Since the early 1990s,he was also known in Canada for his extensive voice work in commercials.
Yup, Castle. Hearing that voice in those commercials always brought a smile to my face. It was SO recognizable.
I saw him live in ’71 (give or take a year). He was the opening act at the Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada) Arena for a three band performance. I can’t remember the names of the other two bands. The second band’s leader was Carlos Santana’s brother who had a ‘hit’ about California sliding into the Pacific via an earthquake. (I can’t remember the title of the ‘hit’. Help me out here please.) Probably wrong, but the headliner might have been Steve Miller. The point is that the opening act was much more impressive to me than the mid or headliner acts.
The show was about an hour and a half late to start… supposedly due to PA system problems… (There was no action around the mixing console etc. during the delay.)
An hour or so into the delay, one at a time, a few of Long John’s backup musicians came on the darkened stage for a ‘sound check’.
His lead guitarist was very ‘ordinary’ sounding at first; given that the acoustics of that enlarged barn would explain that.
THEN… He began to “tune in” to the acoustics of the barn, and used the ‘environmental sound’ of the venue to his advantage. He changed his playing style to suit the environment’s acoustics. He sounded absolutely great!
Long John did that too, with no practice.
None of the other members of the other bands (IMO) did that. Their music and style was more important than the venue’s acoustics.
Perhaps that’s why Long John Baldry and his entourage were the headliners that night in my mind. They earned it!
Long Live Long John Baldry and his music!
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