[URBAN NOTE] "From folk singers to folklore, 1960s Yorkville lingers"

[rfmcdonald]

Spacing Toronto features Kieran Delamont's article noting the importance of Yorkville in Canadian music history. Now a home of high-end condos, Yorkville was a center of industry.

With Canadian Music Week taking place just in clubs throughout Toronto, the historic Masonic Temple concert hall on Yonge Street — which has hosted the likes of Zeppelin and the Stones — was home to a celebration of the folk music heritage of Yorkville last Friday night. Being unveiled were three new plaques from Heritage Toronto: two celebrating historic venues — the Purple Onion and the Penny Farthing — and one commemorating Yorkville’s contribution to Canadian music history.

“Yorkville was the birthplace of Canadian song,” said music historian Nicholas Jennings. “It’s very important that we don’t forget that history.”

A large crowd gathered in the Temple, filling the lower dance floor (and a large chunk of the upper balcony) to celebrate what was, for many guests, a cause to celebrate their youth. Though many are now older, members of the crowd seemed to embrace age as just a number. Many came dressed in tie-dye, leather jackets, and classic rock band t-shirts; guests shared with each other stories of concerts and dances they attended as teenagers; at one point, the crowded lobby smelled faintly of pot smoke.

The venues being celebrated — the Penny Farthing and the Purple Onion, both of which once stood just blocks away from the Masonic Temple — were important players in Yorkville’s 1960s music scene. The Penny Farthing, founded by John McHugh in 1963, was best known for its backyard swimming pool and bikini-clad waitresses, and was a popular coffee shop for both musicians and their fans. Many classic blues and jazz acts graced its upstairs stage, while folk acts played in the basement (McHugh was not, in fact, a fan of folk music, and at one point banned it from his hi-fi stereo system).