Released in 1974, this is about as Canadian as a record can get. Family Gathering is the third album released by Paul Valdemar Horsdal's - aka Valdy. In addition to studio recordings, this album also features material recorded live at Toronto's Massey Hall.
If you've never seen Valdy perform live in concert, you should. If he is still touring when - if - this Covid nonsense gets wrestled into submission, this is a show you really should see. It should be on your bucket list, especially if you're Canadian.
Valdy's been touring going on close to 60 years now, and at some point he's going to stop. So if you get the chance - go. He mostly performs solo now, just him and his guitar, but he fills whatever room he's in with glorious sound. He tells the stories behind the songs you thought you knew so well, and it's a charming way to spend an evening - an intimate family gathering, so to speak.
The first time I saw Valdy perform, probably 15 or 20 years ago, I got him to sign this LP cover. The next time I saw him perform, a couple of years later, I got him to sign it again. I'd forgotten he'd already singed it (he'd signed it on the back for some reason that first time) and that night I was running behind and didn't want to be late for the show and was in a rush to get out the door and didn't see the original signature when I pulled the record off the shelf. When I handed it to him that night he looked down at the cover and said, "Oh, look. I already signed
I was a wee bit embarrassed but he graciously signed it again, on the front this time (pictured here). After that I decided that if I ever got to meet him again I'd get him to keep signing the same album cover - a sort of running gag - and as it happened I did get to meet Valdy several more times and he kept signing the record. There's now something like half a dozen signatures on it, each one dated, which is kind of neat.
The last time I met Valdy was six or seven years ago at a concert in Stratford, Ontario. I got him to sign the record - again - and we got to talking. During the course of our conversation I invited him to breakfast at my house the following morning.
And he showed up.
He parked his guitar case in a corner in the kitchen and proceeded to show me how to infuse scrambled eggs with raw garlic, which is what he likes to eat in the morning. We sat around talking for a few hours and he told me stories from his life. He's quite a remarkable man. He lives out on Salt Spring Island, surrounded by the Salish Sea, between Vancouver Island and B.C.'s lower mainland, a place a lot of artists and musicians call home. He grows and manages trees there.
I took notes because I intended to turn our conversation into a magazine article that I thought would be ideal for the folk music magazine, Dirty Linen. Unbeknownst to me, however, the magazine had ceased to exist somewhere around 2010 and I couldn't find another suitable publication.
But it was a good conversation, anyway. I learned a lot about this remarkable man, who in 2011 was appointed a member of the Order Of Canada.
Valdy's music career dates back to the early 1960s, when he joined the London Town Criers in 1964, with whom he toured across Canada. He then joined The Prodigal Sons before drifting to Toronto in 1965. A year later he relocated to the west coast and studied orchestration at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. Upon graduation he began working the local circuit and eventually scored a record deal with Haida Records, in 1971.
His first single, Rock n' Roll Song was a hit and Valdy was on his way. Also in '71, a couple of his songs, A Good Song and Country Man, ended up in the Steve McQueen movie, The Getaway.
Producer Paul Rothschild, who had previously worked with The Doors and Janis Joplin, was brought in for Valdy's first American release, See How The Years Have Gone By, in 1975. In 1978 he released Valdy And The Hometown Band, which spun off two singles in Yes I Can and Peter And Lou, which both made it into the Top 20.
Valdy would change labels a couple of times and continue to release records and tour throughout the U.S. and Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.
Family Gathering is a feel good album. It's a record you'd play at the cottage, assuming you have a record player there. I would. I don't know what Valdy's intention was putting it out when he did, other than to perhaps give the listener a taste of the Valdy live show. It was also probably a bit of an income generator between Landscapes and Look How The Years Have Gone By, the studio albums that preceded and followed it. His first album, Country Man, had put him on the charts right out of the gate, and I think Family Gathering was possibly something to help keep his name close to the front of peoples' minds at a time when he was still gaining momentum and looking for that next big album, which Landscapes certainly hadn't been. He was still a couple of years away from Valdy And The Hometown Band, which was more accessible and is when things really started happening for him. And it's a good sounding record, too. Very laid back, absolutely nothing fancy at all. Lyrically, it's thoughtful and thought provoking. I don't play it very often, but when I do I like it. It's one of life's warm fuzzies, especially if you're Canadian. For some reason, I keep thinking it should be played in winter. Snow on the ground and a hot chocolate in hand. Or maybe a scotch.
