Devil You - Stampeders, 1971
Devil you |
The Stampeders originally hailed from Calgary (hence the name), but re-formed in Toronto in 1968. Sudbury native Rich Dodson fronted the trio as they released their debut album, Against the Grain, through their label Music World Creations. The first single, Carry Me was a hit in Canada, but the follow up, Sweet City Woman, climbed the charts in the US as well. Also in 1971, the band released their second album, Carryin’ On. It was a good year for the Stampeders – they won a Juno award for vocal and instrumental group of the year.
Although Sweet City Woman tended to typecast the Stampeders as a lightweight pop act, they did release some tunes favouring rock. Wild Eyes, Johnny Lighting, Ramona, Hit the Road Jack and Devil You have a somewhat harder edge to them. They continued with various hits through the '70s, but Rich Dodson left the group in 1977. The new lineup couldn't re-capture the earlier glory though....and Dodson recorded horrible adult soft rock tunes such as Giving It Up For Love, into the '80s. I saw the Stampeders (I'm gonna guess 1973) when they played for a dance at our high schools' cross-town rival, Huron Heights Secondary School. As I remember, they put on a great show, but I made the mistake of sneaking in some of my mother's home made wine in a plastic shampoo bottle. For the record, you can NEVER get the taste of shampoo out of a plastic bottle. I just thought I'd mention that. |
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