Blue Northern - Blue (EP)

Tracks

Side 1

		Track Name	Length
	1	Can't Make No Sense	02:58
	2	Chain Ya Down	02:46

Side 2

		Track Name	Length
	1	Missin' You	02:52
	2	Too Late to Turn Back	03:04

Photos

Videos

No Video

Information/Write-up

The core of the group at first was centered around bassist Lee Roy Stephens, fiddler-singer Garry Comeau, steel guitar/ keyboard-man Jimmy Wilson, and drummer Brady Gustafson. By late 1978 guitarist Ray O'Toole had joined the group, who were now getting a lot of attention from the media. A new arrival (from the USA) became a fan, and began sitting in on a regular basis, and he too became a member of Blue Northern. His name is Billy Cowsill, from The Cowsill family band in the late 1960's ("Hair", "Indian Lake" "The Rain, The Park, & Other Things" and all that, proto Partridge Family). He was a perfect fit.

The group recorded a few tracks at Don Tarris' Buttertree Studio, in Richmond, and released 4 songs on a 12" blue vinyl EP in 1980, complete with a blue-tinted cover. Two of the songs were by Ray O'Toole, and two were by Billy Cowsill. The radio picked Ray's "Can't Make No Sense" as the one to play, and the group had a national hit on it's hand. Polydor Records scooped up the band, and sent them back into the studio while a second single was released. It was Ray's "Too Late To Turn Back", a song he had done when he was a member of Shakedown a couple of years or so earlier. It too was a hit. The group toured, and played concerts in halls like the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver and other similar halls across Canada. The group did some TV show (this was before MTV) Polydor released the self-titled album in early 1981, and a couple of more singles followed. Both were O'Toole's songs, and both were hits.

Blue Northern was a country-rock band formed in Vancouver in 1977 around four members: Lee Roy Stephens, Garry Comeau, Jimmy Wilson, and Brady Gustafson. Next Ray O'Toole joined in 1978. Billy became a fan and started sitting in with the group. Eventually he became a full-fledged member.

Blue Northern recorded and released on Quintessence Records a four song EP on 12" blue vinyl in 1979, along with a blue-tinted cover. Both Ray O'Toole and Billy wrote two songs each for this EP. Ray's "Can't Make No Sense" was chosen as the single and Polydor Records signed the band. They recorded a second single. This time it was Ray O’Toole’s "Too Late To Turn Back." The group toured, and played concerts in halls like the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver and other similar halls across Canada. Blue Northern also did some TV shows. In early 1981, a full album was released on Polydor and a couple of more O’Toole written singles followed.

The band disbanded in 1982 and Billy went on to form The Billy Cowsill Band and later The Blue Shadows.

Peter North (journalist for the Edmonton Journal) said : “He (Billy) was an incredible gift to Western Canadian music scene and you listen to those early Blue Northern tracks and he produced all that stuff and mixed all that stuff and he came up here with a resume that was pretty much unlike anyone else’s at that time. I still – when I listened to those records the other night after Billy passing – and to hear those Beach Boys harmonies and The Beatle like melodies all mixed together into what was country-rock was just such an incredible recipe for success and for something that was going to resonate with a lot of people and that’s why that band had a few hits and everyone likes hits, especially when they are good ones.”

One story I found regarding Blue Northern is this. “Billy and Blue Northern were playing the Cave - and Tanya Tucker was sitting down front at the 'media table' and Gord Robson and a few other of the usual suspects, and I were enjoying the music - and the largesse of Stan Grozina - and the Dom Perignon. Billy and the band had Tanya come up - and she was amazing and was ALSO very complimentary to Billy and the lads. "I wanna take these guys on the road with me - she squealed..." ”
-segueking, Feb 2006

Billy Cowsill: rhythm guitar, vocals
Garry Comeau: fiddle, vocals
Larry McGillivray: drums, vocals
Ray O'Toole: lead guitar, vocals
Lee Roy Stephens: bass, vocals
Jimmy Wilson: pedal steel, guitar, synthesizer, accordion, dobro
Brady Gustafson: drums

Produced by Billy Cowsill and Gordie Bertram
Engineered by Don Tarris
Recorded & Mixed Nov, 1979
Recorded at Buttertree Studio, Richmond, British Columbia
Assisted by: Jane Ludgate
Mastered at S.N. B.

blue vinyl

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