That's some very sad news about one of CFCW's Country Gentlemen.
Bev voiced some great 60th Anniversary Country Countdown spots for CFCW in 2014. A series of them is posted on YouTube, here's #1 -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhxmWvT00cEHe was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2002 -
https://www.ccma.org/cgi/page.cgi/hall_ ... &log_id=61One thing to note about his biography, his long-time colleague the late Curley Gurlock was also a Mr. DJ USA in 1957, two years before Bev's award -
http://www.cfcw.com/cfcw-history/Been saving these for a few years now -
Bev suffered a major health scare in July 1993, "when he fell off a bleacher at a B-harness racing event in Camrose and tore the ligaments and quad muscles off both kneecaps."
Radio two-step plays on; Montgomery pops up at CFCW no date yet for Munro return; [Final Edition]HELEN METELLA. Edmonton Journal. Edmonton, Alta.: Sep 16, 1993. pg. C.3
(Copyright The Edmonton Journal)
Rapidly revolving doors continue to fling Edmonton's radio talent from station to station and time slot to time slot.
In the latest shuffle, morning host Wes Montgomery resurfaces at country station CFCW shortly after exiting CFRN.
"Wes Montgomery is one of the most entertaining, high profile, nice guys you'll find in the radio business and he'll be just perfect," said Larry Donohue, CFCW's program director.
Even more to the point, Montgomery's personal affinity for both country music and sports makes him a natural addition to the traditional country music station which bought the rights to Oilers' broadcasts last year.
"I'm excited about going to CFCW because I've been a listener all along," said Montgomery, who was the morning man at country station CISN from 1982-1988.
Montgomery was turfed by 'RN in July, when the Standard Broadcasting station abruptly terminated a contract it had negotiated with the veteran broadcaster after it took over the station a year ago.
He'll start at CFCW Oct. 4 and will share the morning shift with the present team of newscaster Dale Smith, weather reporter Lynne Jenkinson, traffic reporter Caitlyn Reesor and sportscaster Morley Scott.
Donohue, who's been interim morning host since last May when former morning man Pete Hicks left the station temporarily, will go back to afternoon drive.
But the question most of CFCW's loyal listeners want answered, can't be.
Nobody knows when popular mid-day announcer and station ambassador Bev Munro will be back. The folksy broadcaster, songwriter and musician with the mellifluous voice is currently on long-term disability.
In July, Munro fell off a bleacher at a B-harness racing event in Camrose and tore the ligaments and quad muscles off both kneecaps. After lengthy stays in Edmonton and Camrose hospitals, Munro is now at home, but tied to a heavy regime of physiotherapy.
"I can hobble about, not using crutches if I don't walk around too much," he said Wednesday, noting that's a considerable improvement over three weeks ago when he couldn't lift his legs off the bed.
But the 64-year-old, who marks 30 years with CFCW next month, can't speculate when he'll be ready to resume working: "It's a slow process."
However, "Bev Munro is assured of a spot here until he's retired," said Donohue, emphatically.
Credit: THE EDMONTON JOURNAL
Bev retired from CFCW in April 1994 -
Bev was country when country wasn't cool; [Final Edition]
ALAN KELLOGG. Edmonton Journal. Edmonton, Alta.: Apr 16, 1994. pg. D.1
(Copyright The Edmonton Journal)
This Sunday, Bev Munro closes the old bunkhouse door for the final time, and we'll be poorer for it.
If that sounds a bit like a vintage country music lyric, it's entirely appropriate. For 30 years, Munro's trademarked basso pipes have become synonymous with country music in this town and dozens surrounding it. From noon to 4:00 p.m. tomorrow, the familiar Stetson'ed veteran will air his final show on CFCW, where he's worked since October, 1963. Programs like Bev's Bunkhouse have made the man a regional institution, for years a bit of a celebrity in a part of the world that can be tough on a local personality.
A native of Boissevain, Man., Munro grew up listening to the Saturday night WSM Grand Ole Opry broadcasts and picked up his first radio job in Dauphin in 1956. A singer/songwriter for years in bands like the Pembina Valley Boys, the Rhythm Rascals and the (ahem) Babysitters, Bev landed a record deal with Capitol in 1968, back when major label deals were even harder for Alberta acts to get than today.
It's obvious that Munro has seen his share of change over the years, as he's literally lived the boom and bust cycles of country music. He's not so sure about the current phase, either artistically or business-wise.
It's changed tremendously, that's for sure. I think it's a shame. People are the foundation of the business and this music, and if you forget about that you're in trouble. The big thing is that the record industry is now run by people who don't know anything about country music and they have absolutely no desire to find out what it's all about. So they won't take a gamble on anything.
Munro laments that traditional artists can't even get a major recording contract anymore, and have to do what they do on non-labels, which get ignored.
Yes, there are some good people around. Alan Jackson is a young man with a real future, I think, and George Strait and Randy Travis are all right, too. But someone like Garth Brooks, he just goes where the bucks are. I'll tell you Garth Brooks is not a true country artist.
And as much as he's enjoyed his run his professional life, really at CFCW, Munro has strong feelings about the drift of the radio industry, about business in general.
In my mind I wonder what would have happened to Hank Williams or Ernest Tubb if they came into this situation. I think that much of radio all sounds the same, however you label it, and we're saturated with this same thing. One of the worst things that's happened is these consultants. What does some guy from Toronto or L.A. or somewhere know about this community? And you know what? They don't care to find out. If a song isn't on the charts it won't get played, they won't take a chance because they don't know anything about it.
As a former recording act, Munro says he has few doubts about the efficiency of Canadian content regulations in creating a national country music industry.
"I think at first a lot of them took advantage of it. They'd figure that they could do any darn thing without rhyme or reason and stations would have to play it anyway. But there is no doubt that (the CRTC quotas) have helped Canadian talent immeasurably. I used to go to these stations and they wouldn't know who the hell I was, what I was doing or anything. They'd see Rodeo Records on the label and automatically file it under G for garbage. That's changed for the better.
"And I'm encouraged lately that a lot of 'em are starting to smarten up. They know that they're being compared with the Alan Jacksons of the world and that they have to get that Nashville sound. All in all I think its been a good thing."
Bev's got a bit of country music advice for the generations of deejays that are coming up.
"I'll tell you one thing. They will never make a country deejay out of a rock 'n' roll deejay and shouldn't try. And the stations change formats all the time; it's become very fickle. You have to understand the music and where it came from to make that connection with the people out there. Would it hurt to play Hank Williams once in while, the foundation of the whole thing? Look at these stations going belly up now, which has never happened before. These boys have to apply a little grey matter, to come up with some new ideas, but they don't seem up to it."
Bev says he's going to keep the house in Camrose, tend to his racehorses and "go to Vegas whenever the dollar goes up so I can lose more valuable money."
Regrets, not really. . . . "There's so much negativity in business these days and I've always been into positivity. If I had my wish things would get more positive again."
We'll miss you Bev, a guy who left the bunkhouse a little classier, cleaner and more real than he found it.
Credit: THE EDMONTON JOURNAL
Faster cars, younger women, older cheese, more money . . .