Barry Allen Rasmussen (July 29, 1945 – April 4, 2020),Barry Allen, Edmonton musician, dead at 74
at CTV Edmonton; published April 5, 2020; retrieved April 5, 2020 known professionally as Barry Allen, from

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

was an award-winning

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

ian and record producer/engineer.

Career

His career in music began as a guitarist and backup singer for

Wes Dakus Wesley "Wes" Dakus (April 2, 1938 – August 18, 2013) was a Canadian musician and the leader of Wes Dakus and the Rebels, Canada's most popular instrumental group of the 1960s. Wes Dakus and the Rebels Dakus was born in Mannville, Alberta, and ...

& The Rebels. In the early 1960s, producer

Norman Petty Norman Petty (May 25, 1927 – August 15, 1984) was an American musician, record producer, publisher, radio station owner, and considered to be one of the founding fathers of early rock & roll. Biography Petty was born in the small town of Clo ...

noted his lead vocal abilities and just as he had done with having two entities for Buddy Holly & The Crickets, secured recording contracts recordings for both Wes Dakus & The Rebels, and solo releases for Barry. In 1965, Allen signed with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

in Canada, and Dot Records in the U.S.A; that year, he won Canada's Gold Leaf Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist. In 1966, the title track from his second album, ''

Lovedrops "Lovedrops" is a song written by S. Robinson and M. Baker. The song was originally recorded by the American R&B duo, Mickey & Sylvia, who are best known for their 1957 single, "Love Is Strange". Mickey & Sylvia's version of "Lovedrops" was re ...

'', went

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

. In 1967, he recorded two more singles; however, sales figures were not to Capitol's liking, and he was released from this contract. Barry's last project with Norman Petty was released on the Canadian 'Barry Records' label in 1969. In 1970, he released a third album, this time produced by

Randy Bachman Randolph Charles Bachman (; born September 27, 1943) is a Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of the bands The Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive. Bachman recorded as a solo artist and was part of a num ...

and

via

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

. In 1970 he also hosted a television show out of Calgary called 'Come Together' with various Canadian bands and his own band 'Cheyenne Winter'. By 1973 Barry was the rhythm guitarist and vocalist in the band

Painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

. The Painter album (released in the U.S. on Elektra Records) and the single from it, "West Coast Woman" were released in 1973. Shawn Nagy's Super Oldies label reissued Allen's original material along with unreleased tracks on a two-CD set "Clovis Collection" in 2012, with a CD Release Concert reuniting Barry with Stu Mitchell, Dennis Paul & Gerry Dere of "The Rebels" in their first show together in over 20 years. It was a sold-out event held at the Century Casino in Edmonton on March 10, 2012. Allen then formed the "New Rebels" with local musicians to do the occasional performance. A stereo reissue of "Goin' Places" was released in 2013, followed by "Love Drops" in 2016. He returned to solo recording with "Speed Of Dark" released in November 2019. Allen revealed that he had recently overcome a bout with cancer and that his January 21, 2017 show may have been one of his final shows. He died on April 4, 2020, aged 74.

Discography

Singles

(Rankings from

RPM Magazine ''RPM'' ( and later ) was a Canadian music-industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. ''R ...

) Easy Come, Easy Go ......................... #14 (1965) It's Alright With Me Now ...................... #12 (1965) Love Drops ......................................... #10 (1966) Turn Her Down .................................... #22 (1966) Armful of Teddy Bears ......................... #32 (1967) I Know (You Don't Want Me Anymore)... #68 (1967) Wednesday In Your Garden ................. #91 (1970)

References

External links

Official siteCanConRox biography and discography
*
Entries at 45cat.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Barry 1945 births 2020 deaths Musicians from Edmonton Canadian rock guitarists Canadian male guitarists Canadian rock singers 20th-century Canadian guitarists 20th-century Canadian male singers