{"id":54917,"date":"2016-05-09T16:45:41","date_gmt":"2016-05-09T20:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?p=54917"},"modified":"2016-05-10T23:38:06","modified_gmt":"2016-05-11T03:38:06","slug":"yorkville-canadian-music-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/","title":{"rendered":"From folk singers to folklore, 1960s Yorkville lingers"},"content":{"rendered":"

With\u00a0Canadian Music Week taking place just in clubs throughout Toronto, the historic Masonic Temple concert hall on Yonge Street \u2014 which has hosted the likes of Zeppelin and the Stones \u2014 was home to a celebration of the folk music heritage of Yorkville last Friday night. Being unveiled\u00a0were three new plaques from Heritage Toronto: two celebrating historic venues \u2014 the Purple Onion and the Penny Farthing \u2014 and one commemorating Yorkville\u2019s contribution to Canadian music history.<\/p>\n

\u201cYorkville was the birthplace of Canadian song,\u201d said music historian Nicholas Jennings<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s very important that we don\u2019t forget that history.\u201d<\/p>\n

A large crowd gathered in the Temple, filling the lower dance floor (and a large chunk of the upper balcony) to celebrate what was, for many guests, a cause to celebrate their youth. Though many are now older, members of the crowd seemed to embrace age as just a number. Many came dressed in tie-dye, leather jackets, and classic rock band t-shirts; guests shared with each other stories of concerts and dances they attended as teenagers; at one point, the crowded lobby smelled faintly of pot smoke.<\/p>\n

The venues being celebrated \u2014 the Penny Farthing and the Purple Onion, both of which once stood just blocks away from the Masonic Temple \u2014 were important players in Yorkville\u2019s 1960s music scene. The Penny Farthing, founded by John McHugh in 1963, was best known for its backyard swimming pool and bikini-clad waitresses, and was a popular coffee shop for both musicians and their fans. Many classic blues and jazz acts graced its upstairs stage, while folk acts played in the basement (McHugh was not, in fact, a fan of folk music, and at one point banned it from his hi-fi stereo system).<\/p>\n

\"purple<\/p>\n

The Purple Onion, which operated between 1960 and 1966, boasts a more familiar and star-studded lineage: legend has it<\/a> that it was on the Onion\u2019s stage that both Gordon Lightfoot and Carly Simon first played, and it was in the basement that Buffy Sainte-Marie (winner of the 2015 Polaris Music Prize) wrote the classic Vietnam War protest song<\/a> \u201cUniversal Soldier.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much history here,\u201d said Margaret, one of those attending the event. She didn\u2019t grow up in Toronto, having immigrated from China, but has come to love the folk music of the 1960s since moving to Toronto. She was excited that one of her favourites \u2014 Gordon Lightfoot \u2014 was on hand to help celebrate. \u201cI hope Gordon plays,\u201d she said, excitedly. \u201cI hear he plays impromptu sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lightfoot didn\u2019t perform, but did give an entertaining speech about his memories of the Yorkville music scene and how important it was to his own musical career. For Lightfoot, the Yorkville coffee shops were a second home. \u201cWe used to play until your chops were nearly falling off,\u201d he said, pointing to his hands. Lightfoot teased the current state of Yorkville, which he said he doesn\u2019t go back to anymore: \u201cLook at it now!\u201d he said, to a laughing crowd. \u201cGoodness gracious. You can knock out ten million on a condo, easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

City councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam was on hand, and spoke fondly of her memories of the Masonic Temple in the 1990s, recalling her days organizing pro-LGBTQ dances in the venue (called Rhythms of Resistance) and praising Yorkville in general. \u201cThe musical legacy embedded into the DNA of Yorkville is something we\u2019ve all had some experience with,\u201d she said. \u201cFor those of us who didn\u2019t always fit in, you could find your space.\u201d Yorkville, she said, had \u201ca unique vibe that didn\u2019t exist anywhere else in Canada.\u201d Jennings couldn\u2019t resist poking fun at the councillor after this. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t always this way,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was a time when Yorkville wasn\u2019t as popular with City Hall. Joni Mitchell said: \u2018you don\u2019t know what you\u2019ve got \u2018till it\u2019s gone.\u2019\u201d (A photo slideshow, which played as guests filed in, showed pictures from Yorkville\u2019s hippie past, including newspaper headlines like \u201cPolice Beat Up Hippies During Yorkville Raids.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Before closing the night with a performance by Luke & The Apostles \u2014 who got their start at the Purple Onion and went on\u00a0to tour North America and play venues like Maple Leaf Gardens \u2014 Jerry Gray of The Travellers<\/a> led the crowd in a vibrant banjo-and-voice rendition of the classic Canadiana folk song \u2018This Land is Your Land\u2019 \u2014 which, judging by the volume of the crowd, was a clear favourite.<\/p>\n

