20 Years Later: Everyone Sings Wrench Tuttle

In 1989 Bob Wiseman recorded an album, "In Her Dream: Bob Wiseman Sings Wrench Tuttle" it was later named by Chart as one of the "Top 100 Canadian Albums of All Time". For the 20th anniversary there is a huge party being planned to celebrate the anniversary and the vinyl re-release of the album by Blocks Recording Club, with an all star cast of Canadian musicians.

Before we get into the details of the future party though we have to, in case you missed it, remember a bit of the history of the album. This wasn't just an album release the way it's done now: release an album - promote the album - tour etc., To start with the first pressing of the album was destroyed by Atlantic Records. The company felt that the song "Rock and Tree", which was about the murder of Salvador Allende and more importantly Pepsi's role in the events was potentially libelous. A new pressing was made without the song.

Rock and Tree


You can now get the whole album, including "Rock and Tree" from the Free Music Archive.

Beyond the politics there was the mysterious songwriter Wrench Tuttle. No one knew who Wrench Tuttle was and Wiseman wasn't telling - though he did occasionally share letters from Tuttle with the media. It was later revealed that Tuttle was Wiseman himself. Because it was 1989, in the days when a relatively unknown artist could still have a hit on Much Music - Bob Wiseman did.

We Got Time - Bob Wiseman



Now in 2009 the faithful are gathering at the Gladstone Hotel On July 30, 2009 at 10 pm to celebrate the album and the limited edition vinyl rerelease by playing the songs of Wrench Tuttle. The faithful in this case include Bob Wiseman and Mary Margeret O’Hara, Final Fantasy, Great Lake Swimmers, Geoff Berner, The Bourban Tabernacle Choir, Hundred Dollars, Picastro, UIC, Don Kerr, Laura Barret, Ajay Mehra, The Phonemes, Kyp Harness, Michael Holt, Michelle McAdorey, Ben Bootsma, Mez, Tom St. Louis, Amy Fritz, Don Christiansen and unnamed special guests. Admission is free!

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