Chords for Jerry Mercer, April Wine, 2000 Interview
Tempo:
107.35 bpm
Chords used:
A
F#
D#
B
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
Tell me how you got started playing drums.
Well, it's a long story because it goes back about 43 years.
But I was singing in an amateur show.
Just as a stand-up singer, I'd do three or four songs.
There were singers and dancers and magicians and jugglers.
The band that was backing the show left the show to turn professional.
In those days, you couldn't play an amateur show and not be a professional.
So they joined the union and left.
And I just decided, since I knew all the music and I knew all the artists in the show,
I just decided I could play drums for the show.
And I bought a $50 set of drums, a snare drum and a bass drum and a cymbal and a hi-hat.
And I used to sit on a seat with a couple of telephone books.
And I just started playing behind the show, myself and a piano player and a guitar player.
And we backed the show.
And I guess I must have done okay.
They didn't fire me.
And I just played anything, anywhere, anytime, with anybody as much as possible.
I played with musicians.
I was 18 years old.
I was playing with guys that were well over 50 then, playing old-time, you know, like 40s music.
I played Latin.
I played just every kind of music there was as much as possible.
And then all through the 60s, I played R&B.
And then in the late 60s, the group I'd been with went through a transformation into rock and roll.
And we formed MASH McCann.
And at that point, 1970, April Wine came up to Montreal.
And MASH McCann took April Wine and a whole bunch of other acts on the road
on a summer survival tour here in the Maritimes.
We had about eight groups.
We were traveling in five or six cars and a truck, amalgamating all our equipment.
And we had a great time.
And that's where I met Miles and the boys.
And so after that, I was playing with Ellen McElwain and Roy Buchanan.
I recorded and traveled in the States and Europe with him.
And when I got back from Europe with him,
I was down in the States just sort of playing in some bar bands, having some good fun.
And on one of my calls home, I found out that Miles and Jimmy had been trying to reach me
about hooking up with the band, myself and Gary Moffat.
So I came back home and we had a brief period of practice.
And the very first gig we played together, without any stage experience together at all,
was opening for T-Rex and Three Dog Night at the Toronto Scenic Stadium with 20,000 or 30,000 people.
And we didn't know.
We were like a little storm.
We came on stage and we were so hyper, we played everything too fast.
It took us a couple of years to get Toronto back again.
But we learned.
It took us a few months together, but we finally learned how to play together
and start to really develop a new feel.
Because at first, of course, myself and Gary were busy learning the Henman Brothers parts,
you know, Richie and David's parts.
So we were copying everything and playing that.
So by the time we got into Electric Jewels and the Live album,
we were developing our own personalities, we were starting to come into music.
And that meant that the on-stage show was beginning to gel too,
because we were now doing songs that we had recorded.
And the whole thing started to come together like that.
But I just played.
I never studied, I never had a teacher,
but I played anything, anywhere, with anybody, anytime.
I'd load all my drums in my car and drive for an hour and a half
and carried them up two or three flights of stairs to jam with somebody in their living room.
The band is still based out of Quebec, I believe?
Yes, out of Montreal.
Was there ever any temptation to move to the States?
At one point, there was some buzz about maybe we should go to California.
And I'm glad we didn't do that.
Because in the final analysis, once you break out into an international market,
which we did in about 1977, it doesn't matter where you live.
It doesn't matter.
It's just get it together, hit the road.
When you're on the road, you're on the road.
It doesn't matter where you come from.
We traveled all over the States, Canada, and all over Europe.
And it just didn't matter at that point.
We were real happy we stayed at home.
Because I think LA is nuts.
I've been down there a number of [N] times, and it's a crazy place.
I know a while back you had a little bit of a scare.
You were diagnosed with cancer? Oh, yeah.
Yeah, during my 50s, I really didn't get myself checked out medically.
I never really bothered.
I just took my health for granted.
