From left to right:
Joan Harvey, Ken Lennon, Ron Hicks, Bob Grant, Lenny Brand
Get used to those fab jackets, they're coming up a few more times :-)
Welcome to the only site online showcasing my parents' band, the Juno Award nominated The Four Ways. Well, somebody had to do it! What follows are pictures (click on any image to enlarge it), memories and, most importantly, sound files from their years together as a country/pop show band (so called as they performed comedy routines along with their vast repertoire of songs).
Scan down with me now as we re-live those golden days.
Publicity shot taken in Bangkok, Thailand, 1967
The first version of the band
Left to right: Jeff, Ken Lennon, Ron Hicks, Bob Grant, Joan Harvey (seated)
A more candid shot taken the same day
Left to right: Joan Harvey (on the horse)
Jeff (holding the horse), Ken Lennon, Ron Hicks
It all started in Australia in the early '60s, when my mother was a solo singer (coming in second in the talent contest that launched Olivia Newton-John's career) and my father left the British police force to pick up a bass guitar for the first time. Over the course of about 20 years, we travelled the world together (the only time I didn't go with them was when they entertained in Vietnam during the war), working everything from one-nighters in bars and high-class nightclubs to two-week gigs on cruise ships.
You'll notice a few of the band members change over the years with my parents being the only full-time members and drummer Ken Lennon hanging with us the longest.
The band did 2 tours of Vietnam, from September to November of '67 and the same time frame in '69. They had to audition for a panel of judges in Saigon beforehand and the average price for a four-piece band at the time was $400 a show. They passed with flying colors and ended up getting $450, or as my Mum recalls, about $150 after the agent got a hold of it! The shows were already half-sold on the basis of being an Australian band, something a bit different for the troops. They never got a chance to work the USO tours with Bob Hope as they usually booked American acts on the bill as opposed to Australian, so they were never asked.
Front: Joan Harvey (with unidentified soldier)
Left to right (possibly): Bob Grant, Ken Lennon, Jeff, Ron Hicks
They were always on stand by for whatever vehicle they could get, usually Hueys or Chinooks, and my mother was terrified of the ones with no doors. She's logged more airtime than anyone I know and still has to have a stiff drink as soon as the airplane's in the air. Travelling by open-air in Vietnam scared the you-know out of her!
She remembers standing on the roof of their agents' villa in Danang and "watching the war" which seemed so close but yet so far away. They spent some time, any R&R they could get, in China Beach and I remember when the TV series of the same name was on how impressed Mum was with the way they portrayed it.
The agent cancelled one gig due to reports of snipers being seen along the route. The agency sent another group in their place, Someone and The Bubble Machine, a group of female singers, the bubble machines were all the rage at the time. They were all killed en route.
Left to right: Ron Hicks (back), Lenny Brand, Ken Lennon, Joan Harvey, Bob Grant
Same line-up as above.
Man, they just loved those snazzy jackets!
They got fed up with the agent's schedule at one point and got lost on purpose somewhere in the central highlands of Vietnam, just wandered around some American camps and played for food and lodgings. They did 2 shows a night for 3 days, handed the hat around after the show or received chickens, powdered milk, potatoes or booze, all delicacies at the time. And the times they played for the take in the hat, they averaged much more than the agent ever gave 'em, that's for sure.
In yet another agent-related tale, the band were all jailed for 72 hours in Bangkok, Thailand and fined 500 baht (about 25 US dollars then) because the agent didn't renew their visas. The "working ladies" in the jail were fascinated by Mum's wig, especially when she took it off and hung it on a coat rack. Wigs were just too much of a luxury for most people then, even the working gals, most of them had never even seen such a thing at the time. One of the cops pulled his gun on it when he entered the room.
One major faux pas which may have caused an international incident occured at an Officer's Club in Thailand. Whenever they did a show at one of these clubs, the VIP tables were marked with a small US flag so Mum (or any performer) knew not to approach that table during one of their routines (she used to scan the crowd to find a "healthy" looking man, as my Mum was not a small woman, and sit on his lap while he helped her sing a song with the band, Rolf Harris' "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport"). So, this one evening, Mum goes into the audience, finds a candidate with no flag on the table, sits down and tries to engage the man in the song. He keeps saying, "No thanks, really, please go away." Most of the time the men would jokingly refuse at first and then join in, but this man made it clear she was to leave and she was getting looks from around the room telling her to back off so she did. After the show, someone apologized for not putting the flag on the table, the man was Captain Ernest Medina, the commanding officer of the unit charged in My Lai. He was on his way to Lieutenant William Calley's court martial. Probably not really in the mood to be singing about kangaroos.
