Scrubbaloe Caine

One of the more entertaining groups that hailed from Canada during the early 1970’s was an eclectic band of musicians who called themselves “Scrubbaloe Caine”. They arrived at a time when the Canadian pop music scene was experiencing a great deal of growth, and the Canadian music industry was entering what has since been referred to as its “Golden Age”. Despite the promise the band seemed to have, they only recorded one album before breaking up. Since their unfortunate demise, the band has been thought of more as a footnote for some of its members, who went onto to bigger and better things. This is not just unfair, it’s flat out wrong. “Round One” is a prime example of an excellent debut recording from a killer band. The isn’t a duff track on the album, and there are a couple that should be considered classics in the rock and roll genre.

The version of Scrubbaloe Caine that recorded Round One was a sextet that hailed from Western Canada (primarily Calgary). The line up consisted of Al Foreman (keyboards, harmonica and lead vocals), Henry Small (violin and lead vocals), Paul Dean (lead guitar), Jim Harmata (lead guitar), Bill McBeth (drums, percussion and vocals) and Jim Kale (bass and vocals). Jim Kale, who had previously performed with The Guess Who, replaced original bassist Bob Kidd. I recently spoke to Henry Small about the band, asking him about his recollections from those heady days. 

Henry, who grew up in the community of Beacon in New York state, advised me that around 1969 he relocated to Canada and joined a popular group in Calgary called “Gaineborough Gallery”. Shortly thereafter, Henry and guitarist Paul Dean started a group called “Cannonball”, which then turned into Scrubbaloe Caine. Henry advised there was no real significance to the band’s name; like many other musical groups the members were just kidding around and created it. Henry also remarked that the band members were very tight, both musically and personally. This isn’t difficult to understand, they were all young men doing something they loved, as well as sharing a common dream about achieving success in the always difficult music business. The band members spent a lot of time together, and the music they created was a group effort, with all of the members bringing their particular talents to the arrangements. Keyboardist Al Foreman was the main songwriter. He would bring the songs in he was working on, and the rest of the band would pitch in. Henry advised he handled most of the vocals, although Al would often add a harmony line as well. As well, Paul Dean and Jim Harmata had a great twin guitar sound. During my conversation with Henry, I remarked that the band enjoyed a great reputation as a live act. Henry agreed wholeheartedly, saying the group had great chemistry on stage. He told me that in their formative years, Scrubbaloe Caine had an extended stay at a club in Quebec City called the “Electric Circle”. They played up to six sets a night several nights a week, and were there for seven months. Spending all that time there really brought the group together, both on and off stage. In fact, Henry said they were the “most exciting live act he ever played with.” He recalled the time they opened for The Guess Who at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto as an example of the band’s prowess on stage, and how that translated into a great response from the audience.   

Henry told me that around the same time Jim Kale joined the band, Don Hunter became their manager. Don had a strong presence in the Canadian music scene at the time as the manager of The Guess Who. The next step was for the band to sign a deal with a record label, and get into the recording studio. Scrubbaloe Caine had interest from several labels, but settled on RCA. This was the record label that The Guess Who recorded on, so Don Hunter did have a connection with them.   

Scrubbaloe Caine headed off the Los Angeles to record their debut album during the summer of 1973. The producer was David Kersehenbaum, who would go on to have a very successful career in the music business, producing such artists as  Joan Baez, Tracy Chapman, Bryan Adams, Joe Jackson and Duran Duran. I reached out to David to ask him what his recollection was of the session. He very generously replied to my inquiry, indicating that he did recall the group, and loved the band. However, with the passage of time, and all the other artists he had worked with over the years, and music he had been involved in, he couldn’t recall any details. Henry had mixed feelings about the sessions, feeling that the finished product really didn’t reflect the musical capabilities of the group. While the songs themselves were great, he felt the amount of time available for the recording didn’t allow for the band to perform the songs at the level of musicianship they were capable of. The whole project was completed in less than a week. Henry also advised me that this was a consensus amongst the group. 

