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Categories: Canada, Ontario, Red Leaf, Roman, Toronto, Verve Forecast

The Paupers

October 9, 2009 Chris Bishop 41 Comments

The Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967 should have been The Paupers’ launch pad to international fame. Only four months earlier, the Canadian folk-rock band had seemed destined for the top when Bob Dylan’s manager Albert Grossman bought their contract and began hyping them as the next biggest thing since The Beatles. A month prior to the festival, the group had showcased its talent at a string of well received shows at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, and had spent two solid weeks working up a suitable set list for the forthcoming festival. As Canadian rock journalist, Nicholas Jennings notes in his excellent book, Before The Goldrush, the opportunity to “blow away the competition looked good when the band was scheduled to follow mellow popsters The Association.”

But from the minute The Paupers launched into their set, everything that could go wrong did, and in the subsequent media frenzy, the group’s performance was all but ignored. Within six months, the group once hyped to surpass The Beatles, had lost not only its most inspirational member but was facing mounting debts.

The disappointment of Monterey must have seemed a million miles away from New York’s Café Au Go Go, where, on a freezing cold evening in March 1967, The Paupers proceeded to demolish the headlining act, Jefferson Airplane, then making its East Coast debut. Performing in front of a media and record industry-packed audience that included The Beatles’ Brian Epstein and Albert Grossman, The Paupers couldn’t have picked a better time to make an impression.

While the band became the first Canadian rock band to snare a high profile American manager and a lucrative American recording contract, The Paupers never received the adulation and fame that they deserved. Along the way however, the group produced some of the finest music to emerge from Canada during the ‘60s, and live were arguably one of the most colourful, dynamic and electrifying groups on the North American stage.

The driving force throughout much of The Paupers’ career was drummer Ronn (Skip) Prokop (b. 13 December 1943, Hamilton, Ontario). An accomplished musician, Prokop had been playing music in his hometown since the age of eight when he picked up the accordion. Deserting music for two years, he took up drums at 13 after joining the Preston Scout House Drum Corps. Such was Prokop’s prowess that, according to an article in the music magazine The Canadian, he ended up becoming an instructor and worked throughout Ontario. Prokop also won the national individual rudimental championships two years in a row and composed a percussion quartet that grabbed another national award.

Boredom crept in and Prokop subsequently took up guitar. In early 1964, he formed a folk trio, The Riverside Three, but this was ditched after six months in favour of playing in a local dance band. He then formed another folk trio, but soon found himself out of work when the local hotel he was playing at discovered he was underage and passed the word around. When The Beatles and Rolling Stones-led British Invasion landed on North American shores, Prokop realised that rock was where “it” was at and moved up to Toronto to start his own band.

In an interview for Canada Music Quarterly, Prokop told journalist Joey Cee that the decision to form The Paupers was driven by his desire to put together a band that used electric 12-string guitars. The Riverside Three had toyed with the idea, but somehow had never got round to realising Prokop’s dream. Perhaps for this reason, the first person that Prokop approached to join his new project was his former cohort, singer/guitarist Bill Marion (real name: Bill Misener).

The Paupers 1965, from left: Denny Gerrard, Skip Prokop, Chuck Beal, Bill Marion. Photo courtesy of Bev Davies.

Prokop and Marion immediately got to work looking for suitable players to join their fledging group. Next to join was guitarist Chuck Beal (b. 6 April 1944, Scarborough, Ontario), who was recruited via the Toronto Musicians’ Association’s notice board. Working at Larry Sykes music in Scarborough during the day and playing the bars along Toronto’s Yonge Street strip at night, Beal was intrigued by Prokop’s concept and duly accepted the offer. Equally important, he introduced his friend, Denny Gerrard (b. 28 February 1947, Scarborough, Ontario), a self-taught guitarist, who had apparently purchased his first bass from Beal.

With Beal and Gerrard on board, and initially dubbed The Spats, the group spent two weeks rehearsing material in Beal’s basement, before venturing into Hallmark Recording Studios to lay down three Prokop originals – “Never Send You Flowers”, “Sooner Than Soon” and “Free As A Bird”. “Never Send You Flowers” duly attracted the attention of CHUM disc jockey Duff Roman, who, impressed by the song, offered to manage the band. With Roman calling the shots, “Never Send You Flowers” was released as the group’s debut single in early 1965. The single found its way to Glen Walters aka Big G Walters, a disc jockey at CKEY, and following popular demand, became the station’s top hit.

The Paupers at the Maple Leaf Gardens, April 25, 1965. Photo courtesy of Bev Davies.

According to Beal, the sudden interest took the group by surprise. In The Canadian, he remarked: “We had all sorts of bookings coming in…and we only knew three songs. We rehearsed for another four months so we could play a show.” The band’s persistence paid off and on 25 April 1965, The Paupers (as they were now called) made only their third public performance supporting The Rolling Stones at Maple Leaf Gardens.

The decision to change the name had been thrust on the band at an early stage when another outfit in the US was found operating as The Spats. Apparently, the new name emerged on the way down to a local restaurant. “We had 50 cents among us,” Prokop told The Canadian. “Bill said, ‘Why don’t we call ourselves The Paupers’?” The name seemed rather fitting. Despite the Maple Leaf Gardens show, and regular appearances at the under 21 club in the Canadian National Exhibition during the summer, the group was virtually broke.Nevertheless, The Paupers persevered and in the autumn followed up “Never Send You Flowers” with a new single, the blues-inflected “If I Told My Baby”, which like its predecessor was issued on the local Red Leaf label.

Red Leaf Records Promo, 1966, photo courtesy of Bev Davies.

“As I recall, Red Leaf Records was formed by Duff Roman, Stan Klease (Big Town Boys’ producer), Walt Greelis (founder of RPMmagazine and what became the Juno awards) and probably some other chaps that I never met,” says Beal. “The idea was to have a nationally distributed Canadian record label that was promoted through a network of key radio stations. Canada does not have national radio stations other than the CBC and at that time, music videos were just somebody’s dream. This means that unless a bunch of radio stations across the country jump on the same record at the same time, national exposure for Canadian artists by radio was then and still is impossible. Red Leaf was a good idea but with limited financing, could not live up to the hopes of those involved.

”Not surprisingly then, “If I Told My Baby”, despite its undoubted chart potential, and a great lead vocal by Bill Marion, fell on deaf ears. The Paupers responded with the sultry “For What I Am”, which was issued on Duff Roman’s own label, Roman Records in December 1965. The song’s moody undercurrent hinted at a growing maturity in the fledging Prokop/Marion song-writing partnership, but like its predecessor it failed to chart. Perhaps for this reason, the group opted to issue a cover, “Long Tall Sally” as a follow up, but once again the Canadian record buying public stayed away.

"Sooner Than Soon" was used as a b-side to both "Never Send You Flowers" on Red Leaf and "Long Tall Sally" on Roman. — “Sooner Than Soon” was used as a b-side to both “Never Send You Flowers” on Red Leaf and “Long Tall Sally” on Roman.

Nevertheless, The Paupers had begun to pick up more steady work, most notably at the El Patio in Toronto’s hip Yorkville district. It was here that the group’s luck changed courtesy of Bernie Finklestein (later singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn’s longstanding manager).

Finkelstein was an interesting character who first dabbled with managing a band while at school. Over the next few years he drifted from job to job – there are rumours that he slept in hot dog stands and laundromats, and at one point got by working as a caretaker in a local theatre. Somehow he ended up at the El Patio, making expresso coffees during the evenings, and cleaning the premises during the day. It was during an afternoon shift that he first caught The Paupers, who at the time were rehearsing for their debut weeklong engagement. Finkelstein was suitably impressed. Not one for mincing his words, he boldly told the group that the best acts around were those writing original material and immediately offered his services as a manager.

Up to this point, the group had been handling most of its affairs; apart from producing the band, Roman had little input other than acting as its publisher. However, as Prokop recalled to Ritchie Yorke in his book Axes, Chops & Hot Licks, “there had been a lot of hassles and uptightness”, and when Finkelstein arrived “with a lot of flashy ideas”, the group decided to dispense with Roman’s services.

Finkelstein’s fast-talking finesse soon got results when Arc Records offered to record the band that summer. The label, it seems, may even have got as far as putting a recording on tape. According to the Toronto Telegram’s After Four section on Thursday, 14 July, The Paupers were due to perform at the North Toronto Memorial Arena the following Tuesday where fans would get the opportunity to hear the group’s latest recording – “Heart Walking Blues”.

Whether any such recording actually made it on to the market is not entirely clear. No-one in the band seems to recall anything about this particular recording and bearing in mind that The Paupers’ were about to undergo a major upheaval in their line up, it is likely that the recording was quickly ditched with very few, if any, copies being pressed.

The Paupers, late 1967. Left to right: Denny Gerrard, Chuck Beal, Skip Prokop and Adam Mitchell

Five days after the North Toronto Memorial Arena show, The Paupers played a one-off date at the El Patio shortly after which Marion, who had become increasingly unhappy about his role, handed in his notice. The group’s lead singer cited “hassles regarding his song-writing” as his reason for leaving. Prokop adds that Marion also had a real desire to sing R&B, and was unable to find an outlet for this in The Paupers.

Marion subsequently embarked on a brief solo career, recording a lone single, “Flower Girl” for the Nimbus label in 1967. He then hooked up with The Last Words for a few months before forming the music production company, Cranberry Roadhouse Productions. In 1969, he reverted to his former name, Bill Misener and became a staff producer and manager for RCA’s Sun Bar Productions, later writing for and producing the Quebec group, The Morse Code Transmission. Resuming a solo career in the early ‘70s, he recorded a string of albums for the Grit, CTL and Polydor labels, and enjoyed a sizeable national hit in January 1972 with the single “Little O’l Rock ‘N’ Roll Band”. He subsequently became a successful jingle writer and sang on TV commercials.

Marion’s departure scuttled the Arc deal, but Finkelstein simply walked across the road to the Mousehole folk club and asked singer/songwriter and guitarist Adam Mitchell (b. 24 November 1944, Glasgow, Scotland) to join. The young Scotsman, who’d moved to Toronto at the age of 12, would prove to be the catalyst in raising The Paupers’ profile. Not only did he forge a prolific song-writing partnership with Prokop, but he was also blessed with a distinctive voice.

Candid live shot of Denny Gerrard on bass and Chuck Beal on tambourine. Photo courtesy of Mr. Segment.

Growing up in Bolton, Ontario, Mitchell initially played drums but at the age of 17 switched to guitar with the advent of the folk boom. He briefly played in two folk groups, including the CommonFolk, before working solo in local venues like the Riverboat and the Mousehole. Mitchell had caught the band earlier in the year and was impressed. “I couldn’t believe it. I thought they were really out of sight,” he told The Canadian. “I talked to Skip and we became close friends”. The afternoon Marion walked out, Mitchell was with the band the same day, rehearsing. (In an interesting side note, Mitchell was attending the University of Toronto during this period and majoring in French, but subsequently left before completing his arts degree.)

With Mitchell on board, The Paupers embarked on mammoth rehearsals at the Hawk’s Nest, practising for no less than 13 hours a day! Following Ronnie Hawkins’ example with The Hawks (later The Band), Prokop adopted a taskmaster role and “cracked the whip” during rehearsals while Finkelstein charged band members for infractions. The strict regime had an immediate effect as The Paupers quickly developed a tight stage act. “When we came out,” says Prokop, “the group was completely changed. We had a lot of funky, good-time material.”

Debuting at the Broom and Stone in Scarborough (most likely on 14 August), The Paupers were an instant success, and the following month landed an important slot at the highly publicised 14-hour pop show, sponsored by CHUM radio, and held at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens alongside 14 top local bands.

Over the next few months, the group became one of the biggest draws in Yorkville village, performing at notable venues like the Night Owl, the Hawk’s Nest and Boris’ Red Gas Room. By this stage, the band had developed a captivating stage show, which according to Nicholas Jennings, was “built around earth-shaking drums, a wailing guitar and Denny Gerrard’s mind-boggling bass.”

Gerrard was indeed fast becoming a local legend. Donning his trade-mark Sluggo cap, the inspirational musician would later be voted best bass player two years in a row by US critic Ralph Gleason in Playboy magazine’s annual jazz poll. Beal’s guitar playing was also enthralling, as Nicholas Jennings notes, “it was like an early version of U2’s Edge, full of repeating, tape-looped notes and weird effects.” Overnight, The Paupers had become big fish in a small pond. The more lucrative American market beckoned.

Canadian Teen, courtesy of Ivan Amirault

Fortunately, the band didn’t have long to wait for such an opportunity. Opening for The Lovin’ Spoonful at Maple Leaf Gardens on 11 December, Finkelstein ran in to Harvey Glatt, promoter and owner of Ottawa’s Le Hibou coffeehouse, who suggested that he should approach MGM Records in New York.

Armed with a four-song demo, Finkelstein flew to the Big Apple early in the new year and to his surprise, MGM agreed to sign the band to its subsidiary, Verve Forecast; a first for a Canadian band. Buoyed by the response, Finkelstein headed over to Greenwich Village and looked up Howard Soloman, the owner of the Café Au Go Go, who offered the band a gig opening for Jefferson Airplane in early March. Finkelstein accepted the booking and headed back to Toronto where The Paupers were riding high with “If I Call You By Some Name”, the group’s debut single with Mitchell. Having peaked at #6 on the CHUM chart on 16 January, the single eventually sold around 35,000 copies.

The stage was set for the group’s debut US appearance at the Café Au Go Go. As those witnessing concur, from the opening bars of “Think I Care”, The Paupers were in their element. By the time they were done, the place was theirs, and critics were not slow in showering the band with praise. Writing in the Village Voice, Richard Goldstein exclaimed: “They have a power and a discipline I’ve never seen before in a performance.”

Following the show, Albert Grossman came back stage to visit the band. As Prokop told The Canadian, “We saw this cat with long, white hair down to his shoulders and Ben Franklin glasses and we didn’t know who he was. About four days later, he approached Bernie and we had a meeting and signed contracts.”

Finkelstein, who had been made a lucrative offer to co-manage the band, subsequently sold his rights to the group for $20,000 and used the money to set up his next project, the experimental folk-rock outfit, Kensington Market. One of Grossman’s first moves as manager meanwhile was to renegotiate the group’s contract with Verve Forecast, which allegedly had been signed for no front money!

Following the success of the New York show, The Paupers released a new single, the bluesy “Simple Deed”, and while it didn’t quite sell as much as its predecessor, still managed to climb to a respectable #23 on the CHUM chart on 27 March.

The group then returned to New York to cut its debut album with producer Rick Shorter. During this time, band members also found time to moonlight on other projects, most notably on Peter, Paul and Mary single “I Dig Rock And Roll”.

With the album in the can, The Paupers flew to San Francisco in early May to play three sets of shows at the Fillmore Auditorium. Opening twice for local acidheads, The Grateful Dead and concluding with a support slot for soul sisters, Martha & The Vandellas, The Paupers’ breezy folk-rock and sunny melodies went over well with the San Francisco audiences.