A more harrowing and sobering experience occurred in Dong Ha (sp?), a mere 7 miles from the DMZ. A stage was built in the middle of nowhere and the audience numbered around 400, all of the men dressed in full combat gear. The band arrived via a one-engine helicopter, maybe a Osterdehavilland or Austerdehavilland, I can't be sure as I'm not familiar with 'copters, but it was one that didn't have a radar on board (important to the tale shortly). The show was a rousing success and the men asked if they'd like to stay for a cookout, but the helicopter pilot had been warned of an incoming storm so they had to leave right away. They did receive gifts of fresh chickens and powdered milk, something they hadn't seen in weeks. They departed with a heavy heart, everyone wanted to stick around and enjoy some downtime. With no radar on board, the 'copter had to fly below the gathering storm clouds and follow the coastline back to Danang, flying approx. 200 feet above the China Sea. Long after they landed safely they found out they had about 10 minutes worth of fuel left. Much later, they discovered that the trees surrounding the stage had been full of Vietcong snipers. All during the show they just sat in the trees watching, then opened fire about 15 minutes after the helicopter left. Not one member of the audience survived.
Left to right: Joan Harvey, Ron Hicks (in his witch-doctor get-up),
Bob Grant, Lenny Brand
Yet another snap with those jackets!
Early version of the outfit Dad wore when they performed
"My Boomerang Won't Come Back".
The later, more "classic" version, is here
Mum remembers being in Saigon and meeting some soldiers just back from R&R in Australia, the first ones to go abroad after the Tet Offensive. They were all treated like royalty, she was told, and one black soldier said it was the first time he "forgot I was a black man." Not trying to make trouble here, just passing on memories.
The Americans and Aussies may both speak English, but the Aussie tongue can get in the way sometimes. They arrived on one base hours before showtime and Mum needed a rest so you asked a soldier to have someone "knock me up about 5", meaning to wake her up, of course, you naughty people :-) It was the talk of the base, the boys cracked up over that one.
Boarding a plane to somewhere, love the skinny ties
Bottom to top: Jeff, Ken Lennon, Joan Harvey, Bob Grant, Ron Hicks
They had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner in Takhli, Thailand, the menu alone was an adventure. Mum recalls how strange "pumpkin pie" sounded to her then. A whole pie made out of one vegetable? How odd. The band performed before the meal and enjoyed everyone's company during the meal. That night, one of the soldiers was shot down and, as they'd been instructed, stayed exactly where he landed, a tree. He spent the night hanging in this tree with a broken leg and a broken arm. In the morning's light he saw where he was ... about a foot off the ground. Mum visited the hospital tent the next day and saw him sitting in his cot wearing headphones and listening to a reel-to-reel tape player. He looked up at her and his face lit up. Without saying a word, he removed the headphones and handed them to her. He was listening to the tape someone made of their show from the night before. She's never forgotten how touched she was that this man found some kind of relief and release in her voice. Another soldier she recalls, Captain Irv Levine, who may have been at the dinner, handed my Mum a song called, "Bunker Number 3", and while she loved the song, they never got a chance to use it. It's long gone now and she's always regretted losing it.
Personally, I can vaguely recall another Officer's Club in Thailand where we spent Christmas of 1969 (same time frame when we stayed and the band performed at the spectacular Dusit Thani Hotel in Bangkok, where I spent every waking hour in the fabulous pool ordering fruit plates for lunch at 9 bucks a pop!). An officer gave me a hand-made doll which I dragged around Asia for a while and I sang "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" for the crowd of home-sick men. Not a dry eye in the house, of course, I was just 5 years old at the time and represented all the kids these men had left at home.
Left to right: Bob Grant, Ron Hicks, Joan Harvey, Ken Lennon, Lenny Brand
The only shot I have left of the fab Beatles style suits.
From Vietnam, they travelled to Hong Kong where I was staying with a family friend and they played the Playboy Club in Kowloon, a standing gig they had for a few years. Check my '70s Site page for a pic of me with a Playboy Bunny and my "graduation" picture from the school I attended at the time (it's a classic!). From there they went to Australia to pick up a cruise ship, The Ocean Monarch, where they shared the bill with a bunch of other bands. They ended up doing 2 shows in the 2-week period and I got to revel in a cruise ship's glories but that's another tale along the riverbank.
Soon after this voyage, they opened for The New Seekers, a HUGE gig at the time and later shared the bill in Okinawa with Johnny Cash and Roger Miller. The poor man's gone now (Roger Miller) so we won't mention him falling off his barstool ;-) Just shows how our lives were at the time, one week in Vietnam and the next on a cruise ship. From the ridiculous to the sublime indeed.
