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Before Barenaked Ladies, Broken Social Scene and Rush rose from Toronto's music scene, there was Rompin' Ronnie Hawkins, Robbie Robertson and Gordon Lightfoot making a name for themselves on Yonge Street. This three-part documentary reveals the history of how Toronto's main drag became the leading destination for singers, musicians and music fans not only in the city but across Canada as well. It began in the mid-1950s and flourished until the early '70s, and in between such artists as David Clayton-Thomas, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Levon Helm, Led Zeppelin and Jeff Beck performed on Yonge Street. In addition to archival audio and video footage, featured interviewees include Hawkins, Robertson, Lightfoot, music producer Daniel Lanois and festival promoter John Brower.
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E11955-1960
46 min
Rumour has it that in sleepy 1950s Toronto they used to roll up the sidewalks when the sun went down. There was no rock 'n' roll or R&B music until the fateful day when Arkansas wildmen Ronnie Hawkins and Levon Helm pulled up in front of Le Coq d'Or Tavern and unleashed the "devil's music" on unsuspecting Toronto. Travelling back to those colourful days, Part 1 reveals the city's appetite for the popular and rebellious new sounds reaching up from the border. Between the exodus of African American performers like Curley Bridges and Mouse Johnson to Toronto, and Elvis performing at Maple Leaf Gardens, a whole generation of young local performers like Ronnie Robertson and Bobby Dean Blackburn were inspired to begin making their names on the flourishing Yonge Street strip.
E21960-1965
46 min
By the early 1960s, the Toronto music scene spilled into Yorkville. Folk music began to thrive and young performers like Gordon Lightfoot, Ian and Sylvia Tyson, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell found a home. But Yonge Street was still the headquarters of the more raucous, wild rock 'n' roll bands. Part 2 sees Robbie Robertson, and The Hawks, create a distinctive guitar style that became synonymous with the "Toronto" sound. Then, as the Toronto music scene exploded, white bands were soon jamming with black musicians, heavily influenced by R&B and creating a distinct new sound all their own.
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