Rayquiem For A Soul Man
R.I.P
Russell Mar : 1940 - 2010
Russell
Mar went on ahead on Dec 19, 2010. R&B/Soul Music fans in Vancouver may remember
him as the owner of Heart & Soul Records on Commercial Drive near 1st
Avenue. He was a key part of the then burgeoning Soul scene in Vancouver and
something of a R&B Godfather catering almost exclusively to fans of that
genre as well as Blues and Jazz.
It
was to his store that we mid-teens made a weekly pilgrimage so we could hear
the newest R&B records released that week, make our choice and buy them;
that’s how we heard our music, as radio didn’t play much of it and Bill Reiter
would later change that.
In addition to
the American records he also supported the local bands when they scratched
enuff bread together to make one, and now & then they would drop by the
shop and you could chat them up, we all supported each other. If anyone speaks
to any of the surviving scenesters from that period, I’m sure they would have
some stories to tell and many a kind word.
Russell
also supported me; he was key in sending me around the various record labels
and distributors, resulting in my eventual hiring (TPC/Quality to start and RCA/BMG to finish) for a fairly
successful 38 year career, and all because I liked R&B, and for that, I am
grateful.
When
Russell started Heart & Soul Records, Vancouver was what’s called in Radio
parlance, a ‘Vanilla Market’ meaning White people that liked Black music, and
went to venues like the Elegant Parlour, and the Blues Palace among others, and
when the next generation of Hearts & Souls came along this expanded to
include Community Centres and High Schools, and who could forget that bastion
of Soul, The Grooveyard in New Westminster, BC for weekend dances as a new generation of
players emerged and honed their craft on records they heard and bought at
Russell’s store.
Around
that time, another Record Funky, named Bill Reiter stepped into the spotlight
opening his own Soul Center ‘Bill & Bob’s’ which was at the gateway to
Chinatown and was arguably the world’s smallest record store; we would troop
down there on Sundays and I stop at saying we stood shoulder to shoulder unless
we did it sideways as there was NO room, the store being barely 3 feet wide.
Bob would serve up his version of new Soul music treats and we would meet the
musicians that made the local music. Bill would sit in with some bands (being
the original Easter Ham) under the name of Fatback Cain.
Bill
then took the next step R&B fans had been yearning for as he got his own
Radio show on then CKLG-FM, (now The Fox) and I still remember the great
anticipation we all felt the Saturday he went on air as we had all gathered at
my friend John Pearson‘s (R&B All-Stars) house to listen and be
collectively Gobsmacked when the organ intro to Dale Lewis `Little Green Thing`
came blasting thru the speakers...it was Manna from Heaven!
Then
the music changed and Heart & Soul was gone, Bill & Bobs closed and
Bill went on to other things; one being his recording and tribute to Jim Thorpe
All American Ìnjun Jim`s Blues` via Quality Records then later with Dr
Bundolo`s Pandemonium Show album on RCA (with Norm Grohmann among others), both
deals I had a hand a hand in securing. There was more Yeti in the future for
Bill but you have to beer with me while I return to the subject at hand.
For
my part I am grateful for the opportunity afforded me with the help and
direction of Russell and working with and loving the music; one thing leads to
another and I just wanted to take a musical moment to Raymind people that
Russell was here and left his mark, with all his Heart & Soul.
Ray
Ramsay
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