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The Stormy Clovers were a pioneer 60’s Canadian Folk-Rock group, now best known for being the first performers of many of Leonard Cohen’s earliest songs. From 1965 to 1968, the band performed extensively in the coffee houses, clubs and university campuses of eastern Canada. A mainstay of the early “Yorkville Scene”, the band repertoire helped popularize songs by other Canadian folk singers including Gordon Lightfoot, Bruce Cockburn, Bill Hawkins and Ian Tyson. Managed by Mary Martin, who also handled Leonard Cohen and The Band, the Stormy Clover’s seemed destined for greater popularity with a major studio recording session and the promised release of an album. This failed to materialize, and the band broke up in 1968. The members moved to other projects, but by the mid 70’s had slipped into obscurity. A few recorded television performances remain, segments of which are sometimes used to illustrate the “swinging Canadian 60’s music scene”

History
Often referenced or footnoted, the Stormy Clovers were, for a short time in the mid 1960’s, at the forefront of Canadian Folk-Rock. They were early performers of what was referred to as Folk Rock, and influenced others, like Three’s a Crowd, the Children, the Great Speckled Bird, and performers like Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen, and others to start using electric guitars, bass and drums in their backup and take their performances out of the coffee houses and into larger, less intimate venues. The bands style could probably more accurately be called Electrified Folk music. They performed tight vocal harmonies on versions of Lightfoot’s “Early Morning Rain”, Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne”, and Chester Powers “Lets get Together and love one another” as well as other folk standards. They also performed softer, “folk” versions of pop songs, including a harmonized version of Ray Charles’ “Hey What’d I Say” and a version of the Beatles “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” in 5/4 time.

Their instrumentation was basic. Ray Perdue on a Rickenbacker 12 string electric guitar and DD Fraser on a Hofner violin bass, later a Hagstom 8-string bass. Ray was an early “Rick 12” player, and certainly the most prominent Canadian band member to use that particular guitar, popularized by George Harrison in “A Hard Day’s Night”, and later by Jim (Roger) McGuinn of the Byrds. In addition to playing drums, Pat Patterson played a large chromatic harmonica, held in a neck rack. This can be heard on several of the surviving recordings. Susan played an enthusiastic tambourine, but also played finger cymbals on several songs, something which became a bit of a trademark of her performances. This provided for a surprisingly full sound, quite noticeable in the few surviving recorded performances.

Early Years
The group started off in Galt, Ontario as “The Stacattos” (not to be confused with the Ottawa band who became the Five Man Electrical Band), an early 60’s rock band playing covers of “The Ventures” and other pop-chart music. The band consisted of founder Ray Perdue on lead guitar, Jack Mowbray on rhythm guitar, Jaimy (Jaime) Smith on bass, and Pat Patterson on drums. The band eventually settled in Toronto, playing in local clubs and bars.

Susan Jains was born and raised in Toronto, and attended the prestigious Havergal school for girls. She graduated from the University of Toronto in the early 60’s, and was working for a trade magazine, while performing folk music in the Yorkville coffee houses. One evening, Susan, along with a friend, came into a club where the Staccatos were playing. An introduction led to Susan being invited to practice with the band.

A change in the bands musical format lead to the departure of Jaimy and Jack, who joined David Clayton-Thomas’ Bossmen. Ray contacted a childhood friend from Galt, David Fougere (D D Fraser) and asked him to come and play bass with the band. David, who didn’t know how to play bass, was reluctant at first, but Ray persuaded him the rest of the band would teach him what he needed to know.

After Susan joined, the rest of the band still played blues at the Zanzabar, a strip club on Toronto’s Yonge Street to pay the rent. During the evenings, they practised their folk-oriented material in a rented rehearsal space. Neil Young, who had left the Mynah Birds after they split up, came to the band rehearsal room, along with bass player Ken Koblun to discuss joining the band on rhythm guitar, as a replacement for Jack. Neil wanted Ken to join as well, and left when this wasn't possible. Ken would depart from Toronto shortly thereafter for California at the invitation of Steven Stills. Neil and Bruce Palmer followed a short time later in Neil’s famous hearse. The rest is Buffalo Springfield history.

