickson’s path through Uproar connected his earlier work with the United Empire Loyalists and Orville Dorp to another brief but active chapter in Vancouver rock. Jeff Ridley’s time in Uproar followed several years at the centre of the United Empire Loyalists and ended soon after the band’s most visible period.

-Robert Williston

Uproar – Lineups (1970–1972)

Late 1970 to mid 1971 – original trio:

Jeff Ridley: guitar, vocals

Tom Lavin: bass, vocals

Glen Hendrickson: drums

This is the lineup that recorded ‘Different Drummer’ / ‘Look Who We Are’ for GRT in June 1971.

Mid 1971 onward – after Ridley’s departure:

Tom Lavin: bass, vocals

Glen Hendrickson: drums

Coleman: guitar

Sources give the guitarist’s first name as both Ron and Pat.