My body has always responded and done what I wanted it to do,
except now it's grown some 60 pounds too much.
But I was getting some weird symptoms, and I went for a check-out in about 1997
and discovered prostate cancer.
So I tried different types of treatments, and I finally wrapped that up.
I guess in May of 1998, I finished the last of my radiation treatments
and other kinds of medicine that I had to take.
And it's not too bad.
So far, each time I've been checked out, it's been clean.
There are some side effects that are still with me from those treatments,
and I don't know whether things will ever get totally back to normal.
But, hey, live with it.
I'm feeling good, and I can deal with those things.
I just thank God every day for being able to earn my living doing what I love to do
because that's a real privilege.
So many people go to work every day and don't like what they do.
And for me, it's just a joy to be able to play.
Yeah, I want to do it to, like, I'd rather wear out than rest out.
You know what I mean?
I know a lot of people consider you one of the top drummers in Canada.
Well, I appreciate that very much.
Like I say, I do what I love to do,
and I think that my love for it is what people feel and respond to
because that's what it is for an artist.
I worked for IBM for 10 years,
so I know what it's like to go in and work every day and punch a card.
I know what the corporate scene is like.
I came to a crossroads where I had to make a choice.
Are you going to stick with this, or are you going to do what you really want to do?
At that time, I didn't have a family or anything,
and I just said, this is it.
Let go of the security blanket and all the perks you get
after working for a good company like IBM
and jump off the bridge into no man's land because that's what music is like.
I mean, you know, it's like this.
At one point when I joined April Wine,
we were all living together in a little farmhouse over on the south shore of the island of Montreal,
and we were drawing about $75 a week
and all traveling in one station wagon loaded to the roof.
You know?
So I've been to both ends of the scale.
We've traveled in [A] Learjets and limousines,
and so we've done it all [F#] from the beginning to the end,
and now we're in a different phase of our career,
and [D#] I'm just very thankful that there are enough fans out there who love us and support us
that, you know, it still works all over Canada and all
Well, it's a long story because it goes back about 43 years.
But I was singing in an amateur show.
Just as a stand-up singer, I'd do three or four songs.
There were singers and dancers and magicians and jugglers.
The band that was backing the show left the show to turn professional.
In those days, you couldn't play an amateur show and not be a professional.
So they joined the union and left.
And I just decided, since I knew all the music and I knew all the artists in the show,
I just decided I could play drums for the show.
And I bought a $50 set of drums, a snare drum and a bass drum and a cymbal and a hi-hat.
And I used to sit on a seat with a couple of telephone books.
And I just started playing behind the show, myself and a piano player and a guitar player.
And we backed the show.
And I guess I must have done okay.
They didn't fire me.
And I just played anything, anywhere, anytime, with anybody as much as possible.
I played with musicians.
I was 18 years old.
I was playing with guys that were well over 50 then, playing old-time, you know, like 40s music.
I played Latin.
I played just every kind of music there was as much as possible.
And then all through the 60s, I played R&B.
And then in the late 60s, the group I'd been with went through a transformation into rock and roll.
And we formed MASH McCann.
And at that point, 1970, April Wine came up to Montreal.
And MASH McCann took April Wine and a whole bunch of other acts on the road
on a summer survival tour here in the Maritimes.
We had about eight groups.
We were traveling in five or six cars and a truck, amalgamating all our equipment.
And we had a great time.
And that's where I met Miles and the boys.
And so after that, I was playing with Ellen McElwain and Roy Buchanan.
I recorded and traveled in the States and Europe with him.
And when I got back from Europe with him,
I was down in the States just sort of playing in some bar bands, having some good fun.
And on one of my calls home, I found out that Miles and Jimmy had been trying to reach me
about hooking up with the band, myself and Gary Moffat.
So I came back home and we had a brief period of practice.
And the very first gig we played together, without any stage experience together at all,
was opening for T-Rex and Three Dog Night at the Toronto Scenic Stadium with 20,000 or 30,000 people.