That same month, Verve Forecast issued a new single, “One Rainy Day”, which apparently sold so poorly that the group pulled it out of the marketplace themselves. Despite the chart failure, the positive reception to the band’s live shows on the West Coast bode well for the up and coming Monterey festival and anticipation was running high.

“While in California we learned ahead of time that we were to play a fairly short set at the festival,” remembers Beal. “So, we decided to put together a non stop medley of several cuts from our first album, ending with Denny’s bass solo. We got it together and at the sound check everything went well. Actually, several of the promoters and musicians took the time to complement us on our arrangement and performance.”

Introduced by Byrds guitarist David Crosby, who hyped the band to the 30,000-strong crowd, The Paupers duly took to the stage on the evening of 16 June, and immediately ran into problems. According to some sources, Gerrard had dropped some acid before the show, which may account for why his bass playing seemed out of sync with the rest of the group. Technical problems also afflicted the group as Beal’s amp crackled on and off. Ralph Gleason, who had championed Gerrard in Playboy earlier in the year, later said that the band was one of the festival’s real disappointments.

Beal has his own take on events. “The tightness of the band was not only one of our strong points, but turned out to be our undoing at Monterey,” he explains. “That night when things went wrong, rather than stop playing, regroup and chat with the audience till things got fixed, we just damned the torpedoes and kept going full speed ahead. As a result, we wound up sinking our own ship. That performance at Monterey, although we didn’t realise it at the time, was the beginning of the end.”

Despite the setback, The Paupers’ live shows continued to attract positive reviews. Writing about a gig at West Hollywood’s Whisky-A-Go-Go in July, journalist Bill Kerby reported in the L.A Free Press: “It is joyfully unnerving to see a group bound together by other than mutual regard for dope, stardom, pedestrian ideas of musical mediocrity, and vague dreams of overnight billions.”

Following Monterey, the group had been sent on a $40,000 promotional tour covering 40 cities, and taking in venues like the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, the Boston Tea Party and the Café Au Go Go in New York. At the last venue in late September, it was the turn of The Paupers to be upstaged, on this occasion by visiting British dignitaries Cream.

Despite the tight touring schedule, The Paupers still found time to “live it up” on the road. Speaking to Ritchie Yorke, Prokop remembers one particularly memorable incident in Las Vegas. “Denny Gerrard made $3,500 on the poker machines, but the next day he lost it all, and his shirt as well. Really, he arrived back at the hotel one morning with no shirt on.” Apparently, the bass player had walked two miles from a casino because he’d lost all his money!

Left to right: Skip, Adam, Chuck and Denny

Grossman meanwhile was beginning to lose patience – the band was spending a huge amount of money on the road but had no hit records to justify the expenditure. According to the band’s drummer, Grossman seriously considered dropping The Paupers at one stage, but was persuaded to give the band a second chance. Faced with mounting debts, the group went on a money-saving spree, travelling to gigs in Prokop’s station wagon.

If the group’s declining fortunes weren’t enough to worry about, Gerrard’s behaviour was becoming increasingly more erratic as his consumption of psychedelic drugs reached crisis point.

Adam Mitchell remembers a number of amusing incidents during this period, including a rehearsal at the Night Owl club on Avenue Road in Toronto. “We had just been given the first cordless remote for guitar and we had Denny try it on his bass. In the interest of seeing how far away from the amp you could get and still have signal strength, we had Denny walk to the front of the club and then eventually outside. After he’d been outside a while, the signal faded as expected. So did Denny! We went outside and of course there was no sign of him anywhere. We abandoned the rehearsal and spread out in different directions looking for him. As I was heading south on Avenue Road, a rather perplexed fan approached me. ‘Man…I just saw Denny walking down the street playing his bass!’ Never did find him that day or several days after. Such was life with Denny.”

Another incident took place following the group’s performance at the Trauma club in Philadelphia. “Denny never made the plane,” remembers Mitchell. “Several days later I got a call at my place on Hazelton Avenue in Yorkville. ‘Adam, it’s Denny…where am I?’ After having him look out the window and read a few licence plates, we determined he was probably still in Philadelphia. How or when he eventually made it back to Toronto, I don’t remember.”

The Trauma gig also has an interesting side note, says Mitchell. “Two young kids brought a Les Paul for me to autograph, then ran beside the car practically all the way back to the hotel, where they permanently encamped in the lobby. Fast forward to 1988 – Gene Simmons, his girlfriend Shannon Tweed and I had been out for dinner in LA and had to stop off at a film distributors’ conference on the way home so that Shannon could make an appearance. As we entered the room, some guy started yelling, ‘Adam, Adam!’ I had no idea who he was until he introduced himself and told me he was one of those two young kids in Philadelphia. His name was Frank Stallone. The other kid was his brother, Sylvester Stallone.”

By early 1968, the group had lost patience with Gerrard’s behaviour and reluctantly asked him to leave. However, as Beal admitted to Nicholas Jennings, the group was a lesser force without their inspired bass player. “Denny did for the bass what Hendrix was doing for the guitar. Nobody had seen anything like this.” Mitchell agrees. “He was absolutely brilliant as a player. His bass solo, I believe was the most electrifying thing in music I’ve ever seen.”

Brad Campbell (far left) joins The Paupers.

Brad Campbell with The Last Words (back right)

Gerrard’s replacement, Brad Campbell, was recruited from local band, The Last Words, who interestingly had recently appeared on the same bill as The Paupers at York University on 12 January. (The show, incidentally, also featured The Magic Circus, who also contained a number of future Paupers members). The Last Words had released three singles between late 1965 and early 1967, but only one, “I Symbolise You” issued on Columbia, had seriously troubled the charts, and no doubt Campbell was delighted to be offered the job. At the same time, The Paupers expanded the line-up by bringing in keyboard player Peter Sterbach, formerly a member of The BTB 4 (Big Town Boys 4).

Amid all this activity, the band’s debut album Magic People, which had been released back in June just prior to the Monterey festival, had slowly crept up the Billboard charts and finally peaked at a rather disappointing #178. Despite the poor placing, the album has some strong moments, most notably in its kaleidoscopic drum-driving title track. Other highlights include the infectious folk-rocker “You and Me”, the haunting “My Love Hides Your View” and the angst-ridden “Think I Care”, generally considered to be The Paupers’ definitive song. The track was lifted as a single in early 1968, but flopped.

While The Paupers failed to make any headway in the charts, they continued to live up to their reputation as a live act. On 24 February, the group returned to Toronto and played a memorable set at the Canadian National Exhibition supporting The Jimi Hendrix Experience and The Soft Machine.

Nevertheless, the pressures of travelling on a tight budget were beginning to take its toll, with each man reduced to living off $2. First to crack was newcomer Peter Sterbach who dropped out sometime in early 1968. Skip Prokop, who also entertained thoughts of leaving the band during this period, apparently changed his mind when the label agreed to do a second album.

Taking time off the road, the group stopped in Nashville to record three tracks – “All About Me”, “Words I Say” and “See Yourself” but according to Beal the sessions did not go well and the recordings were shelved. Despite the failure to complete any tracks towards a new album, Beal says the Nashville trip did have its perks. “For me the highlights included meeting Tex Ritter, listening to Flatt and Scruggs record, watching one of the Jordinaires get so rapped up in a game of ping pong, he forgot that he left his car with the engine running and it ran out of gas, and above all having Floyd Cramer play on our session. It was nuts, we just called his answering service and within 15 minutes, he was there.”

Travelling to New York in early May, the group’s new producer Elliot Mazer hooked The Paupers up with keyboard player Al Kooper, who had recently been ousted from his group, Blood, Sweat & Tears. Turning his creative energies to The Paupers, Kooper’s contributions complement the group’s performances brilliantly and the resulting album, Ellis Island, recorded at Columbia Studios over several months, remains a hidden gem of late ’60s rock.

Lacking the consistency of the group’s debut outing, the record’s strength lies in its individual tracks. These range from extended hard-rock workouts like “South Down Road” and “Numbers” (featuring Brad Campbell on lead vocal), to more reflective pieces such as Prokop’s “Oh That She Might”, with a rare vocal outing from the drummer. Adam Mitchell emerges as the dominant writing force and his “Cairo Hotel”, apparently written about a hotel in Washington DC where most of the tenants were down and outs, is particularly poignant.

Another noticeable difference on the album, compared to his predecessor, is the group’s experimentation with exotic sounds – one particular track, “Ask Her Again”, features Prokop on the koto, a Japanese stringed instrument (a present given to the drummer by Peter, Paul & Mary after a Japanese tour).

The Paupers, late 1968. Left to right: Chuck Beal, Denny Gerrard, Adam Mitchell, Roz Parks and John Ord. Photo courtesy of Jonn Ord.

With the album in the can, the band realised that it needed to reproduce Kooper’s keyboard parts in a live format, and duly recruited former Fraser Loveman Group member Jonn (aka John) Ord (b. 3 April 1945, London, England) during late July. As Ord recalls, “I had a little trio called The Nuclear Tricycle that was playing in a bar on Yonge Street. It was a summer job for me and I was at university. Skip heard about me and came in to see me. I went out to Brad Campbell’s house in Oakville to meet the band and they played me the album. I was able to play off the keyboard parts pretty fast and they thought it would be a good fit.”

The quintet quickly reconvened to Ord’s parents’ farm in Fenwick, in the Niagara peninsula. Rehearsing intensively for a week in a nearby farmhouse, the new Paupers line-up soon launched in to a small tour. The band’s debut show at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit on 2-4 August proved memorable, not least because the club still had bullet holes in it from the race riots earlier in the year.

During this period, some of the band members flew to New York between dates to do studio work. Ord, who was involved in the session work alongside Campbell and Prokop remembers working with Richie Havens on his album Richard P Havens, 1983, and also providing support for a female singer called Leonda. The sessions, as Ord points out, appear to have soured relations between band members and ultimately may have sown the seeds that led to the group’s collapse the following month. “I found out that the band was in a state of conflict and frustration, perhaps partially because some musicians were recording and the others were stuck on the road. In the end, the band broke up and everyone went home to Toronto.”

Things had come to ahead when Prokop announced his decision to leave the band after The Paupers’ engagement at the Electric Circus in New York, which ran from 29 August to 1 September. Although he would subsequently form his own outfit, the big band Lighthouse, Prokop nearly joined Janis Joplin’s new group, soon to become better known as The Kozmic Blues Band, but declined her offer.

The offer had been made during the Richie Havens sessions as Ord recalls. “Janis dropped into the sessions and we had some jams with her. Our mutual manager Albert Grossman was looking for musicians for her new band from among his own musicians. Harvey Brooks from The Electric Flag came in with her at one point and he was also looking for musicians for her.”

Prokop confirms that a number of tracks, including a version of “Hey Joe”, and some Aretha Franklin covers were recorded in the studio with Joplin and have yet to see the light of day. Joplin’s insistence on retaining Sam Andrews from Big Brother & The Holding Company for her new band project however, ultimately led Prokop to back out. Following an appearance on Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield’s Live Adventures album and supporting Mama Cass at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, Prokop pieced together Lighthouse.

Brad Campbell meanwhile landed on his feet. After briefly gigging with the Pozo Seco Singers, he took up the offer from Janis Joplin. He would remain with the troubled singer until her untimely death, appearing in both The Kozmic Blues Band, and its successor, the Canadian-dominated Full Tilt Boogie Band. According to Pete Frame, he would often work under the pseudonym Keith Cherry. Campbell currently lives in Milton, Ontario and plays with a reformed Last Words.

With Prokop and Campbell out of the picture but with debts of $40,000, the remaining members decided to carry on. “I recall advocating that we reform The Paupers in Toronto as the band was well known and we could probably do well with a change of members,” says Ord. The Paupers quickly recruited local drummer Roz Parks (b. 15 April 1945, Picton, Ontario) from The Creeps and Magic Circus fame and perhaps more importantly, in terms of credibility, brought original bass player Denny Gerrard back in to the fold. Though Gerrard had spent most of 1968 recovering from his drug exploits, he had recently returned to studio and live work with Toronto’s highly rated blues combo, McKenna Mendelson and was in fighting form.

The group soon returned to the local club scene, debuting at the Night Owl on 26-27 October. Journalist Ritchie Yorke writing that November in the local RPM magazine, reviewed the show and captured perfectly the new line-up’s potential. “They emerged as a tight, cohesive musical unit, devoid of pseudo-hippiness and brimming over with confidence.”

True the group may have found a new confidence, but this was soon shattered by Gerrard’s inability to keep on the straight and narrow. As Ord recalls, “we did well for a while getting quite a bit of work and playing a lot. Then Denny started to lose it again…missing rehearsals and eventually not showing up for an important concert. The other band members said they had been through this already and that nothing worked. Roz and I were very fond of Denny and tried everything to make things work, but in the end we had to fire him and found a new bass player.”

As Jonn Ord notes, Gerrard’s departure proved a catalyst for Mitchell’s own exit from the group in April 1969. “Adam became discouraged and decided to leave also, so we replaced him with James Houston who had worked with Roz in The Magic Circus.”

Adam Mitchell subsequently embarked on a brief solo career, before moving into production work for the likes of McKenna Mendelson Mainline and McKendree Spring (who covered his song “Cairo Hotel”). In 1970, he became Linda Ronstadt’s musical director, the fruits of which turned up on Silk Purse. Mitchell also emerged as a successful songwriter, and during the ‘70s and ‘80s saw his compositions covered by John Waite, Olivia Newton-John, Art Garfunkel and Kiss to name a few. A long-awaited solo album, Red Head In Trouble, finally appeared in 1979. Mitchell currently lives in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and Santa Monica, California and continues to produce, write and perform in the US and Canada.

The Paupers ploughed on with new members James Houston (b. 25 May 1946, Belfast, Northern Ireland) and Mel O’Brien (who had previously played with The Proverbs, The Five D and The Five Shy) but, despite some notable shows at the Night Owl during August 1969, soon ran out of steam as Beal recalls.

“James was a member of The Creeps and a friend of Roz Parks. He was a pretty good singer/songwriter… The bass player was Mel O’Brien [who] was really talented but a bit of a loose canon. We did a bunch of local dates with Mel but it was clear that the band was going nowhere real fast. We knew we needed a record deal and booked some time into the RCA studios in Toronto to do some demos of Jaime’s tunes. Mel didn’t show up for the session and that was it for him. After that none of us had the energy or the desire to start over again so, we packed it in. A sorry end to what was once a pretty good band.”

From the ashes of the group, James Houston (who now goes by the name John Peel) formed his own group, Houston, which issued a lone single “Sally Bumper” and eponymous album for Tuesday Records during 1970.

Jonn Ord, whose band backed Chuck Berry at Toronto’s Electric Circus in the summer of 1969, later acquired a music degree from York University and currently plays in Ontario’s Georgian Bay area.

