The Rhythm Ramblers were a Sarnia-based country/polka band who came together in the early '60's and released this album, Music For Dancing, sometime towards the end of the decade. The Ramblers consisted of Lloyd Saar on banjo and vocals, Bill Muir on accordion, Clyde Elliot on guitar, John Rowe on bass, Ed Cannon on saxophone and Gerald Bailey on fiddle. Clyde, Bill and John were Sarnia boys, while Ed was a native of Wallasey, England, Lloyd was born in Coronation, Alberta, and Gerald hailed from Petrolia, Ontario. My father worked with Bill Muir for years at Polysar, and before he moved to Ontario, Lloyd Saar had his own radio show in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, which is where my maternal grandmother was born.

I love this album. Or, more accurately, I love this album cover (which is hung on the wall at Ups 'n' Downs, Sarnia's best pub). The matching (or, at least, thematically-related) sweater vests, the view of Point Edward's waterfront and the Blue Water Bridge, and the fact that the guy on the far right didn't even bother to put out his cigarette for the photo are all pretty endearing. The music itself isn't going to knock anyone's socks off, but it is representative of the sort of old-time party band that people used to hire to play weddings and dances, and which must have been a dying breed by the time the late-'60's rolled around. Music For Dancing was recorded at Sound Canada Recording Centre in Don Mills, Ontario, by engineer Ray Lawrence, and released on hi-lite label, a division of Pickwick Records of Canada.

Wheels
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