Jerry Mercer is a very underrated drummer. This has always been one of my favourites since it was released. If you haven't heard of April Wine, then there are probably a lot of Canadian acts you have been missing out on. RIP Myles.
@@AndrewRooneyDrums triumph is another canadian band (trio) where everyone could play really well and the singers could really sing. the drummer sang lead on some songs too. Triumph - Allied Forces (Video) the drummer sings lead on this one in front of 300 000 people. rik emmett, the usual lead singer, was amazing as a vocalist and guitarist.
@@AndrewRooneyDrumsyup lots actually all comes down to breaking out of the small Canadian market much like yours or your neighbors and that comes down to promotion after that .for instance check out streethearts cover of rolling stones under my thumb and theyre first album .curious on your thoughts on theyre drummer.
On the first day of MTV, April Wine was one of only three groups (along with The Who and Phil Collins) to have five airplays of a single song (Just Between You and Me). For total airplays the day was owned by Rod Stewart and REO Speedwagon. April Wine was still impressive in the list of total airplays for the opening day with the addition of Sign of The Gypsy Queen being played twice. So for total airplays we have: Rod Stewart 16, REO Speedwagon 15, The Pretenders 11, The Who 9, April Wine 7, Split Enz 7. Still a good showing by AW.
April Wine was huge in Canada with dozens of hits from the early 70s on. In the late 70s, early 80s they had some US success and did a European tour where one of their UK stops was recorded for a TV series, Rock Goes to College (Reading University) which can be seen on YT. They are now finally making the rounds of YT reactors with Roller being one of their most popular songs with Jerry Mercer impressive on the drums. They have a wide catalog of great rock tunes but were also noted for having fantastic power ballads like Just Between You and Me
Because Canada has strict rules that Canada must play a large percentage of Canadian content in rotation. Problem is, Canada doesn't have a ton of back catalog compared to most counties and so bands like April Wine are living large with so many songs.
@@robr135 I know what you're saying, but I think April Wine is one of the Canadian bands that would get air time even without CANCON rules. April Wine, Rush, Guess Who, Neil Young...we'd be hearing their music with or without the ridiculous gov. regs.
i remember one time going to the exhibition in a town about a 1/2 hr from us when i was 17 and it seemed every ride i was on was rockin out tunes from this album. i think i enjoyed listen to that as much or more as being on the rides.
April Wine was big on American Classic Rock radio in the late 70's, early 80's, especially with "I Like to Rock!" and "Roller", which are both bangers!! They had a 3 guitarist attack and were great live. Saw them open for Foreigner, New Years Eve night, 1979....they blew Lou Gramm and Foreigner off the stage! April Wine rocked us into 1980 and the new decade.
Rick Beato would dissect the overlapping/layering 6/8 time signature, and the melodic riffage that makes the backbone of the song, my guess. You'd get a 'guitar player's viewpoint' on it. I used to go to sleep at night with an 8-track of "Harder, Faster" playing on my Mom's old family stereo system. My older brother had just got back home in 1981 from the U.S. Navy, and had that album, as well as Led Zepplin 4 & AC/DC 'Highway To Hell'. When not listening to the Led Zeppelin 8-track, was listening to the Deep Purple "Machine Head" 8-track he had, and the previously mentioned April Wine 8-track. The beauty of the 8-track was that they played until you pulled them out. And my younger brother & I just ate up all that music our older brorher brought back from Virginia. Our KISS records rapidly were gathering DUST, within the first week, actually. MUCH better 70s Rock, the 8-track tapes were. April Wine's "Harder, Faster" is BURNED in my memory & heart. No one's vocal qualities were quite like Myles Goodwyn's were. You always 'knew' when he was singing lead on a song. Rest In Peace, Myles. Hope you and Edward Van Halen and Neil Peart are making new music in Heaven.
And all of my fellow Canadian subscribers go "f"n right buds!" I've seen April Wine twice in the early 2000s . Great shows even decades after their prime. April Wine definitely has a dozen or more songs still on Canadian classic rock radio rotation. They were Canadian-exclusive rock royalty on the same level as The Hip, before The Hip formed. RIP Myles and more April Wine!! Crash and Burn for a heavier song or do their cover of King Crimson's 21st Century Schizoid Man. Saw them do that one live and it was amazing!
April Wine was such a versatile band of world class musicians. Say Hello to me has a Beatles, Beach Boys vibe to it, but their rock songs like Sign of the Gypsy Queen, Anything You Want You Got it, Oowatanite, I Like to Rock, Future Tense, Crash and Burn rival KISS, AC/DC, Zeppelin and any other top band. Jerry Mercer the drummer is also right up there with Neil Peart and Jon Bonham.
