Musicians in a group very familiar to North Bay music lovers will be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (CSHF) tonight in Toronto.
Paul Hoffert, Ralph Cole, Bob McBride, and Skip Prokop, songwriting members of Canada’s beloved jazz-rock band Lighthouse will be honoured at the 33rd SOCAN Awards.
BayToday spoke with Lighthouse co-founder Paul Hoffert in 2019. He said success did not come easy, in fact, he was warned by well-known rock manager Albert Grossman he was crazy and would "lose his shirt" touring with a 13 man band.
"Not only am I not going to manage you but you're crazy, you're making a big mistake and I strongly advise you guys to not do this enterprise because you'll just lose your shirts because it's too expensive to tour," Grossman said at the time.
He couldn't have been more wrong about the Toronto band.
See: Fifty years and Lighthouse still a rock beacon
Lighthouse’s brand of free-wheeling, high-spirited jazz-rock-classical fusion took North America by storm starting with their debut in May 1969 at Toronto’s Rock Pile, according to a news release.
"The eclectic group of musicians included co-founders Prokop, who was a member of the psychedelic rock band The Paupers, and Hoffert, who was a classically trained jazz pianist and composer for film and theatre. Along with other members including guitar virtuoso Cole, Lighthouse would bring together their diverse musical backgrounds to form a new band and new sound. McBride, who had studied singing with Johnny Mathis and toured with Ronnie Hawkins, would join Lighthouse in 1970 as lead vocalist."
The late Skip Prokop recalls, “When Lighthouse first went out there, we were doing fusion before we even knew there was a word called ‘fusion."
Fifty years later and their catalogue of hits includes Sunny Days, One Fine Morning, Pretty Lady, Take it Slow (Out in the Country) and Hats Off (To The Stranger).
Regarding Sunny Days, Hoffert told BayToday that Prokop wrote the song and he arranged it.
"My inspiration was the Count Basie Band and the way they played blues piano. When Skip wrote it, he had in his backyard one of those cheap Canadian Tire plastic swimming pools that you inflate and he and his kids used to go into the back yard and he'd sit on his back porch and listen to tunes on the radio and have a beer.
"Just for the record, what he meant when he said 'Sittin' stoned alone in my backyard' was he'd had a couple of beers," explained Hoffert. "Not that it makes a difference one way or another these days. Everyone puts their own ideas into lyrics."
See: The tale of Lighthouse's 'Sunny Days'
“Lighthouse’s contribution to music is immense," said Helen Murphy, CEO of Anthem Entertainment, the presenting partner of the Lighthouse induction. "Spanning over 5=five decades, and still creating extraordinary works we are proud to represent the music of Lighthouse as their publisher and as their label. We are most excited about the future. Congratulations to all of the members of this iconic group, Lighthouse you are still a shining beacon of classic Jazz-Rock-Fusion and will be for years to come.”
"Coming to great places like North Bay means a lot of travel time and the old bones get a little creakier every year, but as soon as we hit the stage and we look out at the audience, man it's fantastic," Hoffert told BayToday. "So certainly, I never thought that I or our music would have such longevity. We're all very thankful for it every day that, how lucky we are that we can go on stage and do what we love and meet great people."
“Lighthouse epitomized the musical liberation movement that came out of Yorkville’s music scene in the late 60s," adds the release. "They grew into a 13-member band which was unheard of at the time, were fearless in combining musical influences in their songwriting, and for taking risks such as incorporating classical instruments like the flute and trombone into a rock sound,” said Nick Fedor, Director, CSHF.
Prokop and Hoffert met by chance when they were seatmates on a flight to Toronto after Prokop’s last performance with The Paupers. Prokop had an idea for a big band with a huge cinematic sound. Being familiar with Hoffert’s reputation as a jazz musician and film composer, Prokop asked if this would be something he might be interested in pursuing, and the rest is history.
Prokop knew the rock scene, and Hoffert knew the classical and jazz scenes, and together they assembled a group of musicians including guitarist Ralph Cole, whose band Thyme had great success throughout his home state of Michigan. The band began performing around Toronto, and quickly gained a loyal fanbase. The band’s success at Carnegie Hall and the Boston Pop Festival led to performances at the Newport and Monterey jazz festivals – the first rock band to do so.
