The Sidetrack in action
Date: 1965
Credit: Melinda McCracken (photographer), copyright 1965
University of Manitoba Archives collection, Melinda McCracken fonds (A2002-043, PC 147 136)
Here is an image of the band The Sidetrack in action, playing at The New Penelope on Stanley Street in 1965.
Sidetrack were great, they were the New Penelope’s house band. Now in New York, at the Café a Go-Go, the house band was the Paul Butterfield Blues Band for six months, then Sidetrack took over. They were that good. Sidetrack were more like Butterfield on the first album, very harmonica, straight blues. The other thing was they had a jazzy component. The keyboard guy [Leslie Speaker?] played the fans and the other guy played a home-made harpsichord. So they did this blues-jazz staples but it was really blues-based. Their theme song went, “Let me be your side track until your mainline comes.” There was J.C. Lewis, short, curly hair, wore round sunglasses like John Lennon, played harmonica, great voice, drove a stripped-down BMW, wore leather. Died of throat cancer really, really young. The drummer was from Miami. The core of the band was from Montreal.
― Allan Youster, former doorman at both The New Penelopes (interview with ARCMTL, July 2015)