Hi Andrew, I had the chance to see this group in concert three times in the 70s and 80s at the Montreal Forum, I was never disappointed. Rest in peace Myles Goodwyn
As a former NBer April Wine was my first concert, late 70s, Halifax Metro Centre, opening act was Red Ryder (Tom Cochrane) who hits at the time were Lunatic Fringe and White Hot. April Wine opened with their perennial opener Oowattanite.
April Wine are another great Canadian band that I grew up with. This is one of my favourite songs by them. There is a funny skit from a Canadian show Trailer Park Boys where one of the guys kidnappes Alex Lifeson from Rush. He asks Alex to play " I like to rock" and Alex replies "That's April Wine ". Lots of great April Wine songs to check out Roller I like to rock Sign of the Gypsy Queen Just between you and me. to name a few Cheers 🇨🇦
I wasn't really into that show but my favourite one is Bubbles saying "Lahey will you get the flying f*ck outta the way, we gotta get rush tickets!" And he sings the riff to Limelight as they plow thru garbage.
I AM SO happy you did an April Wine reaction being from Nova Scotia where Myles Goodwin (lead vocals) is from . You should watch a live video when sometimes they have 3 singer harmonies & 3 guitar harmonies as well . The drummer Jerry Mercer is self taught & is known for concert solos & has an amazing version of 21st schizoid man and also has some great interviews talking about overcoming health issues etc . I've seen the band close to 15 times and working in bars have met some of them. Myles will b greatly missed 😢
I was in the womb when this record came out, so it's been a staple of classic rock radio for as long as I remember. I always knew this song was groovy as heck, but never stopped to ask why. Thanks for the breakdown, and the demonstration of overlapping time signatures. Cheers!
I had this album back when I was young, in the early 80s. In addition to singles like this and “I Like to Rock”, the album included a very good cover of “21st Century Schizoid Man”, and was my introduction to the music of King Crimson. (The drumming on that song was phenomenal.)
I was supposed to see April Wine at a local outdoor Show. It stormed so badly that tents were torn up. It got cancelled. Not what I normally listen to, but a great Canadian band.
My high school buddies and I were all over this band back in the day, but have listened to very little of them since. When I saw the title on the thumbnail it clicked for me that it was one of my favorites from them, and when I heard it I remembered why. Don't think my ear was sophisticated enough to recognize the complicated time signature; thanks for explaining it
It was a treat to see this. Back when this song was still pretty new, I had a crack at playing it with a band I was in. I would probably do better today. I was a Montrealer so April Wine had a big impact. I got to see them three time when Jerry Mercer was their drummer. Prior to that, Mercer played in a great band called Mashmakhan. I saw them a few time with Jerry on the kit and prior to that, Jerry was the drummer for a soul band called Trevor Payne and The Triangle. They played at least three times at my high school back in the late sixties. Jerry was one of my first rock stars! I was lucky to meet and chat with him 20 years ago when April Wine played in my current home town, Campbell River B.C. We had a nice chat and trip down memory lane. Awesome drummer. Thanks for the clarity on time signatures for Say Hello.
Thanks so much for getting April Wine on the Channel. They were part of the soundtrack of my youth. Would love to see your reaction to "I like to Rock" by April Wine. I wonder if Drumeo has a transcription for this one.
I've never heard anyone explain the time signatures to this song before. This arrangement has impressed me since I first heard it. Creative. I lived in one of those "border states", Michigan, and AW was quite popular there especially once "Roller" hit the airwaves. You should give a listen to their cover of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man." It's a prog trip.
Big Band in Nova Scotia where that originated from. They use to play at my high school dances. They had me hook, line, and sinker right from the very start. They remain my all time favourite band
I listen to a lot of music reactors on RU-vid and what I have noticed lately is none of them have done any dedications, memorials or played any of April Wine's music since Myles Goodwin's death. He was a big part of the music scene in the 70s so to ignore him like this is unconscionable.
@@AndrewRooneyDrums just FYI, I wasn't referring to you specifically. I was referring to reactors in general and BTW this song doesn't show their hard rock abilities so when you hear more of them you will totally appreciate them even more, especially their drummer ✌their live stuff is cool
I've seen quite a few, especially commemorating Myles' death with Just Between You and Me. Blame the damn algorithms. Years ago i would get all sorts of stuff coming up, now it is just the same stuff being suggested over and over. His obit was in the NY Times so he is not being ignored, you're just not seeing the material, again blame the programming. I don't want to misunderstand your post unless you meant that videos stopped after the videos noting his death of which there were several.