Get this record on vinyl. It can be found in almost any used record store in Canada for a very modest price. And take it from me: Valdy will be only too happy to sign it for you. More than once.
Released in 1974, this is about as Canadian as a record can get. Family Gathering is the third album released by Paul Valdemar Horsdal's - aka Valdy. In addition to studio recordings, this album also features material recorded live at Toronto's Massey Hall.
If you've never seen Valdy perform live in concert, you should. If he is still touring when - if - this Covid nonsense gets wrestled into submission, this is a show you really should see. It should be on your bucket list, especially if you're Canadian.
Valdy's been touring going on close to 60 years now, and at some point he's going to stop. So if you get the chance - go. He mostly performs solo now, just him and his guitar, but he fills whatever room he's in with glorious sound. He tells the stories behind the songs you thought you knew so well, and it's a charming way to spend an evening - an intimate family gathering, so to speak.
The first time I saw Valdy perform, probably 15 or 20 years ago, I got him to sign this LP cover. The next time I saw him perform, a couple of years later, I got him to sign it again. I'd forgotten he'd already singed it (he'd signed it on the back for some reason that first time) and that night I was running behind and didn't want to be late for the show and was in a rush to get out the door and didn't see the original signature when I pulled the record off the shelf. When I handed it to him that night he looked down at the cover and said, "Oh, look. I already signed
I was a wee bit embarrassed but he graciously signed it again, on the front this time (pictured here). After that I decided that if I ever got to meet him again I'd get him to keep signing the same album cover - a sort of running gag - and as it happened I did get to meet Valdy several more times and he kept signing the record. There's now something like half a dozen signatures on it, each one dated, which is kind of neat.
The last time I met Valdy was six or seven years ago at a concert in Stratford, Ontario. I got him to sign the record - again - and we got to talking. During the course of our conversation I invited him to breakfast at my house the following morning.
And he showed up.
He parked his guitar case in a corner in the kitchen and proceeded to show me how to infuse scrambled eggs with raw garlic, which is what he likes to eat in the morning. We sat around talking for a few hours and he told me stories from his life. He's quite a remarkable man. He lives out on Salt Spring Island, surrounded by the Salish Sea, between Vancouver Island and B.C.'s lower mainland, a place a lot of artists and musicians call home. He grows and manages trees there.
I took notes because I intended to turn our conversation into a magazine article that I thought would be ideal for the folk music magazine, Dirty Linen. Unbeknownst to me, however, the magazine had ceased to exist somewhere around 2010 and I couldn't find another suitable publication.
But it was a good conversation, anyway. I learned a lot about this remarkable man, who in 2011 was appointed a member of the Order Of Canada.
Valdy's music career dates back to the early 1960s, when he joined the London Town Criers in 1964, with whom he toured across Canada. He then joined The Prodigal Sons before drifting to Toronto in 1965. A year later he relocated to the west coast and studied orchestration at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. Upon graduation he began working the local circuit and eventually scored a record deal with Haida Records, in 1971.
His first single, Rock n' Roll Song was a hit and Valdy was on his way. Also in '71, a couple of his songs, A Good Song and Country Man, ended up in the Steve McQueen movie, The Getaway.
Producer Paul Rothschild, who had previously worked with The Doors and Janis Joplin, was brought in for Valdy's first American release, See How The Years Have Gone By, in 1975. In 1978 he released Valdy And The Hometown Band, which spun off two singles in Yes I Can and Peter And Lou, which both made it into the Top 20.
Valdy would change labels a couple of times and continue to release records and tour throughout the U.S. and Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.
