MONDAY,JUNE 21,2010

After 48 years of music-making, the Night Train Revue has decided to call it quits.

- SUBMITTEDPHOTO

NightTrainRevuederails
TERMINUS:End of the line for storied rhythm and blues band
"We won't be on our third farewell
tour;' he chuckles and complains that
"Vancouver, in a lot of respects, has
The Legendary Night
turned into a musical wasteland. If you
Train Revue
haven't got a day job, you are starving,
• if you're a musician:•
Where: Red Robinson Show
In a way, the Night Train has come
Theatre, 2080 United Blvd.,
full circle. Producing the Night Train
Coquitlam
Revue's last show is Les Vogt and it's at
When: Saturday night at 8
the
Red Robinson Show Theatre. When
Tickets: $31 at Ticketmaster
Vogt and Robinson were still teenage
- Vogt having had a few hit records,
Robinson a popular DJ- they entered
BYTOM HARRISON into a partnership to book and promote
STAFFREPORTER
shows, Jaguar.
"He would advertise for free on the
When the Night Train Revue pulls into air;' Vogt says of Robinson. "We both
the station, it will be for the last time.
bought our houses from the profits for
The Vancouver rhythm-and-blues
promoting Roy Orbison:'
band formed in 1962 is performing
Jaguar produced a record, Live From
its final show Saturday. This might be the Grooveyard, a club it booked that
hard to believe, as there have been a few was named by another DJ, Fred LatriNight Trains over the years and founder mouille. Among the acts on the record
Chuck Cliffled a comeback in 1986. It is Night Train Revue.
seemed that the Train could have gone
"The Night Train got their name from
on forever.
the Ike and Tina. Turner Revue;' Vogt
Cliff,however, has seen the signs that remembers. "Atthe time, Ike and Tina
tell him to stop. Live gigs have dried up were really exciting and Night Train
and there are few clubs willing to pay took their concepts from that. They
for a big band.
were one of the most exciting bands:'

In concert

"Night Train," however, was a hit
instrumental for James Brown.
"The Ike and Tina Revue Wasn't pure
rhythm and bJues, but it was rhythm
and blues;' Cliffconcurs, sort of. "They
put on a show and you had to be blinded not to see it. So they were a major
influence:'
The name, though, was inspired by
Brown. At one time Night Train Revue
had as many as 13 James Brown songs
in its repertoire.
Cliffhas stories of working with singer
Tony Harris in the early 1960s, of playing before 30,000 people in Surrey on
Canada Day, of backing the Righteous
Brothers, and there might lurk a retrospective album of these sundry highlights, but for now his mind is on the
last show.
Special gµests will participate, Night
Train Revue alumni! have been invited, email best wishes are being accumulated.
'Tm still contemplating what the last
song will be;' he says. "We've always
tried to give our fans what they wanted. We're going out on top. Forty-eight
years is a long time:•
_
tharrison@theprovince.com