Expedition to Earth | Interview | Lost Canadian 60’s Fuzz

The Expedition to Earth was a Winnipeg based band that released a psych fuzz single 45, ‘Expedition To Earth’ / ‘Time Time Time’ in 1968.

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The single was released on Franklin Records founded by booking agent Frank Wiener mainly for promotion of bands he booked through his Hungry I agency. The band consisted of Gail Bowen (vocals), Bernie “Barnes” Barsky (vocals), Dave “Wavey” Mitchell (percussion), Brian “Mother” Levin (bass), Dan “Boone” Norton (guitar).

“I liked to push the boundaries of sound”

Where and when did you grow up?

Dan “Boone” Norton: The story of my life began in the small village of Crystal City, Manitoba Canada. Located in southern Manitoba about 9 miles north of the USA border. The year 1947 was my first appearance on the planet and needless to say not much happened until age three. My first recollection of being introduced to live music was when my grandmother took me to listen to my uncle rehearsing with his band. I “liked that noise.” My sister Alayne, 3 ½ years older, started piano lessons that year (it was what kids did in those days). One year after Alayne started piano lessons my mother came into the music room to listen to her practising and found me teaching her the lessons. I guess that was the turning moment in music for me. I started piano lessons that year at age four. To this day I still have fond memories of the time I spent learning piano and never regretted a minute of learning my favorite composers Bach, Greig, Tchaikovsky. Listening to Glen Gould play Bach was mesmerizing and would play a role in my life at a later date. Seven years of piano lessons later I ran out of local teachers, a definite disadvantage of living in a small town. The music festivals were part of what you participated in and being so young when I started I never realized that there was a term called “Stage Fright.” Nobody told me you were supposed to have anxiety when you performed in front of an audience so I never thought about it.

What was your first instrument?

Two years later, after much persuasion, my parents bought me my first guitar. I was “hooked.” An instrument you could carry around with you. It was an acoustic Silvertone guitar and with me being a somewhat precocious child and inventive I converted an old radio into an amplifier and bought a crystal style pick up. Voila… I was now electrified.

What bands were you a member of prior to the formation of The Expedition to Earth?

Another local boy “Lloyd” and I got together and with a couple of older guys from a neighboring town formed our first band. The Chromatics. Our first gig was August 15, 1962. The music we played was mostly copying The Ventures and The Shadows with a couple of tunes I wrote and a few standards of the time ‘Johnny B. Goode’ et cetera. Changes were coming.

A few months later Lloyd’s brother Ron joined us on bass, and Bob Leslie from the next town over, Pilot Mound, joined us on drums. Bob Werry joined us on vocals and The Fanthoms was formed.

This band developed a following over the next three years that is still being remembered today. We played in most of the surrounding towns, Pilot Mound, Manitou, Darlingford, Holland, Baldur, Crystal City, Belmont, Killarney. We used to rent the local halls and charge 75 cents or 1 dollar admission.

We usually played two nights per weekend with an occasional Sunday Midnighter thrown in. Musical influences at this time were The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Paul Revere & the Raiders, The Dave Clark Five, Herman’s Hermits, The Safaris, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly. 1965 saw me moving to Winnipeg, a much bigger city, where I met a young drummer Dave Mitchell. We formed a band called Squatters Rights with Bernie Barsky on vocals and Jock Campbell on bass. I think we played one gig or maybe two then everyone went their own ways.

Can you elaborate the formation of The Expedition to Earth?

I was teaching guitar at a music shop on Pembina Hwy, when I heard from Dave Mitchell again. He said he was in a band but they needed a guitar player with a good PA system and would I be interested. Why not as I was not playing permanently with anyone. We went to meet the rest of the band and there was Bernie Barsky and a bass player called Brian Levin. The Expedition to Earth was born. The name came from Bernie borrowing it from a novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

 

What sort of venues did you play?

The first gig we played was a benefit in Gimli Manitoba. The next one was a nurses Residence in Winnipeg. Both gigs went well and the band was accepted as a legitimate rock group from Winnipeg. We went to the Hungry I Agency run by Frank Weiner and were put to work immediately. The major influences then were The Animals, Steppenwolf, Cream, The Rolling Stones, The Paupers, Jimi Hendrix and Deep Purple. Around this time Frank gave us a call and said he had a female vocalist by the name of Gail Bowen that he would like to place with our group. This was accepted immediately and our playlist extended to include Jefferson Airplane, Sam and Dave, Wilson Pickett, and Traffic with Stevie Winwood.

