In my much younger days, I remember watching a National Geographic documentary about army ants in the rainforest. One of the things that I remember most about that documentary was how the ants within army ant colonies were able to collectively problem-solve and sacrifice for the greater good when the situation called for it. In particular, I recall watching in amazement as the ants would make living bridges out of their bodies in order to span gaps too large for them to simply march across on their own. This collectivism has always caused me to give army ants a wide berth but also a lot of respect for the power of their collective commitment when it comes to achieving their goals. It is one of the reasons that I always played an active role in trade unions as a teacher all throughout my career. There is, indeed, strength in numbers that allows for progress that would be difficult to achieve on one’s own. This brings us to the subject of today’s post, Canadian rock icons from the 1970s, Max Webster. Now what in the world could a theatrical, prog-wannabe rock band who became Rush’s personal opening act for many of their tours have to do with army ants and trade unionism? Well, stick around because you are about to find out. Here is the story of Canada’s fun time band, Max Webster.
The first thing to know about the band Max Webster is that there was never, ever anyone named Max Webster in real life who was associated with the band in any way. Max Webster formed in Toronto in 1972. While the members of the band’s lineup came and went, the guys who were there for the band’s most successful period were singer Kim Mitchell, lyricist Pye Dubois, keyboardist Terry Watkinson, guitarist Mike Tilka and drummer Gary McCracken. The band name originated from a time when Mike Tilka played in another band called Family at Mac’s out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That band had a minor hit with a song called “Song For Webster”. Thus, “Mac’s” and “Song for Webster” morphed into Max Webster and a Canadian rock band was born. A simple indication of the humour that this band possessed can be found in the name of the man who wrote many of their hit songs, Pye Dubois. Pye Dubois was born as Paul Woods. However, being Canadian often means having a passing fluency in French, as well as in English. Well, in the french language, “woods” is translated as “les bois”. Thus, Paul Woods became Pye Dubois and a legendary Canadian poet and lyricist was created. While on the subject of Pye Dubois, this man has led a very interesting life. He has been a poet and a songwriter his whole adult life. He wrote most of the songs that comprise the entire Max Webster song catalogue. But Dubois, along with Max Webster, also had a close association with the rock band Rush. Dubois has a co-writing credit for Rush’s big hit “Tom Sawyer”. His poetry helped to inspire the concept album Counterparts and he also has co-writing credits for a variety of other Rush songs such as “Test For Echo”. But Dubois is mostly known for his work with Max Webster and then, following the demise of that band, with his work writing all of the hits for Kim Mitchell’s solo career.
The story of Max Webster is that they formed in 1972. That date is important because the early 1970s was a time of change in the music world. By then, rock n’ roll was no longer a fad. It had established itself as a genre and now was starting to evolve into new forms of expression. One of those new rock n’ roll spinoffs began in the mid-1960s as something known as progressive rock or simply as prog rock. Some of the most well known bands in the world such as Pink Floyd, Genesis, Yes, Jethro Tull, along with Canada’s own, Rush, were the leaders when it came to popularizing the musical style known as prog rock. In prog rock, many of the songs were long format songs that featured lyrics/storylines that borrowed from the imagery of myths and legends, as well as the worlds of fantasy and science fiction. The albums released by these bands were often concept albums that played like rock operas, featuring lengthy guitar and drum solos. The use of mind-altering substances was not required in order to enjoy listening to the music of these bands but it was said to have enhanced the experience. In any case, theatricality was an important part of the prog rock scene and that is where Max Webster got its start. There was always an element of pageantry associated with Max Webster when they performed live on stage in front of an audience. This was especially so for lead singer Kim Mitchell. Kim Mitchell is a tall man who happened to be very thin in his younger days. He had taken to wearing one-piece body suits while on stage which accentuated his thinness, giving him a rubber-limbed look. While Mitchell pranced about the stage, the band played songs which started out being in the prog rock vein. As they established themselves on the local bar and club circuit, they began to develop a reputation for themselves as an entertaining live band. As word-of-mouth reviews began to circulate, Ray Danniels who was the manager for Rush, happened to catch one of the Max Webster shows and found their combination of prog rock and classic rock sensibilities appealing. He signed the band to the same record label as Rush and placed them as opening act on the Hemispheres tour. Danniels also brought Max Webster into the same studio as Rush and had them record all of their albums with the same producer that Rush used, Ray Brown. So while Rush was always the biggest band on the Anthem record label, Max Webster quickly carved out a niche at being Rush’s “little brother”, as it were. The relationship between the bands was one of mutual admiration and support. In this sense, it is easy to see how someone such as Pye Dubois, who was always in the studio whenever Max Webster recorded one of his songs, could have had access to the members of Rush and could have had time to present song ideas and poems to them for consideration.