Around this time, we attended a wedding at the Cliffside Hotel in Guam, I still have pictures of the gorgeous ice sculpture swans surrounding the pool. On the guestlist, the Marcos', Ferdinand and Imelda. All my Mum recalls is that Imelda changed shoes three times :-)
I logged a lot of miles in this book over the years! It was given out by Qantas to its younger passengers in the '60s and '70s. You could send the book up to the cockpit where the pilot would fill in the details of your trip and then, if you were lucky, he'd invite you to visit the cockpit and check out the view. Try doing that these days, kids, and you'll probaby end up on the FBI's Watch list or something!
Demo record
- The Auctioneer (written by Leroy Van Dyke)
- Early Morning Rain (written by Gordon Lightfoot)
- Mule Skinner Blues (written by Jimmie Rodgers)
- Waltzing Matilda (written by Banjo Paterson and Christina Macpherson)
No sound files available yet, but I'm working on it. I especially want to be able to share "Early Morning Rain" where my mother sings a duet with herself.
From the back of the single:
From "Down Under" - The Four Ways Show
The songs which we have selected for this album are some of the numbers which we have found most popular during our appearances at nightclubs and U.S. military establishments all over Europe and S.E. Asia in the past two years. Our rhythm guitarist, Len Brand, is featured in his version of the all time country favourite, "The Auctioneer". Female vocalist, Joan Harvey, sings a duet with herself in the Canadian folk ballad, "Early Morning Rain", and lead guitarist Bob Grant then joins with Len in the Rusty Draper hit, "Mule Skinner Blues". Finally the whole group including drummer Ken Lennon join Joan in the much requested title track, "Waltzing Matilda".
We trust you will enjoy our selection and we sincerely hope you will have the opportunity of hearing them in person some time in the future.
Our warmest regards,
Ron Hicks
The Four Ways
Cover of a publicity fold-out flyer from the early days
Left to right: Ken Lennon, Lenny Brand, Joan Harvey, Bob Grant, Ron Hicks
Second page of the flyer featuring Joan Harvey, Bob Grant, and Len Brand
(we all called him Little Lenny due to his size)
Third page featuring Ron Hicks and Ken Lennon
And the back page featuring various shots from around the world
Joan Harvey in the back
Left to right: Ron Hicks, Lenny Brand, Ken Lennon
Left to right: Ron Hicks, Joan Harvey, Ken Lennon, Lenny Brand
Left to right: Ken Lennon, Rod Rumble, Joan Harvey, Ron Hicks
In 1972, we landed in Canada. The only album they recorded, "Gettin' Around", was released in 1974 and they were nominated for a Juno (Canada's Grammy) as Country Group or Duo of the Year two years after that. You can search the Juno site for past winners here . The Mercey Brothers won that year (other nominees: The Carlton Showband, The Family Brown, and Bob Murphy & Big Buffalo). But we'll get to that shortly.
Ad for the Tahitian Hut and the Down Under Club in Vancouver, British Columbia
My parents managed this club for a while before moving onto manage The Waltzing Matilda. The music part of their lives didn't stop, they just wanted to expand their horizons while still performing in the club at night. It was in The Waltzing Matilda that actor David Soul of TV's "Starsky and Hutch" fame shot parts of a little movie he made with Ron Moody called Dogpound Shuffle. Some pics from the flick via the David Soul Info-Site:
That's our cheap mirrored wall in the background ...
There's one of our tables ...
And our alleyway, I'm so proud! :-)
Publicity shot taken around the time of the album's release
Note the Boot Records logo in the left-hand corner
Left to right: Ron Hicks, Rod Rumble, Joan Harvey, Ken Lennon
Flyer for a show at the Arts and Culture Center in St. John's, Newfoundland
Al Waxman was the host, Bobby Bare the featured entertainer
One of the last publicity shots taken before Kenny left the band
Left to right: Ken Lennon, Joan Harvey, Rod Rumble, Ron Hicks (seated)
For a time, my father wrote a music column for The Newfoundland Herald. The two following shots were included with his final column.
In his full "My Boomerang Won't Come Back" regalia
Left to right: New drummer Brian Small, Rod Rumble, Ron Hicks, Joan Harvey
Performing at the Irish House in Jackson's Point, Ontario, mid '70s.
Left to right: Ron Hicks, Joan Harvey, Brian Small, Rod Rumble
Live performance for NTV Television, St. John's, Newfoundland, 1975.
