by Richard Skelly » Sun Sep 30, 2018 6:34 am
A long time fan of Daryl, I first heard him on Winnipeg Top 40 radio in the mid-60s when visiting relatives. I finally met him in my music-journalist days. We encountered each other a couple of times during the brief heyday of Casino Records.
Ray Pettinger, an ex-Winnipeg drummer turned West Coast record promotion rep, had created Casino after buying Terry Jacks' interest in their Goldfish Records venture. Goldfish artists Susan Jacks and Chilliwack were then under the umbrella of renamed Casino which set about expanding the roster. Among the signings was Shakedown. Band leader Richard Stepp had previously been in The Northwest Company. And that late '60s group was produced and advised by Daryl. So 'B' was similarly present to help Richard make headway with Shakedown.
Daryl was invariably polite but struck me as a deeply reflective person, keeping his own counsel. Years later, I heard he had health issues, including surviving polio as a child. I don't know if that was true. But my wife had childhood polio. She, too, can be very inward focussed. In her case, that's because the disease's after effects are never truly gone. The constant wear and tear on overcompensating 'healthy' muscles and nerves usually causes post-polio pain and mobility challenges.
I do think the Merriam-Webster dictionary could put photos of Daryl and Rick Honey beside the definition of "friendship.' I know that Rick, despite his own cancer battles, helped out Daryl. Eerie but also deeply touching that they passed within a couple of days of each other.
Finally, by inspiring Randy Bachman to write Taking Care Of Business, Daryl had a degree of separation to Elvis Presley! That's because The King so loved the song's title, that he used the acronym TCOB to fashion a series of belt buckles and other fashion paraphernalia with that logo.