There tends to be a gap in the Canadian music industry timeline after the arrival of teen idol (and Ottawa native) Paul Anka and before the mainstream success of the likes of Joni Mitchell and Neil Young at the tail end of the 1960s.
But back when the Junos were the Gold Leaf Awards, and before the introduction of CanCon regulations, the Bells were touring from one end of the country to the other, and were the first Canadian band to play the Copacabana in New York City, one of the top clubs in the world at the time.
Toronto filmmaker Jessica Edwards doesn鈥檛 just want to remind audiences about an overlooked piece of Canadiana 鈥� in her documentary Stay Awhile, she also wants you to get to know her musician parents, Cliff and Ann Edwards.
Cliff 鈥渉ad a little grit to him,鈥� according to band manager Kevin Hunter, while Ann, who originally performed in the South African-born sister act Ann and Jacki, had an innocence onstage that was beguiling. Hunter saw a winning formula and put them together, in a band that started out as the Five Bells.
The group, including sister Jacki, Gordie McLeod and Doug Gravelle, toured and played Bermuda for six months, Florida for three. They found success south of the border, but couldn鈥檛 crack a vast Canada. A promo film for the band commissioned by the record company, 鈥淔ollow the Fun,鈥� showed the Bells touring across the U.S., having a blast in New York City. It was a charmed time. 聽
The film shifts focus at about the 50-55 minute mark, approximates Edwards. 鈥淯p until then it鈥檚 the band鈥檚 story,鈥� the director says via phone from Toronto. 鈥淸Then] we reveal things to each other... Marriages fail, bands get together and break apart鈥� 聽Every person has their own version.鈥�
At first Clint had an eye for Jacki. But it鈥檚 Ann he married, in Christchurch Cathedral in Montreal, 1967. And so the Bells鈥� tight family unit went the way of Fleetwood Mac and ABBA, with a husband-and-wife team throwing things off balance.
Peace song 鈥淔ly Little White Dove Fly鈥� became a top 10 hit in Canada and then 鈥淪tay Awhile,鈥� a pillow-talk duet between Cliff and a breathy Jacki, hit number one in Canada and number seven in the U.S. on the Billboard Top 100. The group found true fame right around the time that Ann became a stay-at-home mom, watching from the sidelines as the Bells performed on Merv Griffin and The Tonight Show, two times each.
Jacki became the sole female in the group. The new record cover made brother- and sister-in-law look like lovers, which didn鈥檛 sit well with Ann, now tending two kids 鈥� soon to be three 鈥� alone at home on their Ontario farm.
Ultimately, Cliff left the band. He rejoined his family but was on the road a lot as a struggling solo artist. A TV show hosted by Cliff and Ann (and occasionally featuring the three kids) tided them over.
鈥淓very Christmas we鈥檇 have to go up on stage,鈥� laughs Edwards. 鈥淲e were like the Christmas von Trapp family.鈥�
One film clip shows the Edwards family singing the Kenny Rogers favourite 鈥淭he Gambler,鈥� with a toothy Jessica right in front. 鈥淚 had totally blocked that out,鈥� she laughs. 鈥淲ho鈥檚 the idiot who put the mic in front of the youngest?鈥�
But it couldn鈥檛 last, and the couple separated after 19 years of marriage. Ann left, moved out west to Vancouver, 鈥渕ore like a distant relative鈥� to her children than a mother.
Edwards isn鈥檛 concerned that her mother, father and aunt may not have 鈥渇essed up鈥� to the whole story, instead providing an 鈥渁pproximation of the truth,鈥� as her brother Chris says in the film. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think hard-hitting questions would鈥檝e achieved the same tone, and I don鈥檛 think the Bells would鈥檝e gone there.鈥�
A wealth of news and archival footage sets time and place perfectly (right down to the Bells鈥� performance on The Tommy Hunter Show); musician Ron Sexsmith weighs in on the band鈥檚 influence while Bells members reminisce.
When the film screened at the Whistler Film Festival last year, reality sank in. 鈥淭hey were all feeling, 鈥楬oly s***, everyone is going to see this!鈥� But they understand that to make a compelling film you have to go places, and they feel like I made a balanced film, and that I did it with love.鈥�
Stay Awhile screens April 27, 7:30 p.m. at April 27, 7:30, at Scotiabank Theatre, and will be available on iTunes April 28.
