The Revols
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The Revols are a Stratford, Ontario band formed in 1957, Richard Manuel (piano), Doug Rhodes (vocals), John Winkler (Drums), John Till (guitar), Ken Kalmusky (bass). Fourteen- and fifteen-year-old kids at the time, they were shortly adopted by Ronnie Hawkins, and together, and individually, paved international music history in the years to come.
The band started in 1957, in Ken Kalmusky's parents' basement, on Queen St. in Stratford. They performed the very first songs Richard Manuel ever wrote, and were invited into the studio to record "My Eternal Love", Richard Manuel's first original.
As The Revols gained popularity in the Ontario area, one of their first gigs was opening for Ronnie Hawkins in Port Dover, Ontario. According to Levon Helm's book "This Wheel's on Fire" on page 87, the next time Ronnie Hawkins came to Stratford, The Revols were on the bill, "following" Hawkins.
When The Revols came on, Richard sang Ray Charles's "Georgia On My Mind", and brought the house down. That did it, as far as The Hawk was concerned, rather than compete with The Revols, He hired em.
John Till, who was 15 at the time, was reluctant to quit school and was replaced by Garth Picot of Goderich. Dave Mickie aka David Marsden, another Stratford native, joined as the band's manager. The Revols, working for Ronnie Hawkins, went to Fayetteville, Arkansas, and played a house gig at The Hawk's club.
Soon The Revols returned to Stratford, re-united with guitarist John Till. They became "The Fab Four" – the "Original" Fab Four.
They had their own weekly television show on CHCH-TV. When they opened for The Rolling Stones at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, The Toronto Star put "The Fab Four's" picture in the ad, and not The Rolling Stones. Ken Kalmusky stated in an interview with The Beacon Herald in Stratford, "They thought we were The Beatles, Girls were diving at the car, piling on, as we were driving out of the stadium". In fact, the picture the Toronto Star ran (see photo to right) did in fact look a whole lot like the Beatles. Later that year The Beatles nickname became "The Fab Four". Some authors, and articles, over the last few decades, have cited this story, referencing the parallels, and stating "Could 5 boys from Stratford, Ontario really influence the nickname of the Beatles?"
John Till, Ken Kalmusky, and Richard Manuel all left The Revols, The Fab Four, and Stratford behind, to be full-time "Hawks" in Ronnie Hawkins' band.
Ronnie Hawkins' band was famously picked clean by Albert Grossman (manager for Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, and Ian & Sylvia) The first to be plucked out was Richard Manuel, by Bob Dylan, and later to form famous roots rock band "The Band". The second to be plucked out to New York City, by Albert Grossman, was Ken Kalmusky, who subsequently ended up playing bass with Ian & Sylvia, The Great Speckled Bird, Todd Rundgren, Jerry Reed, and many others. And lastly, in 1969, the Summer of Love, John Till joined what ended up being Janis Joplin's last band.
All three original members of The Revols re-united at The Stratford Festival Theater, for two sold-out "The Band Reunion Shows." Shortly after that, both John Till and Ken Kalmusky were seen on the cover of People Magazine, alongside of life-long friend Levon Helm and brother Philbert, carrying Richard's casket out of the funeral service, after Richard's death on March 4, 1986.
3 of the original Revols, John Till, Richard Manuel, and Ken Kalmusky, can be seen in the recently released movie "The Festival Express".
Recently, the original Revols' reel to reel recording from 1958 of Richard Manuel's first original song ever written, "Eternal Love", was taken to famous Toronto engineer / producer, Peter Moore (Bruce Coburn, The Cowboy Junkies) where it's been re-mastered, and is slated to come out on a Capitol Records forthcoming box set Levon and The Hawks *The early years*.
The Revols have been noted in People Magazine, written about extensively in Levon Helm's novel This Wheel's on Fire, Nicholas Jennings' Before The Gold Rush, and Barney Hoskyns' Across the Great Divide.
[edit] Photo gallery
 The Revols in 1957 |
 The Revols in 1958 |
 Barney Hoskyns novel Across The Great Divide |
 Richard, Ken, John from the Revols at The Band's Studio in Woodstock New York 1984 |
 The Revols "Hudsons Mens Wear Ad" 1958 |
 The Fab Four TV Show |
 Fab Four Concert Ticket |
 The Revols as well as the original "The Band" re-unite in concert in 1984 at The Stratford Festival |
[edit] References
- Helm, Levon (2000). This Wheel's on Fire. New York: William Morrow And Company, 87-88, 105, 218, 293-294. ISBN 1-55652-405-6.
- Hoskyns, Barney (1993). Across The Great Divide. New York: Hyperion, 20, 64-5, 383. ISBN 0-7868-8027-9.
- Jennings, Nicholas (1997). Before the GOLD RUSH. Toronto: the Penguin Group, 176, 223. ISBN 0-670-87381-0.