The Productive Years
The Staccatos changed their name to the Stormy Clovers, apparently based on a “dream” Pat experienced, of being pelted with clover during a rain storm. Susan had been at Havergal with Mary Martin, who was working as executive assistant for New York Music Manager Albert Grossman. Mary was also beginning to manage several acts, including The Hawks (later The Band), and the Dirty Shames. Recognizing their potential, Mary also took on The Stormy Clovers, and introduced them to another one of her clients, Leonard Cohen.

Leonard Cohen has admitted to writing a number of his early songs for the band. Like almost every other male in the audience, Leonard was probably much taken with Susan. She was definitely a striking and vivacious personality (per Jack Batten), and one of the few female singers who held a prominent position in the folk and rock music performance circuit. She was the first person to perform Suzanne, and Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye in Public.(per Gordon Sheppard) The band added several more of his songs to their repertoire, the first know public performances of much of his early music.

The band played the eastern Canadian folk club circuit; at Penny Farthing in Toronto, Le Hibou in Ottawa and Penelope and the Café Venus de Milo in Montreal. They also played a number of college and university campuses. Typically these were performance, not dance venues, and attracted a slightly older crowd, as the legal drinking age was 21 (20 in Quebec). It was a more mature audience than the typical high school dances played by many contemporary rock bands. This also may have lessened the demand for “top 40” AM radio play as even pop music oriented rock bands had a hard time getting their music on the air.

“Suzanne” became a signature tune for Susan, well before it was popularized by Judy Collins. Many people assumed that “Suzanne” was written about Susan, but this is now known not to be the case. One evening, when Susan performed the song at the Venus de Milo café in Montreal for a hushed and attentive audience, the mood was interrupted by one patron, seated at the back who kept singing along in a low monotone. When one of the other patrons asked him to be quiet, he sheepishly complied. It was Leonard Cohen, who often came to hear his music performed. Cohen was later persuaded to come up and join Susan in performing the song. It may be the first time he performed his music in public. The Stormy Clovers subsequently backed him up on a number of his early public performances.

1966 was a pivotal year for the Stormy Clovers. In August, the band was one of the headline acts at the Mariposa Folk Festival, closing off the Saturday evening main performance venue. In addition, Ray was one of the featured artists at the festival’s guitar workshop, which also included Doc Watson, David Rea, and Roebuck (Pops) Staple of the Staple Singers. The band also gave a number of live television performances that year. They appeared on the CBC show Sunday, hosted by Ian Tyson, CTV’s A gogo 66, and CBC’s Take 30, hosted by future governor-General Adrienne Clarkson, where they backed Leonard Cohen in a first television performance of “Suzanne”.

The band also provided music for the sound tracks of several Canadian National Film Board (NFB) productions. A connection through Leonard Cohen with film makers Derek May and Gordon Sheppard saw the band compose and perform songs for a documentary called “Trawler Fisherman”, and also perform the soundtrack for the experimental art film “Angel”, based on a poem by Leonard Cohen. The year ended with recording session in a New York studio, intending to produce an LP album of the group’s original material, as well as songs by Leonard Cohen. Through Mary Martin’s connection with The Band, Garth Hudson played keyboard on several of the cuts. Unfortunately, the album was never completed; it is not known if any of the recordings still exist.

Through 1967, the band continued to play in clubs and university campuses. During August, the band performed at Expo’67, the World’s Fair in Montreal, headlining at the Ontario Pavilion. During some of their performances, Leonard Cohen joined them on stage for several of his songs. Artistic and other divisions in the band came to a head in the fall of 1967, and bass player DD Fraser left the group, to be replaced by Michael Bowser (later of Down Child Blues Band). Pat Patterson, the drummer, left soon after and was replaced by Richie Grand, formerly of the Diplomats. In what was it’s final iteration, the Stormy Clovers also included key board player Bill Henderson.

