Just prior to heading off on Spring Break for a week with my family came the news of the passing of Canadian music legend Ronnie King. Mr. King was one of the founding members of the Canadian rock band called The Stampeders. The Stampeders hold a special place in my heart, so even though his death is old news by now, I still wanted to take a moment and honour him for his contributions to the world of music as I know it to be. So pack your bags and have your tickets and photo ID at the ready because this stop on the Great Canadian Road Trip starts in Calgary, Alberta and ends up going everywhere in Canada. All aboard! Let’s go!
As many of my faithful readers are aware, I grew up on the beautiful east coast island of Cape Breton in the province of Nova Scotia. While Cape Breton Island was a wonderful place to be as a child, it was also a place that was small and tucked away from much of the rest of Canada. I never realized how disconnected we were until I became a teenager. One of the signs that I first recognized came in the form of touring concert bands. Not many popular rock bands came to play on Cape Breton Island, so when a band did show up, it was always big news. I have written previously about the impact of those concerts by bands such as Trooper and April Wine (which you can read here and here). A third band that always made it their mission to play everywhere in Canada, including back home on the island, was The Stampeders. When The Stampeders came to town, it was always a time. Even though I grew up in an area where Celtic music thrived, songs like “Sweet City Woman” by The Stampeders and any number by Trooper and April Wine are definitely part of the soundtrack of my youth. In honour of guitarist Ronnie King, let’s take a look back at one of Canada’s most well-known bands, The Stampeders.
The Stampeders were formed in 1964 in Calgary, Alberta. They were originally known as The Rebounds and were a five piece band. In time, the band’s lineup settled upon three men known as Rich Dodson (guitarist/lead singer), Ronnie King (bassist) and Kim Berly (drums). Like many artists and bands who originated in areas outside of Central Ontario, The Stampeders found success in their home province of Alberta, but they always felt that to be truly successful meant that they needed to be where the music industry’s headquarters were. So in the late 1960s they relocated to Toronto. The song “Sweet City Woman” is a song that was written about that decision and the journey that ensued. Many Canadians have sung along with this song thinking that the band was referring to an enchanting woman while, in fact, The Stampeders were always singing about the city of Toronto, itself. While the song was written with a traditional guitar in mind, when it came time to actually record the song, it was felt that replacing the guitar with a banjo lent an air of authenticity to the story the band was attempting to tell of a trio of small town boys moving to the big city. I find this idea to be interesting because if you know anything about Canada, then you know that Calgary, where The Stampeders got their start, is no small town. But in the 1960s, before the oil boom really changed the nature of Canada’s economy, Toronto billed itself as the centre of it all. “Sweet City Woman” is testimony to that sense of regional inferiority that existed at the time being true.
With Toronto as their base and the Prairies as their home, The Stampeders were naturally inclined to travel across the land. To their credit, they decided that being Canada’s band meant actually touring in all parts of the country. As a consequence of that way of thinking, whenever the band toured in support of an album, they didn’t stop the eastern parts of their tour in Montreal or in Halifax, they actually took the time to play on Cape Breton Island and in Newfoundland and on Prince Edward Island, too. The Stampeders played in hockey arenas and community halls and Legion branches in all parts of this great land of ours. And when they played in these small towns, “Sweet City Woman” often opened or closed their shows; sometimes it was both. Hearing that song always meant a lot to those who saw them play in person or who saw them interviewed on local TV shows or who read about them in the local newspaper. The Stampeders were big stars in many eyes, and the fact that they cared enough to come and play in our small cities and towns was a form of validation that we existed and were recognized as having some sort of value. Truth be told, my musical heroes growing up weren’t Elvis or The Beatles or The Rolling Stones, it was guys like Myles Goodwin of April Wine or Ra McGuire of Trooper or someone like Ronnie King of The Stampeders. In those pre-internet days, these guys were the faces that I saw gracing the stages of the old Sydney Forum. They were the guys who cared enough to show up and play for us in our tiny corner of the world. They seemed to care about us, and in reply we gave our all to them. As a young boy growing up in the 1970s as I did, I always looked up to people like Ronnie King. I thought that he had a look and a stage presence that made him cool in my eyes. If I could have taken my skinny teenage body and pimply-faced self and transformed them all into any celebrity back in the day, I would have instantly chosen to be Ronnie King. For me, he was my rock star. Waaaay more so than guys I didn’t really know about at the time, such as Mick Jagger or Robert Plant or Rod Stewart. Back then, it was someone like Ronnie King that I felt like I actually knew. He looked and acted like the cool dude I always wished that I was. More importantly, he cared enough to keep showing up at a time when many others simply passed us by. During my teenage years, being cool, having talent and simply showing up were more than enough to have earned my respect and admiration.
Rest in peace, Ronnie King. Thanks for a career filled with great music, including one of the most iconic songs in the Canadian musical canon, “Sweet City Woman”. May peace be with you, now and forever more.
The link to the official website for The Stampeders can be found here.
The link to the video for the song “Sweet City Woman” by The Stampeders can be found here. ***The lyrics version is here.
The link to the official website for the city of Calgary, Alberta can be found here.
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Funny. I don’t remember The Stampeders ever playing in Winnipeg, or Vancouver, the two places
I divided most of my time between 1968 and 1976. Sweet City Woman is the only song of theirs I remember. I saw a number of Canadian bands in both places, but not The Stampeders.