I was in high school as the 1970s played out. Needless to say, Max Webster tunes formed part of the soundtrack to my time as a teenager. Songs such as “Diamonds, Diamonds”, “Let Go the Line”, “A Million Vacations” and “Paradise Skies” were all songs that received plenty of radio airplay back home on Cape Breton Island and across Canada. That having been said, the band never managed to have a Top Ten hit nor did they have any success of note in the U.S. or in Europe. But, as little brother to Rush, Max Webster got to tour the world and to release four albums that all hold a special place in the hearts of Canadian rock fans from the seventies. It was while touring in Europe in support of Rush and of their own fourth album that lead singer Kim Mitchell pulled the plug on the band by announcing that he was leaving to start a solo career. Mitchell could see that Max Webster had gone about as far as it was going to go and that if he had any hope at all of achieving a different sort of success for himself that he needed to shed his skin, so to speak and head out on his own. Thus, the Canadian music scene suddenly had a man named Kim Mitchell on the charts with songs such as “Go for a Soda”, “Patio Lanterns”, “Rockland Wonderland”, “All We Are”, “Alana Loves Me”, “I am a Wild Party” and “Expedition Sailor”, of which “Patio Lanterns” and “Go for a Soda” both reached No.1 on the charts. Kim Mitchell timed his departure from Max Webster well because the launch of his solo career dovetailed nicely with the birth of music video stations such as Much Music in Canada. Suddenly, Mitchell’s quirky appearance and stage antics endeared him to a national audience instead of being restricted to those live audiences who came out to see smaller Max Webster shows in person. As Kim Mitchell reached middle age, he had one final career transition ahead of him. From 2004-2014, Kim Mitchell served as the afternoon drive time radio DJ at Toronto radio station Q107. During his stint as Q107’s most visible radio personality, Mitchell continued appearing at concerts in the Toronto area, opening for acts such as Van Halen, Def Leppard and Aerosmith. Ever the complementary musical act, Kim Mitchell has made a career out of being entertaining but non-competitive. He is a supportive soul who has been willing to help others have their moment in the spotlight. In return, he has earned the love and respect of his peers in the business and has developed the reputation as someone others can depend upon for a good time without a lot of the drama that often comes with being in the music business.
So what does any of this have to do with army ants and trade unions? Well, whenever I think of bands from the 1970s such as Max Webster, I look back in gratitude for how they went about their business and for the role they played during a time period in which there was not the support available for Canadian musical acts as there was to be once the 1980s appeared. Back in the 1970s, there were headliners such as Trooper or April Wine but for ever band like that, there were those on the next rung down such as Max Webster, Sweeney Todd, Streetheart, Patsy Gallant, Prism, Harlequin, The Headpins and many more who slogged away in the trenches, performing everywhere for anyone, selling a modicum of hits (usually just enough to fund the next tour or album) but never really becoming stars on the worldwide stage. But regardless of the level of success that acts such as those achieved, they performed a value service by helping Canada to develop its own music scene. The Max Websters of this country were among the first wave of bands who stayed home for the bulk of their careers. Unlike Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and the Guess Who, success in America was never an issue for Max Webster/Kim Mitchell. For all those artists and bands who traveled across the country along the TransCanada corridor, they helped to build the foundation of what was to come in the 1980s. It was in the 1970s that Canadian Content laws first came into being but it was the 1980s that its impact really began to be felt. National radio shows such as CBC’s “Brave New Waves” gave new artists and bands national exposure right out of the gate and Much Music started broadcasting the faces of Canadian artists into every home in Canada with a cable TV package. So when I look at the legacy of bands such as Max Webster, I view them as being like the army ants who formed the living bridge or the trade union members who united to form a mighty union so that the likes of Bryan Adams and Corey Hart and Celine Dion and Shania Twain all had an easier time of it when they launched their careers. Even if we whittle it all down to simply focussing on the career of Max Webster and the subsequent career of Kim Mitchell. Would there have been a song such as “Patio Lanterns” if not for a song such as “Paradise Skies”? I think not. One was a bridge to the other. Bridges are important in music, as in life, as you can all appreciate. Thanks Pye. Thanks Rush. Thanks Kim Mitchell. Thanks to all of the 1970s artists and bands for doing what you did so that we all have what we have today. Your efforts are appreciated.
The link to the official website for Max Webster can be found here.
The link to the official website for Kim Mitchell can be found here.
The link to the official website for Toronto radio station Q107 can be found here.
The link to the video for the song “Paradise Skies” by Max Webster can be found here. ***The lyrics version is here (In the video’s description section). NOTE: This is an interesting “live” music video. This appearance was on a UK show called Top of the Pops. Max Webster was an unknown band in the UK at the time of this appearance. When the band is introduced, you can hear the announcer introduce Max Webster and say how happy they are to have “him” there. There was no Max Webster, as you all know now. In addition, Top of the Pops would only play UK tunes on their show. In order for Max Webster to appear, they had to quickly record a UK version of “Parade Skies” at Abbey Road Studios. That UK version is what they are lipynching to in this video.
The link to the video for the song “Patio Lanterns” by Kim Mitchell can be found here. ***The lyrics version is here.
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