Roz Parks meanwhile worked with Edward Bear and Tranquillity Base (where he was joined by Houston) among others before changing his name to Ron. A few years ago, he issued his debut solo album Golden Rocket.

While The Paupers’ potential was never fully realised, the degree of talent within the band can be gleaned from the band’s best work, and the subsequent achievements of group’s members, Brad Campbell, Adam Mitchell and Skip Prokop.

Following a successful career with Lighthouse, Prokop leant his talents to a diverse range of projects, including working with street kids, running an advertising agency and doing jingles. Like Mitchell, he also issued a solo album, All Growed Up, in 1979 and in recent years has played in a reformed Lighthouse. Living in London, Ontario, he is currently writing his autobiography.

Denny Gerrard continued to make sporadic appearances on record throughout the late ‘60s and ’70s, most notably on Jericho’s superb eponymous album for Bearsville Records in 1971, and in his work with Rick James’s pre-Motown bands, Heaven and Earth and Great White Cane. Still revered by his contemporaries, Gerrard remains a local legend. In 1997, after years of inactivity, he made a rare appearance on record, playing with Mike McKenna’s blues band Slidewinder.

Chuck Beal briefly worked as a music producer, promoter and manager for Canadian bands. Later he worked at the Canadian National Institute For The Blind, producing the talking books series and also did some writing and research for CBC radio in Toronto. He is currently a computer consultant and has his own website.

Looking back, Mitchell is philosophical about the band’s premature demise. “As incredible as the band truly was, we were victims of just plain bad luck,” he says. “Bad luck, not only that Denny did too many drugs at Monterey and Chuck had a bad guitar chord. But perhaps more importantly, bad luck that we had the wrong record producer, the wrong studio and the wrong label. We were young, the business was new and we didn’t know any better.”

Magic People and Ellis Island are now available for the first time on CD from Pacemaker Records. Each release includes bonus tracks.

Advertised gigs

April 25 1965 – Maple Leaf Gardens with Rolling Stones, Jon and Lee & The Checkmates and others
July 29 1965 – “Red Cross Blood Donor Clinic”, Varsity Arena, Toronto with Jon and Lee & The Checkmates, The Big Town Boys and J B & The Playboys
August 26 1965 – Canadian National Exhibition, under 21 club, Toronto with David Clayton-Thomas & The Shays
December 3-4 1965 – El Patio, Toronto
December 11 1965 – Gogue Inn, Toronto
January 28 1966 – Gogue Inn, Toronto with Dunc & The Deacons, The Lively Set with Dean Curtis
February 4 1966 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario
February 18 1966 – Gogue Inn, Toronto with Jack Hardin & The Silhouettes and The Lively Set
February 24-25 1966 – El Patio, Toronto
March 11 1966 – North Toronto Memorial Arena, Toronto (March 24 advert for new singer)
April 1 1966 – Gogue Inn, Toronto with The Twilights and Dean Curtis & The Lively Set
April 8-9 1966 – El Patio, Toronto
April 15-16 1966 – El Patio, Toronto
April 22 1966 – North Toronto Memorial Arena, Toronto
June 10 1966 – North Toronto Memorial Arena, Toronto
June 20-25 1966 – El Patio, Toronto
July 7-10 1966 – El Patio, Toronto
July 10 1966 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario
July 19 1966 – North Toronto Memorial Arena, Toronto with The Shays and Dee & The Yeomen
July 24 1966 – El Patio, Toronto
August 14 1966 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough, Ontario with Little Caesar & The Consults and The Knaves
August 24 1966 – Don Mills Curling, Don Mills, Ontario with The Spasstiks, The Del-Tones and The Fugitives
August 31 1966 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough, Ontario with The Marksmen
September 9 1966 – El Patio, Toronto
September 24 1966 – Maple Leaf Gardens with Luke & The Apostles, The Ugly Ducklings, The Tripp, The Last Words, Bobby Kris & The Imperials, The Stitch In Tyme, The Spasstiks, R K & The Associates, Little Caesar & The Consuls, The Big Town Boys and others
October 2 1966 – Club Kingsway, Toronto with Wilson Pickett and Dee & Lee & The Roulettes
October 10-14 1966 – The Night Owl, Toronto
October 15 1966 – Club 888, Toronto with A Passing Fancy
October 27 1966 – The Night Owl, Toronto
October 29-30 1966 – The Night Owl, Toronto
November 5 1966 – Gogue Inn, Toronto with Associates, The Wyldfyre and others
November 11 1966 – Boris’, Toronto
November 12 1966 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto
November 18-20 1966 – Red Gas Room, Toronto
November 27 1966 – Red Gas Room, Toronto
December 3-4 1966 – Red Gas Room, Toronto
December 10 1966 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto with Dee & The Yeomen, The Manx, The Evil
December 11 1966 – Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto with The Lovin’ Spoonful and The Children
December 23 1966- Club 888 Toronto
December 24-27 1966 – Boris’, Toronto with Luke & The Apostles
December 29-1 January 1967 – Boris’, Toronto with Luke & The Apostles
January 22 1967 – Boris’ Red Gas Room, Toronto
February 10 1967 – West Hill Collegiate, Toronto
February 12 1967 – Boris’ Red Gas Room, Toronto with Luke & The Apostles
February 21-March 5 – Café Au Go Go, New York with Jefferson Airplane and Richie Havens (replaced by B B King)
March 11 1967 – Boris’, Toronto with Simon Caine & The Catch (next two may not have happened)
March 12 1967 – Boris’, Toronto with The Ugly Ducklings
March 17 1967 – Wexford Collegiate, Scarborough, Ontario
March 18 1967 – Boris’ Red Gas Room, Toronto
April 28-30 1967-Cafe A Go Go, NY
May 5-6 1967 – Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco with Grateful Dead
May 12-14 1967 – Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco with Grateful Dead
May 19-20 1967 – Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco with Martha & The Vandellas
June 16 1967 – Monterey International Pop Festival, Monterey, California
July 14 1967 – Whisky A Go Go, West Hollywood with The Youngbloods
July 14-19 1967– Whisky Au Go-Go Los Angeles
July 1967 – Whisky A Go Go, West Hollywood with Johnny Rivers.
July 28-29 1967 – Boston Tea Party, Boston with Bagatelle
August 1967 – MGM sends them on a 9 city tour of parties for press and deejays starting in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston and Detroit.
August 20-26 1967 – Garden of Stars, Montreal with The Munks
August 30 – September 3 1967 – Ambassador Theater, Washington, DC
September 15-17 1967 – The Flick, Toronto
September 18 1967 – Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto
September 28-October 1 1967 – Café Au Go Go, New York with Cream (cut short due to faulty equipment)
October 20 1967 – Hunter’s College, New York with Jefferson Airplane
November 3-5 1967 – Grande Ballroom, Detroit with MC5
December 8 1967 – Aurora Community Arena, Aurora, Ontario
December 27-30 1967 – The Flick, Toronto
January 12 1968 – York University, Toronto with The Last Words and The Magic Circus
January 27 1968 – North Toronto Memorial Hall, Toronto
February 24 1968 – CNE Coliseum, Toronto with The Jimi Hendrix Experience and The Soft Machine
February 29-March 3 1968 – The Flick, Toronto
March 12-24 1968 – Electric Circus, New York
April 1968 – Ottawa Coliseum with Colleen Peterson, The Eye of Dawn and The Five D
April 2-4 1968 – Kinetic Playground, Chicago
April 17 1968 – Westbury Music Fair, Westbury, New York with Neil Diamond and The Lemon Pipers
May 21-22 1968 – The Night Owl, Toronto
June 15 1968 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough, Ontario with The Dynamics
June 29-30 1968 – The Night Owl, Toronto with The Rockshow of The Yeomen
August 2-4 1968 – Grande Ballroom, Detroit
August 29-September 1 1968 – Electric Circus, New York
October 26-27 1968 – The Night Owl, Toronto with The Rockshow of The Yeomen
October 30 – November 3 1968 – The Night Owl, Toronto with The Rockshow of The Yeomen
November 9-10 1968 – The Night Owl, Toronto
November 16-17 1968 – The Night Owl, Toronto
November 23 1968 – Neil McNeil’s High School, Toronto
December 26-27 1968 – El Patio, Toronto
December 29 1968 – January 1 1969 – El Patio, Toronto
June 29 1969 – The Cove, Gravenshurst, Ontario with The Night People
July 2 1969 – Kingsmen Centre, Oshawa, Ontario
August 7-8 1969 – The Night Owl, Toronto
August 11-15 1969 – The Night Owl, Toronto

Many thanks to Skip Prokop, Adam Mitchell, Chuck Beal, Jonn Ord, Denny Gerrard, Ron Parks, James Houston, Brad Campbell, Bill Munson, Stan Endersby, Nicholas Jennings, Martin Melhuish, Joey Cee, Ritchie Yorke, Peter Goddard and Philip Kamin, Carny Corbett, Bev Davies and Mike Paxman. The Toronto Telegram’s After Four section on Thursdays has also been really handy as a resource for live dates. Thanks to Marc Skobac for additional dates, and to Ivan Amirault for scans from RPM magazine.

Email: Warchive@aol.com

Visit: www.nickwarburton.com

Verve-Folkways promotional photo, reproduced in RPM Starline Photo Album, November 21, 1966

Categories: British Columbia, Canada, Dunhill, Epic, Ontario, RCA Victor, Toronto, Vancouver

3’s a Crowd

August 6, 2009 Nick Warburton 12 Comments

The vibrant music scene that existed in Canada during the ‘60s has rarely been given the exposure it merits. Undoubtedly, the Canadian music industry must shoulder much of the blame. Not only did it actively discourage the flowering of homegrown acts, but the fact that American-based, Canadian artists like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and The Band have proven they are the equal of their American and British contemporaries, underlines what can be achieved with industry support. For those who chose not to base themselves in the US, the prospect of international acclaim was slight, which may explain why the folk-rock outfit 3’s a Crowd have remained an obscurity outside Canada.The original 3’s a Crowd line-up was formed in Vancouver in the summer of 1964, when folk singer, guitarist and comedian Brent Titcomb (b. 10 August 1940, Vancouver, British Columbia) joined forces with singer Donna Warner (b. 23 May 1946, Edmonton, Alberta).

Of the two, Titcomb had the more established career, having spent the best part of the early ‘60s frequenting the city’s folk clubs, where he combined traditional folk songs with a comedy routine. (On several occasions he would book himself at two clubs on the same night; after performing as a folk singer at the first, he would then drive to the next to perform as a comedian, often under the names “Uncle Roy Plain” and “Dr Mezner”.)

Titcomb’s stage act soon attracted the attention of performer Oscar Brand, and in early 1964 he was invited to perform at the world famous Calgary Stampede, which is where he befriended Donna Warner, currently singing with The Kopala Trio. Warner’s musical accomplishments were somewhat different to Titcomb’s, having spent much of her youth singing in a number of choirs in her native Edmonton. (Her grandfather incidentally, had been a choirmaster in Glasgow.) The pair nevertheless, had a lot in common (a mutual love of folk music and a “very quirky sense of humour”) and made arrangements to meet up in Vancouver once Warner had finished high school that summer.

The Calgary gathering proved to be notable in more ways than one, however. During a visit to the city’s premier folk den, the Depression, Titcomb and Warner were introduced to singer/songwriter David Wiffen (b. 11 March 1942, Sydenham, Kent, England), who would feature prominently in 3’s a Crowd’s story in later years. A love of folk music again provided a common bond but their paths ultimately diverged as Titcomb and Warner duly headed west to Vancouver.

Once there, the pair quickly became regulars at Les Stork’s Bunkhouse, a coffeehouse where Warner worked as a waitress and performed on “open mike” nights with Titcomb. On a number of occasions, guitarist Trevor Veitch (b. 19 May 1946, Vancouver, British Columbia) joined in, and his proficiency on the instrument so impressed them that the three of them decided to form a group. They also took part in after-hours get-togethers with local and visiting musicians in what were essentially “kitchen jams”.

The newly established trio quickly set about grooming their act, which mixed comic routines with the folk songs of the day. Around January of the following year, the group officially debuted at the Bunkhouse coffeehouse under the oddly titled moniker, The Bill Schwartz Quartet. Apparently the name was Titcomb’s idea – the group apologised all weekend for Bill’s absence until the very last song of the last set on the last night when Titcomb’s high school buddy “King Anderson” showed up on stage wearing an eye patch and joined in on harmonica.

Understandably the club owners were not amused, after all they had been led to believe that a quartet would be playing and had paid for one accordingly. A new name was deemed necessary, and on hearing the group’s conversation, Anderson pitched in: “Two’s company and three’s a crowd.” The band adopted the name immediately.

The first reference to the trio’s new name appears to have been in June 1965, when the group was pictured on the front of the local TV Times. The band’s sudden rise to fame was no doubt due to a series of shows at the Ark two months earlier, where it had performed with local jazz double bass player Danny Schultz. (The group’s performance caused quite a stir and was impressive enough in fact for the organisers to record some of the shows.)

The next logical step was to move lock, stock and barrel to Toronto, the epicentre of the Canadian music scene, and in a propitious move, the group sent a demo tape to Sid Dolgay, formerly a member of Canada’s premier folk group The Travellers. Dolgay had recently formed his own management company, Universal Performing Artists (UPA), and was on the lookout for new talent. Suitably impressed by the group’s tape, he invited them to Toronto to perform some engagements and shortly afterwards signed the trio.

Although they didn’t know it at the time, Toronto would become 3’s a Crowd’s home for the next three years. While there the group would become a regular fixture at the city’s renowned Riverboat club and a popular live attraction on the folk circuit.

The best part of late 1965/early 1966 was spent touring the length and breadth of the country, largely as a trio (the group could rarely afford the luxury to pay supporting musicians). Nevertheless on a few occasions, former Bad Seeds bass player Brian Ahern (later Emmylou Harris’s producer and second husband) joined the band to add a little muscle.

By the spring of 1966, however, 3’s a Crowd’s following was such that a full-time bass player was a distinct possibility. The scene was changing too, and the impact of The Byrds and Bob Dylan’s new brand of “electric folk” couldn’t be ignored.

Consequently, the group enlisted the services of bass player Kenny Koblun (b. 7 May 1946, Winnipeg, Manitoba) during early March. A former member of Neil Young’s high school band The Squires (and later Four To Go), Koblun would prove to be a transient musician in the 3’s a Crowd story. His various comings and goings were marked by personal problems, and in many ways his relationship with the band was not that dissimilar to his contemporary in Buffalo Springfield, Bruce Palmer.

The Buffalo Springfield in fact provided a useful link. Koblun’s relationship with that band would remain close, and within a month of joining 3’s a Crowd, he was tempted away by an offer to join Stephen Stills and Richie Furay in an embryonic version of that band. (Koblun and Young had befriended Stills the previous year, when Stills’s group The Company shared the bill with The Squires.)