Loved that you reacted to "Say Hello." By the way, there are no keyboards in this song. Its all done guitars. I know its hard to believe but there is no mention any keyboards in the liner notes and April Wine prided themselves as the triple guitar threat.
They headlined in the states in the early 80's. Saw them in Houston as the headliner and also saw them as the opening act for Molly Hatchet. Mercer is a great drummer.
It was recorded at Le Studio in Morin Heights , that location produced a lot of top groups Rush, Police, Brian Adams, Cat Stevens, David Bowie, Celine Dion just a few, sadly le studio was demolished due to neglect.
Lol I messed up. I sent another message to correct it but I guess he didnt see it before making the video. Oh well. Still a great reaction. Glad he dug it!
Now that was a proper reaction. Thank you so much for the lesson in timing. I Personally never knew how to count this song out. Saw April Wine on the Harder Faster tour, and trust me they are just as good live as they are on vinyl. rip Myles I remember him talking about how hard it was for the band. Everyone see's the shows , the finished product. It was hard economically for this Canadian group. In between records and touring. The bill's still had to be paid was what I believe he was getting at. Thank you for doing this video.
I'm a good 'ole Canadian boy of the right vintage to have seen them many times but alas, I've only seen them once and it wasn't with Billy Mercer on drums. It was the new guy (sorry, forgot his name) but still a great concert in an outdoor setting in Port Colborne southwest of Niagara Falls. For those outside of Canada you should treat yourself to some music you've probably never heard but will enjoy enormously.
Gerry Mercer is fricken BEAST!!!! and an maybe one of the hardest hitters ever ! first drummer i ever saw and was a huge influence on the young me, back in the mid 70's. Got to meet him in the mid-late eighties , and WOW what a super nice guy! here he is in his 60's still killing it with a very entertaining solo ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-sIiDtvoOeiY.htmlsi=aDUFWYAUc9lgiN2H
First band I ever saw live . Nature of the Beast tour . Absolutely wicked , played 2 or 3 ballads the rest were all kickass hard rockers . Jerry,s drum solo was a major highlight of the show .
Thank you or the analysis. I've always loved this song and band. I'm surprised that I didn't hear the word "polyrhythm" in this clip. The 6/8 over 4/4 puzzled me for years because I was trying to count the band as one unit. The production and mix of this record is also superb.
GREAT reaction to the favorite band of my teenage years!! Is it a 6/8 or 6/4 feel?? Seems like 6/4 might be more accurate, but then again - I'm not a drummer! 😂 You REALLY should check out their cover of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man" from the same 1979 album Harder... Faster. You will be blown away and fully appreciate Jerry Mercer's drumming skills and his ability to play odd time signatures. He was an absolute monster player - and his drum solos were a highlight of every April Wine concert. I saw many of them from 1978 onward. Thanks again!
This album came out in 1979 and also had "I like to Rock" where at the end of the song they break into Day Tripper/Satisfaction...if it is drums check out "I like to rock" live Ceder Rapids 1982..you will be impressed...I am a drummer myself and consider Jerry Mercer (from NFLD) the most underrated drummer of all time ...Sign of the Gypsy Queen and Just Between You and Me can be found on Nature of the Beast...
I think I have it figured as 3/4 but I wanted to see what you said. Jerry Mercer is such a great drummer! April Wine did just about everything … primarily Pop, and Hard Rock, but also flirted with Progressive, Punk, New Wave and others… and they did it all SO WELL! Another song that is over too quick. Oowatanite is also like this … 4/4, but then its not. Also Black Dog has Bonham on a different time signature as the rest of the band. PS that video was hilarious! Lol
Bought this on cassette (Harder Faster), back in the day, wore it out in 6 months. Even back then (1980s) nobody heard of them. Lot of good songs on this one.
SOMEhow, wayyy back when I first started my channel, I ended up with that video, I Like To Rock, on my channel. Its still there and has a TON of views… and they let it stay there. *shrug*
I saw this band live several times back in the day, great live. For some reason I have this idea of The Warning covering " Sign of the Gypsy Queen", I actually gave that cd to Lalo at the Cancun show to give to Dany. I thought they might dig it. I could be completely wrong....but what the hell. lol
Hey ! , Woow , that is somethin'. and you're not making a fool of youself , you are (and thank you) teaching me/us , to listen I have trouble knowing how to count the beat , but now , maybe , it'll be a bit easier so thanks everyone. P.S. that's why I'm not a playing musicion , Do love to hear(t) it tho'.
Always love to watch a new listener ,trying to get their head Bob on but they can't find a signature to go off of they all make the what the f#ck face!