Claire Lawrence (born 1939) is a Canadian musician who was a founding member of the Canadian band The Collectors, and remained with the group when it transitioned to Chilliwack in 1970. He performed on keyboards,

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, saxophone, and piano. He left Chilliwack in 1971 after several albums with the band and subsequently produced albums for a number of Canadian artists and groups including

Ferron Ferron (born Deborah Foisy on 1 June 1952) is a Canadian-born singer-songwriter and poet. In addition to gaining fame as one of Canada's most respected songwriters, Ferron, who is openly lesbian, became one of the earliest and most influential ...

, Susan Jacks, Valdy,

Shari Ulrich Sharon "Shari" Ulrich (born 17 October 1951) is a Canadian/American musician and songwriter. She has also worked as a television host, actress, film composer, and educator. A multi-instrumentalist, she plays Violin, Mandolin, guitar, piano, and D ...

, Roy Forbes, 1979- (Nancy Nash with Robbie King CBC),

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...

and Connie Kaldor.

Early life

Lawrence was born in

Elk Point, Alberta Elk Point is a town located in east-central Alberta, Canada. It is located on Highway 41. A number of oil related businesses have located in Elk Point. Agriculture is also important in the Elk Point area. Elk Point is located on the North Sas ...

. At the age of thirteen he began performing on the saxophone with his father's jazz band in night clubs in Victoria. He attended the University of British Columbia.

Career

While attending university in 1964, Lawrence started a band called The Classics. This group later became The Collectors. When that group changed its name to Chilliwack, Lawrence continued to perform with them for some time before leaving to concentrate on production work. In the 1970s he produced ''The Great Canadian Gold Rush'' for CBC Radio, hosted by Terry David Mulligan. In 1973 he released an album, ''Leaving You Free'', on the Haida label, and toured with Valdy as part of the Hometown Band. In 1977 the Hometown Band, with Lawrence on saxophone and flute and as producer, released an album, ''The Hometown Band'', with Shari Ulrich singing lead vocals. In the early 1980s he fronted the Claire Lawrence Band, which performed in western Canada. The band released a self-titled album in 1981. In 1985, Lawrence produced the album ''Moonlight'' for Connie Kaldor, and performed with her in support of the album."Connie Kaldor brings you back to everyday life"
by Doug Smith. ''Lethbridge Herald'', via Newspaper Archives. 13 March 1985 - Page 33 From 1986 to 1990, he scored the music for the long-running CBC series, '' The Beachcombers.'' Between 1991 and 1994 he wrote the theme and incidental music for the CBC teen drama '' Northwood'', shot in North and West Vancouver, BC. In the late 1990s he wrote the theme music used in the first two seasons of the

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

series '' Cold Squad''. From 2000 to 2006 he produced ''Jazz Beat'' for CBC Radio.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Claire Living people Canadian rock musicians Canadian record producers Canadian rock keyboardists 1939 births Chilliwack (band) members