Same line-up as above
Gettin' Around
released 1974
Boot Records
Some background info: The cover was originally supposed to be a collage of pictures of the band taken around the world (getting out of a London taxi in England, standing around a rick-shaw in Hong Kong, that kind of thing), but the powers that be at Boot Records decided to go with the above image of an old-time car instead. The picture was taken at the Roadmates Car Club in Mississauga, Ontario.
The following files are all in .mp3 format with the file size in brackets. They were made from the original vinyl album, so do include some snaps, crackles and pops to be expected from the era. Still very good quality, IMHO. Enjoy!
- Four Ways Of Love (3M) written by Rod Rumble
The band's only chart-topper (here in Canada). We no longer have a copy of the chart itself, so I'm not sure how high it went (and it may have been regional to Newfoundland at the time). Any help on this front would be greatly appreciated.
Lead vocals: Joan Harvey.
- Baby Is Gone (3M) written by Jack Clement
Lead vocals: Joan Harvey.
- Loving Her Makes Life A Living Thing (2M) written by Rod Rumble
Lead vocals: Rod Rumble.
- Two Little Boys (3M) written by Edward Madden and Theodore Morse
Aussie Rolf Harris had the bestselling UK single of 1969 with this tune originally written back in 1903. I used to sing it as a lullaby to my son, which is kind of twisted seeing as it's about war! Lovely tune, though.
Lead vocals: Joan Harvey.
- Singing Away My Blues (2.5M) written by Tom C. Connors
The album was recorded on Boot Records, a label formed in 1971 in Toronto by Stompin' Tom Connors and his manager Jury Krytiuk. Part of the recording deal was that you had to cover one of Stompin' Tom's songs and the band chose this peppy tune.
Lead vocals: Joan Harvey.
- Court Of King Caractacus (2.5M) written by Rolf Harris
A real crowd-pleaser at gigs!
Lead vocals: Ron Hicks.
- Wallace The Wobbly Wallaby (3M) written by Rod Rumble
Another local hit and a good example of Rod's fun side.
Lead vocals: Rod Rumble.
- Whiskey On A Sunday (2.5M) written by Glyn Hughes
The Irish Rovers had a hit with this one in 1968. We were friends with the band when we lived in Vancouver and a number of band members attended my parents' wedding.
Lead vocals: Joan Harvey.
- Heartbeat (2.5M) written by Norman Petty and Bob Montgomery
A Buddy Holly hit in 1958.
Lead vocals: Rod Rumble.
- Freedom Come, Freedom Go (2.5M) written by Roger Cook, Roger Greenaway, Albert Hammond, and Mike Hazelwood
The Fortunes went to number 7 on the UK charts with this hit in 1971.
Lead vocals: Rod Rumble.
- The Shelter Of Your Eyes (2.5M) written by Don Williams
Don's first top 20 song in 1972, I always love telling the tale of when our agent asked his permission for the band to record it. He played it for Don (and Johnny Cash, who just happened to be in his office that day) and he said it was written for a man but he really liked my Mum's version. Johnny Cash made a point of giving the agent his card, saying, "if that little lady's ever in Nashville, you tell her to look me up, she has a big future." The agent mentioned the boys in the band would be thrilled to hear this, but Johnny made it clear he didn't want the boys, just her. If only she had pursued this offer, where would we all be now, eh? Personally speaking, it's my favorite song on the album. I think my Mum sounds wonderful on this track.
Lead vocals: Joan Harvey, backed by herself (very high-tech stuff for the time!).
- Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour On The Bedpost Overnight (2M) written by Billy Rose, Marty Blum, and Ernest Breuer
Skiffle king Lonnie Donegan ("My Old Man's A Dustman") hit with this one in 1958. Another crowd favorite, especially when Dad used to swing his hips, "Can you heave it left and right?".
Lead vocals: Ron Hicks with help from drummer Brian Small near the end.
Album liner notes (written by my father):
"HAVE SHOW - WILL TRAVEL"
The Four Ways coined this phrase a few months after the group was formed in North Queensland, Australia back in 1966, and they have been living up to it ever since. During the past few years, the Four Ways have appeared in literally hundreds of cities in over 20 countries throughout the world. Their travels have taken them from the battlefields of Vietnam to the high schools and colleges of Mid-Western U.S.A. - from the plush nightclubs of the Orient to the Working Mens Clubs in the north of England - from the flight deck of a U.S. Air-Sea to a luxury liner cruising the islands of the South Pacific. Different audiences - different tastes - different age groups, but the result has been the same; and the reason that the Four Ways have been able to please so many widely seperated places can be summed up in one word - VERSATILITY. Everyone who has heard them, from elementary school children to old age pensioners and all those in between, have come away with the impression that the show was tailored especially for them. But then, of course, it was.
