FROM !EARSHOT ONLINE, the national campus and community radio report.
Unless you lived in Quebec during the late 1960s, you more than likely have never been exposed to the sweet psychedelic sounds of Oliver Klaus. Finally enjoying a CD reissue, more than 30 years after its initial pressing of merely 700 copies, Oliver Klaus's 1967-1970 is a priceless artefact from a bygone era.
Comprised of Jerry Cushen on bass and brothers Bryan and Maurice Singfield, on drums and guitar respectively, Oliver Klaus grew out of the ashes of the locally successful Les Mini-Mod, who gained notoriety for performing in mini-skirts. Disillusioned by the public's interest in their costuming rather than their music, the boys in the band decided to concentrate less on gimmickry and more on composition and experimentation.
The result is the excellent 1967-1970, a melange of 60s pop, folk, rock, and psychedelia. Principal songwriter Maurice Singfield sounds uncannily like Stephen Stills circa Buffalo Springfield and the rest of the band, while a little less polished, follows suit with this comparison. Listening closely to the album one is forced to ask the question: Why didn't Oliver Klaus receive national acclaim similar to fellow Canadians The Guess Who?
The answer is simple. Though they had made many contacts through their constant gigging around Quebec, the group decided to retain complete artistic control by releasing the album themselves. Arguably, Oliver Klaus was the first do-it-yourself band in Canadian music history.
Oliver Klaus's 1967-1970 is a treasure for both the casual psychedelic listener as well as the vinyl junkie. This reissue includes the original LP in its completion, covers of tracks by Donovan ("Season of the Witch"), Jefferson Airplane ("3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds"), and even Neil Diamond ("Kentucky Woman"), as well as a slew of stellar unreleased live tracks. Hearing Oliver Klaus will make you wonder how many other great Canadian bands from rock `n' roll's golden era have drifted into obscurity.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS: "For The Boys", "Here Comes The Sun", "Feeling Groovy"
- By Ryan Wugalter,CFUR Radio, Prince George, BC.

FROM RECORD COLLECTOR MAGAZINE (UK), APRIL 2002
The sole album from Canadian band Oliver Klaus, released in 1970 in a limited run of 500 copies, has long been a much-desired item on the worldwide collector's network. But this authorized, extended and fully annotated issue is its first appearance on CD.
So it's nice to be able to report that, in its own ramshackle, DIY way, 1967-70 is rather lovely. Basement folk-rock moves, endearingly loose harmonies, contagious melodies and, more than anything else, the band's youthful optimism, shine through on smells-like-teen-spirit songs such as "Here Comes The Sun", "Feeling Groovy" and "Sunny Day".
What's more, those modest little beauties are matched by a fistful of equally fine out-takes that include a great live rendition of Jefferson Airplane's "3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds", the incendiary 1969 demo, "Blackberry Side", and their first Great Society-style recording, "Do Love Me Do", cut in the dying days of 1966, when the band were still known as Les Mini Mod and wore sexy, impossibly tight mini-skirts on stage, as surviving photos show. Trouble is, they were all teenage boys! No wonder the kid perched precariously on the drum-stool looks a little nervous.
- by John Sturdy.

FROM CHART MAGAZINE, APRIL 2002
OLIVER KLAUS 1967-70 (Hallucinations)
Though the DIY ethic is constantly connected to the punk rock explosion of the late '70s, some '60s hippies were able to pull it off every once in a while, too. In this case, it's Quebec circa 1968. The Singfield brothers, Maurice and Bryan, smitten with the psych-pop of Jefferson Airplane along with the power trio dynamics of Cream, formed their own triumvirate of fuzz with friend Jerry Cushen on bass. This expended reissue features the hippie dippy "Sunny Day", the T-Rex-y "For The Boys" and the fuzzed-out power riffing of the live side. The real surprise is that most of the unissued bonus tracks outshine the originals. There's even a track from an earlier incarnation of the band, The Mini-Mods (whose members all aore min skirts!), which is the creepy garage ditty "Do Love Me Do". Thank God musicians usually save everything! Contact: www.oliverklaus.com.
- by The Mouth

FROM THE RECORD, MAY 2002
CD launch at Waterloo bluegrass jam sessionWhen the bluegrass aficionados gather in Waterloo Saturday they'll be able to hear their favorite music, and even take some of it home on a new CD. "we're very excited about the CD," said Gordon Cameron, one of the four members of Hooked on Bluegrass whose album goes on sale for the first time this weekend. "T hope we sell a gazillion copies." Hooked on Bluegrass evolved from the ranks of the Townships Bluegrass and Old-Tyme Music Society, founded in 1922. The membership has changed somewhat over the years, and today includes Cameron, Tom Kilbride, Larry Comeau, Marcel Chouinard and Perry Bednick.
As for the CD, it's taken from a live performance the band gave at the Waterloo Legion in March. John Cameron digitally recorded the show for the band. "He's the best sound guy within a 1,000 miles," Cameron said. "Because he's really good, and because he's my son." Cameron said the 12-song album features six traditional bluegrass songs and another half-dozen written by modern bluegrass artists. While the CD is a first for Hooked on Bluegrass, it's also a first for Sunnymead Village Records, a new label aiming to get local artists into the recording studio and then help them sell their sounds.
As for Saturday's 2001-2002 season finale, it gets underway at the Waterloo Legion with a jam session in the parking lot around 1 p.m. If you can't make it to Waterloo Cameron says the bluegrass society will be performing next in Ayer's Cliff on June 1 and 2 as a part of a fundraiser for the Children's Wish Foundation. "We just pick the heck out of our instruments and have a lot of happy hours," he said.
As for the CD, it sells for 15$ each, tax included. If you can't make either of these events you can buy it by calling Cameron at 450-539-0333, Kilbride at 450-243-0645, Comeau at 450-375-1939, or Chouinard at 819-564-1765.
- by Maurice Crossfield