Cindy Church

Originally called The Colonials, The Charlottetown, PEI’s Gary Weeks and Newmarket, Ontario’s Dave Beckett met in grade school and played in several bands – Edgar And The Allan Poes and The Diplomats – right through their post-Secondary education at the University Of Western Ontario. It was in London, Ontario in 1966, as part of a United Appeal concert in which their latest band, The King Bees, finished fourth that the duo decided to perform together professionally. With a deal through RCA/Victor the act released the single “Little Girl/What’s Your Name” that year. There wasn’t a huge amount of success and gigs were hard to come by. They eventually quit the act and decided to focus on their talents as a duo. Beckett worked the comic end of the act as Weeks became the straight man while weaving comedy, original songs and established hits into their act. Their stage show was punctuated by imitations of other Canadian recording artists such as a Vienna choirboy singing The Bells’ “Stay Awhile” or an all kazoo version of “One Fine Morning” by Lighthouse. This show made them very appealing in Europe particularly Holland. They began recording in 1969 and began playing festival including a headlining attraction at the 1970 World’s Fair in Japan. Gary And Dave signed to Greg Hambleton’s Axe Records in 1972. Their first few singles were slow starters, but the label was determined to find the right material and musicians to record a full length LP. 1973’s ‘Together’ was recorded at Toronto Sound Studios and Manta Sound by engineers Dave Slagter, Terry Brown, Greg Hambleton and Dave Green, with Hambleton also acting as the producer. Beckett and Weeks sang everything and supplied instrumentation on several tracks. The string and horn arrangements were by Brown’s musical director, Doug Riley, with bass and guitars by Sebastian Agnello and Greg Hambleton’s brother Fergus. Drums were supplied by Paul Clinch (Chimo!) and keyboards by Peter Goodale. The album spawned what would become their biggest hit – 1973’s “Could You Ever Love Me Again”. The song not only went to #1 in Canada but stayed on the charts for 27 weeks and became a French hit for 12 year-old Michel Lesage in 1974. To promote the single and the album, they toured along with The Stampeders which was followed by their own CBC-TV show. The single would eventually be released in 22 countries with mild success in the US and major success in Australia. After several more hits, like 1974’s “It Might As Well Rain Until September”, the duo walked away from their recording contract and decided to follow their other love, flying, and both became pilots for Airtransit STOL Canada, an experimental commuter airline from Toronto to Ottawa. It wasn’t long, however, before they were back into music. With their return to music full time they enlisted the help of backing band The Stewart Brothers and toured to support the release of their album “14 Greatest Hits” in 1977. The duo finally split in 1979 and returned to full time jobs as pilots for Air Canada. Weeks retired from music and was assistant pastor at the Calvary Church in Toronto before moving to Ireland to do Missionary work; Beckett became a consultant for the Ministry Of Transportation in their test pilot program and was the flight safety director for Ontario’s London Air Show. with notes from Sebastian Agnello and Davida Bösch. Singles with KING BEES 1966Little Girl/What’s Your Name (RCA/Victor) 3414 as GARY & DAVE 1970 Tender Woman/I’m A Rider (Quality) 1977X 1972 Can’t You Do It Now/I’ve Seen The Light (Axe) AXE-2 1973 Here It Comes Again/My Special Place (Axe) AXE-7 1973 Could You Ever Love Me Again/Where Do We Go From Here? (Axe) AXE-10 1974 I Fell In Love With You Sometime/For You (Axe) AXE-11 1974 It Might As Well Rain Until September/September Lady Theme (Axe) AXE-17 1974 I May Never See You Again/I Think I Know You (Axe) AXE-19 1974 What Can You Do About It/All In The Past Now (Axe) AXE-22 1974 I Can’t Find The Words/I Don’t Want To Leave You (Axe) AXE-25 1975 It’s Alright My Darling/Carolina Carole (Axe) AXE-45 1975 I’ll Always Love You/Flying On The Wings Of A Song (Axe) AXE-51 1976 You Send Me/I Could Fall In Love With You (Polydor) 2065-324 Albums 1973 Together (Axe) AXS-503 1974 All In The Past (Axe) AXS-506 1977 14 Greatest Hits (Axe) AXS-519

• With notes from Les Binkley, Jaimie Vernon

  GARY & DAVE (1973) I Fell In Love With You Sometime For You Flying On The Wings Of A Song My Special Place And You Mirrors Cavendish Here It Comes Again Could You Ever Love Me Again Lonesome River Can’t You Do It Now Where Do We Go From Here?

  ALL IN THE PAST (1974) It Might As Well Rain Until September All In The Past Now What Can You Do About It I Can’t Find The Words September Lady Theme I May Never See You Again I Think I Know You Loneliness Can Really Get You Down Carolina Carol Could You Ever Love Me Again

  14 GREATEST HITS (1977) It’s Alright, My Darling I May Never See You Again Carolina Carol I Think You Know I Can’t Find The Words I Fell In Love With You Sometime All In The Past Now Could You Ever Love Me Again September Lady Theme Here It Comes Again Flying On The Wings Of A Song Loneliness Can Really Get You Down I Don’t Want To Leave You It Might As Well Rain Until September