Papa Bear`s Medicine Show "Papa Bear`s Medicine Show" 1970 Canada Psych Garage Rock.
Papa Bear’s Medicine Show was a Canadian psychedelic rock band. They were formed in Vancouver, British Columbia and were active from 1966 to 1970.
Papa Bear’s, as they were commonly called, were a good time band that borrowed form previous eras, coming off like a cross between Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks and the New Vaudeville Band. Rhythm guitarist/banjoist Craig Wood was “Papa Bear”. They had some very serious musicians in their ranks, including drummer Kat Hendrickse, who would play on countless sessions and groups coming out of Vancouver, including Tom Northcott and Heart. Organist Robbie King is one of the kingpins in the Vancouver music scenes, with considerable talent on his instrument and as an arranger/producer.
Lead guitarist John Murray played wonderful inventive guitar in a large range of styles. He would start another long playing Vancouver band after leaving Papa Bear’s. Called Weather, they were club regulars in Western Canada for well over a decade.
Their other secret weapon was “The Golden Voice”, or “Den Gyldne Stemme” in his native Danish. He sang European songs and played the accordion and told jokes.
PBMS played all the important gigs, and got to open the show for visiting headliners during their short time (1967-1970 by my memory). They released at least one single on Capitol Records, and did a 4 song EP for CBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. They also released a couple of singles on 6th Avenue Records, the future Mushroom Studios.
Live you could expect a banjo driven "Alabama Bound", a funky "Slo Moshun", or the beautiful ballad "Golden Girl", which was released as a single, and re-recorded for the "Benefit" album.Craig Wood hosted a half hour music-variety show called "Banjo Parlor" in the early 1970s.
There is a limited edition 12" vinyl album released in the late 1990s, but it is very hard (and expensive) to get. I am also lucky enough to have a video clip of the band from around 1968 from their appearance on "Where It's At", a CBC TV show.--- Roger Stomperud, December 2002
Accordion, Vocals – "Den Gyldne Stemme" Henry Bilde
Bass – Lee Taylor
Drums – Kat Hendrikse, Toni Still
Guitar – John Murray
Guitar, Banjo – Craig Wood
Piano, Organ – Robbie King
Vocals – Vic Stewart..