We played one-night stands in places like “J’s Discotheque” and a place called “Lipsett Hall” in Winnipeg and then out on the road to dance halls in Canora, Yorkton and Togo Saskatchewan, then on to Russell and Brandon, Manitoba and Kenora and Red Lake Ontario.

How did you get signed to Franklin Records?

Our manager at the time was Ted Carrol and he decided that I should write two songs for the group and that we would then record them at CKRC radio station with Harry Taylor as Sound Engineer. The two songs were ‘The Expedition to Earth’ and ‘Time Time Time’.

Our Booking Agent had his record label Franklin Records, he had a deal with London records for distribution, and the rest is history except for one amusing story of the recording session. Our manager wasn’t in his happy place during my guitar tracks. He said it didn’t sound like we did during rehearsal. After 3 or 4 attempts he asked me to lie down on the floor and put my head up on the speaker and try it again. Bingo. Apparently that was how I used to practice it. One take and done. Go figure.

We had one rule. Learn the music and songs but change them enough to make the sound our own. We were basically a three instrument group as Bernie would usually be playing with his amp on stand-by during our live performances. Very tricky when you’re copying the album cut of ‘Sky Pilot’ or ‘Monterey’ by The Animals. Our full sound was accomplished by using two separate amplifiers and a Y cord to both. My second amp also had a semi-hollow body plugged in and cranked up to enable me to get a droning sympathetic vibration. At a louder volume the harmonics played a monster role all controlled from the volume switch on my guitar. No special effects pedals.

Looking back, what was the highlight of your time in the band?

The highlight of my time with the band was every rehearsal and every gig. One really exceptional gig was in a dance hall in Canora, Saskatchewan. We had played out there quite a few times and had developed a terrific following but this particular night finishing up our second of three sets we played the tune ‘Monterey’ by The Animals.

As the last chord of the song rang out there was not one sound. You could hear my pick hit the stage. 600 or so people crowded into a hall supposed to hold no more than 300. 15 seconds is an eternity. Then 1 person started to clap, then 2 then 4 then the whole place exploded. Absolutely mind blowing.

The one question that gets asked “Did we partake in LSD or any other psychoactive drugs”? The answer is NO. Although the “B” side ‘Time Time Time’ is noted for the wild psychedelic guitar solos as symbolizing the times both sides were written as an experiment in sound. I liked to push the boundaries of sound but it wouldn’t have been possible without Brian Levin on bass and Dave Mitchell on drums. As a band…we meshed.

What happened to the band?

The Expedition to Earth lost our male lead singer Bernie who moved to Toronto and was replaced with a vocalist from Edmonton, Alberta Gerry Dayle in late 1969. The band consequently moved to Edmonton and after a short while changed not only the name but the style of music. With that my time with the band was over and I went back to Winnipeg to form another group. My new group The Seventh House was formed consisting of five musicians and three front people.

Are you still in touch with members?

Fast forward. Yes I’m still in touch with all members of The Expedition to Earth on a regular basis. You just can’t have a history like we had and not still be close friends years later. There are two of us still active in the music scene performing and recording. Dalannah Gail Bowen and myself.

We actually got together in August 2012 and recorded a song I wrote called ‘Fallen Angel’. Just Dalannah Gail Bowen, myself and John Zibin the sound engineer at Zib City Studio. This was the last recording of the original members of The Expedition to Earth.

In 2017 I recorded a CD with Darcie Lee on vocals and a couple of musicians from Winnipeg. (Greg Gardner, Kerry Hannah), titled ‘Here I Am’. New material now is ready for the studio and we will be releasing it this time on vinyl, probably in Europe first, although some copies may become available in Canada and the United States for our special friends and fans.

Thank you for taking your time. Last word is yours.

Reflecting back, I never did stop writing music and lyrics even when life changes occurred and I felt I had to step back from performing. Now in the last few years I have the time to pursue a lifelong passion thanks to The Expedition to Earth’s 45 record and all the people, fans, friends, and complete strangers that propelled the record to one of the most expensive psychedelic collectables in Canada. I thank you all and if I get the chance to perform live for you it will be my pleasure to do so. Until then… Keep on dancing. Tour season is starting so you never know.

Klemen Breznikar

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