Early years Although April Wine officially began in late 1969 in
Waverley, Nova Scotia, their roots can be traced to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, in 1967/68, where brothers David and Ritchie Henman grew up playing music together before moving to Nova Scotia. Three of the founding members - David Henman (guitar), Ritchie Henman (drums), and their cousin Jim Henman (bass) - were originally in a band named Prism (not to be confused with
the Vancouver-based band of the same name). After a brief break to attend university, the trio reformed with
Myles Goodwyn on lead vocals and guitar. Goodwyn had previously played with Jim Henman in a group called the Termites. David Henman christened the new group "April Wine". They realized that
Halifax did not provide opportunities to play and record, so they sent a demo tape to
Aquarius Records in Montreal. Aquarius managers Terry Flood and
Donald K. Tarlton returned a rejection letter but the band mistook it for an invitation. On April 1, 1970, April Wine went to
Montreal, bringing with them their instruments and $100 in cash; Flood and Tarlton were persuaded to sign the band to a contract. They were set up in a chalet and booked at a local comedy club, Café André. They spent the next five months touring eastern Canada with
Mashmakhan. The band recorded and released their self-titled debut album
April Wine in September 1971. The album included a single, "
Fast Train", which was a top 40 hit in Canada and peaked at No. 38 on the
RPM Singles Chart. The album did not sell well, but the success of the single led the band's label to ask for a second album. Jim Henman left the band in the fall of 1971 and was replaced by
Jim Clench. April Wine recorded their second album,
On Record in 1972. The first single was a cover version of the
Hot Chocolate song "You Could Have Been a Lady". The record was a commercial success, hitting number two for a single week on the RPM Canadian charts, as well as cracking the
Billboard Hot 100 chart in the
United States where it stayed for 11 weeks, peaking at No. 32. A second single, a cover of "Bad Side of the Moon" by
Elton John and
Bernie Taupin, also got much airplay on Canadian radio and was a minor hit in the U.S. Both tracks remain staples on
classic rock radio stations in Canada.
On Record was certified Gold in Canada and the band, along with Murphy, returned to the studio. While the band was recording their third album in 1973, David and Ritchie Henman quit. Goodwyn and Clench held auditions and the replacements were drummer
Jerry Mercer (formerly of
Mashmakhan) and guitarist Gary Moffet. They finished the album,
Electric Jewels, with the songs "Weeping Widow," "Just Like That" and "Lady Run, Lady Hide", which would stay in April Wine's set lists for many years. In support of this album, the band embarked on the Electric Adventure Tour where nearly every Canadian arena or concert hall that seated more than 2500 saw the band play. Touring proved successful;
Gene Cornish and
Dino Danelli of
The Rascals attended a 1974 concert in
Massey Hall, and were so impressed they offered to record and produce a live album of the band. The one-night recording session was something of a rushed enterprise; they wanted the album to be released by the end of the tour. Goodwyn wasn't happy with the sound, but
April Wine Live went
gold. Following the tour, Jim Clench left, eventually to join
Bachman–Turner Overdrive (in 1977); The album contained the popular title track as well as a hit single, the ballad "Like A Lover, Like A Song". Their sixth album,
Forever for Now, was another platinum seller and contained the band's biggest single to date, "You Won't Dance With Me". On March 4 and 5, 1977, April Wine was booked to play a charity concert at Toronto's famed
El Mocambo Club. The co-headliner on the bill was a band called "The Cockroaches", which turned out to be
The Rolling Stones. The pseudonym was a poorly kept secret and huge crowds turned out for the event. April Wine's performance was captured and released as the album
Live at the El Mocambo. The band then got its first chance at touring the U.S., opening for The Rolling Stones,
Styx and
Rush. Also in 1977,
Brian Greenway of
The Dudes (the Henmans' new band) was brought in as a third guitarist and co-vocalist. This allowed Goodwyn to switch to keyboards for ballads. They also signed to Capitol Records (in addition to Aquarius). 1978 saw continued Canadian success, and the beginning of international success. The band's seventh album, and the first with Capitol, was
First Glance, which had an immediate impact and the singles "Let Yourself Go" and "Get Ready For Love" were successful on Canadian radio. It was the third single, the raucous "Roller", that brought the band mass appeal across North America—it stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 for eleven weeks.
