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Burton
                      Cummings & Neil Young 1987


THE  SQUIRES


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(I'M A MAN AND) I CAN'T CRY



The Squires
                              1964

1964
L-R, Back Row:  Neil Young (guitar/vocals), Bill Edmondson (drums)
L-R, Front Row:  Jeff Wuckert (keyboards), Ken Koblun (bass)

Photo credit:  Barney Charach 




"I first met Neil (Young) in 1962, through a friend of mine at Junior High, Jack Harper.  Jack went to Kelvin High School, and that’s where he met Neil.  Jack and I had even been on TV, on this show called "Junior Highlights", playing Duane Eddy’s Forty Miles of Bad Road on guitar and drums.  We were a damn good band for kids in Grade 10.  We started off rehearsing in Jack’s basement, but then Jack got busy with hockey so we got a new drummer I knew from high school, Ken Smyth.  Ken Koblun was on bass and we’d do a lot of Shadows and Ventures songs, and also The Fireballs." -- Allan Bates  (original guitarist with The Squires)

Formed in 1963, the south Winnipeg quartet was a fixture on the community club circuit.  "There was nothing like the community clubs anywhere," says Neil.  "It wasn't too long before we had our own little following."

What set The Squires apart from the rest was the inclusion of an ever-growing catalogue of original songs penned by Neil Young.  Beginning with Shadows-inspired instrumentals, he soon progressed to lyrics, becoming The Squires' lead vocalist.

Despite several recording dates both in Winnipeg and Thunder Bay, The Squires released only one single on the V Records label.  The Sultan, backed by Aurora, was cut July 23, 1963 at radio station CKRC's two-track studio in downtown Winnipeg.  A very small number of copies were pressed - some accounts state 200 while others say 300.  It did, however, receive considerable airplay.

Harry
                              Taylor, Engineer
The Sultan 45 RPM
                              Single, Autographed
With Harry Taylor (photo above left at the studio console) engineering and CKRC deejay Bob Bradburn producing (in name only, Harry did the production in reality), The Squires recorded two Neil Young instrumental compositions.  This was Young's first recording session.  Neil played his Gibson Les Paul Jr solid body guitar on the session.  He wouldn't acquire his Gretsch 6120 hollow body until September.  -- John Einarson



The Squires returned to CKRC's studio on April 2, 1964 to record a follow up single.  This time, Neil was singing.  The recordings were lost for almost four decades until the "Neil Young Archives Volume 1 (1963-1972) Box Set" was released in 2009.  I Wonder marks the debut of Neil's distinctive vocal style.  Other tunes by The Squires on this album:  Mustang, I'll Love You Forever, (I'm A Man And) I Can't Cry, along with The Sultan and Aurora.

By the summer of 1964, a rift was developing and the four musicians were beginning to see music from different perspectives.

"Neil was serious about a musical career early," reflects Allan, "so he quit school after grade eleven on the advice of the principal who told him to go out and be a musician.  He knew what he was good at and he went for it.  We wanted to finish grade twelve."  That August, Neil, Jack Harper, and assorted friends drove out to Falcon Lake to camp for a few days.  While there, Neil convinced the hotel manager to hire The Squires to play at the resort and phoned the other band members to come up to join him.  Ken Koblun, always ready to follow his buddy, agreed.  Ken Smyth and Allan Bates, however, had other plans and said no.  "It didn't seem like a big deal to us, but to Neil it was," cites Ken Smyth.  "Neil came back and broke up the band."  The four fulfilled a few  commitments then went their separate ways.

On August 6, 1964, The Squires played their last show with the long-running lineup of Neil Young and Allan Bates on guitar, bassist Ken Koblun, and drummer Ken Smyth at the Winnipeg nightclub, The Town 'n' Country.

August 23, 1964, the band debuted their new group at the Fourth Dimension coffeehouse (4D) on Pembina Highway near the University of Manitoba.  This version included Neil Young on lead guitar and vocals, Ken Koblun on bass, drummer Bill Edmondson, and keyboard player Jeff Wuckert.  Jeff was the only keyboard player in the ever-changing Squires' members between 1963 and 1965.  It is also the lineup that is shown in the sole promotional photo of the band as photographed by Barney Charach (see photo at top of this page).  A fire later gutted Charach's studio, destroying all his negatives that included multiple shots of The Squires.