Disbandment
The Stormy Clovers ceased performing as a group in the spring of 1968. Susan Jains went on to form “A Rosewood Daydream’ under the name Eo Hawthorn. The group also included Peter Hodgson, formerly of the Ottawa folk rock group The Children, to whom she was also briefly married. They performed in Canada and Asia from 1969 to 1971. Peter went on to perform as “Sneezy Waters”, best known for his performances as Hank Williams in “Hank Williams; the show he never gave”. David Fougere, Pat Patterson and Oboist Charles Nutter, who had performed with the band on a number of occasions, stayed in Montreal, working with film maker Ryan Larkin and composing the score for an animated short film called “Walking”. Pat Patterson later joined David Clayton Thomas’ Combine very briefly in February of 1968, but was replaced by Pat Little from Luke & the Apostles. He then performed briefly with Breen Leboeuf and Jack Mowbray on the Toronto club circuit. Ray Perdue went on to play guitar on at least one studio session for Anne Murray. By the mid 1970’s the members of the Stormy Clovers ceased performing, and slipped quietly into anonymity.

Ray struggled with alcoholism for years, and finally returned to Galt, where he died of cancer in 2000. Susan suffered from increasing mental illness, and died quietly in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2010. David Fougere worked in a number of fields, including an electronic repair business. He continues to compose and perform as a solo folk act, and released a CD of original material in 2009. It’s not known what happened to Pat Patterson.

Legacy
In the field of pop entertainment, a performers success depends on a mixture of talent, music industry connections, and luck. The Stormy Clovers had the first two in abundance, but unfortunately, the luck just wasn’t there. The band certainly had the visual impact as well. Susan’s stage presence and striking appearance were extensively commented on in press and other reviews. The band also seemed to bridge the 1967 musical transition from :British Invasion” to American Psychedelic, still enjoying major club bookings and audience attendance. Their breakup was unexpected, and certainly unwelcome.

The Stormy Clovers’ influence on the “electrification” of other Canadian folk artists was probably significant. Brent Titcomb stated that “after seeing the Stormy Clovers perform at the Penny Farthing, Three’s a Crowd fired their stand up bass player, bought electric guitars, hired Ken Koblun as an electric bass player, added Richard Patterson from Ottawa’s Esquires as a drummer, and went on to win two Canadian RPM recording awards as best Folk-Rock act.” Their role in persuading Leonard Cohen to start performing has often been noted.

There has been an attempt by some critics, usually American or European, to reduce Canadian 60’s Folk and rock performers to poor imitations of the “far superior” American and British acts. What many critics failed to understand, and Jacques Vassel’s book, Electric Children is a prime example, is that the bands weren’t performing inaccurate cover versions of other artists materials. Instead Canadian performers were bringing their own style to the songs they sang. The Stormy Clovers’ “folkified” versions of Dylan, or the Beatles, or Ray Charles were unique arrangements, performed in the same style as their original material. Whether or not it would appeal to American or European listeners would never be determined, since, for a variety of reasons, both markets were virtually closed to Canadian artists. In Canada the same artists could fill the clubs night after night.

Unfortunately, the 1971 CanCon rules mandating that radio stations give air play to Canadian musicians came too late for the Stormy Clovers. However, many of their contemporaries survived long enough to enjoy commercial success once their music began to get national exposure.

Discography and Live Performances

 * Amethyst Harbour-Perdue. Jains
 * Angel-Leonard Cohen
 * Diamonds-Perdue, Jains
 * Early Morning Rain-Gordon Lightfoot
 * Frankly Stoned-Bruce Cockburn & Bill Hawkins
 * Gnostic Serenade -Bill Hawkins
 * Guess I’m Doin fine-Bob Dylan
 * Hey. You’ve got to hide your love away-Beatles (Lennon, McCartney)
 * Hey, What’d I say-Ray Charles
 * Let’s Get Together-Chester Powers
 * Sisters of Mercy-Leonard Cohen
 * Streets-Unk
 * Suzanne-Leonard Cohen
 * That’s No Way To Say Goodbye-Leonard Cohen
 * The Stranger Song-Leonard Cohen
 * Tonight will be fine-Leonard Cohen
 * Walking-Perdue. Jains
 * Why-Perdue, Jains