PRESENTS


from EDMONTON, ALBERTA


Roland Hardie, Bill Hardie, Willie MacCalder, Bryan Nelson, Bob Dann

A Brief History - by Willie MacCalder

Willie & The Walkers got their start in the summer of 1965 with members of teen dance bands "The Vaqueros" and "The Tempests" joining forces and going from a 6-piece instrumental style group to a 4-piece British pop vocal style. The original group was Dennis Petruk (guitar/vocal), Bill Hardie (bass/vocal), Rolie Hardie (drums) and myself on organ and lead vocals.

The Petruk and Hardie families let us use their basements as rehearsal halls, and we practiced long hours with pleasure trying to sound like The Animals or The Zombies and expanding our repertoire. Our mentor, Maurice Marshall, helped with our music and stage presentation. Dennis' Aunt Sophie (Toots) acted as our booking agent.  

The Barabash family at harmony Kids Music Store were helpful in getting us the into the latest professional gear. Ron Barabash was our trusted friend and advisor. Doug Larson was stage manager and repaired and organized our equipment. We played at community halls, school dances and teen night clubs, notably the Sugar Shack A-Go-Go and The Forum.

Over that first winter we were managed by Guy Good, all-night DJ at CHED radio. We appeared with CHED personalities at many charity functions. We also performed live on the Saturday afternoon broadcast "CHED Bandstand".

 Early in 1966 we were contacted by Wes Dakus who was retiring from performing to go into management. Wes had many years of experience as band leader and had many fine recordings to his credit. He stressed the importance of original songs and started us thinking about making records. Wes got us our first "big stage" experience, opening for The Who, Roy Head, Johnny Rivers, and Paul Revere & The Raiders on concerts promoted by the wonderful Benny Benjamin.

In the summer of 1966 with four original songs and a new Chev station wagon, we made the trip to Clovis, New Mexico to Norman Petty's Studio. In an extremely laid back style, Norman introduced us to the studio that had produced so many great hits. Hearing ourselves for the first time on the studio monitors was a thrilling experience. We used a lot of the same gear Buddy Holly used. I remember playing the celeste that Vi petty played on Holly's "Everyday" and the state-of-the-art recording gear at that time was an Ampex 4-track, everything was tubes.

Our first single was released in march of 1967 on the Capitol label. "Diamonds And Gold" b/w "Baby Do You Need Me" entered the RPM Canadian chart at #14 during the week of May 6th, peaking at #3 during the weeks of June 17 and 24. That spring we made the return trip to New Mexico with out new lineup including Bob Dann on lead guitar and Bryan Nelson on rhythm guitar and vocals. Our distinguished friend Barry Allen came along to produce the sessions and arrange and sing backing vocals. the second Capitol single from those sessions, "My Friend" b/w "It Is Easy To See" was released in June. 

By late summer we were back at Norman's to record a new batch of originals and some covers. One of the cover songs was from 1965 by Verdelle Smith. Our version of the song "Alone In My Room" b/w "Poor Janie" was released in November 1967 and became our most successful record. It was released in the united States on United Artists and was reviewed by Cashbox magazine. CHED had it at #1 the day after its release. "In My Room" reached #1 on the Canadian singles charts in RPM magazine and stayed there for many weeks.  

We toured from Vancouver to Winnipeg and most points in between appearing on concerts and at club dates, often as headliner, and doing radio and television shows. I would say that this era saw us at the peak of our performance.

In 1968 we met D.J. McLachlan who offered new management and a move to New York. With another new lineup featuring Ron Rault on vocals and percussion, and Vern Wills on bass, we made our way to the Big Apple. Touring constantly throughout New England for the better part of a year introduced us to new styles and concepts but took its toll on all of us from road weariness. We retuned home in 1969 and as the last of the original members left the band, I decided to retire the name Willie & The Walkers.

Notably, in 1972 Rolie & Bill Hardie as well as Vern Wills and I reunited in the group "The Walkers". We were once again working with Wes Dakus for bookings and being recorded by Barry Allen at Park Lane studio, Wes' four-track facility. London released the single "All About You" in 1972. As of this writing, all 8 of the musicians that were "Willie & The Walkers" are doing well.

Willie MacCalder

---

In the early '70s Willie joined "Seeds Of Time", "Teen Angel and The Rockin' Rebels", and "Pontiac" before forming the nucleus of the "Powder Blues Band" with Tom Lavin in Vancouver, BC in 1978.

In 1988, "The Walkers" reunited for an appeared for the 1st Edmonton Rock & Roll Revival. Willie moved to Calgary in 1993, released a solo LP and did some shows as "The Walkers" before moving back to British Columbia and rejoining Powder Blues, who is is still with today. Regarded as one of Canada's finest blues pianists, Willie also keeps busy with solo shows. 

DISCOGRAPHY


Diamonds And Gold / Baby, Do You Need Me (Canadian Capitol 72456)  
Is It Easy To See (Lovin' Me) / My Friend (Canadian Capitol 72485)  
Poor Janie / (Alone) In My Room (Canadian Capitol 72516 and United Artists 50249)
All About You / Hotels And Wishing Wells (London 17445) as "The Walkers"

other recorded tracks:
Feelin' So Good / The Door That Leads To Nowhere / I've Given Up My Soul / Loser /
Appreciate A Girl / What Is The Reason / Is It Love / All About You
(released on "30th Anniversary Collection" CD - 1995) 


Label scans courtesy of Tom Reed