North Van musician finally hits the big time TWO YEARS ago it was the low point in Barney Bentall’s career. To salve their con- sciences, Bentall and his band The Legendary Hearts gave it one last shot before quitting. STEPHEN BARRINGTON feature writer Eighteen months ago Bentall and band were signed to a major re- cord deal. “| don’t know if we actually would have done it,’ Bentall, 29, says of that decision to go out with guns blazing. ‘It was a motiva- tional device; from that low mo- ment we got the record deal.”’ First in Bentall’s music career came the group Brandon Wolf, retired in 1983 when he joined guitarist Colin Nairne and drum- mer Jack Guppy working Van- couver clubs as The Revengers. Adding original tunes by Bentall and co-writer Gary Fraser to the repertoire of ‘60s covers, it was that experience that led to the song Something to Live For — later to become a hit. With the financial and marketing prowess of record giant CBS behind him, Bentall has seen his self-titled debut album shoot well up the charts, with no signs of slowing. In a business where image and promotion count at least as much as talent, he tries “to keep a close grip on my soul, and see this for what it is. “That's where you have got to have a strong idea of yourself as a person.” Photo submitted BARNEY BENTALL...from an obscure start, now in the spotlight. Rounding out The Legendary Hearts are bassist Barry Muir and keyboardist Cam Bowman; a re- cent hefty there-and-back touring schedule jumping from East to West has tightened up the group’s stage performances. In June 1985 he said: ‘“‘Hope- fully, one day everything will work out and we'll be there.” More than two years and a record later, the response is different. “At this point ! feel suc- cessful,’ says the North Van- couverite. ‘“Yet you have to con- tinually modify your idea of suc- cess.” Reflecting earlier career downsides, he sings of hope and optimism, something better waiting ahead. Add some pointed, moody tracks and it is all there. Leading the record's ride to popularity is the single Something to Live For — a self-fulfilling pro- phecy? — that has found its way onto radio station playlists across the country. But when the name Bentall means towering downtown highrises — he is distantly related to the financier Bentalls —- singing about a man who dreams of more than driving a grocery store delivery truck seems a contradic- tors, “t don’t feel it's something | need to reconcile,’ is his answer. “It's something I've done on my own, “Rock and roll is a talent. You either have it or you don’t.” Barney Bentall and The Legend- ary Hearts play the Commodore Oct. 7. 19 - Friday, September 30, 1988 - North Shore News FO SOUTH returns THE CLOVER Point Drifters kick off the fall schedule of folk music on the North Shore Oct. 3 in the season’s first event from the North Shore Folk Club. “We feel the club has now a firmly established reputation as one of the best folk clubs in Canada, well regarded for featur- ing the best in acoustic foik music,’ said founder Eric Arm- strong, whe runs the group with his wife, Betty. “We are confident our upcom- ing productions will enhance this reputation further,’ he said of the coming season, which will feature special guests such as the Clover Point Drifters and resident local talent on a regular basis. Established about five years ago, the club — really a group of folk music lovers who get together twice-monthly at Presentation House — strives to bring focal listeners the best in a variety of foik music styles. Concert start is 8 p.m. 986-1351. Info: eee Phillipe Etter on viola is the soloist when the Deep Cove Chamber Soloists Society hosts the Oct. 2 season opener of this year’s Music in the Gallery. The Pro Nova String Quartet — Vivian Waters, Milton Niederhof- fer, Hans-Karl Piltz and James Maclaren Hill — presents music from Beethoven, Webern, Hindemith and Brahms alongside Presentation House's gallery ex- hibition. Later this season, the group will ‘YS * \YANICOU VER uA ee saa KI DR ICTY OPEN HO ano PUPPET SHOW Gaal, / SAUURDAY 5 OCTOBER 1 8985-795 2725 SI CHRSTOPHERS RD. Tlorth Vancouver perform the Canacian premiere of Elliot Weisgarber’s Quintet for Clarinet and Strings commissioned by the society. The Music in the Gallery series begins at 8 p.m. at Presentation House. Also at Presentation House next week, local high schools will present a four-day improvisational Theatresports competition from Oct. 5 to 8. North Shore high schools sen- ding teams to compete for the local Theatresports crown include Argyle, West Vancouver, Carson Graham and Sutherland. A number of seats will be available to the public each of the four nights. For details on Music in the Gallery or Theatresports, call 986-1351. ‘eee Artist Robert Buckham of West Vancouver will be on hand at a reception for the opening of his show Oct. 3 at the West Van- couver Memorial Library. First exhibiting in juried shows for the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, Buckham has works in private and corporate collections including that of the Canadian War Museum, which exhibits sketches he did as a Pow - The opening reception for the abstracts in acrylic show runs from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The show runs through October; all works are for sale. Buckham’s diary/book, Forced March to Freedom, is available at the library. Puerto Rico Travelogue film narrated in person by STEVE GONSER “HINE FILMS FOR THE PRICE OF Six * GREECE & HUNZA * APPALACHIA x FiJl and the GREAT BARRIER REEF * AMADEUS, a traveller in ITALY * BRAZIL * PORTRAITS of the GREAT FAR EAST * GREAT BRITAIN — TWO LOCATIONS — North Van. Centennial Theatre Thu., Oct. 6, 6:00 & 8:30pm (2 shows) Sgis. $10.50, Stu. $7.00 Sea. $60.50, Stu. $41.25 VAN. ORPHEUM Wed., Oct. 5 — 6:00pm Sgl. $11.00 9.75, 9.25, Stu. $7.50 Sea. $65.00, 59.50, 54.50, Stu. $45.75 Price includes Theatre improvement Project Fee TKTS: at 630 Hamilton VTC/CBO Outlets Chargeline ph: 280-4444 Subscribers are eligible to WIN A TRIP tor two ta EUROPE courtesy AIR CANADA