And we didn't know.
We were like a little storm.
We came on stage and we were so hyper, we played everything too fast.
It took us a couple of years to get Toronto back again.
But we learned.
It took us a few months together, but we finally learned how to play together
and start to really develop a new feel.
Because at first, of course, myself and Gary were busy learning the Henman Brothers parts,
you know, Richie and David's parts.
So we were copying everything and playing that.
So by the time we got into Electric Jewels and the Live album,
we were developing our own personalities, we were starting to come into music.
And that meant that the on-stage show was beginning to gel too,
because we were now doing songs that we had recorded.
And the whole thing started to come together like that.
But I just played.
I never studied, I never had a teacher,
but I played anything, anywhere, with anybody, anytime.
I'd load all my drums in my car and drive for an hour and a half
and carried them up two or three flights of stairs to jam with somebody in their living room.
The band is still based out of Quebec, I believe?
Yes, out of Montreal.
Was there ever any temptation to move to the States?
At one point, there was some buzz about maybe we should go to California.
And I'm glad we didn't do that.
Because in the final analysis, once you break out into an international market,
which we did in about 1977, it doesn't matter where you live.
It doesn't matter.
It's just get it together, hit the road.
When you're on the road, you're on the road.
It doesn't matter where you come from.
We traveled all over the States, Canada, and all over Europe.
And it just didn't matter at that point.
We were real happy we stayed at home.
Because I think LA is nuts.
I've been down there a number of [N] times, and it's a crazy place.
I know a while back you had a little bit of a scare.
You were diagnosed with cancer? Oh, yeah.
Yeah, during my 50s, I really didn't get myself checked out medically.
I never really bothered.
I just took my health for granted.
My body has always responded and done what I wanted it to do,
except now it's grown some 60 pounds too much.
But I was getting some weird symptoms, and I went for a check-out in about 1997
and discovered prostate cancer.
So I tried different types of treatments, and I finally wrapped that up.
I guess in May of 1998, I finished the last of my radiation treatments
and other kinds of medicine that I had to take.
And it's not too bad.
So far, each time I've been checked out, it's been clean.
There are some side effects that are still with me from those treatments,
and I don't know whether things will ever get totally back to normal.
But, hey, live with it.
I'm feeling good, and I can deal with those things.
I just thank God every day for being able to earn my living doing what I love to do
because that's a real privilege.
So many people go to work every day and don't like what they do.
And for me, it's just a joy to be able to play.
Yeah, I want to do it to, like, I'd rather wear out than rest out.
You know what I mean?
I know a lot of people consider you one of the top drummers in Canada.
Well, I appreciate that very much.
Like I say, I do what I love to do,
and I think that my love for it is what people feel and respond to
because that's what it is for an artist.
I worked for IBM for 10 years,
so I know what it's like to go in and work every day and punch a card.
I know what the corporate scene is like.
I came to a crossroads where I had to make a choice.
Are you going to stick with this, or are you going to do what you really want to do?
At that time, I didn't have a family or anything,
and I just said, this is it.
Let go of the security blanket and all the perks you get
after working for a good company like IBM
and jump off the bridge into no man's land because that's what music is like.
I mean, you know, it's like this.
At one point when I joined April Wine,
we were all living together in a little farmhouse over on the south shore of the island of Montreal,
and we were drawing about $75 a week
and all traveling in one station wagon loaded to the roof.
You know?
So I've been to both ends of the scale.
We've traveled in [A] Learjets and limousines,
and so we've done it all [F#] from the beginning to the end,
and now we're in a different phase of our career,
and [D#] I'm just very thankful that there are enough fans out there who love us and support us
that, you know, it still works all over Canada and all
Key:
A
F#
D#
B
A
F#
D#
B
Tell me how you got started playing drums. _ _
Well, it's a long story because it goes back about _ 43 years.
