The John Doerr fonds documents Doerr’s professional life as a musician, composer, music producer, and administrator. The completeness of the files not only highlights Doerr's accomplishments and activities, but they also depict the path of the group CANO musique.
Composed of the files of the various administrators of CANO musique, namely John Doerr, André Paiement, and Gary McGroarty, the files cover the legal aspect of managing a music group and its financial administration. The files thus deal with promotion, production of concerts and LPs, and the creation of music and lyrics, and range from Doerr’s early involvement with the group CANO musique to the group’s dissolution and the subsequent founding of Majoma Music.
The John Doerr fonds not only attests to Doerr’s different roles, creations, and achievements within CANO musique but it also provides an overview of the different administrative and managerial aspects of a music group during the time period of 1975 to 1985. Moreover, the fonds documents the different processes, procedures, and interactions with records companies, as well as marketing and promotional strategies in those years.
John Doerr’s role as administrator of CANO’s financial records is well documented in the fonds. Doerr took over the responsibility of the accounts after André Paiement’s passing, at which time the records of 1975-1978 were transferred to him.
The financial records consist mostly of bank statements, budgets, expenditures, expenses and incomes, correspondence, and monthly royalty statements. The files provide insight into the operating cost for concerts and touring, as well as the cost associated with activities such as recording, rehearsals, buying instruments, and insurance payments. The files also attest to group’s organising and functioning as a cooperative. While the monthly statements for the royalties list each song and the amount received for each, it also indicates the popularity of their songs in a specific time frame. Some of the correspondence informs us on the contracts and agreements with recording companies, touring and festival organisations and on applications/bids to be part of festivals like the Ontario Bicentennial tour or representing Canada in Japan. It also attests to bids for different services they offered like staging, sound equipment, and music production.
The creation aspect is documented by the music scores, lyrics and correspondence which inform us more specifically on John Doerr as a musician, composer and producer. Indeed, music scores of many of the CANO songs – some with notations – provide insights on the process of collective creation of the music and lyrics and also on the translation of the lyrics. While some music scores are specifically for the parts of bass guitar, some are film scores. Doerr and Aymar composed music and produced the scores for films, as well as theme songs for programs like Légalement parlant or Great Movies (CityTV). A rough draft of video shooting images with notes to synchronize the music depicts part of the process for this type of composition. Also included are some texts of introductions of members of the group used during concerts, with notations on music to be played, the mood, and even the staging of the musicians. The fonds also contains some of Doerr’s diaries with notes on the rehearsals, tours and daily activities.
Many files document projects undertaken by the group after their dissolution. While not all projects were carried out, the fonds contains extensive documentation and correspondence on certain projects, such as agreements for the production of the CANO album The Millennium Collection: The Best of/Les Meilleurs Succès CANO, and the different agreements with all the partners in the realization of the project. Transcriptions of interviews with some of the members of CANO who talk of their time with the group and different events can also be found in the files on “CANO project,” as well as correspondence from fans, and pictures taken by fans during CANO concerts.
The fonds also contains Gary McGroarty’s files, who was the manager of the group. He turned these files over to John Doerr when he left the group. These files consist mostly of contracts with recording companies, the legal documents on the ownership of copyright for CANO songs and also for the different concerts. Membership, registration, payments made to different associations and unions as well as correspondence with these organizations are also found within those files. Some scheduling for rehearsals and traveling are also included. Marketing and promotional materials consisting of correspondence, opinions sent to specialized magazines, newspapers, press kits and also promotional materials such as cards, posters, letterhead with the official CANO logo illustrate some of the different marketing strategies used by the group.
