The Free-For-All/The Great Scots — “Show Me the Way”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — August 6, 2023

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

915) The Free-For-All/The Great Scots — “Show Me the Way”

It’s been said that the Beatles inspired untold thousands of teenagers across the Americas to buy guitars and head to their garages. Well, if the Beatles actually were a garage band and got to record a single, this is what it would sound like! From “the most kick-ass garage band ever to don kilts” (https://sundazed.com/great-scots-great-lost-great-scots-album.aspx) and “Canada’s answer to the Beatles”! (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-great-scots-mn0000070866/biography) (see #373) comes a Beatlesque garage rocker that “just soars” with a “[c]atchy melody and a great guitar riff. . . . How was this not the A-Side?” (On the Flip-Side, http://ontheflip-side.blogspot.com/2014/03/song-of-week-free-for-all-show-me-way.html)

Nova Scotia Classic Rock tells us that:

[The b]and was formed in 1962 . . . as The Beavers. . . . [w]ell known in Canada for their gimmick matching “Mohawk” haircuts. In December 1964, [they] traveled to New York City to meet with Columbia Records and their manager suggested a name change. It was decided that they should all wear Scottish kilts on stage as a new gimmick to draw attention to the band. (Their hair had grown out by now.)

http://nsclassicrock.mysite.com/greatscots.html

Cub Koda continues the story:

[The Great Scots] was [the] biggest group from Nova Scotia . . . . [and] cut three singles of wild punk music, loaded with solid playing and great screaming vocals. . . . [They] flew down to California in 1965, looking for bigger horizons to conquer. [They] capitalized on their Scottish heritage and wore Nova Scotian tartan kilts onstage, causing quite a stir everywhere they played. [They] sported solid harmonies and a wide musical palette that embraced everything from blues to rock & roll to a smattering of jazz. Their fame in California grew by leaps and bounds, doing guest shots on both American Bandstand and Shindig! . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-great-scots-mn0000070866/biography

What about the name change? Nova Scotia Classic Rock says: “[They] signed with Triumph Records in 1966 and issued two singles as “The Great Scots” and one as “The Free-For-All” on Challenge Records. The idea of releasing a single under a different name was an attempt to get airplay at stations that weren’ t playing The Great Scots – the one-off single was more R&B oriented than their usual British Invasion fare.” (http://nsclassicrock.mysite.com/greatscots.html) On the Flip Side similarly states that ” in an effort to trick jaundiced radio programmers, the band released Show Me The Way . . . under the name The Free-For-All”. (http://ontheflip-side.blogspot.com/2014/03/song-of-week-free-for-all-show-me-way.html) But Jaimie Vernon says that:

They didn’t change their name as a means to break into the US. The Great Scots were already working in the US and when bassist Dave Isner was drafted for the Vietnam War, they decided to not use the name without him – and became the Free-For-All. This single was the last thing they did before returning home to Halifax and disbanding.

Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia, https://www.45cat.com/record/59339

Yes. As On the Flip-Side says:

Dave Isn[e]r was conscripted into the US Army and sent off to Vietnam. Yep, when you were here on a working visa, you could be drafted. Whoops. The remaining members . . . high-tailed it back to Nova Scotia . . . and their chance at stardom was lost.

http://ontheflip-side.blogspot.com/2014/03/song-of-week-free-for-all-show-me-way.html

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