But I was singing in an amateur show.
Just as a stand-up singer, I'd do three or four songs.
There were singers and dancers and magicians and jugglers.
_ The band that was backing the show left the show to turn professional.
In those days, you couldn't play an amateur show and not be a professional.
So they joined the union and left.
And I just decided, since I knew all the music and I knew all the artists in the show,
I just decided I could play drums for the show.
And I bought a $50 set of drums, a snare drum and a bass drum and a cymbal and a hi-hat.
_ And I used to sit on a seat with a couple of telephone books.
And I just started playing behind the show, myself and a piano player and a guitar player.
And we backed the show.
And I guess I must have done okay.
They didn't fire me.
And I just played anything, anywhere, _ anytime, with anybody as much as possible.
I played with musicians.
I was _ 18 years old.
I was playing with guys that were well over 50 then, playing old-time, you know, like 40s music.
I played Latin.
I played just every kind of music there was as much as possible.
And then all through the 60s, I played R&B.
And then in the late 60s, _ the group I'd been with went through a transformation into rock and roll.
And we formed MASH McCann.
_ And at that point, 1970, April Wine came up to Montreal.
And MASH McCann took April Wine and a whole bunch of other acts on the road
on a summer survival tour here in the Maritimes.
We had about eight groups.
We were traveling in five or six cars and a truck, amalgamating all our equipment.
_ And we had a great time.
And that's where I met Miles and the boys.
And so after that, I was playing with Ellen McElwain and Roy Buchanan.
I recorded and traveled in the States and Europe with him.
And when I got back from Europe with him,
I was down in the States just sort of playing in some bar bands, having some good fun.
And on one of my calls home, I found out that Miles and Jimmy had been trying to reach me
about hooking up with the band, myself and Gary Moffat.
So _ I came back home and we had a brief period of practice.
And the very first gig we played together, without any stage experience together at all,
was opening for _ T-Rex and Three Dog Night at the Toronto Scenic Stadium with 20,000 or 30,000 people.
And _ _ we didn't know.
We were like a little storm.
We came on stage and we were so hyper, we played everything too fast.
_ It took us a couple of years to get Toronto back again.
But we learned.
It took us a few months together, but we finally learned how to play together
and start to really develop a new feel.
Because at first, of course, myself and Gary were busy learning the Henman Brothers parts,
you know, Richie and David's parts.
So we were copying everything and playing that.
So by the time we got into Electric Jewels and the Live album,
we were developing our own personalities, we were starting to come into music.
And that meant that the on-stage show was beginning to gel too,
because we were now doing songs that we had recorded.
And the whole thing started to come together like that.
But I just played.
I never studied, I never had a teacher,
but I played anything, anywhere, with anybody, anytime.
I'd load all my drums in my car and drive for an hour and a half
and carried them up two or three flights of stairs to jam with somebody in their living room.
The band is still based out of Quebec, I believe?
Yes, out of Montreal.
Was there ever any temptation to move to the States? _
At one point, there was some buzz about maybe we should go to California.
And I'm glad we didn't do that.
Because in the final analysis, once you break out into _ _ _ an international market,
which we did in about 1977, _ it doesn't matter where you live.
It doesn't matter.
It's just get it together, hit the road.
When you're on the road, you're on the road.
It doesn't matter where you come from.
We traveled all over the States, Canada, and all over Europe. _
And it just didn't matter at that point.
We were real happy we stayed at home.
Because I think LA is nuts.
I've been down there a number of [N] times, and it's a _ crazy place.
_ I know a while back you had a little bit of a scare.
You were diagnosed with cancer? Oh, yeah. _
Yeah, during my 50s, I really didn't get myself checked out medically.
I never really bothered.
I just took my health for granted.
My body has always responded and done what I wanted it to do,
except now it's grown some 60 pounds too much.
