The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ announcement of Country Roots Night was music to my ears.
And I’m a jazz guy!
The theme for Sunday’s CFL game between the Roughriders and Ottawa REDBLACKS provided me with an irresistible opportunity to dust off one of my all-time favourite quotes.
The year was 2005. The Roughriders had just announced the inductions of Tim Roth, Jeff Fairholm and the late John Wozniak into the SaskTel Plaza of Honour.
When Roth was interviewed, one inquiring mind reminded him of a 1973 album — 800 Pounds of West Country Rock — that he had recorded with teammates Clyde Brock and Nolan Bailey.
“Now it’s probably more like 1,000 pounds,” Roth quipped.
The album (remember the term “LP”?) was released 50 years ago this past April by the long-forgotten Buffalo Records.
It was available at The Bay, to name just one retailer, for $4.98. (No GST!)
“The recording has a total of 12 selections,” syndicated columnist Jim Coleman wrote a half-century ago. “There will be some natural public curiosity concerning the first recording ever made by a group of professional football players — but the results of the recording session will really surprise the Canadian public.”
Bailey received an unwanted surprise on July 25, 1973, when he was released by the Roughriders. The bruising tight end, whose soft hands served him well while catching passes and playing the drums, had missed most of the previous season with a knee injury.
When it was time for the album to be released, Brock was preparing for his 10th season as an offensive tackle with the Roughriders. A CFL All-Star from 1966 to 1969, inclusive, he entered the Plaza of Honour in 1995 and 25 years later was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
Roth was primarily a defensive lineman with the Green and White from 1971 to 1977. He was named the Roughriders’ Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 1975, his first of two consecutive years as a Western Conference All-Star.
The “1,000 pounds” quote? That was All-World!
MORE MUSICAL NOTES
Jazz deserves equal time, so …
- Jack Nix, a star receiver with the 1951 Roughriders, went on to become a successful jazz pianist. In August of 2005, when Nix was 77, he released an album of standards that included “Artistry in Rhythm,” “Shadow of Your Smile” and “Tenderly.”
- Richie Pratt, an offensive lineman who tried out for the Roughriders in 1966, became a very successful jazz drummer who also excelled in other genres. For example, he accompanied musical legends such as Aretha Franklin, Barry White and The Temptations.
- Defensive back Ted Dushinski, a 1993 enshrinee in the Plaza of Honour, was married to superstar singer Susan Jacks (see: The Poppy Family, “Which Way You Goin’ Billy?”). In fact, Dushinski lived in Nashville for several years while his wife concentrated on the country side of her varied repertoire. Susan and Ted were such nice people. We lost both of them far too soon.
FAIR GAME
This weekend’s Roughriders-REDBLACKS game will be played 46 years to the day after entertainer Bob Hope appeared in Regina during the exhibition, which was then known as Buffalo Days.
He attracted a sellout crowd of 6,801 to what we now call the Brandt Centre, which opened with a star-studded Agridome Star Theatre lineup in the summer of 1977.
Even before attending the show, then-Roughriders quarterback Ron Lancaster heard Hope’s familiar voice. The CFL and Hollywood icons had spoken by phone earlier in the day.
Hope, then 74, was looking to incorporate some locally oriented material into his monologue. He was informed that Regina was the home of a football team and of a quarterback who had pretty much monopolized the CFL’s record book.
The light bulb went off for Hope, who asked for Lancaster’s number. It wasn’t difficult to find because, unimaginably now, it was listed in the Regina telephone directory.
So it came to be that Bev Lancaster answered the phone at 120 Emerald Park Road. The caller politely asked to speak to Ron Lancaster and, seconds later, he was on the phone.
“All of a sudden, he starts laughing, and he was talking on the phone with Bob Hope for a few minutes,” Lancaster’s daughter, Lana Mueller, told me during an interview for a Regina Leader-Post story that appeared in 2019.
“Afterwards, he said, ‘You’ll never guess who that was — Bob Hope.’ Mom said, ‘Yeah, sure …’ ”
Not long after that, Ron and Bev Lancaster got in the car and headed to the Saturday night Star Theatre performance.
“One of Bob Hope’s lines in the show was that he was coming to Regina to be Ron Lancaster’s backup quarterback, because they’d both been around the same amount of time,” Lana said, chuckling at the recollection.
“That was all because Dad had his number in the phone book.”
RECEIVING LINES
- July was a marvelous month for those of us who appreciate legendary Roughriders receivers. Ray Elgaard, Joey Walters and Jeff Fairholm all visited Regina. Elgaard is the team’s all-time leader in receiving yards (13,198). Walters boasts the top two single-season totals (1,715 in 1981; 1,692 in 1982). Fairholm’s 107-yard connection with Kent Austin on Sept. 2, 1990 endures as the longest reception in franchise history.
- Entering this week’s games, Tevin Jones (548) and Shawn Bane Jr. (527) were first and second, respectively, in the CFL in receiving yardage. Dating back to the league’s formation in 1958, a Roughrider has led the loop in receiving yards on six occasions. Walters, the only two-time yardage leader, set the pace in 1981 and 1982. The list also includes Jack Hill (1,065 yards in 1958), Hugh Campbell (1,329 yards; 1965), Curtis Marsh (1,560 yards; 2000) and Andy Fantuz (1,380 yards; 2010).
- Bane Jr.’s 41 receptions placed him atop the CFL entering Week 9. Six members of the Roughriders have led the league in catches. Craig Ellis did it twice, in 1984 (91 catches) and 1985 (102). Hill (60 in 1958), Walters (102 in 1982), Marsh (102 in 2000), Molly McGee (68 in 1977) and Don Narcisse (123 in 1995) were one-time receptions leaders.
SHORT SNORTS
• As I wrote about earlier this week, today (Saturday) is the 60th anniversary of George Reed’s first game with the Roughriders. On Aug. 5, 1963, he rushed 16 times for 74 yards and one touchdown as the Green and White won 19-16 in Edmonton. We are so blessed, all these years later, to have George and Angie Reed as part of our community. They will be at the game on Sunday. Another standing ovation is in order.
- A weekend spent in Halifax left me pondering two questions: (1) Who knew that one could enjoy quality clam chowder without having to open a can and use the microwave? (2) How is it that a thriving, energetic, fun and sports-crazed community such as Halifax is not yet the home to a CFL team? A CFL/Halifax marriage just makes too much sense.
- The 1977 exhibition also included a demolition derby that, according to the L-P, attracted 2,023 connoisseurs of the fine arts to what was then the grandstand at Regina Exhibition Track.
ROLL CREDITS …
- Nice people who deserve a plug: Frank Kovacs, Chloe Kovacs, Aubrey Kovacs, George Reed, Angie Reed, Shea Patterson, Charbel Dabire, Brian Harelimana, Emma Harelimana, Neetika Mahawar, Eva Rennie, Bob Dyce, Hugh Campbell, Louise Campbell, Jeff Fairholm, Stacy Fairholm, Jake Wieneke, Lynn Woods, Lana Mueller, Matthew O’Krafka, Laura Steadman, Derek Steadman, Mike Tomlinson, Wendy Pittendreigh, Val Conlon, Chris Conlon, Kevin Genest, Donna Genest, Ryan Dalke, Shannon Dalke, Layne Dalke, Dan Crowdis, Marlene Crowdis, Lloyd de Vere Hunt, Jim Achtymichuk, Joan Achtymichuk, Martha McGee, Jeff Mosher and Wayne Thorpe.
