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.
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 ad for the Flamingo Club in Fort
William, Ontario.
Neil wrote Sugar Mountain on that trip.
-- John Einarson
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.
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.
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
Ken
is holding Terry Erickson’s Fender White
Jazz bass.
Photo courtesy of Ken Koblun
L-R:
Ken Koblun, Bob Clark, Neil Young
Westgate High School, Fort
William, Ontario, May 21, 1965
Photo courtesy of Ken Koblun
Clockwise
from lower left: Neil Young, Terry
Erickson, Bob Clark, Ken Koblun.
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)
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
