Since Blue Rodeo started playing live shows in 1985, the band has seen many members come and go, with three sticking it out since day one — guitarist/singer Jim Cuddy, guitarist/singer Greg Keelor and bass guitarist Bazil Donovan.
We caught up with the original three to talk about the making of their first five albums (included in the box set Blue Rodeo: 1987-1993, streaming here until Oct. 29), and how they went from a young band making concessions for producers to a mature group who knew exactly what sound they wanted and how to achieve it.
Outskirts (1987)
Recorded at Toronto’s McClear Place Studios.
Cuddy: [Greg and I] wrote about half of Outskirts in New York City, so by the time we came back to Toronto we had a bunch of songs. In New York, it was a time where, stylistically, bands were really all over the place. We played a little ska, a little reggae, pop, rock and new wave was still prevalent. Once we left New York we rejected all those styles and realized the natural fit would be this country rock stuff.
Donovan: Everybody was in the throes of synth-pop and all this love of big hair and stuff. We were just doing our thing and all of a sudden people started paying attention. No one was more surprised than us when we got a record contract
Keelor: We recorded it with Terry Brown, who had worked with Rush and other big bands, and in those days the producer was like the school principal and we tried to pass exam all the time. One of the weirdest moments in my recording career was when Terry did a rough mix of “Heart Like Mine,” and I loved it. I brought it to my friend’s and any time someone new came in I played it for them because I was so happy. I said to Terry, "'Heart Like Mine' is perfect, I just love it." He said, "I know you love it, that’s why I erased it." I was just like, "Oh my God, what is this process?" And then he gave it this very ’80s sound, which drives me nuts. It’s like Tears for Fears were producing our record.... Remixing Outskirts for the box set was just such a joy.
Cuddy: We were lucky to have “Try,” even though it was a ballad and we didn’t do those. We didn’t realize what it was going to become, but that was our first flash with, "Oh my God, this thing’s a hit."
Writing it, I remember wanting to do something with my voice, wanting to do falsetto, and I wrote it with that stiff, new wavey kind of beat, four on the floor, and it didn’t really flow well. Once we rejected that and just played it strumming, then it had the syncopation that country music or roots music has, and that worked really easily.
Stream the remastered Outskirts.
Diamond Mine (1989)
Recorded at the former Donlands Theatre in Toronto’s east end.
Keelor: We were so disgruntled after recording Outskirts so we were looking for alternative ways to make music, and I was playing in Crash Vegas in Hamilton at Daniel Lanois’ studio, The Lab, with Malcolm Burn running it. It was just a big open room, and it opened my eyes and blew my mind.
Cuddy: We got someone who we could do whatever we wanted with. Malcolm had his own ideas of things, but in terms of recording, we really did try to make it as organic as we could. But going into this old movie theatre, it was very difficult at the beginning.
Donovan: It looked like it was going to be a great idea until we realized there was no heat and we were going to freeze. Instead of moving somewhere else, which I would have been more inclined to do, everyone just went, well, let’s get some heaters. Holy shit, we just had a number one hit in Canada, and here we are standing around this theatre with our winter coats on and you can see our breath in the air.
Cuddy: As many obstacles as there were, we were still very happy being there. I remember doing “Girl of Mine.” It was late at night, I’d had this song from New York but I hadn’t played it for the band, and I just started playing it.
Donovan: And then one by one we just started playing. Bobby [Wiseman] goes over to his piano and starts playing a little thing, I picked up my bass, Greg picked up his guitar, and the next thing you know we had recorded the song. Malcolm was smart enough to always have tape running.
Cuddy: It’s one of those ones where you just capture something in the song that’s very visceral and sounds really good and there’s no need to change it.
Stream the remastered Diamond Mine.
Casino (1990)
Recorded at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, Calif.