The fact that the group has travelled so many successful miles and is still together after all these years speaks for itself, but then so does the individual talents of each of the four.
JOAN HARVEY is a lot more than just another female vocalist, and she has often been called the "Australian Mama Cass". Indeed, Joan is built on the same lines as her famous counterpart, and she combines a fine voice with a sharp sense of humor. Joan was born in Sydney, Australia, and is married to the group's bass player Ron. They have one daughter, Rhonda, aged 10. (Note: I remember being extremely ticked as I was actually 11 at the time. Nevermind having my name on an actual album, which is very cool in retrospect.)
ROD RUMBLE plays lead guitar and is the musical brains of the group. He writes his own songs, several of which are used in the show; and he is responsible for all the group's arrangements. Rod was raised on what we now call "50's Rock" and he still sings many of the old favorites, but his fine vocal ability now embraces many of the present pop hits as well. Rod was born in Cairns, Australia and is married with two sons and a baby daughter.
BRIAN SMALL is the group's drummer, and he too adds his vocal ability to the show both with his own songs and as harmony backing for others in the group. He was born in Dundee, Scotland and although he has now lived in many places, including Australia, he still enjoys singing a song or two from the "old country".
RON HICKS plays bass guitar and provides much of the comedy in the show. He has collected comedy songs from all over the world, but still one of the biggest hits in the show is the group's version of "My Boomerang Won't Come Back". Ron dresses as a witch doctor, complete with kangaroo skin, bone necklace, and a genuine boomerang that really does come back.
Four talented people who make up a unique entertainment package called the FOUR WAYS. A happy blend of music, vocal harmony, and comedy put together by four Australians who really mean it when they say HAVE SHOW ---- WILL TRAVEL.
With the release of the album, their fame soared and the touring started to take its toll, especially with the various wives and children now on board. Had they won the Juno, the band might still be together today, but they took the loss as a sign to finally hang it up (at least my mother did, she'd had enough of the road and wanted to concentrate on raising me). On New Year's Eve, 1978, they performed their last gig at the Light in St. John's, Newfoundland.
For a while, my parents managed the building where that last gig occured, a converted lighthouse on the waterfront with three floors: the top floor was rented out for private parties, the middle one was a bar called The Tickle Lounge (soon renovated to become The Anchor Pub, a very popular spot) and the first floor was The Galley Restaurant.
In late 1979, they had a parting of the ways and Mum and I moved to Toronto, while Dad stayed behind and managed another pub over the years (The Rose and Thistle) and kept busy with his various sporting activities. My mother went on to run the head office cafeteria for Extendicare for many years (where I worked for a spell as the mail clerk) before retiring and moving out of town where she now lives with her man, Ray, in a lovely house right on Lake Ontario. She still sings for fun and still knocks 'em dead when she does. My 40th birthday bash in 2004 was made even more memorable for my guests and myself when she did some numbers with our friends The Par Three.
My Mum and Dad reunited in the mid-'90s for a Commonwealth Day gala back at the Arts and Culture Center in St. John's (no band, just a local fella backing them on guitar, a guy named Alan Doyle who was just starting to find his feet with his band, Great Big Sea) and sounded wonderful. It was the first time my father had been on stage in years and he revelled in it. A few years ago, he moved back to Australia and re-married his first wife, Hazel. He's now a happily retired grandfather.
We haven't had contact with Bob Grant for many years, but I know he continued performing as part of a duet with, I believe, his life partner. The last we heard, Lenny Brand had married his girlfriend Sue and moved to Minnesota. They soon ended up running a boarding kennel in Phoenix, Arizona.
Alas, not everyone survived the era for one reason or another. Sadly, Brian Small died of eye cancer approx. 20 years ago now (his widow received a rather large settlement as it turned out the cancer had been caused by environmental conditions, no one has heard from her since, which is a real shame as we had quite a good friendship going back in the day).
I have no news concerning Ken Lennon. All I know is he divorced his wife, left his family and probably spent his remaining years drinking. He was a fun-loving guy, but he never could beat the bottle.
And while he did end up singing and winning awards for his songwriting in Australia for many years after the band broke up, Rod Rumble never did out-run his own personal demons and committed suicide back in 1998.
They were heady days indeed, especially for a kid such as myself that thought all families travelled the globe singing and entertaining. I've seen sights I'll never forget, met people I still love with all my heart, and have many happy memories I love to share. We didn't reach the heights we thought we would, but we had a damn good time trying! I hope you enjoyed this look back at a very important time of my life as much as I've enjoyed sharing it with you.
Tiny Dancer (tinyd@sympatico.ca)
If you have any memories to share, please let me know and I'll be more than happy to add them.
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