Chapter One

Early 1968-February 1970

Jacob England was in a hurry to get to his hometown of Chatham, New Brunswick. It was six pm on a Friday night in May 1968. He had left Moncton a half hour earlier after spending the week at his current employment with The Bank of Nova Scotia as a Loans Officer. At the rate he was driving he’d be home by 6:45 at the latest…time to drop in to say “Hi” to his folks, grab a quick bite and shower, then head over to the Wing and meet up with the Wee Three, a popular folk trio in the area. Pat Jenkins, one of the members had asked him last night if he might be interested in playing bass guitar in their group, to which Jake had agreed. Pat was a good friend and besides, Jake was looking forward to having some fun after the past week working behind a desk.

The Wee Three consisted of two former High School classmates, Pat Jenkins and Jane Reynolds, plus a third performer whose name was Ignatius (Iggy) Myles. Jake had been introduced to Iggy in February 1968 by Pat, when he was on another one of his frequent weekend visits home. It was then that Jake had first heard the trio and he was impressed with their harmonies. As well, they had a certain rapport with their audience that Jake envied. But it was Iggy’s attitude that he really liked. The guy was cool, and he could capture a crowd with his humor and his musical ability.

Jake’s experience with performing to that point had been limited to playing in a rock band; five guys who put out a good sound, but all they did was play music. There was really not much connection happening with the crowds they entertained, at least not like The Wee Three. So, he was anxious to see how they would sound tonight and frankly, he was looking forward to being part of a group that actually entertained an audience. He was there on the proviso that he could leave the trio at any time if he didn’t see it working out.

They were playing at The RCAFA Wing or simply “The Wing” as it was known to the locals in Chatham. The Wing was a source of entertainment for the serious drinking, youngish well-to-do on “The River.” At least that was how it had evolved from being a watering hole for DND employees at CFB Chatham along with the officers of the Air Force Reserve Cadets after the war. Since then, it had gone downhill due to a lack of funding and now there were only the sons of the officers and various merchants in town who preferred to sit at this bar and expound on their philosophies rather than at more refined centers such as the Miramichi Golf and Country Club or the Officer’s Mess on the Base.

The town of Chatham itself was a relatively small community situated in the northeast section of New Brunswick on the south side of the Miramichi River. It had a population of around 3000 plus the air base personnel. The community would eventually merge in later years with the neighboring town of Newcastle to form Miramichi City. In 1968, however, the area was small, and most people were simple, hardworking, non-sophisticated folk. Not unlike most small towns in Eastern Canada, Chatham exhibited a domination of waspish type people who bored Jake. He thought he was going to be able to leave the small town with its narrow-minded people behind when he was transferred with the bank to Moncton, but he found the same attitudes prevailed in the larger center.

Jacob England had graduated from Chatham High School in the spring of 1964. He was “recruited” that fall by the Bank of Nova Scotia by the accountant at the local branch of the bank who was a son of his father’s friend. This led to Jake’s getting hired into his first real job. While the bank provided Jake with a secure, steady income, he found it to be a boring career. At the time, he was pursuing his main passion in life since his early teens, which was playing bass guitar in a popular local rock group called The Esquires. The fact was, he was making as much, if not more, in the band as he was with the bank. Consequently, he had yet to really take the bank work that serious, giving more of his time and energy to The Esquires. Then, soon after he started working at the bank, Jake was transferred to Moncton, some ninety miles away, and it was necessary for him to exit The Esquires for practical reasons and much to the delight of his parents.

The Wee Three performed folk tunes; stuff by Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, The Kingston Trio, Burl Ives. They were good at what they did but Jake sensed the guys in the trio, particularly Iggy, who he didn’t even know much about, would rather be doing something a bit raunchier. Maybe more along the lines of Donovan or Dylan. Or Arlo Guthry, or even Neil Young. There were some new artists who were playing tunes that were excitingly different. Popular songs were more and more reflecting the attitudes of the youth of the day with lyrics that were sexually suggestive and frequently protested either the war in Vietnam or simply the Establishment. The new wave was finally becoming popular in Canada, and it was leaning more towards Rock, the “Devil’s Music.” Not the 50s style Rock n’ Roll by artists like Chuck Berry and Little Richard, but Rock that was angry, loud, and kicked ass. And Jake couldn’t get enough of it.