Yorkville\u2019s days as a hippie haven and folk music mecca may have waned, giving way to luxury condos and high-end department stores, but if the crowd at the Masonic Temple is any indication, the rich history of the area (and its contributions to Canadian musical history) are far from forgotten, and live now in the youthful hearts of the children of the ’60s.<\/p>\n

Top photo courtesy of York University Archives;<\/a><\/em> middle photo courtesy of York University Archives<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With\u00a0Canadian Music Week taking place just in clubs throughout Toronto, the historic Masonic Temple concert hall on Yonge Street \u2014 which has hosted the likes of Zeppelin and the Stones \u2014 was home to a celebration of the folk music heritage of Yorkville last Friday night. Being unveiled\u00a0were three new plaques from Heritage Toronto: twoContinue reading “From folk singers to folklore, 1960s Yorkville lingers”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8304,"featured_media":54923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21758,4,3,24,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-culture","category-events","category-history","category-neighbourhoods"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFrom folk singers to folklore, 1960s Yorkville lingers - Spacing Toronto<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From folk singers to folklore, 1960s Yorkville lingers - Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With\u00a0Canadian Music Week taking place just in clubs throughout Toronto, the historic Masonic Temple concert hall on Yonge Street \u2014 which has hosted the likes of Zeppelin and the Stones \u2014 was home to a celebration of the folk music heritage of Yorkville last Friday night. Being unveiled\u00a0were three new plaques from Heritage Toronto: twoContinue reading "From folk singers to folklore, 1960s Yorkville lingers"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Spacing Toronto\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-05-09T20:45:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-05-11T03:38:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/05\/PNG-Image-2880-\u00d7-1672-pixels-Scaled-44-600x392.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"392\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kieran Delamont\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kieran Delamont\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/\",\"name\":\"From folk singers to folklore, 1960s Yorkville lingers - Spacing Toronto\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/05\/PNG-Image-2880-\u00d7-1672-pixels-Scaled-44.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-09T20:45:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-05-11T03:38:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/9a0e1047f0a46abc8db58768bc1c2261\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/05\/PNG-Image-2880-\u00d7-1672-pixels-Scaled-44.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/05\/PNG-Image-2880-\u00d7-1672-pixels-Scaled-44.png\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1046,\"caption\":\"Yorkville, Penny Farthing\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"From folk singers to folklore, 1960s Yorkville lingers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/\",\"name\":\"Spacing Toronto\",\"description\":\"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Toronto Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/9a0e1047f0a46abc8db58768bc1c2261\",\"name\":\"Kieran Delamont\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4ad1f53d18e8800a9accc6270ca85d60?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4ad1f53d18e8800a9accc6270ca85d60?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kieran Delamont\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/author\/kieran\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"From folk singers to folklore, 1960s Yorkville lingers - Spacing Toronto","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"From folk singers to folklore, 1960s Yorkville lingers - Spacing Toronto","og_description":"With\u00a0Canadian Music Week taking place just in clubs throughout Toronto, the historic Masonic Temple concert hall on Yonge Street \u2014 which has hosted the likes of Zeppelin and the Stones \u2014 was home to a celebration of the folk music heritage of Yorkville last Friday night. Being unveiled\u00a0were three new plaques from Heritage Toronto: twoContinue reading \"From folk singers to folklore, 1960s Yorkville lingers\"","og_url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/","og_site_name":"Spacing Toronto","article_published_time":"2016-05-09T20:45:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-05-11T03:38:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":392,"url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/05\/PNG-Image-2880-\u00d7-1672-pixels-Scaled-44-600x392.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Kieran Delamont","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Spacing","twitter_site":"@Spacing","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kieran Delamont","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/","name":"From folk singers to folklore, 1960s Yorkville lingers - Spacing Toronto","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/05\/PNG-Image-2880-\u00d7-1672-pixels-Scaled-44.png","datePublished":"2016-05-09T20:45:41+00:00","dateModified":"2016-05-11T03:38:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/9a0e1047f0a46abc8db58768bc1c2261"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/05\/PNG-Image-2880-\u00d7-1672-pixels-Scaled-44.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/05\/PNG-Image-2880-\u00d7-1672-pixels-Scaled-44.png","width":1600,"height":1046,"caption":"Yorkville, Penny Farthing"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/09\/yorkville-canadian-music-history\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"From folk singers to folklore, 1960s Yorkville lingers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/","name":"Spacing Toronto","description":"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Toronto Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/9a0e1047f0a46abc8db58768bc1c2261","name":"Kieran Delamont","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4ad1f53d18e8800a9accc6270ca85d60?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4ad1f53d18e8800a9accc6270ca85d60?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Kieran Delamont"},"url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/author\/kieran\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8304"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54917"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54940,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54917\/revisions\/54940"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}