Old Enough to Forget

If you mention the song "Sign of the Gypsy Queen" you'll get a flash of devil horns and a comment about April Wine. Okay, maybe not the devil horns, but most of us remember when we heard April Wine launch into the opening notes of the song. It was awesome, and it was written by Lorence Hud. When it was first released it was a regional hit in Canada, but I have no recollection of the song at the time. I was ten, so it's not like I'm going to be reliable regardless... although some of those early memories are indelibly stamped into my brain. I always knew there was another version, and over time had read enough on the song to assume April Wine had taken some bare bones and reconstructed the song we know and love. That's partly true. There's more than enough in Lorence's version, including a section with dual lead guitars that gives the song a little more bite than expected, and it's a really good song - but not the great song April Wine released. Sti...

The Nature of the Beast  was the third album from the classic five-man iteration of April Wine. The triple threat on guitar: Myles Goodwin, who sang most of the songs, Brian Greenway, and Gary Moffet, backed by the ever rock-solid rhythm section of Steve Lang on bass and Jerry Mercer on drums. When I think of the band, this is the lineup that gets my motor running. By this point April Wine was well established here in Canada, with eight studio albums and two live albums under their belts. You'd think they would have started to coast and rest on their laurels a little. Nope. The band hit the height of both their commercial and creative peak with their 1981 release The Nature of the Beast . It was quite a feat, too. I loved First Glance , especially "Roller." Then the band dropped Harder...Faster and the one-two gut punch of "I Like to Rock" and "Say Hello." That three-guitar medley at the end of "I Like to Rock" just blew my mind. I mean, cou...