Frank Trainor - Early Sketches/Churchill & Spring

We moved around a lot when I was a boy. My folks experienced many hardships
with a big family caught up in difficult circumstances during my early childhood
years. Despite the love we were always assured of, there were nonetheless many
challenges to be endured. Times were tough. I was born in 1954 and I remember
eight different places we called “home” between 1959 and 1966 when we finally
settled down for a number of years at 67 Churchill Avenue in Charlottetown, PEI.

I‟m the eldest and oldest soul of nine siblings, so not only did I quickly learn how
to survive, but ultimately, I succeeded in my determination to achieve a better life.
I was very fortunate to get away on my own at a young age eventually too as there
was much I wanted to accomplish far beyond my tiny Island cradle in the waves.

Musically, I was exposed to classical composers, Irish ballads and popular hits
from movies and TV. The Beatles rocked the world in 1964 with the “big bang”
for our generation‟s emerging culture and their early records were first light for
me, especially the “B” sides. But it was Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels and
Devil With The Blue Dress On / Good Golly Miss Molly that slayed me in 1966.

By the time we‟d settled into Churchill Avenue I was not only ready, ready, ready
to uh...rock „n roll, but I was suddenly thrust into contact with some hardscrabble
neighborhood roughnecks who all sang and played guitars like it really mattered.

Benny Byers and the McGillivray brothers playing music on Spring Street had a
profound and lasting impact on my young senses that would ultimately affect the
course and outcome of my life forever after. They taught me Secret Agent Man.

There were a few aspiring rock drummers pounding out the hits in their garages
all up and down Churchill Avenue as well. Wylie Acorn, Frankie McCourt, and
Larry Hughes, were all very different individuals personally and musically, but
they shared a connection to the same clarion call to rock. My father had played
drums a bit in his youth too so the new surroundings felt like home to me at last.

Of course, the Top 40 AM transistor radio hit parade that filled the air around my
doorstep from day 1 on the corner didn‟t hurt either. I was absolutely hooked. Just
seeing the cool older guys in the neighborhood strutting down the street in their
Carnaby Street duds and high-heeled Beatle boots, clicking their cleats as they
walked, was a revelation of monumental proportions. Long before these slick-
haired, “clickity” booted dudes would be forever immortalized in song by Traffic
in the classic The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys, they were my pop/rock idols.

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 Frank Trainor - Early Sketches/Churchill & Spring
But I was utterly transformed one fateful day when Benny Byers mesmerized the
neighborhood by appearing on the corner with an acoustic guitar around his neck
and a pair of shades wrapped around his eyes. He was well aware that we would
all be drawn to him like a magnet in that cool impromptu display which gave him
a bolstered confidence in his own presence. I saw how he commanded attention
and an uneasy respect. Shades planted, he projected his best rock „n roll pose and
instructed the crowd to give him a G. We gave him a G. Then we gave him an L.
Then an O. An R. An I. Then an A. What did that spell? GLORIA. G L O R I A.
He then proceeded to pound out the classic Them song with a passion to beat the
band. Coolest damn thing I‟ve ever witnessed in my life. Absolutely pure magic.
Destiny kick-started me wide awake that day because whatever mystery Benny
possessed in his soul, it was not just spell binding, it was life itself. And it was
calling out to me to join it. I knew instantly that day what my purpose in life was
meant to be about even though I had no earthly idea how it would manifest itself
and all play out in time. I was only 12 years old after all. The universe had yet to
unfold. But one thing I did know that day was that I was Benny. Benny was me.
And I will be a purveyor of that mystery as a songwriter/artist until the day I die.

I learned to play guitar and was blessed from the beginning with a good voice, so
it wasn‟t too long before I was asked to sing lead and play rhythm guitar in bands.
The best of these were two groups that always placed well in Battle of the Bands
contests. The Sunn and The East Coast Sound. I loved being a part of both these
groups because one was rock/R&B based and the other was more commercially
oriented top 40 pop/rock. I loved both bands too because we were so damn good
and we always adhered to such a great work ethic and true professional standards
in our practices and performances which were solid way beyond our tender years.

I‟m a songwriter and a singer, so playing it all so tight to the mark every night
with the level of songs and the hit music artistry of our generation was fantastic.

