Warren Hudson

good lord
it's all going on today
the band is phoning and sending a flurry of funny emails to each other
jimmy cassells is supposed to be working
he works at long and mcquade's office
but i don't think he's done squat all day

and the spinning wheel spins in mysterious ways

we grew up in scarborough
a blue collar working class united nations suburban neighbourhood
moms stayed home with their kids
and the dads all left in the mornings to go to work
there were lots of kids

warren hudson was one of our gang
it was 1965
golden summers
i have movies of us all
moved over from 8mm

warren moved away by 68
maybe 69
the years get fuzzy
i have fleeting memories of him
but he moved to the other side of the tracks
literally
to rick vatours neighbourhood
which was basically a mirror image of ours
and they all hung out like we would of if we lived closer

warren went on to play with the cfl
that's canadian football
and there is a difference
he had a couple defining games
he lit up the field more than once
i was always blown away that i knew someone on the bombers and the argos
it was a proud moment for many of us

now warren's sick
so rick phoned me up
and put together a fund raiser
to help warren's family out during some tough times
i can't say enough about how beautiful a thing this is
they booked a club
sold tickets
and now not only is it sold out
but it's oversold
and we're ready to rock

we have the midnite ramblers reforming
with rick on drums
it's important to note that these guys all grew up in scarborough
if fact i have a saying:
if you want something done - give it to a middle aged man in scarborough

i haven't really seen warren in about 42 years
he showed up at one of the phoenix gigs
it was heavy
i was at the sound board
and i got that feeling that someone was staring at me
i turned around and there's this guy looking at me smiling
warren?
40 years later i can connect him to the face
warren?
big smile
i asked about his family
and then had to get back to the mix
tonight i'll really connect with him
and we'll rock the house
because that's what we do
we do what we do best
can't wait

craig
july 8, 2011
apples