Pete Traynor was a Canadian guitarist, bassist, [1] businessman and designer of Traynor sound amplification equipment for the music industry.
As a young man, Traynor played guitar in three bands with Robbie Robertson: Robbie and the Robots, [2] Thumper and the Trambones, and The Suedes. [3] [4] He later played with Ronnie Hawkins. [1]
Traynor worked as a repair technician at Long & McQuade's first store in Toronto. In the 1960s he began designing specialized sound amplifiers and other related equipment for the store's customers. [5] His hand-wired bass amplifier, which he called the DynaBass, was in demand, so Traynor teamed with his employer Jack Long to create a company, Yorkville Sound, to manufacture and market the products he designed under the Traynor brand. [1] [6] Another of his designs was the BassMaster tube amplifier. [7]
The Traynor line of equipment has been sold worldwide and is manufactured in Pickering, Ontario. [8]
Traynor died in May 2016 related to undiagnosed diabetes. [9]
An effects unit or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing.
The Band was a Canadian-American rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1967. It consisted of Canadians Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, and American Levon Helm. The Band combined elements of Americana, folk, rock, jazz, country, and R&B, influencing musicians such as George Harrison, Elton John, the Grateful Dead, Eric Clapton and Wilco.
The Band is the second studio album by the Canadian-American rock band the Band, released on September 22, 1969. It is also known as The Brown Album. According to Rob Bowman's liner notes for the 2000 reissue, The Band has been viewed as a concept album, with the songs focusing on people, places and traditions associated with an older version of Americana. Thus, the songs on this album draw on historic themes for "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", "King Harvest " and "Jawbone".
Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson is a Canadian musician. He is best known for his work as lead guitarist and songwriter for the Band, and for his career as a solo recording artist. With the deaths of Richard Manuel in 1986, Rick Danko in 1999, and Levon Helm in 2012, Robertson is one of only two living original members of the Band, with the other being Garth Hudson.
"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" is a song written by Robbie Robertson and originally recorded by the Canadian-American roots rock group the Band in 1969 and released on their eponymous second album. Levon Helm provided the lead vocals. The song is a first-person narrative relating the economic and social distress experienced by the protagonist, a poor white Southerner, during the last year of the American Civil War, when George Stoneman was raiding southwest Virginia. The song appeared at number 245 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
Richard Clare Danko was a Canadian musician, bassist, songwriter, and singer, best known as a founding member of the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm was an American musician and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Helm was known for his deeply soulful, country-accented voice, multi-instrumental ability, and creative drumming style, highlighted on many of the Band's recordings, such as "The Weight", "Up on Cripple Creek", and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".
Ronald Cornett Hawkins was an American rock and roll singer, long based in Canada, whose career spanned more than half a century. His career began in Arkansas, United States, where he was born and raised. He found success in Ontario, Canada, and lived there for most of his life. He was highly influential in the establishment and evolution of rock music in Canada.
Richard George Manuel was a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as a pianist and one of three lead singers in The Band, for which he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
Eric "Garth" Hudson is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for rock group the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He was a principal architect of the group's sound, described as "the most brilliant organist in the rock world" by Keyboard magazine. With the deaths of Richard Manuel in 1986, Rick Danko in 1999, and Levon Helm in 2012, Hudson is one of only two living original members of the Band, with the other being Robbie Robertson.
"The Weight" is a song by the Canadian-American group the Band that was released as a single in 1968 and on the group's debut album Music from Big Pink. It was their first release under this name, after their previous releases as Canadian Squires and Levon and the Hawks. Written by Band member Robbie Robertson, the song is about a visitor's experiences in a town mentioned in the lyric's first line as Nazareth. "The Weight" has significantly influenced American popular music, having been listed as No. 41 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time published in 2004. Pitchfork Media named it the 13th best song of the 1960s, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named it one of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. PBS, which broadcast performances of the song on Ramble at the Ryman (2011), Austin City Limits (2012), and Quick Hits (2012), describes it as "a masterpiece of Biblical allusions, enigmatic lines and iconic characters" and notes its enduring popularity as "an essential part of the American songbook."
"This Wheel's on Fire" is a song written by Bob Dylan and Rick Danko. It was originally recorded by Dylan and the Band during their 1967 sessions, portions of which comprised the 1975 album, The Basement Tapes. The Band's own version appeared on their 1968 album, Music from Big Pink. Live versions by the Band appear on their 1972 live double album Rock of Ages, as well as the more complete four-CD-DVD version of that concert, Live at the Academy of Music 1971, and the 2002 Box Set of The Last Waltz.
James Jeffrey Weider is an American guitarist, best known for his work with the Band. He joined the reformed version of the Band in 1985 to replace original guitarist Robbie Robertson.
The Revols was a Canadian band from Stratford, Ontario, Canada, formed in 1957, with Richard Manuel on piano and vocals, John Till on guitar, Ken Kalmusky on bass, Doug Rhodes on vocals and Jim Winkler on drums. Fourteen- and fifteen-year-old kids at the time, they were taken under the wing of Ronnie Hawkins, and, together and individually, they made music history in the years to come.
"King Harvest (Has Surely Come)" is a song by The Band, which originally appeared as the final track on their second album, The Band.
Yorkville Sound is a Canadian manufacturer of audio amplifiers, loudspeakers and related professional sound reinforcement equipment. Based in Pickering, Ontario, Canada, the firm has a global presence as an importer and exporter of audio electronic products.
"The Shape I'm In" is a song by The Band, first released on their 1970 album Stage Fright. It was written by Robbie Robertson, who did little to disguise the fact that the song's sense of dread and dissolution was about Richard Manuel, the song's principal singer. It became a regular feature in their concert repertoire, appearing on their live albums Rock of Ages, Before the Flood, and The Last Waltz. Author Neil Minturn described the song as "straightforward rock." Along with "The Weight," it is one of the Band's songs most performed by other artists. It has been recorded or performed by Bo Diddley, The Good Brothers, The Mekons, The Pointer Sisters, She & Him, Marty Stuart and Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats.
"Rag Mama Rag" is a song by The Band which was first released on their 1969 album The Band. It was also released as a single, reaching #16 on the UK Singles Chart, the highest position for any single by the group. The single was less successful in the US, reaching only #57 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Traynor is a brand of bass amplifiers and guitar amplifiers, the first brand formed by Yorkville Sound. The Traynor brand, named for founder Peter Traynor, began in 1963 with the Dynabass bass amplifier, a rental product. Traynor first became popular in Canada by providing less expensive versions of the circuits used in Marshall and Fender amplifiers of the time. The revived brand now produces a wide range of electric, acoustic, and bass guitar amps.
So Many Roads is a 1965 studio album by John P. Hammond, backed by several musicians who would go on to form The Band.