I loved it all. Every minute on stage with both young bands in those early years
was a thrill. If I had to choose a favorite memory from each, I‟d say singing and
playing “I Got A Line On You” by Spirit with The Sunn, at my old junior high
school one Saturday night, stands out. We were golden. In The East Coast Sound,
it would probably be when we played a regular Friday night gig at an out of town
community centre once when all the girls in the hall suddenly crowded together in
front of the stage as I began to sing some sugar-coated ballad and I looked down
at them to see they were all in tears and gazing up at me like they were all in love.
Now I love to sing and play guitar. And I was born to write songs. But I do have
to say, those adoring girls just might have been the point of it all in the first place.
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 Frank Trainor - Early Sketches/Churchill & Spring
I was a serious student of top 40 pop/rock hits from listening to radio and copping
licks from records and had actually hoped to someday become a record producer,
writing and recording hit songs like the ones I loved hearing on the AM radio dial.

One American radio station that would come in loud and clear very late at night
and keep me enthralled for hours was 77 WABC in New York City. The genius of
those legendary DJ‟s spanning the breadth of the NYC hit records spectrum at that
time was a veritable feast for the ears. Their major market hot singles charts were
weeks ahead of our small-town radio station, so I would hear the very latest new
hit records played constantly as they‟d come up into the top 20 on their way to #1.
I‟d learn a few of them from close repeated listens late at night, play them for the
neighborhood kids who hadn‟t even heard them yet, and they‟d all assume they
were hearing me play my own songs. I didn‟t want to spoil it for anybody, so I
wouldn‟t mention where all these new tunes had actually come from, but they‟d
eventually hear them on our local hit parade anyway and we‟d all have a laugh. It
was good practice and it formed in me a deep appreciation of structures in songs
which would evolve into serious craft skill as time and my experience went along.

Songwriting came into sharper focus for me in 1971 with the ascendance of the
singer/songwriter culture. I was already hip to Bob Dylan and Gordon Lightfoot
from the mid-late 60‟s and revered them both, but Cat Stevens and John Prine in
the early 70‟s really grabbed my attention as did Jim Croce with his mid-70‟s hits.
I realized that reflections in my soul, which these individual visions prompted in
me, were leading me to embrace this same idiomatic route as a songwriter/artist.
Nashville and country music were nowhere near the vicinity of my dreams at first.
Kris Kristofferson changed all that in 1972 and Merle Haggard and George Jones
would eventually slay me too, along with Ricky Skaggs and the take-no-prisoners,
Honky Tonk shit kickers, Waylon Jennings, Billy Joe Shaver & Hank Williams Jr.

Elton John in his first few albums was magic for me too and the early 70‟s Eagles
wrote great songs. They also introduced us to their Southern California songwriter
brethren Jackson Browne and J.D. Souther, among others, as well. The Eagles hit
all the sweet spots for me as a songwriter/artist. I dug The Byrds and The Beatles
of course and I was very much a hard rock fan too. Deep Purple. Black Sabbath.
Jethro Tull, Cream and The Moody Blues were huge favorites and I really dug the
best of the Prog Rock groups such as Yes and King Crimson. Leonard Cohen and
Shawn Phillips were transcendent while John Prine held legions of the freak army
in his subtle sway with devastating songs like Sam Stone, who was - as we came
to learn from Prine - alone when he popped his last balloon. Prine was every bit as
heavy and important an artist to the early 70‟s as Bob Dylan had been to the 60‟s.
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 Frank Trainor - Early Sketches/Churchill & Spring
There had been so many great artists and hit records in the mid-late 60‟s that had
captivated my soul though long before early 70‟s music had even emerged. I was
a fan of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Hollies,
The Guess Who, The Lovin‟ Spoonful, The Kinks, The Doors and so many more.
The Rolling Stones early records for sure, and I had an appreciation for Blues via
The Stones and Cream, but it wasn‟t until I caught BB King and Howlin‟ Wolf
live in Ypsilanti Michigan in „73 that I got it. That same year, I found myself 5 th
row centre at Cobo Hall in Detroit for Jeff Beck / Tim Bogert & Carmen Appice.

Steely Dan opened that show performing their debut album Can’t Buy A Thrill.

But I digress. More on my mid „70‟s years in Chapter 2 Songs From The Rock.

Meanwhile, my novice efforts, in the singer/songwriter culture of the early 70‟s,

brought me to the attention of Charlottetown Summer Festival Theatre Producer,
Jack MacAndrew. Jack had heard me entertain at local coffee houses and asked
me to be part of a new folk music troupe he was putting together to perform for
the upcoming summer „71 theatre season in and around the Confederation Centre.

