St. David Street

The first residents on St. David Street (between Wellington and Nelson streets ) were George Elder, a cooper; Colin Bethune, a freight agent; Louis Eden, a sausage maker; William Kimin, a carpenter; and Thomas Conn, a cattle dealer. For some reason, many tenants in those times moved almost yearly. A. M. Campbell, a 23-year-old photographer, moved into the Conn house. The "five white angels" were typical of their time and of Stratford. 

The windows contain four panes, which were available to builders from local door and sash factories. That is a feature that helps to identify houses of the 1870s. The front doors had glass on the sides and above, which appeared principally in houses of the 1850s and 1860s. The bargeboard is unique, being a long slender gothic curve under the front gable topped with a copybook finial.

The chimneys were well proportioned, the front one probably starting on the second floor. The rush of house-building, attracted some American builders in 1871, who introduced the custom of turning the short side of the rectangular foundation toward the street so that more houses could be placed in a block. That meant all the formal detail had to be concentrated on the end wall. Those houses were not considered "finished" until the front fence was installed. The fence was intended more as a design feature than a device to keep out wandering cows and chickens, which frequently foraged on the street allowance.  Source: Stratford-Perth Archives

Charles was a died-in-the-wool lover of music. He spent many faithful years giving concerts. He also held down positions with CJCS Radio (see Albert Street). Officially in the role of bookkeeper, he said at times he did everything possible to stay there, being called upon to write commercials, read the news and select recordings. His retirement from the station lasted only six months before becoming the bookkeeper for the city's art gallery on Romeo Street, where he often gave recitals. Source: Stratford Perth Museum

Charlie was a founding member of the Aeolian Trio (1936-1966) along with Bailey Bird, violin (Bailey Bird | The Canadian Encyclopedia) and Anna Trethewey, piano in 1936.  Charlie also played in trios for concert work with Cam Trowsdale (see William Street) (Campbell Trowsdale | The Canadian Encyclopedia) and Audrey Conroy (see Water Street).  Source: Music in Stratford | The Canadian Encyclopedia 

A Musical Memory of Charlie by Dean Robinson

Beginning in the 1970s, and for about the next 20 years, my wife Judy and I were next-door neighbours to Charlie and Helen Trethewey, at 289 and 293, respectively, on St. David Street. They were the best neighbours anyone could hope for. Charlie, a cello player, would host informal music nights in their house, where there was a resident piano. He and three or four other local players, Tom and David Drake among them, would play for about two hours. With windows open in the summer, the music they made drifted from their house and into ours. It was like having a live concert just a few metres away. Source: Dean Robinson.

Till's parents would also take their young son to local clubs to hear Dixieland if they could arrange to get him in the door. One of the clubs, Campbell's in London, Ont., is where he played with Ronnie Hawkins 15 years later. 

Till's family never pushed him into music or forced him to take lessons. They told him years later that their philosophy was to just have the musical instruments "around," and to make sure there was lots of music to be heard in the house. Till describes his parents as being "totally supportive" when he showed an interest in playing. His father taught him to play the four-string tenor guitar and banjo by ear, and also taught him the concept of improvisation -- taking off on the chords -- which is such a big part of Dixieland. They weren't rich, but when John became interested in rock and roll, when he was about 11, they managed to buy him his first electric guitar and amp. 

“I first met Richard Manuel (see Well Street) through his younger brother Donald when we went to Romeo Public School, Grade 8. I’d walk over to the Manuel’s every morning on Well Street to meet Donald and we’d walk to school together, and back home in the afternoon. Richard was playing piano in their front room one day and Donald mentioned that I was a guitar player. I was invited to go home and get my guitar and, within a few days, I had joined the "Rebels." We were not named the "Revols" yet. A year later, I became friends with Ken Kalmusky who lived a few blocks from me. Ken was learning to play bass and soon became the Revols’ first bassist. All three houses had a piano, so we rehearsed at everyone’s place eventually. All of our parents were very supportive and it was a wonderful time for us.”

While attending Stratford Central Secondary School, Till formed a rock and roll band, the Revols, with classmates Richard Manuel and Ken Kalmusky. Manuel coined the name Revols, short for "revolution." The Revols (see Richard Monette Way) played local dance halls and schools throughout southern Ontario, but within a few years Manuel became a member of Ronnie Hawkins' Hawks, who later achieved fame as The Band, and Kalmusky would go on to play with Ian and Sylvia Tyson's Great Speckled Bird. 

In 1958, the Revols were offered an opportunity to play some dates in Arkansas, gigs that Ronnie Hawkins had arranged. The Revols went south, but without Till, who at age 13 chose to remain in school. His interests at the time were pretty much girls and cars, when he knew every automobile's make, model and year. Music was his refuge from the daily grind while still in high school.