Family Gathering is a feel good album. It's a record you'd play at the cottage, assuming you have a record player there. I would. I don't know what Valdy's intention was putting it out when he did, other than to perhaps give the listener a taste of the Valdy live show. It was also probably a bit of an income generator between Landscapes and Look How The Years Have Gone By, the studio albums that preceded and followed it. His first album, Country Man, had put him on the charts right out of the gate, and I think Family Gathering was possibly something to help keep his name close to the front of peoples' minds at a time when he was still gaining momentum and looking for that next big album, which Landscapes certainly hadn't been. He was still a couple of years away from Valdy And The Hometown Band, which was more accessible and is when things really started happening for him. And it's a good sounding record, too. Very laid back, absolutely nothing fancy at all. Lyrically, it's thoughtful and thought provoking. I don't play it very often, but when I do I like it. It's one of life's warm fuzzies, especially if you're Canadian. For some reason, I keep thinking it should be played in winter. Snow on the ground and a hot chocolate in hand. Or maybe a scotch.
Get this record on vinyl. It can be found in almost any used record store in Canada for a very modest price. And take it from me: Valdy will be only too happy to sign it for you. More than once.
BONUS TRACK
Valdy's mother, Lillian, was a social worker and psychiatric nurse. His father, Paul, was a portrait photographer who became a mentor to many of Canada's best known photographers, including Yosef Karsh. Valdy related that when Karsh asked his father how he took such great photographs, he replied, "I just take a lot of pictures."
Over the years Valdy has played all over the word in what he estimates to be at least 8,000 concerts in total. He's played a lot of shows.
He keeps good company, too. He was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in 2011, and has had the opportunity throughout his career to play with some of the best musicians in the business, including Connie Kaldor, Jerry Scheff and Ronnie Tutt from Elvis' band, Larry Carlton, blues harmonica player Ben Benay, Nicky Hopkins, Jim Keltner, the Shuffle Demons, and Loreena McKinnett, to name a few.
He also claims to have "married the right woman," Kathleen Mary Fraser Horsdal, in 1986. She serves serves as his creative advisor, is a hospice counsellor and also a talented sculptor. “She has been keeping me on track for years,” Valdy insists. “Without her, I don’t know where I would be.” They live with three dogs and a cat on a lake in the same home where his parents lived on Salt Spring Island, which Valdy describes as "a difference of opinion surrounded by water."
The Globe and Mail said that "few performers are capable of achieving the kind of energy Valdy generates on stage," and having seen him play several times I can assure you it's an apt description.
Valdy has appeared on TV, in The Beachcombers, The New Beachcombers, Front Page Challenge and a few movie roles here and there. He is also remarkably healthy, which he says is partially due to the fact that he puts large doeses of garlic in his scrambled eggs every morning. He believes music to be the most effective media for change, and you can hear these sorts of appeals in many of his songs.
Valdy's mother, Lillian, was a social worker and psychiatric nurse. His father, Paul, was a portrait photographer who became a mentor to many of Canada's best known photographers, including Yosef Karsh. Valdy related that when Karsh asked his father how he took such great photographs, he replied, "I just take a lot of pictures."
Over the years Valdy has played all over the word in what he estimates to be at least 8,000 concerts in total. He's played a lot of shows.
He keeps good company, too. He was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in 2011, and has had the opportunity throughout his career to play with some of the best musicians in the business, including Connie Kaldor, Jerry Scheff and Ronnie Tutt from Elvis' band, Larry Carlton, blues harmonica player Ben Benay, Nicky Hopkins, Jim Keltner, the Shuffle Demons, and Loreena McKinnett, to name a few.
He also claims to have "married the right woman," Kathleen Mary Fraser Horsdal, in 1986. She serves serves as his creative advisor, is a hospice counsellor and also a talented sculptor. “She has been keeping me on track for years,” Valdy insists. “Without her, I don’t know where I would be.” They live with three dogs and a cat on a lake in the same home where his parents lived on Salt Spring Island, which Valdy describes as "a difference of opinion surrounded by water."
The Globe and Mail said that "few performers are capable of achieving the kind of energy Valdy generates on stage," and having seen him play several times I can assure you it's an apt description.
Valdy has appeared on TV, in The Beachcombers, The New Beachcombers, Front Page Challenge and a few movie roles here and there. He is also remarkably healthy, which he says is partially due to the fact that he puts large doeses of garlic in his scrambled eggs every morning. He believes music to be the most effective media for change, and you can hear these sorts of appeals in many of his songs.
