| GREG GODOVITZ: STILL A "PRETTY BAD BOY" AT 50 |
| The Saint and Sinner (appropriate name, don't you think?) recently held court for "Pretty Bad Boy" Greg Godovitz's 50th birthday party. A prominent member of Canada's "rock royalty" and currently celebrating 25 years as the founding member of Goddo, Greg's key to success (against all odds) seems to be not only his wonderfully witty way with words, but his brutally accurate perceptions of both himself and the world around him. While his penchant for portraying himself to "outsiders" as a rude, snobbish, egotistical and, in his own words, "shameless huckster" of self-promotion seems to have alienated him in certain industry circles, it's probably the same reason why he retains such a loyal, dedicated following of fans and friends alike -- Greg is not afraid to say what everyone else is thinking about him and therefore beats them to the punch. You've got to admire a man like that. Quite frankly, I was shocked to learn at this event that his newly-released autobiography, "Travels With My Amp", was ultimately published by an American, because the Canadian publishing industry showed "zero" interest in it. HELLLO? How much longevity does it take to have one's talent as a songwriter, musician AND author acknowledged in one's own country? And certainly there are at least a hundred more Canadian artists who deserve the same overdue recognition in the annals of Canadian music history. As (the cat) Sylvester's son says, in the Warner Brothers cartoon, "Oh, the shame of it all!" In any case, Greg's party was very well-attended (albeit by invitation only) by relatives, friends (old and new), his Goddo mates and numerous other musical pals, his American publisher, (Bill Bellfontaine of Abbeyfield Publishing) various media personalities and, of course, Jaimie Vernon of Bullseye Records, who almost singlehandedly brought Goddo back into the media spotlight with the re-release of nearly the entire Goddo catalogue of original tunes, not to mention spearheading Goddo's 25th anniversary tour. Amongst the stellar line-up of musicians (my apologies for omitting anyone!) participating in this birthday "jam" were, in no particular order, Gino Scarpelli, Doug Inglis, Bob Segarini, Brad Lovatt, John Bjarneson, Andr� and Heather Roy, Rosemary Galloway, Bruce Duncan, Walter Zwol, Earl Johnson, Max Brand, Mike Pellarin and Chris Hawley. Towards the end of the evening, Greg was joined onstage by some members of the "younger generation" - Gene Scarpelli, Jody Litvak (MuchMusic) on percussion, and Laurent Abesdris ("The Guy") on drums - who played a mesmerizing instrumental version of a Hendrix tune. I was also introduced to Hersh Litvak, who was referred to as "The Runner of Everything"! Hmm�. Stand-out tunes of the evening (although they were ALL great) were "Stormy Monday", "Little Red Rooster", "Don't Let Me Down", "Route 66", "Black Magic Woman" and, of course, Goddo hits "Sweet, Sweet Thing" and "Under My Hat". While rumours were rampant that Jeff Beck might be making an appearance, he had not arrived by the somewhat premature "last call" around 1:30 a.m., at which time "duty called" and I was obliged to leave to attend to other business. Apart from a complete lack of interest from the guests in dancing (must have been all that delicious food served earlier), the party was a smashing success and "a pleasant time [was] guaranteed for all". Let's hope the boys "Cock On" for another 50 years! By D.D. Rocker |
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