As Koblun told rock historian John Einarson: “Stills called me and told me that I should come down to California to join his band.” Which is what Koblun did, but the arrangement proved to be brief: “I spent a week with Stills and Furay but nothing was happening. I had to make a decision. I had twenty dollars in my pocket. Either spend it on food and stay with Stills in California, or spend it on a taxi fare to LA airport and the manager from 3’s a Crowd was going to pay for my ticket back to Toronto. So that was what I did.” (Unknown to everyone concerned, Young and Palmer were on their way to LA to meet up with Stills and Furay as Koblun was on his way out.)

Back with 3’s a Crowd, Koblun lasted long enough to appear with the group for a taping of the highly-rated TV programme The Juliette Show, before dropping out after an engagement at the Raven’s Gallery in Detroit in mid-April.

In his place the group enlisted bass player Comrie Smith (b. 29 September 1945, Toronto, Ontario), who ironically also shared a Neil Young connection. Smith and Young had in fact been high school friends at Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute in Toronto from 1959-1961.

When The Squires relocated to Toronto in mid-1965, they spent a brief period playing together and made some rough demos of Young’s songs in Smith’s attic. After Young moved on, Smith took some of his songs to Arc Records but nothing came of it at the time. However, some of these songs, including “Casting Me Away From You”, “Hello Lonely Woman” and “There Goes My Babe” have finally surfaced on the first installment of Neil Young’s Archives series.

Smith’s enlistment brought stability to 3’s a Crowd and in the latter half of 1966 the band was awarded its first Juno (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy) for best folk group of the year, a distinction it would also enjoy the following year.

The Juno award undoubtedly raised the group’s profile and in September of that year 3’s a Crowd won a short-term deal with Epic Records in New York. Initially, the label promised to record four singles but in the event only one was completed at the first session with Toronto producer Ben McPeek and New Yorker Bob Morgan. Drums, bass and a horn section were added later to fill out the sound.

Bruce Cockburn with The Flying Circus, November 1967 poster — Bruce Cockburn with The Flying Circus, November 1967

The result was the catchy folk-rocker “Bound To Fly” written by black American songwriter Len Chandler, coupled with a cover of Gordon Lightfoot’s “Steel Rail Blues”. The single was given a Canadian release on 24 October, and (according to Billboardin January 1967) was even issued in Britain, making it the band’s sole UK outing and a rarity at that. (The single finally peaked at #34 on the Canadian RPM chart and proved to be the group’s biggest hit.)By the time the single appeared Koblun was back in the fold, having played with American singer Carolyn Hester in the interim. His second stint, however, barely lasted out the year. On this occasion it was a desperate call from his old friend Neil Young, which led to his third departure in less than a year.

In early January, while Buffalo Springfield were performing in New York, Canadian Bruce Palmer had been arrested on marijuana charges and summarily deported. The others headed back to LA but with tour dates to honour, an immediate replacement was required. Young naturally suggested his former cohort – and it certainly helped that Koblun was familiar with Stills and Furay. It seemed a perfect arrangement and yet perhaps predictably, Koblun’s tenure with the group proved to be short-lived. While Koblun was under the impression that he was joining the band, the others merely thought he was “filling in”, until Palmer sorted out his problems and returned. After only three weeks, Koblun was asked to leave and returned somewhat despondently to Toronto.

3’s a Crowd meanwhile, re-enlisted Comrie Smith, who appears to have acted as a sort of “all-utility man” for whenever Koblun was absent. Amid all this activity, the band returned to New York to record a follow-up single with A&R man Ted Cooper. The result, the comedy single “Honey Machine” c/w “When The Sun Goes Down”, was quickly disowned by the trio, who fell out with Epic over the label’s marketing of the band. (The label saw the group as a sort of novelty/comedy act, which was not the image the trio wanted to project.) In the end, 3’s a Crowd severed their ties with Epic and the single thankfully died a quick death.

Back in Canada, 3’s a Crowd resumed gigging and at Ottawa’s Le Hibou coffeehouse (most likely for shows between 28 March-2 April) reunited with David Wiffen, who was singing in a local group called The Children.

His next move was to join a local beat group called The Pacers, who were soon offered a recording deal in Montreal. Trekking east, the group soon discovered that the promise of a deal had been a smokescreen; the company merely looking for an excuse to milk the group for all its worth. Wiffen and the others were subsequently obliged to slog it out on the local club scene, which at the time was very exhausting (8pm-3am, seven nights a week!). A lone single on RCA Victor – “I Want You Back” c/w “Windjammer”, turned up in late 1965 but it’s not clear whether Wiffen appears on it.

The others soon lost heart and returned home, while Wiffen moved to Ottawa, after hearing about the folk scene based around the Le Hibou coffeehouse. Before long he was invited to join the city’s premier folk-rock group, The Children, which at that time featured aspiring singer/songwriter Bruce Cockburn (b. 25 May 1945, Ottawa, Ontario) and drummer Richard Patterson (b. 20 September 1944, Ottawa, Ontario), both of whom would feature greatly throughout his career. Wiffen and Patterson struck up a rapport and when 3’s a Crowd enquired about Wiffen’s services, he was keen to champion Patterson as a drummer.

His erstwhile colleague’s background was also distinguished. During the early ‘60s Patterson had played in Canada’s answer to Cliff Richard & The Shadows, The Esquires, who incidentally were one of Neil Young’s favourite groups. The Esquires had cut a number of singles for EMI/Capitol Records during the early to mid-‘60s. The Esquires had also produced Canada’s first professional music video and been voted Top Pop Vocal & Instrumental Group of 1964.

The addition of Wiffen and Patterson in April 1967 was to all intents, the turning point in the band’s career. Patterson’s solid drumming strengthened the group’s overall sound, while Wiffen’s attractive baritone (not dissimilar to Fred Neil’s), provided an interesting counterpoint to Warner’s voice and boosted the group’s overall appeal immeasurably. They also brought with them much of The Children’s material, which by the standards of the day was excellent.

With Wiffen and Patterson aboard, the “expanded” group made its debut on the popular afternoon show Take 30 where, according to Patterson, host Paul Soales spent most of the interview asking Wiffen and himself why they had joined an established act instead of forming a new band of their own.

The exposure generated by the show nonetheless helped 3’s a Crowd to break out of the Canadian market. An important engagement at Steve Paul’s prestigious New York club, the Scene from 15-21 May was quickly arranged, while the band also made regular visits to the Back Porch Club in Columbus, Ohio. Another important showcase from that period was the annual Mariposa Folk Festival (Canada’s answer to Newport), held at Innis Lake near Toronto on 11-13 August.

The festival, featuring the cream of Canada’s folk community, reached a watershed in its history that year; 1967 was not only the last year before the festival moved to its present location on Toronto Island, but was also the first to feature electric instruments. The inclusion of local groups 3’s a Crowd and Kensington Market reflected this growing acceptance of “electric folk”, and was an acknowledgement of the folk-rock scene emerging in Canada.

As important as Mariposa was, however, it would be eclipsed that summer by the world famous Expo Exhibition being staged in Montreal. 3’s a Crowd had been spotted performing at the Riverboat by one of the entertainment co-ordinators for the Ontario Pavilion and were subsequently allocated a slot at the Pavillion in late August and early September.

Prior to this, the group concluded a two-week engagement at the Le Hibou coffeehouse (27 July-6 August), after which Smith left to make way for a returning Ken Koblun, who no doubt was in a better frame of mind. In the intervening months since leaving Buffalo Springfield, Koblun had been playing with Elyse Wienberg’s O.D Bodkins and Company, but was eager to re-establish his position in his former group. For 3’s a Crowd, Montreal’s Expo ’67 was the premier event of the summer and the one that ultimately bagged the all-important record deal.

3's a Crowd at Mama Cass's house, l-r: Richard, Ken, Trevor, Brent and David. Donna on the floor — 3’s a Crowd at Mama Cass’s house, l-r: Richard, Ken, Trevor, Brent and David. Donna on the floor

In a fortuitous twist of fate, a friend in LA had asked Warner’s boyfriend (at that time one of the promoters of Toronto’s first mini outdoor music festival) to accompany Cass Elliot and Denny Doherty of The Mamas and the Papas on a visit to Expo. What’s more, he also asked him to make sure they had everything they desired. Warner’s man not only kept his word, but also ensured that Elliot and Doherty were escorted to the Pavilion as 3’s a Crowd took the stage.Though Doherty clearly enjoyed his old friend’s group, it was Elliot, who, according to Patterson “saw a possible career opportunity for herself as a producer” for 3’s a Crowd. Enthused by their performance, she contacted Jay Lasker, President of ABC Dunhill, to rave about her new find and Lasker asked for a demo tape to be forwarded to him immediately.

For the purposes of recording the demo, Harvey Glatt (who Patterson says “owned most of the publishing of the new songs the group was performing” and had managed The Esquires and The Children) hired out Bell Studios in New York in mid-September. He also commissioned his friend Rick Shorter (The Paupers’s debut album being among his credits) to produce the three songs. While in New York, the band continued to work showcase dates, before returning to play at the Canadian Pavilion Feature stage at Expo ‘67.

Then finally, after what seemed a lifetime, a call came through to Sid Dolgay that the group was expected in Los Angeles as soon as possible to sign a deal and begin recording. Abetted by David McLeod, previously the talent co-ordinator and liaison for the Ontario Pavilion, and now acting as the band’s road manager, 3’s a Crowd flew out to LA for a month’s work in mid-October.

For Patterson in particular the group’s arrival in LA brings back fond memories: “Dunhill sent a couple of limos direct to the plane’s staircase and a photographer covered the arrival for the record label. As a matter of fact part of the arrival was…a photo shoot where we had to parade up and down the staircase a couple of times, and cavort around the tarmac waving our hands to the then non-existent cheering fans.”

The group was then driven to a small but comfortable Beverly Hills hotel round the corner from Dunhill’s offices, which according to Patterson “had a wonderful in-house restaurant where we non-suntanned northerners could order a large glass of freshly squeezed orange juice for a mere fifty cents.”

Sessions began soon afterwards at Studio 3, Western Recorders on Sunset Boulevard with engineer Chuck Britz assisting Elliot. However, as Patterson recalls, after a week in the studio, “Cass lost interest in the every day of it” and by end of the week, Dunhill staff producer Steve Barri (PF Sloan’s writing partner) was in charge. (When the album came out though Elliot was credited as co-producer, perhaps in recognition of the fact that she had discovered the band.)

The first week was also notable for the presence of top session drummer Hal Blaine, who was brought in, according to Patterson, to “size my talent up”. Patterson didn’t know it but in those days the majority of sessions with bands included the use of top studio drummers sitting in with the group. Patterson needn’t have worried though; Blaine was bowled over by his playing and offered the use of his equipment stored in the studio’s basement! As the sessions progressed, the band also found time to play a few local dates including a performance at the student union, UCLA on 20 October; a photo of which found its way onto the back cover of their album later in the year.

Photographs from 3’s a Crowd’s arrival at the airport plus a group visit to Western Costume Company were also slated for the album’s cover and inside collage. In the latter case the band spent a morning looking at various catalogues of photos in the company’s inventory before choosing their favourites. In the end, Veitch decided on a white set of tails once worn by Fred Astaire, while Warner picked one of Maid Marion’s dresses from a Robin Hood film. Titcomb’s choice was a First World War fighter pilot’s uniform. Koblun, on the other hand, dressed in an old policeman’s outfit, while Patterson chose a 1930s full-piece bathing outfit and Wiffen dressed as a New York Irish boxing coach! A final photo taken at Elliot’s house (with 3’s a Crowd decked out on her sofa) after a dinner party held for the band one evening was also picked out for use.

Back in Toronto, the band embarked on a frenzy of activity, the highlight of which, was a television special for the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company) called Our Kind Of Crowd. The show, aired from coast to coast, boosted the group’s credentials and also provided a platform for their chosen guests, comedian Richard Pryor and up and coming singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell; both relatively unknown at the time but soon destined for greater things.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said about 3’s a Crowd; although the TV show was clearly a great success and bode well for the future, the group’s career was about to grind to an unwelcomed halt.

Ironically, the recent success proved to be the group’s ultimate undoing. The pressures of touring were as Patterson concedes “taking its toll on both Donna and Kenny”, and following a stint at the Riverboat during December, Koblun quit for the fourth and final time, suffering from nervous exhaustion.

He subsequently returned to Winnipeg and enrolled on a computer course at the city’s university. In the early ‘70s he briefly ventured back into music, playing with a few local groups, before trading in his bass for a career in computers. He currently lives in San Francisco.

In his place 3’s a Crowd recruited bass player Wayne Davis (b. 28 April 1946, Toronto, Ontario) from R&B outfit Bobby Kris and The Imperials, and before that Just Us.

As Patterson reveals, however, Koblun was not the only member to succumb to the pressures on the road. Donna Warner also struggled to cope with the heavy workload and on a number of occasions was too ill to perform. During the group’s Expo stint the previous summer, Ottawa-based singer Colleen Peterson (b. 14 November 1950, Peterborough, Ontario) had ably covered for Warner and would continue to do so at intervals throughout early 1968. In this way Peterson’s role bore an uncanny resemblance to Comrie Smith’s earlier in the year.

Peterson, another of Harvey Glatt’s protégés was a respected singer on the folk circuit and in 1967 had won a Juno award for most promising new vocalist. More importantly, she was well acquainted with the band’s repertoire, having been closely associated with The Children. She was, as Patterson points out, “a natural choice”.

3's a Crowd Australian RCA PS Bird Without Wings - Coat of Colours — A rare Australian pressing!

3's a Crowd in early 1969. Clockwise from front: Colleen, Dennis, Richard, Bruce and David. — 3’s a Crowd in early 1969. Clockwise from front: Colleen, Dennis, Richard, Bruce and David.

3’s a Crowd spent most of early 1968 showcasing the album, which had yet to be given a Canadian release. The “expanded” group’s debut single, a cover of Bruce Cockburn’s catchy “Bird Without Wings” was issued in early February (and even gained an Australian release!). Its relative success (peaking at #61 on the RPM chart) coincided with a tour of Western Canada, featuring memorable dates at the Simon Fraser University on 28 February and the Retinal Circus in Vancouver from 1-2 March.The band then headed back to the US West Coast for a series of dates at the Ice House in Glendale from 5-17 March supported by folk singer couple Jim & Jean. Patterson remembers Neil Young showing up in his Austin Mini Cooper one afternoon, perhaps hoping to catch his old buddy Ken Koblun. Young subsequently invited the group to an informal jam at Stephen Stills’s girlfriend’s house in Topanga Canyon a few days later, and the events that followed were to become the stuff of legend.

