but within a few days “Canadian Summer Dreams” was born, a four-verse poetic song that I think captures the unique beauty of our Canadian summer cottage experiences.
…. With family and friends we loved it all
Listening to the loons and the wild geese call
The beaver dam, the pond, the waterfall
In those sun-kissed summer days we had it all
When I played it to Olivia, she told me she heard right away where her vocals would fit, and I was thrilled to pieces that her lovely voice would be immortalized in my song.
I had flown Peter down with me to record her and booked Echo Beach Studios in Jupiter so that it would be convenient. Before the recording session Olivia invited us both over to her house, where she made us one of her famous “cuppas” — strong British tea with milk and delicious Manuka honey. Waiting for the tea to brew, the two of us started singing the song together in her kitchen as Peter looked on smiling. How lucky I was to have such a talented girlfriend! Olivia only needed one or two takes for each section where she joined me in harmony, and when she decided to add improvised vamps to the end of the song, Peter and I had goosebumps listening to her sing it live in the studio. Her vocals were perfection!
• • •
Michael and I made a brief appearance at Idea City, Moses Znaimer’s stimulating week of intellectual lectures, concerts, and parties that he had modelled after the American TED Talks, and in July we played a most enjoyable concert in my old Toronto neighbourhood of the 80s at the Beaches Jazz festival while people sat picnicking on blankets. In August I was invited to perform as part of the 1812 celebrations in Fort Henry in Kingston, Ontario, where Michael and I played as guest soloists with the Kingston Symphony, something I had not done in years! This time it was not Rodrigo or Vivaldi, but four selections from my album, The Return … To Canada with Love that Mark Lalama had orchestrated for two guitars and voice.
• • •
The Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, David Onley, invited me to perform a song and presented me with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal at Roy Thomson Hall, a lovely surprise and a moving ceremony, complete with bagpipes, a military band, and Aboriginal dancers. I had asked my mother to accompany me, and she enjoyed meeting many of the dignitaries in attendance, including Canada’s Governor General, David Johnston, who personally pinned the medal on my dress. Six months later, in February of 2013, I was flown up from Florida, as I, along with several well-known Canadians, had been invited back to the same venue, but this time to present the medals. My Palm Beach friends chuckled upon learning that I had hit the worst storm of the year in Toronto and that my return would be delayed.
“Remember to stay down here next February!” they reprimanded.
The benefits of a winter in Florida were reinforced for me by Prince Philip. He wrote me a letter saying that he envied my being in Palm Beach as Britain was suffering a miserable February, due to persistent icy winds from Scandinavia and Russia. Yes, I was indeed lucky to have my balmy Florida retreat to escape to.
• • •
It was now time to resume work on my Canadiana album. Many songs were complete, and I needed to see if various singers would be willing to add a line or two to my anthemic number, “Canada, My Canada.”
I had first thought to offer the opening line to Canada’s internationally renowned singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot. I felt that, as it was Gordon who had first encouraged me to write my own music and who had taken me on tour all those years ago, it was only fitting for me to honour him in this way. After all, I only needed him to sing eleven words.
I suggested that I could come with Peter anytime, anywhere, and pay for a studio of his choice if he preferred. I gently asked him on three different occasions, and every time he turned me down, the last time sounding a tad irritated. It was obvious that I had caught him at a bad time and was becoming a nuisance, so I apologized and decided to sing the first line myself. I imagine Gordon feared it might trigger additional requests from singers who would all love to do a duo with our Canadian legend.
Yet how many people, apart from his band, had done a hundred concerts with him, I pondered? There was only me, and by the end of all those shows I could recite the lyrics to almost all his songs. I shall always adore Gordon for his unique talent and for the kindness he showed to me in the seventies, so I forgave him, but I couldn’t help feel disappointed, as even singing just one short line together would have been the perfect way to complete a lifetime friendship. If I could peer then into the future, I would see what an amazing man was to eventually sing that first line with me, and also how thrilled dear Gordon would be when he heard a tribute song to him that I wrote and recorded in 2016, simply called “Lightfoot.”
While chatting with Moses at last year’s Idea City about the patriotic song I had written, I sought his advice. He suggested I speak to Jann Arden, one of Canada’s gutsiest, most humorous, and well-loved singers, who had also been a guest at the conference.
Jann had apparently enjoyed my performance, and after I told her about the song I had written for Canada, she listened to my demo and agreed to lend her voice to the chorus and the line Peter and I had chosen from one of the verses: “from far and wide we fought, we cried, we came and made a choice.” Jann kindly suggested a local Calgary studio, which I booked, and the engineer sent us her recorded tracks.
My good friend Dan Hill also agreed to contribute to the song. Hot and sweaty from cycling the Lake Ontario bike trails over to Zolis Audio, Dan, who in 1977 had penned the lyrics to the monster hit “Sometimes When We Touch,” sang the choruses to “Thank You for Bringing Me Home” as well as the second line on “Canada, My Canada”: “the mighty forests add their voice with mystic majesty.”
Little Maria Aragon, the youngster Lady Gaga discovered through her YouTube videos, was in town for a fundraiser and contributed her sweet voice as together we sang, “Let’s sing as one and harmonize our many different themes,” and Divine Brown’s powerful soul-style vocals belted out “and build the greatest nation for our children and our dreams.”
Randy Bachman, the singer and guitar player of BTO and the Guess Who fame, agreed to sing, “Our people are a symphony, a multicultured voice,” and Mark Masri, known for his mellifluous vocals, harmonized beneath Randy and contributed a line to the bridge section. Ron MacLean of CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, whom I had met in the first-class lounge along with his sidekick, Don Cherry, came bounding into the studio, full of energy, with his line, “From the rocky Western shore, to the coast of Labrador,” well-rehearsed and the chorus memorized. Ron even brought along two bottles of wine that he autographed with a silver pen for Peter and me.
How very thoughtful of him, I mused, as so many artists tend to take the producer or engineer for granted.
Richard Margison, Canada’s leading operatic tenor, later harmonized with Ron and added his own powerful voice to the last line of the bridge and the final chorus. Eleanor McCain’s crystal-clear soprano blended beautifully with mine in the choruses, and with John McDermott’s, as together they sang, “From the cities to the mines, to the misty Maritimes.”
Robert Pilon, who was famous for his roles in Les Misérables and Phantom of the Opera, contributed his special vocal colour to mine as he sang, “I hear the rhythm in the wings of wild geese as they fly.”
At Peter Soumalias’s Walk of Fame dinner I was able to corral a large group of retired hockey players from Team Canada of 1972, the heroes who had beaten the Russians and made Canada erupt with joy. “Tears Are Not Enough” had featured a hockey team, and
