the mutual understanding / in wonderland (LP reissue out in june on beatball records)

*i first came across the mutual understanding around 15 years ago. i was initially intrigued by the psychedelic LP sleeve painting and nimbus 9 label (the guess who, bonnie dobson), then, after turning the jacket over, by the familiar names of ben mcpeek, jerry toth, and jimmy dale (CBC, canadian talent library). the mutual understanding's 1968  in wonderland album represents the best of toronto's late 1960s studio jazz and vocal group sound. the disc was made by world-class professionals at one of canada's largest recording studios of the era and crafted w/ passion and skill. the music recalls a simpler and more innocent time. it's filled w/ love, and yes, understanding... this june sees the first ever vinyl reissue of this pure sunshine pop masterpiece!!! it was my utmost privilege and honour to pen liner notes for this re-release. BIG thanks to beatball records (south korea) for making this happen and light in the attic records for handling the north american distribution. please join us on the trip (and spread the good word)!@#$%!!! PEACE

mal thompson (canadian talent library)

this past summer i had the immense pleasure to spend a morning w/ producer mal thompson. mal started his music career in ontario radio, moved to the stratford festival, and then over to london in the early 1960s where he worked as promotions man for EMI UK (and helped to launch the beatles!@#$%!!!). after a spell in publishing (working w/ the likes of roy orbison, engelbert humperdinck, and tom jones!@#$%!!!) he returned to canada for the next phase of his career. i first noticed mal's name on the back of many an album cover from the canadian talent library (a precursor to FACTOR) where he produced over 100 long players between 1970-78, including material from hagood hardy & the montage (montage), jackie mittoo (reggae magic, let's put it all together), mario castro-neves (the latin band of), ben mcpeek (play me), and jerry toth (the 12 sides of jerry toth). this was mostly MOR (middle-of-the-road) material (and in some cases, far from it!@#$%!!!), but along w/ CTL founder j. lyman potts, thompson left a vast legacy for us to rediscover and worked tirelessly at promoting canadian talent when the music business, retail, and much of the marketplace simply wasn't having it. i hope to transcribe my interview w/ mal shortly for a future project, until then, please enjoy a couple of snaps from our enlightening session...

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