As Patterson recalls the car (containing Jim & Jean, Titcomb, Warner and himself) was stopped by the police on route to the party and its occupants presented with a fait accompli; either reverse and go home or carry on and be arrested with the other party goes at the house. (The police had just raided the house and in the ensuing drama three members of the Buffalo Springfield and Eric Clapton had been arrested on suspected drug charges.) Patterson and company returned home, narrowly avoiding one of rock music’s most famous drug busts.

In retrospect the Topanga Canyon episode signaled the end of The Buffalo Springfield, and 3’s a Crowd’s career was about to take a similar path. Back in Canada, the group was joined by members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for a memorable performance at Massey Hall, where the group debuted the album in its entirety with full orchestration, an act never to be repeated. However, Warner’s declining health could not be ignored and following some final dates at Toronto’s Friars Tavern in early May, she left the group just as the album Christopher’s Movie Matinee hit the shops.

The record, though far from being a long lost classic, is still a wonderful collection, which holds up surprisingly well today. The highlights include the sprightly folk-rockers “Drive You Away”, (penned by Wiffen), and “Bird Without Wings”, plus the melancholic ballad “Cotton Candy Man”, the latter also emanating from Bruce Cockburn, who contributed two other songs to the collection. The album’s real gem (as far as this listener is concerned), however, is the band’s haunting version of Bill Hawkins’s (of The Children) “Gnostic Serenade”, which shows how gifted a singer Wiffen is.

At the time, the record was largely ignored, although Billboard did run a brief review earlier in the year: “The music is good, alive and invigorating. It won’t take long for this group to make a solid dent on the best seller charts.”

Review of Electrocution of the Word, inexplicably referred to as "Explosion of the Universe" in this review, Ottawa Journal, August 30, 1968. — Review of Electrocution of the Word, inexplicably referred to as “Explosion of the Universe” in this review, Ottawa Journal, August 30, 1968.

And perhaps it would have had there been a group to support it, but as Patterson points out, when Warner left, Titcomb and Veitch lost interest in the band and were not prepared to put things on hold while she recuperated.But if Titcomb and Veitch were no longer in the picture, there were still commitments to be honoured; Sid Dolgay’s two investors in the group – Harvey Glatt and Toronto film producer Sid Banks were intent on pushing the band. (There was outstanding debt to be paid off and a recently issued album to promote.)

As a result a new version of the band was formed in Ottawa during the summer comprising David Wiffen and Richard Patterson alongside some old and familiar faces.

Former Children members Bruce Cockburn and Sandy Crawley (b. 7 December 1947, Ottawa, Ontario), the son of independent filmmaker Budge Crawley, who made the rock documentary Janis, were drafted in alongside Colleen Peterson.

The new group was completed with bass player Dennis Pendrith (b. 13 September 1949, Toronto, Ontario), who had been in Cockburn’s last band Olivus, and before that had played with Simon Caine & The Catch, Luke & The Apostles and the short-lived group Livingstone’s Journey.

In the midst of all these changes, RCA Victor belatedly released a second single from the album, a cover of Dino Valenti’s “Let’s Get Together” backed by “Drive You Away”, which stalled at #70 on the RPM charts.

The new line-up quickly returned to the road, spending the best part of the summer supporting The Turtles and Gary Puckett & The Union Gap on their Canadian dates.

During this period 3’s a Crowd found time to record a recent Bruce Cockburn composition “Electrocution of The Word”, and Glatt subsequently produced a video to accompany it, which ran at Ottawa’s Teen Pavilion as part of the Canada Exhibition.

Amid all this activity, 3’s a Crowd were hired by Sid Banks to provide the youth element to a new TV series that he had been commissioned to produce called One More Time, hosted by Broadway actor/singer Gilbert Price. Twenty-six episodes were recorded for the first series during the late summer and the band were asked to perform two/three songs per show. (The majority of the music on the show was Broadway hits and guest slots by a few other pop groups, but it was one way for Banks to recoup some of his investment in the band.)

The series was a reasonable success and was renewed for another season with a second batch of taping in the winter. Banks, however, felt that the group’s songs were, according to Patterson, “too alternative for the audience” and pitched the idea of “putting a pop arrangement to some of the top Broadway tunes”. 3’s a Crowd were understandably reticent about such an undertaking but in the end came up with some rather unusual renditions of songs such as “Mack The Knife”.

Donna Warner (middle) singing on Jay Telfer's Perch album sessions, spring 1969 — Donna Warner (middle) singing on Jay Telfer’s Perch album sessions, spring 1969

After the TV series ended in early 1969, the band was offered a spring tour of the US college and university circuit. Crawley, who was more intent on pursuing an acting career opted out leaving the others to fulfil what essentially were 3’s a Crowd’s final dates.The last engagement at Columbia in South Carolina was a low-key affair and summed up the group’s career in a nutshell. They had never been a highly touted band and yet the degree of talent within the group, when looked at retrospectively, would suggest that they deserved a lot more recognition than they did.

Since the group’s final split, the band’s members have, collectively, produced a remarkable body of work. Cockburn undoubtedly has maintained the most visible profile; with close to thirty albums, and a top thirty US hit in “Wondering Where The Lions Are” to his credit, he has produced a wealth of material that surpasses many of his (better-known) ‘60s contemporaries.

Titcomb also emerged as a solo artist (producing three albums for small Canadian labels), but is perhaps best known for his songwriting skills. Canada’s popular country singer Anne Murray recorded many of his songs, including “Sing High, Sing Low” and “I Still Wish The Very Best For You”. Besides this, Titcomb has also made a habit of cropping up in the most unlikely places. He made a cameo appearance in the popular TV series Due South, and has also done voice-overs for cartoon programmes The Care Bears and Clifford The Dog. If that weren’t enough he has produced song jingles for radio and television, appeared in a TV commercial for Canadian Tire and been featured on a commemorative postage stamp acknowledging the corporation’s 75th Anniversary! His son Liam Titcomb has also established himself as a singer/songwriter of note.

Peterson, who died of cancer in October 1996, also found success after leaving 3’s a Crowd. Her first notable recording was with the New York group Taking Care of Business, who released a lone album, Open For Business on Traffic Records in 1969. In the mid-‘70s she became a popular country singer in Nashville and recorded a string of albums for Capitol. She later returned to Canada and enjoyed a hit with a cover of Patsy Cline’s “Crazy”. Shortly before she died Peterson was involved in the first LP by Sylvia Tyson’s band The Quartette.

Her predecessor Donna Warner kept a low profile but did make a guest appearance on Jay Telfer’s unreleased album Perch in mid-1969, singing backing vocals. She subsequently appeared on an album with Tommy Banks Century II productions in the early ‘70s and currently resides in Edmonton where she sings in a local choir at a local cancer care facility.

Veitch, like his erstwhile colleagues also found belated success. For a while, he became American singer/songwriter Tom Rush’s right-hand man, but when the duo parted in the mid-‘70s he headed for LA where he has lived ever since. Veitch is perhaps the most unlikely member of the group to find success as a songwriter, and yet no one could quite have foreseen the level of success that was generated from Laura Brannigan’s “Gloria” and Toni Basil’s “Mickey”, both co-penned by Veitch. He has also found a niche for himself as a session player, appearing on albums by artists as diverse as Pink Floyd, Madonna, Frank Sinatra and Luther Vandross. And then there is also his work on film soundtracks, such as Pretty Woman and Top Gun.

Dennis Pendrith also followed the session path. One of Canada’s top session musicians, he also plays with The Bebop Cowboys, while Patterson recorded a lone single with Canada Goose, a cover of Jackie Wilson’s hit “Higher and Higher” for the New York based Tonsil Records, which reached #44 on the RPM charts. He subsequently joined forces with Tom Rush and Ian and Sylvia Tyson’s Great Speckled Bird before working for The Canadian Broadcasting Company for 16 years.And finally there is David Wiffen, who, despite a loyal following in Canada, has remained something of an obscurity elsewhere. That is a huge injustice as his solo work is easily comparable to many of his oft-cited contemporaries. Like Nick Drake and David Ackles, Wiffen has only produced a handful of recordings, yet that has not prevented his songs from being widely covered by many highly respected artists.

Following the break up of 3’s a Crowd, Wiffen paid his way down to Oakland, California to record his second solo album after bagging a recording deal with Fantasy Records. The label – best known for Credence Clearwater Revival – arranged for Wiffen to work with former Youngbloods guitarist Jerry Corbitt, and although Wiffen was able to invite along Sandy Crawley, most of the players were unfamiliar to him. This caused some problems as the record was later finished without his involvement and the master tapes were reportedly damaged. Not only that but only promotional copies were made available in the US. The record did see a Canadian release, but copies are now extremely scarce, and the record has only been re-issued (by Italian label Comet Records’ subsidiary Akarma Records), despite containing his best known songs “Drivin’ Wheel”, “More Often Than Not” and “Mr Wiffen”.

The distribution problems in the US were certainly frustrating but at least Wiffen had the consolation that his work was being covered by the likes of Tom Rush, Roger McGuinn, Ian & Sylvia Tyson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Eric Anderson and Harry Belafonte.

Wiffen’s influence also is evident in more contemporary artists; “Drivin’ Wheel” has become an integral part of The Cowboy Junkies’ live sets. This renewed interest in his work has led to the recording of his first solo album since 1973’s highly acclaimed Coast To Coast Fever album which saw Wiffen collaborate with former 3’s a Crowd members Bruce Cockburn and Dennis Pendrith. His latest album, which is entitled South of Somewhere, includes a number of reworked versions of Wiffen’s “classic” songs plus some new material.

3’s a Crowd’s career meanwhile may finally receive the recognition that it deserves. Richard Patterson has been busy working on a compilation album mixing the band’s album and early singles with later live material, which has previously been unreleased. The CD compilation has yet to see the light of day.

Nevertheless, the respect given to group members Bruce Cockburn and David Wiffen mean that the band will always be held with affection by those who witnessed the group play in Canada during the mid-late ‘60s.

Christopher's Movie Matinee Canadian mono RCA Victor LP side 1 — Christopher’s Movie Matinee Canadian mono RCA Victor LP

Christopher's Movie Matinee US stereo promo LP on Dunhill side B — US stereo promo LP on Dunhill

Recordings

45 Bound To Fly/Steel Rail Blues (Epic 5-10073) 1966
45 Honey Machine/When The Sun Goes Down (Epic 5-10151) 1967
45 Bird Without Wings/Coat of Colours (RCA Victor 4120) 1967
45 Bird Without Wings/Coat of Colours (Dunhill D-4120) 1968 (US release)
45 Let’s Get Together/Drive You Away (RCA Victor 4131) 1968
45 Let’s Get Together/Drive You Away (Dunhill D-4131) 1968(US release)
LP Christopher’s Movie Matinee (RCA Victor DS-50030) 1968 (Canadian ‘mono’ copy)
LP Christopher’s Movie Matinee (Dunhill DS-50030) 1968 (US release)Advertised gigs

November 14-20 1965 – 4-D, Regina, Saskatchwan
November 21-December 4 1965 – Esquire Club, Saskatoon
December 12-23 1965 – Guiseppe’s, Edmonton
January 6-19 1966 – Brass Rail, Halifax, Nova Scotia
March 1-6 1966 – Le Hibou, Ottawa
March 17-20 1966 – 4-D, Regina
March 29 1966 – Riverboat, Toronto
April 5-10 1966 – Riverboat, Toronto
April 19-21 1966 – Raven’s Gallery, Detroit
April 23-28 1966 – Riverboat, Toronto
February 24-26 1967 – Le Hibou, Ottawa
February 28-March 5 1967 – Le Hibou, Ottawa
March 28-April 2 1967 – Le Hibou, Ottawa
May 15-21 1967 – Steve Paul’s The Scene with Dianne Brooks, Eric Mercury and The Soul Searchers
July 27-30 1967 – Le Hibou, Ottawa
August 1-6 1967 – Le Hibou, Ottawa
August 11-13 1967 – Mariposa Folk Festival, Toronto
August 17-September 8 1967 – Expo ’67 Exhibition, Ontario Pavilion, Montreal
September 1967 – Steve Paul’s The Scene, New York with Lothar & The Hand People
October 2-9 1967 – Canadian Pavilion, Expo ‘67 Montreal
October 20 1967 – Student union, UCLA, Los Angeles
November 11 1967 – Neil McNeil’s High School, Toronto
November 13-25 1967 – Granny’s, Walker House Hotel, Toronto
December 2 1967 – Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
December 19-24 1967 – Riverboat, Toronto
January 1968 – Lawrence Park Collegiate, Toronto
February 28 1968 – Simon Fraser University, Vancouver
March 1-2 1968 – Retinal Circus, Vancouver
March 5-17 1968 – Ice House, Glendale, California with Jim & Jean
March 29 1968 – Massey Hall, Toronto
April 22-May 4 1968 – Friars Tavern, Toronto
May 14-18 1968 – Le Hibou, Ottawa
November 19-24 1968 – Le Hibou, Ottawa
January 16-18 1969 – Pornographic Onion, Toronto

The article would not have been possible without the generous help of John Einarson and particularly Richard Patterson, who interviewed the band members. Thanks also to Graham Wiffen, Donna Warner, Sandy Crawley, Brent Titcomb and Trevor Veitch for their input. Thank you to Ivan Amirault for the scans from RPM.

Email: Warchive@aol.com

US promotional sleeve

3's a Crowd rare German RCA Victor PS — Rare German sleeve

Categories: Bounty, Canada, Elektra Records, Ontario, Toronto, True North

Luke & the Apostles

June 10, 2009 Nick Warburton 5 Comments

The Doors and Elektra Records’ producer Paul Rothchild is reported to have once lamented that Toronto R&B outfit, Luke & The Apostles were the “greatest album I never got to make”. Indeed, the group’s lone single for Elektra, released in early 1967, a year after it was recorded, hardly does justice to a band that provided a training ground for several notable musicians who went on to McKenna Mendelson Mainline, Kensington Market and The Modern Rock Quartet (MRQ).

Luke & The Apostles found their roots in the blues band Mike’s Trio, which had been formed in 1963 by school friends, guitarist Mike McKenna (b. 15 April 1946, Toronto), formerly a member of Whitey & The Roulettes, and bass player Graham Dunsmore. Together with drummer Rich McMurray, Mike Trio’s started gigging at the Cellar club in the city’s Yorkville Village playing Jimmy Reed covers. Sometime in early 1964, McMurray introduced Luke Gibson (b. 5 October 1946, Toronto), a singer with great commanding power and presence, who was joined soon afterwards by classically trained keyboard player Peter Jermyn (b. 6 November 1946, Kingston, Ontario).

It was Jermyn who coined the name, Luke & The Apostles, in imitation of another local act, which had chosen a biblical reference, Robbie Lane & The Disciples and soon became a regular fixture on the local club scene. At first the group found work at the Cellar in Toronto’s hip Yorkville Village before moving on to the El Patio and ultimately the Purple Onion. In fact, such was the demand from local fans that, according to respected Canadian rock journalist Nicholas Jennings, the band was still playing at the Purple Onion a year on from its debut!