First Glance stayed on the Billboard album chart for many weeks, making it April Wine's first gold record outside of Canada. Constant touring helped propel the band to greater success, as Americans embraced the hard rock of this "new" band from Canada—in 1978, they toured with Rush and played with
Triumph,
Starcastle, and
Teaze and, in July, played a concert with the Rolling Stones,
Journey, and the
Atlanta Rhythm Section. It would stay on the Billboard top album chart for 40 weeks. 1979 was spent touring with
Styx,
Rush,
Toto,
Boston,
Squeeze, and
Blue Öyster Cult. was released in January 1981, and riding on the popularity of the hit singles "
Just Between You and Me" and the band's cover of the Lorence Hud song "Sign of the Gypsy Queen", the album hit multi-platinum success in Canada, and was the first April Wine album to reach platinum status internationally. April Wine embarked on an extensive support tour, performing to their largest crowds ever. In addition to a packed schedule of solo concerts, they toured with
Diamond Head,
Harlequin,
Krokus and
Franke and the Knockouts, played five concerts with
Loverboy, and travelled to Germany to play a concert with
Neil Young, Jethro Tull, the
Michael Schenker Group (MSG), and
King Crimson. started receiving frequent rotation on
MTV. Despite decent sales,
Power Play was not met with the same critical acclaim the prior two albums had received; both the album and its singles charted well on Billboard's lists, but for shorter periods of time than earlier albums and singles. Still, it was certified gold, and then platinum, in October. The
Power Play tour in 1982 was the band's most extensive—three months, with
Saga,
Eddie Money and
Uriah Heep. It was certified gold in Canada soon after its release. Segal remained with the band through one more studio release, 1994's
Frigate. Each year, for the next five years, they went out on tour, playing with, among others,
Def Leppard,
Foreigner,
Meat Loaf, Loverboy,
Peter Frampton, Blue Öyster Cult and
Nazareth. Also in 2001, the band's song "Roller" was featured in the movie
Joe Dirt. Then in 2003, they released the live album called
Greatest Hits Live 2003. In the meantime, various labels released several compilation albums. In 2004 Silverline released April Wine's first
DVD-A called
From the Front Row ... Live!. From 2001 to 2004 their live shows included
Carl Dixon (formerly of the bands
Coney Hatch, and
The Guess Who) Goodwyn and Greenway accepted the honour. On November 3, 2010, Jim Clench died in Montreal, of lung cancer, at 61. LeBoeuf left April Wine the following July and was replaced by Richard Lanthier from the
Yes tribute band Close to the Edge. Mackay left in March 2012 and was succeeded by Roy "Nip" Nichol, late of the band SamHill. Steve Lang died on February 4, 2017, at age 67, of
Parkinson's disease. Labels continued to release their music; BGO Records released a re-mastered
The Nature Of The Beast / Power Play in 2020. April Wine continued to tour across Canada annually and to play festivals in Europe and in the United States, with the group consisting of Goodwyn, Greenway, Lanthier, and drummer Roy "Nip" Nichol. They played a concert in Ottawa in September 2021. Their song "Sign of the Gypsy Queen" can be heard in the background in the penultimate
Breaking Bad episode Granite State; the guitar solo is playing behind Jesse's recorded confession tape being watched by Todd and Uncle Jack in the neo-Nazi compound. In December 2022, Myles Goodwyn announced that he would no longer be touring with the band, turning over his vocal and guitar duties to Marc Parent (previously with
Eight Seconds): "I've had a long career, happy, fulfilling. I've seen much of the world and I'm grateful to continuing support of radio and our fans worldwide, but touring has been very difficult in recent years because of my diabetes and my health comes first, so unfortunately, my touring days are officially over." He only focused on writing and recording. He played his final show with the group in early March 2023 with original April Wine member Jim Henman coming out on stage to take a bow during his farewell speech. Goodwyn died in
Halifax, Nova Scotia on December 3, 2023, at the age of 75. His departure and death left the band without any original members. ==Band members==