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Burton
                      Cummings & Neil Young 1987


C-WEED


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EVANGELINE


C-Weed


Errol
                              Ranville

Canadian singer and songwriter Errol Ranville was born August 1, 1953 in St. Rose Du Lac, Manitoba, Canada.  While still in high school, he formed his first band - C-Weed & the Weeds - in 1965 with brothers Wally and Don.  1975, the name was changed to The C-Weed Band.  Their first album, released in 1980, produced the hit Evangeline.  He went on to record a total of twenty albums over a span of forty years in the entertainment business.  In 2011, Errol was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards.  Ranville's autobiography, Run As One: My Story, was published June 2021 by Great Plains Publications.

Errol Ranville


Excerpt from Heart of Gold: A History of Winnipeg Music

Out in rural Eddystone, Manitoba, the Ranville brothers - Stirling, Brian, Gordon, Randy, Wally and Errol - were each vying for time with Darlene.  Darlene was the name given to the secondhand guitar boasting only 5 strings, given to them collectively in the early 1960s by a benevolent aunt.  Inspired by The Beatles, C-Weed and The Weeds - Errol 'C-Weed' Ranville plus brothers Randy, Wally and drummer Donnie, all still in their teens - played regional dances and social events.

In 1969 the family moved to Winnipeg to allow the boys a better shot at a career in music.  "I saw music as a way for me to escape the cycle of poverty," he revealed.

One of their first stops was the Indian and Metis Friendship Centre where The Feathermen held court.  "Those guys were already legends on the Indigenous music scene," notes Errol.  "They had professional instruments and amplifiers, Fender Telecaster guitars and Vox amps, compared to our cheap gear.  They were grownups.  We looked like kids to them, and we were.  But they took a liking to us and allowed us to play a few times.  The Feathermen were a covers band.  So were we when we first started.  But once I began writing songs, that set up apart.  We eventually surpassed them because we developed our own sound."

Older brother Stirling Ranville got a gig playing the pub in The Brunswick Hotel on Main Street (now a parking lot for the Manitoba Museum) and gradually recruited brothers Wally, Donnie and eventually Errol.  The latter three were underage even after the drinking age lowered to 18 in September 1970 but managed to avoid getting caught.  With Stirling at the helm, the band was billed as The Ranville Brothers.  Eventually Stirling bowed out and Errol began fronting the band and the name ultimately changed to the C-Weed Band.

Well-respected Indigenous guitar player Jimmy Flett joined them giving the young band instrumental umph and a broader appeal.  Billy Joe Green recalls sneaking into the Brunswick under age to see Jimmy Flett play.  "He was simply the finest country picker our community has ever produced," Green acknowledges.

By 1980, having left the Brunswick to play Indigenous reserves throughout Manitoba and Northwest Ontario, a circuit them themselves opened up, The C-Weed Band scored a #1 Canadian Country Music hit single with their cover of Canadian Robbie Robertson's "Evangeline" from their debut album The Finest You Can Buy!. 

All of a sudden, they were in demand from coast to coast for performances and television appearances.  The band, now with Clint Dutiaume on guitar and fiddle, cleaned up at the 1981 MCMA (Manitoba Country Music Awards) and earned two Juno nominations.  C-Weed was all over Canadian country radio, notching up a string of hits including "Play Me My Favorite Song", "Bringing Home the Good Times", "Pickup Truck Cowboy", and "Magic in The Music", from their third album Goin' The Distance, all composted by Errol Ranville.

Against daunting odds, The C-Weed Band succeeded on their own terms.  "Few outside of the Indigenous community across the country knew we were an Indigenous band," notes Errol.  "This was still years before Country Music Television introduced music videos.  Radio would play the single without knowing anything about the band.  We were breaking down barriers that kept us out of white markets without even knowing it.  But we still had to deal with club owners panicking when they saw us pull up."

The C-Weed Band let the music speak for itself.  "We never waved the Indian flag or tried to use our Indigenous identity," says Errol with justifiable pride.  "We were as good as any other country-rock band and we earned out success.

John Einarson


C-Weed

C-Weed Band Achievements

1983: Seven Manitoba Country Music Awards, including Entertainer of the Year
1985/1986:  Juno Award Nominee in the Country category
2004:  Lifetime Achievement Award at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards


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