Before Luke & The Apostles started its run at the Purple Onion, Jim Jones was brought in to replace Graham Dunsmore on bass while Ray Bennett augmented the line up on harmonica for several months. Bennett ultimately composed “Been Burnt,” the a-side to what would become the band’s solitary ‘45 for Elektra, before moving on during the summer of 1965 (later joining The Heavenly Government).

It was shortly after Bennett’s departure that Paul Rothchild caught the group at the Purple Onion one evening in September. As Gibson recalled to Nicholas Jennings in his book, Before The Goldrush, Rothchild was so enthused he asked the band’s front man to audition the band to label boss, Jac Holzman by singing “Been Burnt” down the phone!

Boris' Coffee House promo, courtesy Ivan Amirault — Boris’ Coffee House promo, courtesy Ivan Amirault

McKenna remembers the audition vividly. “He actually called Jac and said, ‘listen to the guys’. I don’t know if it was too much smoke or whatever, but at the time they were just starting to get going and I think they were releasing that album that had all those bands on it, including [Paul] Butterfield. That was the first time we heard Butterfield and Rothchild brought it up to us and let us hear it and we were knocked out!

Inking a deal with Elektra, the band flew down to New York in early 1966 and recorded two tracks, Bennett’s “Been Burnt” backed by McKenna’s “Don’t Know Why” for a prospective single. The two recordings were readied for release that spring but then tragedy struck. Paul Rothchild was arrested for marijuana possession and the band’s single was put on hold for a year while he served a prison sentence.

Undeterred, Luke & The Apostles resumed gigging in Toronto and began to extend their fan base beyond Yorkville Village, performing at venues like the North Toronto Memorial Arena on 28 May. But uncertainty over the single’s release and the band’s long-term future began to take its toll, and in early summer Jim Jones announced that he was leaving because he wanted to give up playing. Former Simon Caine & The Catch bass player Dennis Pendrith (b. 13 September 1949, Toronto), who was still in high school at the time, had the unenviable task of filling his idol’s shoes.

With Pendrith on board, Luke & The Apostles found a new home at Boris’ coffeehouse in Yorkville Village where they made their debut on 21-22 July. The group also began to find work beyond the city’s limits, travelling east to Oshawa on 24 July to play at the Jubilee Auditorium.

Later that summer, Luke & The Apostles returned to play several shows at the North Toronto Memorial Arena, and on one occasion (23 August), shared the bill with Montreal’s The Haunted and local group, The Last Words. But the most prestigious concert date during this time was an appearance at the 14-hour long rock show held at Maple Leaf Gardens on 24 September 1966, alongside a dozen or so local bands.

The show proved to be Pendrith’s swan song. The following month, Jim Jones had a change of mind and returned to the fold, leaving the young bass player to find work elsewhere – he subsequently rejoined his former group before hooking up with Livingstone’s Journey in mid-1967. At the same time, Gibson and McKenna decided to dispense with McMurray’s services and recruited a new drummer, Pat Little. The changes, however, did not end there. Sometime in October or November, Peter Jermyn briefly left the group and was replaced by future Bedtime Story and Edward Bear keyboard player Bob Kendall before returning in December 1966.

Amid all the changes, Luke & The Apostles resumed its weekly residency at Boris’, sharing the bill at various times with The Ugly Ducklings and The Paupers among others. They also got the opportunity to perform at the newly opened Club Kingsway on 15 October, opening for singer/songwriter Neil Diamond and travelled to Montreal at the end of the year to play some dates.

By early 1967, Luke & The Apostles’ single had still not been released. Nevertheless, the opportunity to return to New York in mid-April and perform at the Café Au Go Go buoyed spirits. The previous month, McKenna’s friend, bass player Denny Gerrard was opening for Jefferson Airplane with his band The Paupers and during that band’s stay in the Big Apple, Gerrard had met Paul Butterfield who was looking for a replacement for Mike Bloomfield in his band, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Gerrard immediately suggested McKenna and passed Butterfield his Toronto number.

“Denny had met Paul Butterfield and said, ‘if you’re looking for a guitar player’ because Bloomfield had gone into hospital or something,” remembers McKenna …[Paul] called me and I actually thought it was a joke! When I realised it was Paul I was absolutely blown away that he had called me.”

With Bloomfield looking to form his new band, The Electric Flag, Butterfield asked McKenna to come down to New York and audition but the guitarist kindly declined the offer. “I couldn’t go because that’s when Luke and I were going to go back to do some recordings and I said, ‘well if I leave Luke and the guys now, the band will probably break up and we’ve got recordings to do.”

While Elektra had not seen fit to release Luke & The Apostles’ first recordings, the label still expressed an interest in recording the band. During its time at the Café Au Go, the label booked the group into its New York studios for a day to record an album’s worth of material, including the tracks, “I Don’t Feel Like Trying” and “So Long Girl”.

During its first stand at the Café Au Go Go (where incidentally the group shared the washroom with The Mothers of Invention who were playing at the Garrick Theatre upstairs) Luke & The Apostles backed folkie Dave Van Ronk but were so well received that the club owner asked the band to return for a second week in late May-early June, opening for The Grateful Dead.

During this engagement, McKenna stuck up a friendship with Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia, who hounded McKenna to sell him his recently acquired Les Paul Special.

“I think it was the one that was on the Rolling Stone cover,” recalls McKenna. “I bought it in one of the stores in New York and he paid me a handsome sum for what I had paid for it.”

One night Paul Butterfield and his lead guitarist Elvin Bishop turned up to check out the band. According to Suzi Wickett, McKenna’s first wife, both were extremely impressed with McKenna’s guitar-playing style and unique sound. When Bishop asked McKenna how he created such “a sound”, the guitarist graciously explained his secret was in his mixture of Hawaiian and banjo strings used in combination, along with controlled feedback. “It was something I learned from Robbie Robertson and The Hawks,” explains McKenna. “The big thing in Toronto was playing Telecasters but you couldn’t get light gauge strings so what Robbie did was use banjo strings.”

The following night at the Café Au Go Go was standing room only remembers Wickett and everyone who was “anyone” had turned out to see this new band from Toronto. Among those attending were Bob Dylan and Paul Butterfield Blues Band’s manager Albert Grossman and rock promoter Bill Graham who each wanted to sign Luke & The Apostles to a management contract. Bill Graham even offered the band a slot at the Fillmore West in California that summer.

But behind the scenes the band was slowly disintegrating, as Wickett explains. “The pressure was ‘on’ for Luke & The Apostles to decide which manager they were going to sign [with]. The band had been away from Toronto for three weeks; they were in a prime position for national exposure [and] the hottest people in the industry were vying for their commitment to a management contract. Unable to reconcile differences of opinion and personal ambitions, the group fragmented returning to Toronto disillusioned and hostile.”

Luke & the Apostles, RPM, August 15, 1970

Transfusion, clockwise from top: Danny McBride (with Gibson ES335), Tom Sheret, Pat Little, Simon Caine and Rick Shuckster.

Luke & The Apostles, however, were not quite ready to implode and resumed their regular gig at Boris’. More importantly, Bill Graham approached Luke & The Apostles and asked the band to open for Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead on 23 July when both groups performed at Nathan Phillips Square in front of 50,000.Graham was suitably impressed by the band’s performance that he asked Luke & The Apostles to repeat their support act at the O’Keefe Centre from 31 July-5 August. During the show the band performed covers of blues favourites “Good Morning Little School Girl” and “You Can’t Judge A Book By The Cover”.

The concert, however, proved to be the group’s swan song and after a final show at Boris’ Red Gas Room on 6 August, Luke Gibson accepted an offer to join the progressive folk-rock outfit, Kensington Market where he would develop his song writing skills.

Peter Jermyn was also ready to move on. After passing on an offer to join The Blues Project because he would have been liable to be drafted, he subsequently moved to Ottawa to join the band Heart, which evolved into The Modern Rock Quartet. Jim Jones meanwhile played with several bands, including The Artist Jazz Band.

Left with only the band’s name, McKenna and Little decided to go their separate ways. McKenna immediately found work with The Ugly Ducklings before forming the highly respected blues outfit, McKenna Mendelson Mainline the following summer.

Little became an early member of Edward Bear before joining forces with future Blood, Sweat & Tears’ singer David Clayton-Thomas in his group Combine (appearing on the original version of “Spinning Wheel”). In June 1968, however, he joined The Georgian People (later better known as Chimo!) before moving on to Transfusion, the house band at Toronto’s Rock Pile.

Although it was a sad end to what was a great band, the story doesn’t end there. In December 1969, Gibson, McKenna and Little met up to discuss reforming the group. “People didn’t forget,” Gibson explained to Bill Gray in an article for The Toronto Telegram on 19 February 1970. “We used to get asked constantly, all of us, about The Apostles. Everyone seemed to have good memories of the band. We were, after all, kind of unique around Toronto.

“The trouble was, it was only after we broke up that the scene here started to change. Other bands started to come around to the kind of things we had been doing. The blues and rock thing began to dominate and I guess our influence was recalled, that’s why our posthumous reputation has remained so high.”

Completing the line up with former Transfusion guitarist Danny McBride on second lead guitar and McKenna’s pal, ex-Paupers bass player Denny Gerrard (b. 28 February 1947, Scarborough) during January 1970, the group enlisted Bernie Finkelstein (today Bruce Cockburn’s long-standing manager) to represent them.

But the new line up remained unsettled and by the end of the month former Buffalo Springfield bass player Bruce Palmer (b. 9 September 1946, Toronto) came on board in time for the band’s debut shows at the Café Le Hibou in Ottawa from 10-14 February. After opening for Johnny Winter at Massey Hall on 15 February and playing several low-key dates around the city, Palmer dropped out and Jack Geisinger (b. March 1945, Czechoslovakia) from Damage, Milkwood and Influence arrived in time to play on a lone 45, issued on Bernie Finkelstein’s True North Records.

The resulting single, Gibson, McKenna and Little’s “You Make Me High”, is arguably one of the best records to come out of the Toronto scene from that period, and even managed to reach #27 on Canada’s RPM chart in October of that year. The b-side, “Not Far Off”, written by Gibson has a Led Zeppelin feel and some tasty guitar interplay between McKenna and McBride.

The band returned to Toronto’s live scene, supporting Lighthouse at a show held at Convocation Hall on 1 March. A few weeks later, the group performed at the Electric Circus (13-14 March) and then towards the end of the month appeared at the Toronto Rock Festival at Varsity Arena (26 March) on a bill featuring Funkadelic, Damage and Nucleus among others.

In the first week of April, Luke & The Apostles embarked on a brief tour of Boston with Mountain but behind the scenes, the band was slowly unravelling. Following a show at the Electric Circus in Toronto on 9 May, McKenna dropped out to rejoin his former band, now going by the name Mainline.

The band ploughed on appearing at the Peace Festival at Varsity Arena on 19-21 June on a bill that also included Rare Earth, SRC, Bush and George Olliver & The Natural Gas among others. But soon afterwards McBride also handed in his notice and later became a mainstay of Chris de Burgh’s backing band.

In his place, Luke & The Apostles recruited Geisinger’s former Influence cohort, Walter Rossi (b. 29 May 1947, Naples, Italy), who had played with The Buddy Miles Express in the interim.

With Rossi on board Luke & The Apostles made a prestigious appearance at that summer’s Strawberry Fields Pop Festival held at Mosport Park, Ontario on the weekend of 7-8 August 1970. A short tour followed, including several appearances at the CNE Bandstand in Toronto where the band shared the bill with Lighthouse, Crowbar and Dr John among others. Then on 1 September, the group headed down to New York to perform at the popular club, Ungano’s.

In an interview with Peter Goddard for Toronto Telegram’s 17 September issue, manager Bernie Finkelstein was confident that the band had a promising future ahead. “We’ve been asked to go back to Ungano’s in New York City for the middle of October,” he said. “But we might wait to get the material for our first album ready so that we can release it around mid-October.”

Unfortunately, the promised album never appeared and soon after a show at Kipling Collegiate in Toronto on 9 October, Luke Gibson left for a solo career followed shortly afterwards by Pat Little. The remaining members recruited ex-Wizard drummer Mike Driscoll, performing as The Apostles before splitting in early 1971. Rossi subsequently recorded a brilliant, Jimi Hendrix-inspired album as Charlee in early 1972 with help from Geisinger and Driscoll before embarking on a successful solo career which continues to this day.

Gibson also embarked on a solo career and in 1971 recorded a lone album for True North Records with help from Dennis Pendrith, Jim Jones and Bruce Cockburn. Gibson continued to gig throughout the 1970s and 1980s with his bands Killaloe, The Silver Tractors and Luke Gibson Rocks before eschewing a singing career to become a film set painter. Little rejoined Chimo! for the band’s final single and then hooked up with Rick James in Heaven and Earth for two singles on RCA Victor in late 1971. He also reunited with McKenna to record an album with the band, DiamondBack.

Legend surrounding the band, however, has grown over the years and in the late ‘90s, early members Gibson, Jermyn, Jones and McKenna reformed the group with future Downchild Blues Band drummer Mike Fitzpatrick for the “Toronto Rock Revival” concert held at the Warehouse on 2 May 1999. Later that year Jermyn, Jones and McKenna became house band at Yorkville club, Blues on Bellair and were joined intermittently by Gibson.

As recently as 1 June 2002, Luke & The Apostles were playing at the club and local label Bullseye Records recorded one of the shows for a proposed live CD, comprising the old favourites and more contemporary material but so far nothing has been released. Nevertheless, the band still commands a loyal following and hopefully a full length CD release detailing the group’s colourful career will finally do justice to one of Toronto’s most overlooked and talented bands.