Along the way, Lighthouse issued three albums in quick succession, and the singles Feel So Good and The Chant became their first national hits.
In 1970, New York producer Jimmy Einner, helped steer the band’s writers toward creating the hit songs that have kept Lighthouse on the airwaves for more than 50 years. At the same time, Lighthouse brought in Toronto-born Bob McBride whose distinctive vocals became a hallmark of the Lighthouse sound.
With these changes in direction, the band immediately scored its first Top 10 hit, the classic Hats Off to the Stranger (by Prokop, McBride, and Peter McGraw). Next, Prokop’s celebratory and jazzy, One Fine Morning, charted at No. 2 on RPM and Billboard’s No. 24.
Lighthouse continued its winning streak with JUNO Awards for three years running from 1972 to 1974, plus a JUNO for lead singer Bob McBride. In addition to their four gold albums and platinum-selling 1972 Carnegie Hall live album, they pioneered performances with symphony orchestras, were the only band asked to perform twice at the historic Isle of Wight festival, and collaborated with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet resulting in the first Rock Ballet titled, Ballet High, that swept the nation with standing-room-only performances.
1972’s “Sunny Days” made RPM’s top 10 album chart, its joyful title single reaching Billboard’s No. 34, CHUM’s No. 10, and RPM’s No. 4. Other hit Lighthouse singles included Cole’s Take It Slow, Prokop’s Pretty Lady, and McBride’s and Prokop’s I Just Wanna Be Your Friend.
Five Lighthouse albums have made the Billboard 200 chart
2022 marks 50 years since Sunny Days was released by Lighthouse.
"Although the band dismantled in 1976, Prokop, Hoffert, Cole and McBride would reunite as a 10-piece band in 1992," recalls the release. "However, within a short time, McBride was replaced by Dan Clancy whose unique ability to capture the dynamic Lighthouse sound while maintaining his own style has kept him front and centre for the past 30 years. The current band has had few changes since re-forming."
When Skip Prokop retired in 2014, the band welcomed his son Jamie who is currently on leave. With the retirement this year of Ralph Cole (guitar) and Steve Kennedy (saxes and flute), the Lighthouse family now includes Marc Ganatakos (guitar), Michael Stuart (saxes and flute), Paul DeLong (drums), Doug Moore (bass), Don Paulton (keyboards), Russ Little (trombone), Chris Howells (trumpet), Simon Wallis (saxes and flute) and co-founder Paul Hoffert (keyboards and vibes).
Lighthouse’s 40th anniversary was marked by the release of Forty Years of Sunny Days, a compilation that included 16 classic hits along with a DVD of the current band performing the same hits. A new double-album set will be released next year. (See video below)
While maintaining a touring schedule with Lighthouse, Prokop, Hoffert, Cole and McBride continued to expand their horizons. Cole established a successful jingle production company, produced many artists including Shirley Eikhard and was a sought-after session musician. McBride released several singles, such as the hit Pretty City Lady, and several solo albums one of which went gold before his untimely death in 1998.
Hoffert continued to compose and conduct original music for film and television. His 1979 album “Concerto for Contemporary Violin” won a JUNO Award for best engineering. He established a research centre at York University in the 80s and his expertise in digital copyright law resulted in Faculty positions at Harvard University and the University of Toronto. Hoffert received the Order of Canada in 2004 for his contribution to music and the arts.
And Prokop released several albums including “Smoothside”, which was awarded Jazz Album of the Year at the 2012 Hamilton Music Awards. He was a producer, session player, and radio show host before passing away in 2017.
The band will now have a permanent exhibit inside the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame’s home at the National Music Centre in Calgary, which features a catalogue of inducted songs that fans can listen to, in addition to displays, exclusive artifacts and one-of-a-kind memorabilia celebrating Canada’s greatest songwriters and Inductees.
The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (CSHF) honours and celebrates Canadian songwriters and those who’ve dedicated their lives to the legacy of music and works to educate the public about these achievements. For more information about the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame go to www.cshf.ca.
