Garfield (band)

Garfield
Genres Progressive rock, Art pop, Folk rock
Years active 1970s-1981, 2016-present
Labels Mercury Records, Polydor Records
Past members Garfield French
Walter Lawrence
Paul O'Donnell
Jacques Fillion
Dennis French
Chip Yarwood
Maris Tora

Garfield was a Canadian progressive rock band in the late 1970s,[1] most noted for garnering a Juno Award nomination for Most Promising Group at the Juno Awards of 1977.[2]

Formed in the early 1970s as The Garfield Band by vocalist and songwriter Garfield French,[3] the band also included Walter Lawrence on guitar and electric cello, Paul O'Donnell on guitar, harmonica and banjo, Jacques Fillion on keyboards, Dennis French on drums, Chip Yarwood on flute and keyboards, and Maris Tora on bass guitar.[3] A prominent touring act in Southern Ontario, they were signed to Mercury Records after a gig opening for 10cc in Ottawa.[3] At this time, they changed their name from The Garfield Band to Garfield.[3]

The band's debut album Strange Streets, released in 1976, garnered Canadian radio airplay for the single "Old Time Movies",[3] and was supported by touring both on their own and as an opening act for Canadian dates by The Doobie Brothers. Their second album, Out There Tonight, was released in 1977.[3] It was less successful, leading to conflict with their label, and the band moved to Polydor Records for their third album Reason to Be in 1979.[3] One more album, Flights of Fantasy, was released in 1981 before the band broke up.[3]

In 2016, French started recording new material under the Garfield name, releasing a new album titled December Roads in late 2016. The album was thematically inspired by the death of French's father, and featured contributions from previous members of the band.

In 2017, Garfield released three albums. The first, Lost in the Shoals: Wishbone Studio Recording 1979 was an album that the band had recorded in 1979, and was intended to be the follow-up to 1977's Out There Tonight. The second was The Early Days On Wildcat, a compilation of unreleased songs from the band's early days. The third and final album released in 2017 was Sundown, a live album consisting of just one track, the 30 minute title track.

In September 2017, French uploaded a song to his website called "When Arizona Smiles", and said that it would be released on an upcoming album.

Discography

  • Strange Streets (1976)
  • Out There Tonight (1977)
  • Reason to Be (1979)
  • Flights of Fantasy (1981)
  • Lost in the Shoals: Wishbone Studio Recordings (2016)
  • December Roads (2016)
  • The Early Days on Wildcat (2017)
  • Sundown (2017)

References

  1. ↑ "Still a spark or two". The Globe and Mail, November 30, 1977.
  2. ↑ "A history of Best New Artist". Ottawa Citizen, April 5, 2003.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Garfield at canoe.ca's Pop Music Encyclopedia.


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