Recordings

45 Been Burnt/Don’t Know Why (Bounty 45105) 1967

45 Been Burnt/Don’t Know Why (Elektra 45105) 1967

45 You Make Me High/Not Far Off (TN 101) 1970

45 You Make Me High/You Make Me High (TN 102) 1970

Advertised gigs

September 1965 – The Purple Onion, Toronto

May 28 1966 – North Toronto Memorial Arena, Toronto

July 21-22 1966 – Boris’, Toronto

July 23 1966 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto

July 24 1966 – The Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario

July 26-29 1966 – Boris’, Toronto

July 31-August 1 1966 – Boris’, Toronto

August 2 1966 – North Toronto Memorial Arena, Toronto with Bobby Kris & The Imperials and the Stitch in Tyme

August 18-21 1966 – Boris’, Toronto

August 23 1966 – North Toronto Memorial Arena, Toronto with The Last Words and The Haunted

September 8 1966 – El Patio, Toronto

September 11 1966 – El Patio, Toronto

September 15 1966 – Boris’, Toronto

September 16 1966 – Gogue Inn, Toronto with The Tripp, All Five, Klaas Vangrath and Al Lalonde

September 17-18 1966 – Boris’, Toronto

September 22-23 1966 – Boris’, Toronto

September 24 1966 – Maple Leaf Gardens with Little Caesar & The Consuls, The Ugly Ducklings, The Tripp, The Paupers, Bobby Kris & The Imperials, The Stitch In Tyme, The Spasstiks, R K & The Associates, Little Caesar & The Consuls, The Big Town Boys and others

September 25 1966 – Boris’, Toronto

October 1-2 1966 – Boris’, Toronto

October 8-10 1966 – Boris’, Toronto

October 14-15 1966 – Boris’, Toronto

October 15 1966 – Club Kingsway, Toronto with Neil Diamond, The Counts, The Big Town Boys and Canadian Dell-Tones

October 22-23 1966 – Boris’, Toronto

November 4 1966 – Boris’, Toronto with The Orphans

November 5 1966 – Boris’, Toronto with The Vendettas

November 6 1966 – Boris’, Toronto with The Ugly Ducklings

November 18-20 1966 – Boris’, Toronto

November 26-27 1966 – Boris’, Toronto

December 2-4 1966 – Boris’, Toronto

December ?? 1966 – Montreal

December 23 1966 – Boris’, Toronto with The Spectrums

December 24-27 1966 – Boris’, Toronto with The Paupers

December 28 1966 – Boris’, Toronto with The Vendettas

December 29-1 January 1967 – Boris’, Toronto with The Paupers

January 6 1967 – Boris’ Red Gas Room (newly opened), Toronto with The Vendettas

January 7 1967 – Boris’ Red Gas Room, Toronto with The Ugly Ducklings

January 8 1967 – Boris’ Red Gas Room, Toronto with The Vendettas

January 13-15 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

January 21-22 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

January 29 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

February 4-5 1967 – Boris’ Red Gas Room, Toronto

February 10 1967 – The Villa Inn, Streetsville, Ontario

February 12 1967 – Boris’ Red Gas Room, Toronto with The Paupers

February 17-19 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

February 24-26 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

February 26 1967 – Club Isabella, Toronto

March 3-5 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

March 10 1967 – Boris’, Toronto with The Vendettas

March ?? 1967 – Ottawa

March 29-April 2 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

March 31 1967 – Gogue Inn, Toronto with The Wee Beasties and The Citations

April 8-9 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

April ?? 1967 – New York dates

April 14-16 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

April 22-23 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

April 28 1967 – YMCA Inferno Club, Toronto, Willowdale, Ontario

April 29 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

May 7-?? 1967 – Café Au Go Go, New York with David Van Ronk

May 13-14 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

May 19-20 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

May 21-?? 1967 – Café Au Go Go, New York

June 4 1967 – Café Au Go Go, New York with Eric Andersen

June 16-18 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

June 22-24 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

July 6-7 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

July 8 1967 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough with The Midnights and The Trayne

July 9 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

July 13-16 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

July 21-22 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

July 23 1967 – Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto with Jefferson Airplane

July 28-29 1967 – Boris’, Toronto

July 31-August 5 1967 – O’Keefe Centre, Toronto with Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane

August 6 1967 – Boris’ Red Gas Room, Toronto

February 10-14 1970 – Café Le Hibou, Ottawa

February 15 1970 – Massey Hall, Toronto with Johnny Winter

February 20 1970 – WM L MacKenzie Collegiate, Toronto

February 21 1970 – WA Porter Collegiate, Toronto

March 1 1970 – Convocation Hall, Toronto with Lighthouse and Mother Tucker’s Yellow Duck

March 13-14 1970 – Electric Circus, Toronto

March 26 1970 – Toronto Rock Festival, Varsity Arena with Funkadelic, Nucleus, Damage and others

April 2-4 1970 – Boston Tea Party, Boston with Mountain and Ronnie Hawkins

April 15-16 1970 – East York Collegiate, Toronto with Five Man Electrical Band

May 1 1970 – St Gabe’s, Willowdale, Ontario

May 2 1970 – Cedarbrae College, Toronto

May 9 1970 – Electric Circus, Toronto with Fear

June 16-21 1970 – Café Le Hibou, Ottawa

June 19-21 1970 – Peace Festival, Varsity Arena with Rare Earth, SRC, Bush, George Olliver & The Natural Gas, Nucleus and others

August 7-8 1970 – Strawberry Fields Pop Festival, Mosport Park, Ontario

August 13 1970 – Woodbine Arena, Woodbine, Ontario

August 20 1970 – CNE Bandstand, Toronto with Soma, Lighthouse, Crowbar, Mashmakan and Dr John

August 27 1970 – CNE Bandstand, Toronto with Mashmakan

September 1 1970 – Ungano’s, New York with Charade

September 25 1970 – Hamilton Forum, Hamilton, Ontario with King Biscuit Boy, Crowbar, Whiskey Howl and Brass Union (Hamilton Spectator)

October 9 1970 – Kipling Collegiate, Toronto with Cheshire Cat

To contact the author, email: Warchive@aol.com

Many thanks to Mike McKenna, Peter Jermyn, Mike Harrison, Carny Corbett, Bill Munson, Craig Webb, Suzi Wickett, John Bennett and Walter Rossi.

The Toronto Telegram’s After Four section has also been invaluable for live dates and reviews. Also thanks to Ross from www.chickenonaunicycle.com for the scan of the San Francisco Scene program. Thank you to Ivan Amirault for the scans from RPM.

Luke & the Apostles, RPM, August 22, 1970 — RPM, August 22, 1970

Categories: Boo, Canada, MGM, Ontario, Toronto

Grant Smith and the Power

March 9, 2009 Nick Warburton 11 Comments

Grant Smith & The Power, Spring 1967, shortly after their formation. Left to right: Brian Ayers, Val Stevens, Charlie Miller, Ralph Miller, Jim Pauley, Mike Harrison, Wayne Stone and Grant Smith — Grant Smith & The Power, spring 1967, shortly after their formation. Left to right: Brian Ayres, Val Stevens, Charlie Miller, Ralph Miller, Jim Pauley, Mike Harrison, Wayne Stone and Grant Smith

Grant Smith (Vocals) all line ups

Val Stevens (B-3 Organ) line up ABCDEHI

Jim Pauley (Guitar) line up AB

Mike Harrison (Bass) line up ABCDE

Wayne “Stoney” Stone (Drums) line up ABCDEF

Charlie Miller (Drums) line up A

Ralph Miller (Trumpet) line up ABCDEFGH

Brian “Otis” Ayres (Saxophone) all line ups

Jon Palma (Guitar) line up CD

Steve Kennedy (Saxophone, Harmonica) line up DEF

Kenny Marco (Guitar) line up EF

William “Smitty” Smith (Organ) line up F

Sonnie “Jiggs” Bernardi (Drums) line up GHI

Gord Baxter (Guitar) – line up GH

Rick Berkett (Bass) – line up GH

Wulf Stelling (B-3 Organ) – line up G

Ted Stack (Trumpet) – line up GH

Bert Hermiston (Saxophone/flute) – line up GHI

Josef Chirowski (Keyboards)

Frank De Felice (Drums)

Joe Agnello (Bass)

Terry Aubertin (Guitar)

Pedro Cortez (Keyboards)

Pierre Galipeau (Trumpet)

Former Weepers member Val Stevens together with Mike Harrison and the Miller Brothers had been playing with Toronto band Eddie Spencer & The Power when a decision was made on 1 January 1967 to shake up the band.

New lead singer (and former drummer with The Missing Links) Ellis Grant Smith (b. London, Ontario), together with guitarist Jim Pauley from his previous band, E G Smith & The Express and sax player Brian Ayres, who’d previously played bass guitar with Brantford, Ontario groups, The Galaxies, The Marque-Royals and The Beau Keys were brought in.

Two weeks later, another former Express member and second drummer, Wayne Stone joined. Stone had also previously played with London, Ontario band The Sticks and Stones with bass player Jim Laramie before the pair joined Grant Smith in The Express with Jim Pauley and keyboard player Vern Pickle.

The first line-up remained together until mid-1967 and initially gigged as E G Smith and The Power before adopting the better known, Grant Smith & The Power.

Canadian music publication RPM Music Weekly featured a short article and photo of the group in its 10 June 1967 issue on the front page. The article notes the group first started playing at the In Crowd in Toronto’s Yorkville Village.

After Charlie Miller’s departure in June, the group went to the United States, now working with only one drummer, and played on the Atlantic Seaboard, including playing at the Number 3 Lounge in Boston.

After returning to Canada, Jim Pauley quit and was replaced by Jon Palma in September. Palma had previously played in The Weepers alongside Val Stevens and Charlie Miller.

The band’s debut 45, a soul version of The Spencer Davis Group’s ‘Keep on Running’ coupled with Smith and Stevens’s ‘Her Own Life’, came out in January 1968 and featured line up C.

Both singles were recorded (with Steve Kennedy on the sessions) at Toronto music mogul, Art Snider’s Sound Canada studios in Toronto. Kennedy, a former member of Diane Brooks, Eric Mercury and The Soul Searchers, joined the group as its musical director in January 1968.

RPM Music Weekly’s 20 January issue notes that the group opened their second US tour in Revere, Massachusetts on 15 January, with follow up appearances in Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Chicago. The first half of the tour was due to end on 9 March and then they returned to Toronto.

The band, spring 1968. Left to right: Mike Harrison (missing), Jon Palma, Wayne Stone, Val Stevens, Ralph Miller, Grant Smith (front), Steve Kennedy and Brian Ayres. Photo used for front cover of their LP.

While in New York in May 1968, Palma left to join Mary Ann Brown & The Good Things and guitarist Kenny Marco, who had played alongside Brian Ayres in The Galaxies, The Marque-Royals and The Beau Keys joined.

Grant Smith and the Power photo — Grant Smith & The Power, summer 1968, shortly after Kenny Marco (second left) joined and before Mike Harrison (second right) and Val Stevens (far right) departed

With Marco on-board the group recorded their second single, ‘Thinkin’ About You’ c/w ‘You Got What You Want’ at Art Snider’s Sound Canada studios in Toronto. The tracks were picked up by MGM and released that autumn. (Ed. Stone thinks Jon Palma was the guitarist on these two tracks and not Marco).

In October 1968, Harrison left to join McKenna Mendelson Mainline.

Stevens also left at this point and William Smith, who’d previously worked with The Soul Searchers came in, covering bass on Hammond organ.

November 1968, left to right: Brian Ayres, Kenny Marco, Wayne Stone, Grant Smith, Steve Kennedy, Ralph Miller and William Smith. Photo used for back cover of their LP

Line up F was responsible for recording the bulk of the group’s album on Boo in November 1968, which also included the band’s debut single and a few tracks recorded by earlier line ups.

However, Marco, Kennedy, Smith and Stone weren’t happy with the recording and its reliance on cover material and left in mid-January 1969 to form Motherlode.

Four members of Franklin Sheppard & The Good Sheppards took their place. Gordon Baxter had started out with Kitchener, Ontario group The Counts Royale.

In mid-1966, however, Wulf Stelling, who had played alongside Brian Ayres in The Marque-Royals in the early 1960s, invited the guitarist to join a new band he was forming in Brantford, Ontario that also featured former Jay’s Rayders members Rick Berkett (aka Ric Barker) and sax player Glen Higgins.

After rehearsing for several months with another singer (Larry Lewellan), Stelling’s group was picked up by Franklin Sheppard in October; Sheppard had broken up the original Sheppards following dates in Vancouver the previous month. In August 1967 Sonnie Bernardi joined from Mary Ann Brown & The Good Things and The Sheppards toured the US before splitting in mid-1968.

Franklin Sheppard & The Good Sheppards, August 1967. Left to right: Chuck Slater, Rick Berkett, Glen Higgins, Frank Sheppard, Wulf Stelling, Gordon Baxter and Sonnie Bernardi. Photo: Gord Baxter

Baxter had started to put together a new R&B group in Kitchener when Stelling called him to join Grant Smith in January 1969 alongside Bernardi and Berkett. At the same time, Smith added two more horn players, Ted Stack on second trumpet alongside Ralph Miller and Bert Hermiston on second sax and flute.

Following several weeks of rehearsals at the Hawk’s Nest in Toronto and playing some local gigs, line-up G headed to the Boston area in the first week of May 1969.

Sonnie Bernardi next to gig sign for 30 June to 6 July 1969 at Mill Hill Club, West Yarmouth, Cape Cod. Photo: Gord Baxter

However, Grant Smith soon clashed with Stelling and Val Stevens was brought back into the group around July.

Left to right: Rick Berkett, Ralph Miller, Val Stevens and Gordon Baxter. Photo: Gord Baxter

The revised line-up continued to gig around Boston and the Cape Cod areas before returning to Toronto in August 1969. Smith then briefly disbanded The Power because he wanted a break. Baxter then reunited with Wulf Stelling in The Wulf Pack.

The Wulf Pack, 1970. Clockwise from left: Blake Barrett, Wulf Stelling, Gordon Baxter and Stacy. Photo: Gord Baxter

When Smith reformed The Power as a sextet in September 1969, he retained Brian Ayres, Bert Hermiston, Sonnie Bernadi and Val Stevens. However, the line-up remained fluid throughout 1970 and Smith expanded the line-up again to an 11-piece.

Former member Kenny Marco re-joined during this period as well after Motherlode split up and the group played in Las Vegas at Caesar’s Palace.

Grant Smith Power MGM promo photo — Grant Smith & The Power, 1970. Left to right: Brian Ayres, Bert Hermiston, unknown musician, unknown musician, Sonnie Bernardi, unknown musician, unknown musician, unknown musician, Val Stevens and (front) Grant Smith.

During 1970 Bernardi left and subsequently worked with Ronnie Hawkins, King Biscuit and then Crowbar. Hermiston did sessions with Heaven and Earth among others while Stevens formed his own trio before travelling to England in late 1970 and played with Clown, Tucky Buzzard and Steve Hillage’s Khan.

Marco subsequently joined former member William Smith in Los Angeles backing David Clayton-Thomas.

At some point (most likely late 1969/early 1970), keyboardist Josef Chirowski, who’d previously played with The Mandala and The Power Project worked with Grant Smith & The Power briefly. Also, another former Franklin Sheppard & The Good Sheppards member Frank De Felice was a brief member before forming Jericho.

Grant Smith continued to front various line-ups of The Power throughout the 1970s and beyond.

Former Leigh Ashford bass player Joe Agnello recalls playing with Grant Smith & The Power around 1971-1972 before he formed Fullerton, Little and Agnello Group (Flag). He says that former Power member Wayne Stone was on drums alongside guitarist Terry Aubertin and organist Pedro Cortez. He also remembers two trumpet players Pierre Galipeau and a guy called Benoit.

Stone subsequently worked with Johnny Otis in Los Angeles in the early 1970s and then returned to Toronto to play with Dr. Music, a band that had previously featured Kenny Marco and also included Steve Kennedy.

