Wednesday, September 23, 1892’ North Shore News — 27 SUPER SAVINGS} _ PESQUIRE | manemnasaiaa i PANTS |2pc. SUITS! Going back to the country? 2°25". *5.75 | SILK & PLEATS *1.99 Roy Forbes comes full circle with The Human Kind ! Evelyn Jacob SPOTLIGHT FEATURE F YOU'RE pianning to hear Roy Forbes shake up the Vancouver East Cultural Centre Sunday, you might be in for a bit of a surprise. , Those who have come to know Forbes as the rootsy-folkie Bim will be interested to learn that the North Vancouver singer/ songwriter has rededicated himself to country crooning based on the stylings of Hank Williams and George Jones. He’s using the occasion to launch his first country album, The Human Kind, a collection of tunes that include some jazzy touches in the spirit of Billie Holiday. Forbes has been working on the album since 1989 but the ideas ‘ have been percolating inside his brain for almost 20 years. “it’s a fabor of love,’’ says Forbes, who has dropped by the News office to promote The Human Kind and talk about his career. : ” “Back in the late ’70s i can remember sitting doodling one - day and thinking, well, if i made a country album, what would | do? - ~ “| haven't found the book yet, but there’s a list out there some- where of the tunes ! might do.... Songs like Wondering \'ve known ~ since | was three. “A lot of these songs of mine were just waiting for this album to - be made so they could hop on.” -, . Gne of the songs featured on -! The Human Kind is Saskatoon “ ‘Moon, a tune Forbes co-wrote ._ with Prairies singer Connie Kaldor. it started out. as a joke, he says, with both of them wanting to write a song their moms would love. It’s a number he thinks Canada will end up loving. ° More than anything, Forbes - wanted to go for as much of a live fee! as possible. . ’ The Human Kind may be his first official country album but country has always been part of Forbes’ varied repertoire right from the earliest Bim days to his last solo abum. It’s not hard to figure out why. Forbes was raised in Dawson Creek on grandpa Moore's old Bluebird Jimmie Rodgers 78s and the sweet sound of guitar-picking Uncle Dudley, who, he says, could sing even better than Hank Snow. . :> His latest album is a tribute to his mother, who kept her baby boy’s buggy parked next to the radio when she wasn’t serenading him with country tunes. The family motif runs through the entire album: for the cover of ‘The Human Kind Forbes chose a sepia-toned snapshot of his teenage parents and older sister taken in Rolla, 8.C., in 1941, just outside Dawson Creek. No one in the Forbes family even knew the photo existed until a great aunt stumbled upon it one year ago, he says. “The photo kind of ties together me going back and look- ing at the early music } listened to and grabbing a bit of it and com- ing back to the present. Not wallowing in the past but learning from it.” . , By the second grade Forbes was EWS photo Cindy Goodman ROY FORBES’ new country album The Human Kind was inspired by the kind of music the North Vancouver singer-songwriter grew up on: Hank Snow, Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Wiiliams. already serious about music. He got his first guitar at 14 and roceeded to form his own rock ind, the Crystal Ship. - “was dead serious from the . word go. Some of the other guys had different ideas, but | was very intent, even then. ° “I've played music all my life,” he says, ‘’and that’s how I’ve always made my living — except for one summer when | pumped gas for two months.” . That summer he realized he didn’t want to do anything but play music. Having experienced ‘‘serious country and western denial’ as a teenager, he left Dawson Creek as soon as he could and headed to Vancouver in search of success. Forbes quickly found himself playing the folk festival circuit and in 1975 produced his first Bim album, Kid Full of Dreams. He spent two ‘‘weird” years in L.A. recording his third album, Thistles, on the Elektra labe!, and in 1987 he released his last aloum, Love Turns to Ice. At the same time he decided it was time to drop the childhood nickname Bim. “I talked to a lot of people about it and decided it was time to be Roy,” Forbes explains. “That's not negating my past work or anything. I’m still walking in the same path, but I’ve got two names now.”’ Making his own career decisions is something Forbes, who turns 40 in February, prides himself on. For the last 10 years he’s been fortunate enough to produce his own music (and other people’s albums as well) without the help eT of major management. “Bruce Allen managed me for a while in the late ‘70s, but | said to hell with all that in 1980. it’s not a world for me. “tn the end I've got more con- tro! and I've actually made more money, too — there aren’t a bunch of people standing around taking their share. But it has its drawbacks. Sometimes the folks back home think, ‘Hmm. He’s not on the Top 40.’ “It’s the old cliche. People say, ‘Are you successful?’ and | would have to say that yes, | am, because I'm still here.” After listening to his latest and what I think may be his best album yet, | wondered if Forbes was happy with the way his career was going. “Oh yeah," he says with a quick laugh, “| haven't had to pump gas.” Ailen speaks to students NORTH VANCGUVER rock pro- motor Bruce Allen will tour Cana- dian universities beginning this month to speak to and share with students his views on Canada’s music industry. “The Canadian Music ‘Industry Laid Bare’ will see. Allen deliver- ing his personal opinions on the inner workings of the industry to students from Alberta to Ontario. His first port of call is the Uni- versity of Manitoba on Sept. 28. . 922-2413 No Limit No Litt coupen must be presented “Expires Oct. 31/92 Expires Oct. 31/92 WEDDING or XMAS PARTY? BOCKING NOW We specialize in small or medium --up to 80 people. 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