This photo was taken circa 1979 for a promo shot of Andy Wernick’s band, Vertigo, for it’s one-time exploratory summer tour of central and northern Ontario.
Perhaps more a sociological research project to experience life on the road first hand, the band strayed from its origins of mostly blues and experimental jazz, partially succumbing to the whims of struggling bar owners who made their living from an insular and bleak patronage whose musical preference was mainstream radio.
Luckily, Warren Zevon was on the airwaves or all would have been lost. Some of us had good pot, and some of us did bits of LSD here & there. The landscape was clean and beautiful back then and everyone took advantage of the lakes and the fresh air. The couple of biker bars that we played in loved us.
There were several versions of Vertigo through the mid 1970s,the 80s, and maybe into some part of the 90s. Early versions included the great and much missed talent of Topo Davis on guitar (google 20th Century Rebels,) Doug Cameron on bass & vocals, Greg Miss Clairol on drums, (Greg, we loved you!), a roster of horn instruments that included faculty members such as Frank Nutch, and so many other players and singers, including myself, that came and went.
From left to right in this photo are: Andy Wernick on keys, Lee Shropshire on vocals, Peter MacGibbon on bass, David Tabatchnick on alto saxophone, and Lang Baker on guitar.