In 1960, Kalmusky told Till about the band Larry Lee and the Leesures, who were going to need a guitarist. So Till hitched a ride to Le Coq d'Or Tavern on Yonge Street in Toronto to audition, and he landed the job. He then spent the summer of 1960 playing on Yonge Street at Le Coq d'Or, and later just up the street at the Zanzibar with Max Falcon and the Falcons before returning to Stratford and school in the fall. 

But he didn't stay in high school long. He got a call early in 1961 from Kelly Jay, later of Crowbar, and toured for several months through places such as Madison, Wis., and Gulfport, Ill., with Kelly Jay and the Jamies. Upon returning to Toronto, he played the summer of 1961 at the Zanzibar Tavern with a performer known as Johnny Rhythm. It was at the Zanzibar that Till met David Clayton-Thomas, later of Blood, Sweat and Tears. Clayton-Thomas would regularly sit in at various Yonge Street clubs on Saturdays, and Till joined him for a month of dates around Bay City, Mich., before returning to high school (yet again) in the fall of 1961. 

By then, Manuel had left the Revols to join the Hawks and Ken Kalmusky had also returned to school. Within a year or so, Till and Kalmusky journeyed to Toronto and Le Coq d'Or, this time to audition for Ronnie Hawkins. Hawkins was without a regular band after the Hawks had ventured off on their own, so he hired Robbie Lane and the Disciples for a while. But he was also putting together a new band in the summer of 1965. They jammed one day at "the Hawks nest" upstairs at Le Coq d'Or, and Hawkins hired Till to play guitar and Kalmusky to play bass. 

Till recalled the famous power blackout of 1965 on Saturday, Nov. 9. Hawkins and his band had just finished their matinee at Le Coq d'Or. Kalmusky, who had left Hawkins by then to join Great Speckled Bird, came by the club to catch some tunes. Till and Kalmusky were sitting by the stage having a drink when the stage lights dimmed for a moment, came back on for a second or two, and then went totally out. They walked out onto Yonge Street to find the crowded city in darkness -- no neon lights, no traffic signals, no moving streetcars. The band didn't play that Saturday night because the power didn't come back on for 24 hours, but that's how Till remembered the year he joined Ronnie Hawkins and his Hawks. He can be heard on Hawkins' 1967 single, Home from the Forest. Till stayed with Hawkins until July 1969, when he left to replace Sam Andrew in Janis Joplin's Kozmic Blues Band. At a concert in Forest Hills, N.Y., Andrew and Till played guitar on-stage together for the first and only time. Andrew then left and Till became the guitarist for Joplin throughout the rest of her career. When Joplin formed her Full Tilt Boogie Band it was the creation of a perfect unit with which she could express herself. Till played with Joplin at the legendary Woodstock Music Festival in 1969. 

The group recorded their classic Pearl album, which reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts in 1971, after Joplin's death. 

Till eventually returned to Canada in 1976 and started playing locally every weekend with husband-and-wife duo Danny and Linda Hunter, and doing occasional recording sessions with local artists such as Bob Burchill, Michael O'Brien, Michael's son Jesse O'Brien, and others. In the new millennium Till taught guitar and performed in a Saturday afternoon house gig at Sam and Bill's in London, Ont., with B.W. Pawley & Plum Loco. 

Plum Loco include John's son, Shawn Till, on bass and longtime friends Brian Pawley on guitar and vocals and Billy Hilton on drums and vocals. Shawn Till replaced Ken Kalmusky on bass after Kalmusky's death in the fall of 2005. 

On Jan. 28, 2006, Plum Loco opened for Ronnie Hawkins on the Stratford Festival's main stage, to an appreciative packed house of Stratford friends and fans. In addition, for the first time in 30 years, four of the five members of the Full Tilt Boogie Band -- Richard Bell, Ken Pearson, Brad Campbell, and John Till -- got together in 2003 for the filming of interviews for the movie Festival Express. Source: John Till Biography, Songs, & Albums | AllMusic ; If You Grew Up in Stratford  . . . FB; John Till - Wikipedia; Stratford home of The Band's keyboardist recognized with Blue Plaque | The Sarnia Observer 

Addendum: A full discography of John Till's music can be found here: John Till Albums and Discography | AllMusic 

* Stratford Honour: In 2020, John Till and Ken Kalmusky were awarded Bronze Stars by the City of Stratford to honour their musical careers. (see above). Richard Manuel had been so honoured in 2004. The musical legacy of John Till and Ken Kalmusky is recognized in other places in Stratford. In Allen’s Alley (see Wellington Street), there is a mural featuring the local Revols, and at the Kiwanis bandshell at Upper Queens Park there is a plaque honouring the Revols. Source: posted Nov. 9, 2020  City of Stratford - The Municipality - Posts | Facebook