But _ I _ was getting some weird symptoms, and I went for a check-out in _ about 1997
and discovered prostate cancer. _ _
So I tried different types of treatments, and I finally wrapped that up.
I guess in May of 1998, I finished the last of my radiation treatments
and other kinds of medicine that I had to take.
_ _ And it's not too bad.
So far, each time I've been checked out, it's been clean.
There are some side effects that _ are still with me from those treatments,
and I don't know whether things will ever get totally back to normal.
But, hey, live with it.
I'm feeling good, and I can deal with those things.
I just thank God every day for being able to earn my living doing what I love to do
because that's a real privilege.
So many people go to work every day and don't like what they do.
And for me, it's just a joy to be able to play.
_ Yeah, I want to do it to, like, I'd rather wear out than rest out.
You know what I mean?
I know a lot of people consider you one of the top drummers in Canada.
Well, I appreciate that very much.
Like I say, I do what I love to do,
and I think that my love for it is what people feel and respond to
because that's what it is for an artist. _
I worked for IBM for 10 years,
so I know what it's like to go in and work every day and punch a card.
_ I know what the corporate scene is like.
_ _ I came to a crossroads where I had to make a choice.
Are you going to stick with this, or are you going to do what you really want to do?
At that time, I didn't have a family or anything,
and _ I just said, this is it.
Let go of the security blanket and all the perks you get
after working for a good company like IBM
_ and jump off the bridge into no man's land because that's what music is like.
I mean, you know, it's like this.
At one point when I joined April Wine,
_ _ we were all living together in a little farmhouse over on the south shore of the island of Montreal,
and we were drawing about $75 a week
and all traveling in one station wagon loaded to the roof.
You know?
_ So I've been to both ends of the scale.
We've traveled in [A] Learjets and limousines,
and so we've done it all [F#] from the beginning to the end,
and now we're in a different phase of our career,
and [D#] I'm just very thankful that there are enough fans out there who love us and support us
that, _ you know, it still works all over Canada and all
Well, it's a long story because it goes back about _ 43 years.
But I was singing in an amateur show.
Just as a stand-up singer, I'd do three or four songs.
There were singers and dancers and magicians and jugglers.
_ The band that was backing the show left the show to turn professional.
In those days, you couldn't play an amateur show and not be a professional.
So they joined the union and left.
And I just decided, since I knew all the music and I knew all the artists in the show,
I just decided I could play drums for the show.
And I bought a $50 set of drums, a snare drum and a bass drum and a cymbal and a hi-hat.
_ And I used to sit on a seat with a couple of telephone books.
And I just started playing behind the show, myself and a piano player and a guitar player.
And we backed the show.
And I guess I must have done okay.
They didn't fire me.
And I just played anything, anywhere, _ anytime, with anybody as much as possible.
I played with musicians.
I was _ 18 years old.
I was playing with guys that were well over 50 then, playing old-time, you know, like 40s music.
I played Latin.
I played just every kind of music there was as much as possible.
And then all through the 60s, I played R&B.
And then in the late 60s, _ the group I'd been with went through a transformation into rock and roll.
And we formed MASH McCann.
_ And at that point, 1970, April Wine came up to Montreal.
And MASH McCann took April Wine and a whole bunch of other acts on the road
on a summer survival tour here in the Maritimes.
We had about eight groups.
We were traveling in five or six cars and a truck, amalgamating all our equipment.
_ And we had a great time.
And that's where I met Miles and the boys.
And so after that, I was playing with Ellen McElwain and Roy Buchanan.
I recorded and traveled in the States and Europe with him.
And when I got back from Europe with him,
I was down in the States just sort of playing in some bar bands, having some good fun.
And on one of my calls home, I found out that Miles and Jimmy had been trying to reach me
about hooking up with the band, myself and Gary Moffat.
So _ I came back home and we had a brief period of practice.
And the very first gig we played together, without any stage experience together at all,
was opening for _ T-Rex and Three Dog Night at the Toronto Scenic Stadium with 20,000 or 30,000 people.
