Bradstreet - Bradstreet (1975)

To tell the story about Bradstreet and this LP, we have to turn to Roy Wilcox's excellent and indispensable Garage Band Rockers. And look up the band Done on Bradstreet.

Done on Bradstreet was comprised of vocalist Lanny Church, Dave Hamilton and Don Wolfe on guitar, Dave Lucas on bass, Bob Everett on drums and Pat Murphy on keyboards. Their talent and musical acumen was showcased on Done on Bradstreet’s two set appearance on the Calgary produced TV show, 'Come Together.'

    This recognition was extended even further when Done on Bradstreet won a competition to play at McMahon stadium in Calgary, the final stop of the famed Festival Express tour in July of 1970. This was the premiere gig for a local garage band. Sharing the stage with Janis Joplin, The Band, Buddy Guy and the Grateful Dead would be a career landmark and opportunity of a lifetime for any fledgling band. Done on Bradstreet made the most of this opportunity to expose their original material which was well received by fans and fellow musicians alike.

After this phenomenal experience, this garage rock band decided to take the necessary steps to become professional. They hired Greg Thomas, formerly of the Esquires, as their manager. They capitalized on Greg’s experience of recording at the Petty studio and three short weeks after the Express, Done on Bradstreet embarked on the journey to Clovis New Mexico to record with the great Norman Petty. 

Petty used his studio and recording acumen to produce tapes for 6 songs. Then an unfortunate and complicated “set of business related events” led to Done on Bradstreet neither hearing nor having access to a copy of their tapes. 

Upon their return to Calgary, Done on Bradstreet made good money in the thriving teen scene in community halls. The change in drinking age in Alberta in 1971 changed this market as older teens who once chose community hall dances as their social venue began to go to bars as it was easier than drinking illegally in a parking lot. It also became economically unviable for a purely rock concert band with very few venues that would pay enough for it to make it worthwhile for a full-time professional band to survive. As a result, Done on Bradstreet added new members and became a show band to get into the evolving nightclub/cabaret circuit. They changed their name to “Bradstreet” and for a time became the house band at “Alfie’s” in New Westminster, BC. 

This LP is that latter band, the lounge circuit Bradstreet - produced by the band and Ron Barge. But many years after the band went to Clovis, they managed to get their hands on the master tapes from Norm Petty's museum, and released the recordings to iTunes (and a very limited edition CD).

So, take your pick today: you can listen to Done on Bradstreet on iTunes or grab the Bradstreet LP download.