Late one night in the 1970s, Keith Brown, then the president of Aquarius Records and April Wine’s manager, woke up in his Montreal apartment to a heavy scene. His roommate, the bon vivant Skip Snair, had gotten into an altercation with a stranger on the street below. A nearby policeman, having witnessed the punch out, chased Mr. Snair into the building.
Mr. Snair died of a heart attack in his sleep at his Montreal home on Feb. 9. He was 77. A dedicated extrovert who enjoyed romance, mischief and rock and roll escapades, he worked at various times as a bartender, a radio promotions man and a music-business jack of all trades. After his death, a small shrine was set up in his memory at Ziggy’s Pub in Montreal.
“He knew everybody from celebrities to people in the Secret Service to members of the Montreal Canadians to tough guys in Boston,” said long-time friend Terry DiMonte, morning host on Montreal’s CHOM 97.7. “If you didn’t know him, you could cast him as a really sweet uncle or an Irish gangster.” The lifetime nature lover, whose grandfather nicknamed him Skipper, wanted to be a forest ranger. Later, one of young Mr. Snair’s first jobs was as a go-go dancer on the teen dance show“Our parents were very conservative, and there were times when they struggled with some of Skip’s choices,” his sister said. “But he was so likeable, you couldn’t help but to let him do his own thing.”
“Whether it was Skip or the Stones’ tour manager Peter Rudge or promoter Donald Tarlton who arranged it, the Rolling Stones paid to have a whole shipment of rock lobsters taken off an Air Canada cargo hold so they could put on those speakers,” Mr. Brown said. “It really locked Skip in with the Stones camp.”
For a time, Mr. Snair was something of a provisioner for the Stones and other major touring acts on their Canadian dates, taking care of the entertainment, culinary and pharmaceutical needs of music’s biggest stars. Once, while in the Florida Keys on kayaking adventure, Mr. Snair received an urgent phone call requesting that he arrange a smoked-meat dinner in Montreal for Barbra Streisand.