And _ _ we didn't know.
We were like a little storm.
We came on stage and we were so hyper, we played everything too fast.
_ It took us a couple of years to get Toronto back again.
But we learned.
It took us a few months together, but we finally learned how to play together
and start to really develop a new feel.
Because at first, of course, myself and Gary were busy learning the Henman Brothers parts,
you know, Richie and David's parts.
So we were copying everything and playing that.
So by the time we got into Electric Jewels and the Live album,
we were developing our own personalities, we were starting to come into music.
And that meant that the on-stage show was beginning to gel too,
because we were now doing songs that we had recorded.
And the whole thing started to come together like that.
But I just played.
I never studied, I never had a teacher,
but I played anything, anywhere, with anybody, anytime.
I'd load all my drums in my car and drive for an hour and a half
and carried them up two or three flights of stairs to jam with somebody in their living room.
The band is still based out of Quebec, I believe?
Yes, out of Montreal.
Was there ever any temptation to move to the States? _
At one point, there was some buzz about maybe we should go to California.
And I'm glad we didn't do that.
Because in the final analysis, once you break out into _ _ _ an international market,
which we did in about 1977, _ it doesn't matter where you live.
It doesn't matter.
It's just get it together, hit the road.
When you're on the road, you're on the road.
It doesn't matter where you come from.
We traveled all over the States, Canada, and all over Europe. _
And it just didn't matter at that point.
We were real happy we stayed at home.
Because I think LA is nuts.
I've been down there a number of [N] times, and it's a _ crazy place.
_ I know a while back you had a little bit of a scare.
You were diagnosed with cancer? Oh, yeah. _
Yeah, during my 50s, I really didn't get myself checked out medically.
I never really bothered.
I just took my health for granted.
My body has always responded and done what I wanted it to do,
except now it's grown some 60 pounds too much.
But _ I _ was getting some weird symptoms, and I went for a check-out in _ about 1997
and discovered prostate cancer. _ _
So I tried different types of treatments, and I finally wrapped that up.
I guess in May of 1998, I finished the last of my radiation treatments
and other kinds of medicine that I had to take.
_ _ And it's not too bad.
So far, each time I've been checked out, it's been clean.
There are some side effects that _ are still with me from those treatments,
and I don't know whether things will ever get totally back to normal.
But, hey, live with it.
I'm feeling good, and I can deal with those things.
I just thank God every day for being able to earn my living doing what I love to do
because that's a real privilege.
So many people go to work every day and don't like what they do.
And for me, it's just a joy to be able to play.
_ Yeah, I want to do it to, like, I'd rather wear out than rest out.
You know what I mean?
I know a lot of people consider you one of the top drummers in Canada.
Well, I appreciate that very much.
Like I say, I do what I love to do,
and I think that my love for it is what people feel and respond to
because that's what it is for an artist. _
I worked for IBM for 10 years,
so I know what it's like to go in and work every day and punch a card.
_ I know what the corporate scene is like.
_ _ I came to a crossroads where I had to make a choice.
Are you going to stick with this, or are you going to do what you really want to do?
At that time, I didn't have a family or anything,
and _ I just said, this is it.
Let go of the security blanket and all the perks you get
after working for a good company like IBM
_ and jump off the bridge into no man's land because that's what music is like.
I mean, you know, it's like this.
At one point when I joined April Wine,
_ _ we were all living together in a little farmhouse over on the south shore of the island of Montreal,
and we were drawing about $75 a week
and all traveling in one station wagon loaded to the roof.
You know?
_ So I've been to both ends of the scale.
We've traveled in [A] Learjets and limousines,
and so we've done it all [F#] from the beginning to the end,
and now we're in a different phase of our career,
and [D#] I'm just very thankful that there are enough fans out there who love us and support us
that, _ you know, it still works all over Canada and all