We were called The Troubadours and we were definitely a big hit with everyone
young and old. We played for “tourists and transients alike” but the gig was great
because there were seven of us in the group and for the most part we each only
played short solo sets once a day and a group show in the early evenings before
the main stage theatre opened. So, it was easy money. MacAndrew also played a
very important role in my life and music focus beyond The Troubadours however.

He booked me on a university tour across Canada, got me an opening slot touring

the Maritimes with The Poppy Family, put me on a high profile, co-star, concert
bill with rising young star Gino Vanelli and later on, when he was Chief of Variety
Programming for the CBC, he booked me on The Tommy Hunter Show. He also
provided me with a good quality guitar which I couldn‟t afford to buy at the time.

I will always be indebted to Jack MacAndrew for his kindness and faith in me and
for his guidance in helping me to overcome real difficulty in my life in those hard
years in order that I might be able to climb up that big ladder to destiny‟s doorstep
someday. It was essential support in ensuring that I got my shot as a professional.

Jack MacAndrew and his wonderful wife Barbara are both special to me and they
always will be. No one ever helped as much to guide my talents towards success.

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 Frank Trainor - Early Sketches/Churchill & Spring
My most fateful encounter very early in this same period was with Larry Mercey.
The Mercey Brothers were Canada‟s reigning top country music group at the time
and were performing a week long gig at The Granada Lounge in Charlottetown
which in those days featured many top recording acts from around the country.

The Granada was very popular for their Saturday Matinees as well. I wandered in
after a show one afternoon, underage, strung out and curious to know who had
just finished playing. I saw the guitar player packing up alone on the stage as the
place was emptying out and noticed there was an old Martin D-28 acoustic still in
its stand that hadn‟t been cased yet. I was in awe of that guitar so I approached the
guy and politely asked if I might just strum a chord or two on it and he said ok but
to be quick about it as he was trying to get packed up and out of there for supper.

I played one or two of my very first songs as he continued distracted with patch
cords and pedals, but he soon stopped and asked whose songs I was playing. I told
him I wrote them. He handed me his card and said, “My name is Larry Mercey. I
think you‟re going to write something someday that‟s going to sell”. That was my
real introduction to the music business. I had played in two popular bands, I had
starred in The Troubadours, appeared on local TV and radio, I‟d opened for major
name acts and even did a brief stint early on with an Irish music group known as
The Shamrocks. In fact, I actually was the wild colonial boy, to say the very least,
through much of my earlier dissolute youth. Happily, it all worked out in the end.

But in the beginning, my fateful meeting with Larry Mercey and his Martin D-28
that long ago Saturday was my future calling. The Mercey Brothers cut several of
my early songs in the 70‟s and had a major country hit with “Our Lovin‟ Times”
in 1973. That song was later honored with a BMI Canada Award for top airplay
earnings and soon after included in the album, The Best of The Mercey Brothers.

The Mercey Brothers were influential and important to my early development. I

learned a great deal about the music publishing business and about being a pro
from Larry, Lloyd and Ray. I have nothing but great memories of my times spent
with them in their studio and working together with them occasionally on country
music TV shows such as George Hamilton IV & The Tommy Hunter Show.

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 Frank Trainor - Early Sketches/Churchill & Spring
In light of all the successful endeavors of my life in music that ensued from these
early foundational encounters setting the course and direction of my professional
aspirations for the rest of my life, I would be remiss if I didn‟t acknowledge the
kindness and generosity demonstrated towards me and my fledgling efforts by the
late Gene MacLellan who was also living in and around Charlottetown back then.
Gene had written Anne Murray‟s big 70‟s hit song Snowbird as well as the classic
worldwide hit Put Your Hand In The Hand among other great and famous songs.

Gene was somewhat withdrawn, and occasionally painfully so, but very giving in
his nature and he inspired me to have confidence in my young talents. He loaned
me the tape recorder for my very first songs [Early Sketches/Churchill & Spring].
He also once loaned us his new Ford Thunderbird [with 8 track tape player] for
the drive up to the boat in Souris for a Troubadour gig in The Magdalene Islands.

We grooved to The Allman Brothers all the way. Our trip and our gig were a blast.

So, thanks Gene. If it wasn‟t for the cool Roberts 802 reel to reel tape recorder,
the songs on Early Sketches/Churchill & Spring might never have been captured.

"My life began with my first cheap guitars"

Frank Trainor [The Troubadour]

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