Musically speaking, Gordie Johnson lived the dream.
He’s jammed with his heroes.
At one point, he found himself sitting in the producer’s chair between Warren Hayes (Allman Brothers) and Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), pointing to each one when it was time for them to play their solo.
“Does it get better than that? I had to pinch myself the rest of the night!”
Five Hundred Pounds Reissue
The last time we caught up with Gordie, the self-proclaimed “Ukrainian to the bone” was making Borscht during the lockdown period of the pandemic and cutting his own hair into a Mohawk.
Recently, a cold call out of the blue from Third Man Records was a “head scratcher” to Gordie. The same label as the father of the Delta Blues Charley Patton wants to re-release an old classic.
“You go about your business for 30 some years, not realizing the influence you had on somebody along the way.”
Jack White recently posted a video on Instagram calling Five Hundred Pounds: “The best blues-based record to ever come out of Canada.”
“That’s better than any award you are going to get. Holding a trophy doesn’t compare with having somebody with such impeccable taste and such a high standards for anything he puts his name on.”
Earlier in that same week, Joe Satriani mentioned Gordie and Van Halen “in the same breath.”
Now, the Five Hundred Pounds anniversary vinyl is flying off the shelves, 25 years later. Blues is eternal, so the album hasn’t aged a bit.
Jack White bought the record at a Big Sugar gig in Pontiac Michigan, 2 years before the album came out in the United States.
“It took a while for people to get hip to Big Sugar.” The band was still touring the FIVE Hundred Poundsrecord in 1995. At that time, Dear Mr. Fantasy EP was out, and they were already recording Hemi-Vision.
“That record stuck around. It’s amazing how that one record made us more friends and influenced more people than I can count.”
When the Allman Brothers came to Toronto, they sent someone looking for the “Ride Like Hell” guys to get them to the attend the show and hang out. The same happened with Gov’t Mule, The Black Crowes, and Double Trouble (Stevie Ray Vaughan’s band).
Gordie heard from the manager of ZZ TOP that he invited the boys to listen to Five Hundred Pounds and asked: “What are we doing wrong? How come these young guys are doing this? We need to be doing this!”
Gordie is still in disbelief that all this happened, but it did.
FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS TOUR
The tour will have a theatre setting, which will bring with it a different esthetic.
“It’s certainly a more dynamic show. It’s not just pedal to the metal from the first song.”
The band get to play the album with the filter of experience & maturity.
The first set will be dedicated to Five Hundred Pounds, while the second set will be a compilation of all the other hits and deep cuts in their catalogue. The theatre setting allows for a better curation of songs than that of an outdoor show or a festival.
“It’s like the first part of the movie is in black and white and the second half is in color.”
To hold the audience’s attention for such a long gig is a challenge the band accepted.
“If you have seen us before…you haven’t seen this.”
Gordie is joined by a younger band, which keeps him on his toes. “We have 3 generations of Big Sugar.”
The band has come full circle, back to the origins of a power trio which “allows for a more wide-open interpretation of Big Sugar.” It allows them to improvise, and take advantage of all 3 vocalists. “We can use the vocals as a fourth instrument.”
The tour started on February 27th, in Red Deer and ends in Huntsville on March 30th 2024
The band aims to make it to Montreal “more than once a year to reestablish a foothold in Quebec.”
Fantasy Rock Band
At this point in the interview, I sometimes get my guest to choose members, dead or alive, to form their fantasy rock band.
Gordie respectfully approaches music from a different perspective than a music fan.
“To me, my great fantasy bands have already happened. Rush. Those three guys doing what they did, when they did it…boggles the mind.”
Gordie would never break up the band, by plucking Geddy Lee and placing him in another band.
ZZ Top in the 70s, as Gordie makes the gesture of his mind being blow away.
Black Sabbath: Master of Reality. “I don’t see how to make that a better fantasy record than it is.”
Those works of art are singular in imagination and the way they communicated.
Remembering that moment between Warren Hayes and Billy Gibbons, Gordie ends with: “My fantasy bucket is pretty full!”
Don’t miss out on heard this legendary album played live in a theatre setting. Also, look out for Gordie as he rekindles his love of West Indies culture and food at some Roti spot, and searches out Italian bakeries and coffee shops.
TICKETS: https://bigsugar.com
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Writer: Randal Wark is a Professional Speaker and MasterMind Facilitator with a passion for live music. You can follow him on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. His Podcast RockStar Today helps musicians quit their day jobs with out-of-the-box advice from Ted Talk Speakers, Best Selling Authors and other interesting Entrepreneurs and Creatives. He created the Rock Star Today Music Business Jam Session for musicians. Randal is a collector of signed vinyl, cassettes and CDs.
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