XXXIII (Reunited We Stand) 2/10/23. (32)

Download PDF

Things were going well; the ratings for “Class FM” exploded, which meant my client list was growing, so I partnered up with my brother Reg to try and keep up with all the action.
Even though I was too busy to do so, some twenty years after leaving, The Jury, I returned to Winnipeg for a band reunion.

John Einerson had written a book called “Shakin All Over,” which was all about all the bands in Winnipeg from the ’60s.
John’s book was so popular that they reunited those bands for a charity concert at the Winnipeg Convention Center.

Who would have dreamed way back then that any of us would release records, let alone become world stars?
Not only hadn’t I touched my guitar in twenty years, but I also hadn’t seen any of my bandmates, so I was looking forward to hanging out with them.

It is said that life is measured by its breathless moments, and as my plane began its descent to Winnipeg over the Golden Boy, I remembered that I had more than my fair share of them in my band days.

 When I was asked by customs what the purpose of my visit was, and I answered, ” I’m here for a band reunion,” they all broke into big grins and said, “Welcome home, Mr. Johns; the whole town is very buzzed about the show, and we’ll be there.”

After dumping my stuff at the hotel, I headed out to Transcona to pick up my old friend Rolly Blaquiere who, along with me, was a  founding member of The Jury.
Rolly, it turned out, wasn’t excited about the reunion because, I guess, after I left the band, there’d been more than a few incidents, and apparently, the scars hadn’t healed.

When we arrived at the Convention Center, Rolly wandered off to hook up with some other band guys he’d partied with in the old days.
I looked around for Terry, Bruce, and Ray, and when I finally found them, they presented me with a satin Jury jacket which was very cool.

The backstage area was like a scene from a rock movie, Neil Young was hugging his old bandmates from the Squires, Randy Bachman was chatting with Chad Allen about the early days of The Guess Who, and Burton Cummings was laughing it up with his old band, the Devrons.

When I met John Einarson, whose book had inspired the reunion, he surprised me by saying that he’d bought The Jury’s first record, “Until You Do,” just so he could learn to play Terry’s guitar intro.

You haven’t lived until you see Bachman Turner Cummings & Young do a 20-minute version of “American Woman.”
Standing there watching Randy and Neil trading guitar licks made me glad I’d put my guitar down so I wouldn’t have to embarrass myself tonight. Unfortunately, as it turned out, that wasn’t the case.

When it came time for the Jury’s appearance, I’d moved up to the side of the stage so I could at least offer up my old bandmates some moral support.
Suddenly, from out of nowhere, Randy and Burton strap a Strat on me, and as they push me out onto the stage, they yell, “It’s not the Jury if George Johns ain’t with them.”

You can’t imagine how horrified I was. Not only was I on stage in front of a sold-out crowd, a bunch of TV cameras were staring at me.
Standing there, petrified, I told a stagehand that if he valued his life, he would leave me unplugged.

As scary as all this was, it became even more frightening when I heard, “Ladies and Gentlemen, let’s give it up for Winnipeg’s Jury.”

10440929_10152873864909307_8903415056014132354_n-1When Terry kicked into the intro of “Until You Do,” the years melted away, and just like that, it all came back.
Mark Knopfler got it right when he sang “Guitar George Knows All The Chords,” because I sure did that night.

Later, as I walked off the stage for the last time, I remember thinking about how appropriate it was.
Some thirty tears before I was unplugged the night I’d begun my musical career, and now it had just ended the same way. Perfect!

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *