Song:Turn The Lights On
Album:Hit & Run
Big Sugar were successful in their native Canada but were never able to break through in the US. The lead singer, guitarist and main songwriter of Big Sugar is Gordie Johnson. He was born in Winnipeg and currently lives in Alberta. But in the 80s, he was living in Toronto and was in Molly Johnson's band and a member of the jam band The Bourbon Tabernacle Choir. He formed Big Sugar in 1991 with bassist Terry Wilkins and drummer Al Cross who were also in the Molly Johnson band. They recorded an album in 1991 and then Wilkins left. Big Sugar's music is a mix of jazz, blues and rock. Johnson recorded the second Big Sugar album Five Hundred Pounds with studio musicians. Keyboard player Kelly Hoppe joined the band. Then Jamaican born bassist Garry Lowe joined. He was leader of the Toronto reggae band Culture Shock. Johnson was a big fan so Lowe added a major reggae influence to Big Sugar. The band went through several drummers before settling on Walter "Crash" Morgan. But he died of a heart attack during a 1995 show in Iowa. Paul Brennan was the new drummer for the 1996 album Hemi-Vision. Big Sugar had moderate success in Canada with singles like Turn The Lights On but they were unsuccessful in the US. This led to the band split in 2003. That's when this comp was released. Johnson formed the band Grady and also joined Wide Mouth Mason. He is also a very busy producer. Hoppe led Mr. Chill & The Witnesses and Lowe led Truth and Rights Revue. The three reformed Big Sugar in 2010. The CD Yard Style was released Apr. 2014 and they toured Canada over the summer. Here's the video for Turn The Lights On by Big Sugar. This video is on Youtube but the Vimeo copy is better quality.
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