It was a summer Saturday in 1970, and I was playing with the band J. R. Flood in St. Catharines, Ontario. We were set up on the back of a flatbed trailer on James Street, closed to traffic for a Saturday “whoopee.” The idea was for us to entertain the youngsters, confound the adults, and share a $250 fee. Pictured [referencing a photo included in the original NeilPeart.net post] are the late organist Bob Morrison and guitarist Paul Dickinson, and we had bass guitarist Wally Tomczuk and singer Gary Luciani. I was seventeen.
All of those guys were pivotal in my musical development-each in his own way. Bob as a consummate, consumed artist; Paul as an exacting, disciplined, yet passionate musician; Wally as a solidly-grounded person whose equally grounded bass playing kept my flights of fancy rooted in “real time;” and Gary as a lead singer, lyricist, and front man who somehow managed to leave ego out of that job description (and who was the first singer to sing my lyrics).
JR Flood
late organist - Bob Morrison
guitarist - Paul Dickinson,
bass guitarist - Wally Tomczuk
singer, lyrics - Gary Luciani
drums, lyrics - Neil Peart
01 Retribution
02 Retribution
03 Gypsy
04 Life’s Illusion
05 Come Inside
06 Lost Dreams
07 Rolling Tide
08 Flaming Blackbird
09 Giant Killer (take 6)
10 Polar Bear 9