Yes, Beelyboy, what ever happened to Keef's blind angel?
I well remember the fuss about the 1977 arrest, trial and sentence (Judge Lloyd Graburn sentenced Keef, after a guilty plea for possessing 22 g of 32% pure heroin, to probation plus a free concert for the CNIB (Cdn Nat'l Institute for the Blind). Factor in the concert at the ElMo and Maggie Trudeau, not quite divorced from our Prime Minister, and it was interesting times! Legend has it that the Judge was prompted to be lenient after a blind woman contacted him to vouch for Keef, letting him know that he always made sure she got a good seat at concerts, even driving her home to make sure she got there safely. Sounds like something he'd do...
Intersting to note that Keef had checked into the Harbour Castle hotel, before the bust, under the name of "Redlands" which was the location of the 1967 arrest...
So the speculation is that, without this sentence, Keef would have served 5 - 7 years as a guest of Her Majesty, and that this would have destroyed Keef and the Stones, which is why they are so loyal to Toronto, rehearsing here and dropping everything to play here in 2003 after our tourism industry was destroyed by overblown coverage of the SARS epidemic. And the Toronto Love just keeps flowing back to the boys.
In checking some details, found some links that may make a few Canucks feel a bit old:
1) [
archives.cbc.ca]
Not sure if anyone else remembers Larry Zolf or This Hour Has Seven Days,,, Also interesting to see in an early interview that Mick recognised the name of a former Cdn Prime Minister (given the future involvement of the wife of a current PM) - esp since "43" couldn't name the current PM before he was elected! Heh heh heh! (*)
2) [
www.brainyquote.com]
Interesting Keef Quotes. Favourites:
Everyone talks about rock these days; the problem is they forget about the roll.
If you're going to kick authority in the teeth, you might as well use two feet.
It may not be suitable for Mickschix upcoming interview, but I would really love to see a follow-up story interviewing the Judge, if he is still living (he was just about lynched for what was, in hindsight, a courageous decision that likely saved a life) and Keef about the decision and the impact.
* One of our more subversive "journalists" went to the US a few years ago to interview people to see what they knew about Canada, since we are so steeped in US culture here. In a press scrum, he caught then-Governor Bush and told him that Canadian Prime Minister Poutine was supporting his bid for election. Without missing a beat, 43 replied that he appreciated the support and sent greetings to the PM. The resulting show, called Talking to Americans, has run several times and reliably pulls the highest ratings on Canadain TV. (Um... Poutine is a Quebec delicacy made of french fries, gravy, cheese curds and cholesterol. The PM at the time was Chretien... We try not to discuss either Poutine or Chretien in polite company!
Canadians are a cheeky lot!