Rip this joint, going to save your soul
’Round and ‘round and ‘round we go
Craig Martin would tell the story about an aha moment that happened while he was fronting the Midnight Ramblers, his Rolling Stones cover band.
asserted
he → rip → Ramblers
While driving back to Toronto from a gig in Montreal, the Stones’ Rocks Off, the first song on the 1972 album Exile on Main St., came on the radio.
asserted
Rocks → drive → radio
When it was over, the album surprisingly continued to play on uninterrupted to the second track, Rip This Joint.
asserted
album → continue → Joint
Mr. Martin was a child of the Seventies, an era when music fans listened to full album sides, whether on vinyl or cassette.
asserted
fans → listen → vinyl
He suggested to his bandmates that they play a complete side of Exile for their next show.
uncertain
they → suggest → show
In 2003, Mr. Martin founded Classic Albums Live, a Toronto-based Canadian success story that now employs approximately 100 musicians to perform entire classic-rock albums, cut by cut and note for note, in venues across North America (particularly Florida) and some in Britain.
asserted
that → found → Britain
On any given night, Classic Albums Live might present Supertramp’s Breakfast in America at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, Led Zeppelin II at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Fla., and a Stones album somewhere else.
uncertain
Live → present → Clearwater
Mr. Martin conceived the concerts as rock ’n’ roll recitals, not theatrical tribute presentations.
asserted
Martin → conceive → recitals
“No cheesy costumes, no bad impersonations,” as he explained it.
asserted
he → explain → it
That’s all you need.”
asserted
you → ’ → ?
Mr. Martin, a musician, an entrepreneur and a dogged champion of the electric sounds of his youth, died of cancer on Aug. 23, in Toronto.
asserted
Martin → die → Toronto
The achievement of his concept can be attributed to the widespread fandom of a rock music canon that originated in a time when kids grew up with largely the same pop culture references.
asserted
kids → attribute → references
The generation who listened to “LPs” on “hi-fi” stereos now purchase tickets for concerts to revisit their melodic past in the cushy seats of theatres and music halls.
asserted
who → listen → theatres
“No matter how good or bad the music was when we were 16 years old, we’re connected to it,” said music historian Bob Wegner, a former member of the Classic Live Albums rotating roster of musicians.
asserted
Wegner → connect → musicians
While much of the Classic Albums Live repertoire comes from the 1960s and 70s, albums such as Madonna: The Immaculate Collection, Van Halen’s 1984 and U2’s Achtung Baby from 1991 are presented as well.
asserted
albums → come → 1991
“I sell nostalgia, and I am not ashamed of it,” Mr. Martin told the Financial Post in 2023.
asserted
Martin → sell → 2023
“Music takes us back to the prime of our lives and, for a lot of us, those memories can be pretty golden.”
asserted
memories → take → us
Mr. Martin was a stickler for recreating memories meticulously, right down to the cash register effects from Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon and the stage banter of the Beatles when presenting the semi-live Let It Be.
asserted
It → recreate → Let
“It’s based on a love and respect of the music, and Craig demanded a great deal from his musicians,” said musicologist Mike Daley, part of the Classic Albums Live stable of performers from 2003 to 2009.
asserted
Daley → base → 2009
Classic Albums Live began at Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre, a general admission club with no seats, where Mr. Martin presented a monthly series.
asserted
Martin → begin → series
He remembered the experience as nerve-racking: “I wondered if people would show up.
asserted
people → remember → experience
But Craig told me, ‘You gotta play a card.’
asserted
You → tell → card
And the club filled up.
asserted
club → fill → ?
Though the concert series at the Phoenix was quickly successful, eventually the presentations were shifted to seated venues.
asserted
presentations → shift → venues
“We realized the people who were coming out to the shows were an older crowd who didn’t want to stand,” said Mr. Martin’s sister, Tracy Martin, referring to baby boomers and Gen-Xers.
asserted
sister → realize → boomers
“When we moved to the soft-seaters, things really took off.”
asserted
things → move → seaters
Toronto’s Massey Hall regularly hosts Classic Albums Live.
asserted
Hall → host → Albums
Typically, the venue, which welcomed Enrico Caruso, Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, does not book what some might call a cover band.
uncertain
some → welcome → what
“Their attention to detail and level of musicianship is impressive, and a big part of what distinguishes them,” said Jesse Kumagai, president and CEO of Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall.
asserted
Kumagai → distinguish → Hall
“If the recording had three guitars all playing the same part, you’ll see three guitarists on stage.
asserted
you → have → stage
No shortcuts are taken.”
asserted
shortcuts → take → ?
Mr. Martin had a deep reverence for the music he presented.
asserted
he → have → music
He believed in the Beatles as others might admire Beethoven and Bach and he saw his operation as comparable to the TSO.
uncertain
he → believe → TSO
“They play cover music, we play cover music,” he reasoned.
asserted
he → play → music
Many of the albums covered were originally recorded by artists who are no longer active.
asserted
who → cover → artists
And while legacy acts such as the Eagles still perform live, the prices charged to see them are prohibitively high for many fans.
asserted
prices → perform → fans
Where rock legends AC/DC fill stadiums, Classic Albums Live offers the group’s iconic Back in Black record in intimate, affordable settings.
asserted
Live → fill → settings
“Craig turned our collective passion for the music into something that brings us closer together,” Mr. Kumagai said, “which is something very special and desperately needed in today’s world.”
asserted
which → turn → world
Craig Ray Martin was born Sept. 2, 1961, in Toronto.
asserted
Martin → bear → Toronto
He was one of two children born to Maureen Martin (née Flower) and Ray Rade Martin.
asserted
He → bear → Martin
…and 50 more, not listed.
The Aporia