November 1964 Promo for
                              Flamingo Club

November 1964 ad for the Flamingo Club in Fort William, Ontario.
Neil wrote Sugar Mountain on that trip.
-- John  Einarson

The
                              Squires 1964 Gig List

Written by The Squires' bassist Ken Koblun, this is a portion of his extensive
list of every Squires gig and additional details of each.  Historic.
-- John Einarson 



On November 2, 1964, The Squires, now down to a trio, returned to The Flamingo in Fort William, Ontario for a two week engagement.  Jeff Wuckert, their keyboard player, was unable to make the trip as his parents withheld their permission.

December 1964, following a third trip to Fort William - this time to play that city's 4D Coffeehouse - drummer Bill Edmondson left The Squires.




The
                              Squires March 1965

March 1965
L-R:  Randy Peterson (drums), Doug Campbell (guitar), Neil Young (guitar/vocals), Ken Koblun (bass)
This version recorded I'm A Man And (I Can't Cry).

Photo credit:  Diana Halter


April 12 1965 - The Squires (Neil Young on guitar, Ken Koblun on bass and drummer Bob Clark) were in the middle of a week-long gig at the Hudson Hotel in the northern outpost of Churchill, Manitoba which began on April 8.  The band also played the Navy Club on the afternoon of April 11 before playing their evening set at the hotel.

Drummer Bob Clark, previously in The Road Agents, had joined the band a couple of days before the Churchill gig.  Second guitarist Doug Campbell's parents wouldn't let him go to Churchill so The Squires went as a trio, taking the long and arduous train ride there.  As Clark's mother, Liz recalled, "I came home and there was a note from Bob: 'Gone to Churchill, see you in a week.'  I was flabbergasted!"  -- John Einarson

Mid-April 1965 saw the band relocate to Fort William, Ontario.  Why Fort William?  "Because it was halfway between Winnipeg and Toronto," Young explained.  Even then, Neil realized that Fort William was merely a stepping stone to where he really wanted to go - the centre of pop music in Canada - Toronto.


The Squires
                              1965

April 1965
L-R:  Neil Young, Bob Clark, Ken Koblun
The Squires backstage at the Flamingo Club, Fort William, Ontario.

(c) 1965 Don Baxter.
Photo courtesy of Ken Koblun
The Squires
                              1965

Ken is holding Terry Erickson’s Fender White Jazz bass.

Photo courtesy of Ken Koblun


The Squires
                              1965

L-R:  Ken Koblun, Bob Clark, Neil Young
Westgate High School, Fort William, Ontario, May 21, 1965

Photo courtesy of Ken Koblun


The High Flying Birds aka
                              The Squires

Clockwise from lower left: Neil Young, Terry Erickson, Bob Clark, Ken Koblun.
The High Flying Birds aka
                              The Squires

Clockwise left: Terry Erickson, Bob Clark, Ken Koblun, Neil Young.

Photos immediately to the left and above of The High Flying Birds (aka
The Squires) in Fort William, Ontario.  They form part of a series of 21
publicity photos taken in two separate sessions - April and June 1965.

(c) 1965 Don Baxter
Courtesy of Ken Koblun


Following the brief name change to The High Flying Birds, Neil Young unsuccessfully tried to get The Squires up and running again in Toronto during the summer of 1965.

Alumni of The Squires:
  • Neil Young (guitar)
  • Ken Koblun (bass)
  • Jack Harper (drums)
  • Alan Bates (guitar)
  • Ken Smyth (drums)
  • Greg Mudry (saxophone)
  • Jim Atkins (percussion/vibes)
  • Bill Edmondson (drums)
  • Doug Campbell (guitar)
  • Jeff Wuckert (keyboards)
  • Al Johnson (drums)
  • Bob Clark (drums)
  • Terry Crosby (drums)
  • Randy Peterson (drums)

The Squires
                              1987

Reunion of former Squires members at the the Shakin' All Over concert - June 1987 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
L-R:  Terry Crosby, Alan Bates, Ken Smyth, Ken Koblun, Jack Harper, Neil Young

Compiled and adapted from the following sources:

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