Keelor: Diamond Mine, listening back to it now, it’s a bit of a muddy record, so Casino was a reaction. We got [Dwight Yoakam's producer] Pete Anderson, and he was all about three-minute pop songs, and everything on the record had to be capable of getting on the radio. We asked him if he liked Diamond Mine and he said he couldn’t even get through it.
Cuddy: We liked the very austere stuff that the Black Crows were doing, Matthew Sweet, this really compressed sound, guitars pushed to the front — it was very exciting rock 'n' roll sound. We were up for doing a little less indulgent record, but in retrospect we went too far.
Donovan: Greg was kind of keen on working with Pete because he really loved those Dwight Yoakam records. There was talk of [the Beatles engineer] Geoff Emerick, which would have been a great idea but nothing ever came of it.
Cuddy: Emerick was interested in doing it. Somehow we decided we wouldn’t go that way, we wanted to move away from the Beatles aesthetic that we always loved. Working with Pete was great, but having passed up the chance to work with Geoff, I’ve always regretted that — it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
Keelor: A great thing about this box set is that the Casino demos are there. They smoke the record they’re so great. When you hear them you can really hear how Pete reeled Bobby [Wiseman] in. That was the beginning of the end of Bobby’s time with the band.
Stream the remastered Casino demos.
Lost Together (1992)
Recorded at Toronto’s Manta Eastern Sound.
Cuddy: All of us understood that we wanted to contribute more and that we would never give up the reins again. We’d partner with somebody, we’d collaborate, but we’d never give up again.
Keelor: We didn’t want to use a producer, so we self-produced. There is something about that power trip with producers, they get crazy about things that don’t matter, but it’s just one way for them to push their musical weight around.
Donovan: Greg likes to be in control of his own music. In the early days we went along with producers because we were young and we thought we needed somebody to make it, but then I think after we had made a few records we knew what we wanted.
Keelor: I remember this gruelling tour right before we recorded, which was something like 250 nights. When you’re ambitious and trying to make it, you end up doing a lot of stuff that is soul sucking, and this one show, just outside of Detroit, was total Spinal Tap. We were on one side of the canal and the audience was on the other, we’re playing this set and we were starting to crumble. Boats would go down the canal and would block the audience from us, and it was just, you know, the shallowness of ambition is revealed. I started writing Lost Together after that.
Donovan: Something happened on that tour. We really pulled together. I remember there was one night we had a little party on the bus and we started talking, and a lot of serious stuff was said, and we realized we had to support each other, we had to have each other’s backs. In doing that, we developed a serious bond and we didn’t argue anymore — we just went with each other and were good to each other.
Cuddy: Unfortunately, that was just before Bobby left. Honestly, losing Bobby was a big deal because he was such an enormous character in the band, and it really took us a while to figure out how to replace that jamming element. We went through a lot of keyboard players.
Stream the remastered Lost Together.
Five Days in July (1993)
Recorded at Keelor’s farm, northeast of Toronto.
Keelor: We were on this tour of Australia, and we had the chance to just sit and play a lot, so we ended up with 30 songs.
Donovan: A few days before we came home, Greg came to me and said I’m really feeling like the band is starting to feel like a band. Rather than taking a break, why don’t we go out to my farm and we’ll just have barbecues, we’ll swim, we’ll have a bit of a vacation but we’ll also record. Let’s do five days and see what we get.
Cuddy: I think that was maybe a pause, like let’s not be ourselves for a while, let’s just make music in a very beautiful, reassuring place. Go up to Greg’s, open the doors and let our friends come.
Keelor: One time when we were doing “What is This Love,” there were probably 20 people sitting in the living room, which had the drums, the bass, piano and Jim. I was in the kitchen with Sarah McLachlan, and everybody there was just hanging out having a few drinks. It felt like everybody was part of it somehow. It just elevated it.
Cuddy: When I heard the first playback of “Know Where You Go,” it was a beautiful, starry, warm night, and I was stunned by how good it sounded. I knew this was a really powerful thing we were doing.
Keelor: It really did just take a week to make that record. It had that sort of vibe about it.