After hearing Henry’s opinion, I felt compelled to let him know that I thought the album was brilliant when I first heard it, and that the passage of time hadn't changed my opinion. At the time of its release, the album was very popular with my friends, some of whom had seen the band live. In my estimation, Round One was a classic example of a group of up and coming young musicians, ready to show the listening public what they were capable of. The band had paid their dues with years on the road, playing night after night, and honing their musical skills and developing the band’s sound. To my ears, the cohesiveness of the band leapt out of the record’s grooves. Not only did the band have that tightness that comes from countless hours of playing and rehearsing together, the songs on Round One display that musical intuitiveness that musicians develope when they are used to performing together. 

As I have indicated earlier, all of the songs on Round One are great. But for the purposes of this article, I will profile two of them. One was a cover of the classic tune “Trouble”, written by Lieber and Stoller and performed by Elvis Presley in the movie “King Creole”. The other is the Al Foreman ballad “Travelin’.”   

In my opinion, the decision to cover the Elvis number Trouble was an inspired decision. Scrubbaloe Caine delivers a definitive version of a classic blues tune. Henry told me the decision to cover the tune came after the group was jamming one time over the old blues riff that is used to open the song. This number plays to the band’s strengths particularly well. Henry delivers a great vocal, and the twin guitar stylings really work well. We also get to hear some great harmonica playing from Al Foreman. The rhythm section lays down a great groove, and just propels the other musicians forward, holding everything in place. Everything just seems to have worked from a band perspective. One of my favourite parts of the tune is the tempo change about half way through (something the original version also featured). The band pulls this off brilliantly, and it really adds to the excitement the song generates.

Travelin’ is a wonderful ballad, played with a great gospel feel. The lyrics are thoughtful and sincere, and reflect the age old emotional challenge facing a couple in which one of the partners tries to explain why he (or she) has to follow their dreams and travel, with the other partner imploring them to settle down, and not understanding why they won’t. Very apropos for young men in a musical group, out on the road seeking fame and fortune. The song opens up with a great soulful vocal by Henry, with just piano accompaniment for the first half of the first verse, with Jim Kale then joining in with a great bass figure for the next two lines. The rest of the band then subtly joins in at the commencement of the second verse. We get another tremendous guitar solo in this song, and then some inspired vocal call and response between Henry and other band members for the songs finale. 

Unfortunately, the emotional letdown the band members felt after the recording sessions for Round One were completed really caused a rift in the band, according to Henry.  This rift was the beginning of the end for Scrubbaloe Caine, and lead to the group's eventual dissolution. To be fair, there were other factors as well. Al Foreman wanted to spend less time on the road and wanted to pursue a career as a song writer. All that being said however, Henry told me he still has fond memories of his time with Scrubbaloe Caine. They were young men living together as well as touring and performing together, friends sharing a common goal. It should be noted that their talent was acknowledged with a nomination in the category of “Most Promising Group” for the 1974 Juno Awards (Bachman-Turner Overdrive won however).   

The album Round One was released during the latter part of the summer in 1973 on RCA Victor Canada, catalogue number APL1-0263. Two singles were also released from the album; the first (RCA Victor Canada catalogue number APB0-0148) had “Feelin’ Good On Sunday” on side A, backed with “Rosalie” as the B side and the second (RCA Victor Canada catalogue number APB0-0241) had “Travelin’” on the A side backed with “Edmonton Rain” on the B side.  Unfortunately, this album has not made the transition to compact disk, and is not available for download on iTunes. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem inordinately difficult to locate a used vinyl copy, and sealed versions will occasionally be found for sale.

I can’t recommend this band enough to those who aren’t familiar with them. Please check them out, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. I would also like to sincerely thank Mr. David Kershenbaum and Mr. Henry Small for their generous cooperation. Their assistance was very important in completing this article. I would also like to thank Alleycats Music & Art in Orillia for providing me with an album for the title photo.