In the mid-1970s, former members Kenny Marco, Wayne Stone and Val Stevens (after he had returned from England) returned to play with Grant Smith in a line-up that also featured sax player Leo Sullivan.

Recordings

45 Keep On Running/Her Own Life (BOO 681) 1968

45 Thinkin’ About You/You Got What I Want (MGM 13979) 1968

LP Grant Smith & The Power (BOO 6802) 1968

MGM promo for Grant Smith & the Power, RPM, October 28, 1969 — RPM, 28 October 1969

RPM, March 17, 1969 — RPM, 17 March 1969

Selected advertised gigs

5 February 1967 – The Syndicate Club, Toronto, Ontario (formerly Club Isabella) (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

11 February1967 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto, Ontario (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

18 February 1967 – Gogue Inn, Toronto, Ontario with Franklin Sheppard & The Good Sheppards and The Wyldfyre (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

4 March 1967 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto, Ontario (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

10 March 1967 – Gogue Inn, Toronto, Ontario with The Five Good Reasons, Dana and Sunny & Peter

24 March 1967 – Avenue Road Club, Toronto, Ontario

26 March 1967 – Avenue Road Club, Toronto, Ontario

9 April 1967 – Crang Plaza, Downsview, Ontario with R K & The Associates (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

14 April 1967 – Club 888, Toronto, Ontario (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

29 April 1967 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto, Ontario (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

6 May 1967 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough, Ontario with Luv-Lites and The Tiaras and The Syndicate Five (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

13 May 1967 – Whitby Arena, Whitby, Ontario with Shawne Jackson, Jay Jackson & The Majestics, Bobby Kris & The Imperials, The Last Words, Jack Hardin & The Silhouettes, The Tripp, The Ugly Ducklings, Roy Kenner & The Associates and others (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

2 June 1967 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto, Ontario

2 June 1967 – Annadale Country Club, Pickering, Ontario (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

9 June 1967 – Don Mills Curling Club, Toronto, Ontario with The One Eyed Jacks

16 June 1967 – Whitby Arena, Whitby, Ontario with James and Bobby Purify, Shawne Jackson, Jay Jackson & The Majestics, Jack Hardin and Stitch In Tyme (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

27 June 1967 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough, Ontario with The One Eyed Jacks and Who & The Blazers

The band travelled to the United States for the summer

6 September 1967 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto, Ontario

23 September 1967 – Club 42, Stratford, Ontario (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

29 September 1967 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

30 September 1967 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough, Ontario (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

Grant Smith and the Power RPM 2 October 1967

14 October 1967 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto, Ontario

21 October 1967 – York University, Toronto, Ontario (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

22 October 1967 – Teddy Bear Club, Toronto, Ontario

10 November 1967 – Club Boogaloo, Chandelier, near Wentworth, Hamilton, Ontario (Hamilton Spectator)

11 November 1967 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough, Ontario with The Taxi

17 November 1967 – Club Shade Blue, Hamilton, Ontario (Hamilton Spectator)

18 November 1967 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto, Ontario

1 December 1967 – Club Shade Blue, Hamilton, Ontario (Hamilton Spectator)

8 December 1967 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

15 December 1967 – Club Trocadero, Toronto, Ontario

22 December 1967 – Club Boogaloo, Chandelier, near Wentworth, Hamilton, Ontario (Hamilton Spectator)

23 December 1967 – Bunny Bin, Toronto, Ontario with Christopher Edward Campaign and The Village Stop

26 December 1967 – Hidden Valley, Huntsville, Ontario

31 December 1967 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto, Ontario

6 January 1968 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto, Ontario

12 January 1968 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario

The band’s second US tour begins on 15 January and concludes on 9 March, according to RPM Music Weekly’s 20 January issue. It also says they will record most of their Boo LP from 11-23 March.

22-26 January 1968 – Buttercup Hill Club, Lunenburg, Massachusetts (Fitchburg Sentinel)

28 January 1968 – Buttercup Hill Club, Lunenburg, Massachusetts (Fitchburg Sentinel)

29 January-2 February 1968 – Buttercup Hill Club, Lunenburg, Massachusetts (Fitchburg Sentinel)

4 February 1968 – Buttercup Hill Club, Lunenburg, Massachusetts (Fitchburg Sentinel)

8 March 1968 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario (may not have happened if US dates correct above)

10 March 1968 – Teddy Bear Club, Toronto, Ontario (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

17 March 1968 – O’Keefe Centre, Toronto, Ontario with The Hollies and Spanky & The Gang (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

19 March 1968 – Club Riviera, Norval, Ontario with Stitch In Tyme and The Lords of London

20 March 1968 – Civic Centre Auditorium, Brantford, Ontario (The Expositor) Advert says they are leaving for Los Angeles next week but this seems unlikely

23 March 1968 – London Arena, London, Ontario with The Entertainer

24 March 1968 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto, Ontario

29 March 1968 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario

30 March 1968 – Neil McNeil Student Council, Toronto, Ontario (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

31 March 1968 – Intersection, Windsor, Ontario with The Amboy Dukes (Windsor Star)

RPM Music Weekly’s 20 January 1968 issue says the second half of their second US tour starts on 25 March and ends on 15 June. It looks like the start date may have been pushed back though to early April.

Mid-May 1968 – Trudy Heller’s, New York, USA (Toronto Daily Star)

14 June 1968 – Memorial Centre, Kingston, Ontario with The Varmints and Paper Dream (Kingston Whig-Standard)

16 June 1968 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough, Ontario (billed as E G Smith & The Power and says just back from US tour)

20 June 1968 – Huron Park Recreation Centre, Cooksville, Ontario with The Lords of London, The Five Shy and The Cat (billed as E G Smith & The Power)

21 June 1968 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario

22 June 1968 – Club Commodore, Kawarthas, Ontario

23 June 1968 – Summer Garden, Port Dover, Ontario

25 June 1968 – London Arena, London, Ontario with The Entertainer with The Soul Agents and The Grass Company

29 June 1968 – Balm Beach Danceland, Balm Beach, Ontario

2 July 1968 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto, Ontario

5 July 1968 – BCI, Brantford, Ontario (billed as EG Smith & The Power) (The Expositor)

6 July 1968 – The Cove, Long Beach, St Catherine’s, Ontario (The Standard)

12-13 July 1968 – Sauble Beach Pavilion, Sauble Beach, Ontario (Sun Times from Owen Sound)

14 July 1968 – Summer Garden, Port Dover, Ontario

29 July 1968-18 August 1968 – Tony Marts Somers Point, Ocean City, New Jersey, US with The Shades and The Shadettes, The Aerodrome and The Pop Explosions (Courier-Post/Press of Atlantic City)

24 August 1968 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto, Ontario

25 August 1968 – Summer Garden, Port Dover, Ontario with The Federation (The Expositor)

28 August 1968 – The Glenbriar, Waterloo, Ontario with George Olliver & His Children and The Web & Dover Street (Waterloo Region Record)

1 September 1968 – Hidden Valley, Huntsville, Ontario with The Private Collection

12 September 1968 – Ryerson Gymnasium, Toronto, Ontario (Toronto Daily Star)

22 September 1968 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto, Ontario

27 September 1968 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario

11 October 1968 – Alligator, Hamilton, Ontario (Hamilton Spectator)

13 October 1968 – Hidden Valley, Huntsville, Ontario with The Staccatos (possibly one of Harrison’s final shows)

19 October 1968 – BCI, Brantford, Ontario (The Expositor)

15 November 1968 – Alligator, Hamilton, Ontario (Hamilton Spectator)

22 November 1968 – Hawk’s Nest, Toronto, Ontario (Toronto Daily Star)

24 November 1968 – Paradise Gardens, Guelph, Ontario

30 November 1968 – Royal York Hotel, Toronto, Ontario with The Stitch In Time

1 December 1968 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough, Ontario

26 December 1968 – Hidden Valley, Huntsville, Ontario with The Taxi

27 December 1968 – Alligator, Hamilton, Ontario (Hamilton Spectator)

28 December 1968 – Summer Garden, Port Dover, Ontario

1 January 1969 – BCI, Brantford, Ontario (The Expositor)

4 January 1969 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough, Ontario (Toronto Daily Star)

15 February 1969 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough, Ontario (Toronto Daily Star)

22 February 1969 – Pillar Square, Hamilton, Ontario (Hamilton Spectator)

20 March 1969 – Masonic Temple, Windsor, Ontario (Windsor Star)

22 March 1969 – Summer Garden, Port Dover, Ontario with Gulliver’s Travels (The Expositor)

4 April 1969 – Bramalea Community Centre, Bramalea, Ontario with Wingate Funk

25 April 1969 – Jubilee Pavilion, Oshawa, Ontario

26 April 1969 – Neil McNeil’s High School, Toronto, Ontario

27 April 1969 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto, Ontario

2 May 1969 – Teutonia Club, Windsor, Ontario with Power & The Glory (Windsor Star)

The band headed to the Boston and Cape Cod areas to play at this point.

Early May 1969 – Beacon Club, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

19-31 May 1969 – Buttercup Hill Club, Lunenburg, Massachusetts, USA (Fitchburg Sentinel) Two weeks

16-29 June 1969 – Lucifer, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

30 June- 6 July 1969 – Mill Hill Club, West Yarmouth, Massachusetts, USA (they also played the Dunes in East Sandwich around this time)

August 1969 – Grange Tavern, Hamilton, Ontario (two weeks) (Hamilton Spectator)

22 August 1969 – Summer Garden, Port Dover, Ontario with Tote Family (Hamilton Spectator)

12-13 September 1969 – Village Inn’s Lamplighter Room and Alminta Dawson, Gaslight Room, Sarnia, Ontario (Times Herald)

28 September 1969 – Summer Garden, Port Dover, Ontario (The Expositor)

12 October 1969 – Summer Garden, Port Dover, Ontario (The Expositor)

13-18 October 1969 – Lakeview Manor Hotel, Kingston, Ontario (Kington Whig-Standard) Advert says the band is a sextet

19 October 1969 – Kingston Memorial Centre, Kingston, Ontario (Kingston Whig-Standard)

22-24 October 1969 – Club Aquarius, Hillcrest Tavern, Hamilton, Ontario (The Expositor)

3 November 1969 – Town & Country Palace, Toronto, Ontario (Toronto Daily Star) Picture suggests six piece band; looks like week-long residency

5 December 1969 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario

December 1969 – Grange Tavern, Hamilton, Ontario (three weeks) (Hamilton Spectator)

10 January 1970 – Pillar Square, Hamilton, Ontario (Hamilton Spectator)

Early February 1970 – Lakeview Manor Hotel, Centennial Room, Kingston, Ontario (Kingston Whig-Standard) Week-long residency; advert says it’s a six-piece

13 February 1970 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario

3 April 1970 – Town & Country Palace, Toronto, Ontario (Toronto Daily Star)

13 April 1970 – Town & Country Palace, Toronto, Ontario (Toronto Daily Star) Advert suggests longer residency. Last Canadian appearance before opening at Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas

30 May 1970 – Grange Tavern, Hamilton, Ontario (Hamilton Spectator) Advert suggests long residency

6 June 1970 – Grange Tavern, Hamilton, Ontario (Hamilton Spectator) Advert suggests long residency

13 June 1970 – Grange Tavern, Hamilton, Ontario (Hamilton Spectator) Advert suggests long residency

22 June 1970 – Town & Country Palace, Toronto, Ontario (Toronto Daily Star)

25 June 1970 – Town & Country Palace, Toronto, Ontario (Toronto Daily Star) Advert says it’s an 11-piece

3 August 1970 – Hawk’s Room, Toronto, Ontario

Mid-August 1970 – Lakeview Manor Hotel, Centennial Room, Kingston, Ontario (Kingston Whig-Standard) Week-long residency

14 September 1970 – Grange Tavern, Hamilton, Ontario (Hamilton Spectator) Advert suggests longer residency

21 September 1970 – Grange Tavern, Hamilton, Ontario (Hamilton Spectator) Advert suggests longer residency

23 October 1970 – Town & Country Palace, Toronto, Ontario (Toronto Daily Star)

Early November 1970 – Choo Choo Stop, Guelph, Ontario (Waterloo Region Record)

21 December 1970 – Grange Tavern, Hamilton, Ontario (Hamilton Spectator) According to article in Hamilton Spectator, 22 December, p36, this is the start of three-week stand

Thanks to Carny Corbett, Mike Harrison, Sonnie Bernardi, Craig Webb, Gordon Baxter, Joe Agnello, Wayne Stone and Grant Smith for their help. Thanks to Grant for some band photos and gig posters.

The source for most of the live dates listed here was the “After Four” section, published in the Toronto Telegram and RPM Music Weekly unless otherwise noted. RPM images courtesy of Ivan Amirault. I’d also like to credit John Mars’s article on Kenny Marco in Blitz magazine, published in 1982.

Grant Smith photo — Thanks to Grant for the photo

Grant Smith photo on stage — Thanks to Grant for the photo

Categories: Canada, Ontario, Quality, Toronto

Just Us

February 21, 2009 Nick Warburton 16 Comments

Neil Lillie (Vocals, Bass) line up A-D

Bill Ross (Guitar) line up A-B

Brian Hughes (Bass) line up A-B

Ed Roth (Keyboards) line up A-D

Bob Ablack (Drums) line up A, C-D

Al Morrison (Drums) line up B

Wayne Davis (Bass) line up C

Jimmy Livingston (Vocals) line up C-D

Stan Endersby (Guitar, Vocals) line up C-D

Ed Roth (b. February 16, 1947, Toronto, Canada), Bob Ablack, Bill Ross (b. Bel Air, California, US) and Brian Hughes started out playing rock instrumentals in a suburban Toronto band known as The XLs, which became Gary & The Reflections with the addition of singer Gary Muir in 1964.

In early 1965, singer Bobby Neilson (b. Robert Neilson Lillie, December 27, 1945, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) joined and the group parted with Muir. The new line up changed name to The Ookpiks (after a native-designed stuffed toy owl called Ookpik that was being promoted by the Canadian government). As another group was already using the name, the band briefly worked as The Sikusis, after another stuffed toy, but were unable to get permission from the Canadian government to use the name without compensation and settled on The Just Us.

Amid all of this confusion, the group recorded a lone single on Quality, which was issued under the names The Ookpiks, The Just Us and The Sikusis. Soon afterwards, Al Morrison replaced Bob Ablack on drums but the new line up was short-lived. In early 1966, Hughes left to dedicate his full time to school, and Ross and Morrison joined The Bossmen, who subsequently backed singer David-Clayton-Thomas.

Neilson, who now went by the name Neil Lillie, befriended ex-Mynah Birds singer Jimmy Livingston (b. February 28, 1938, Toronto, Canada) in Long and McQuade’s music store where he worked in the backroom as an amp and guitar repairman. At the time, Livingston was singing with a group called The Muddy Yorks but he left when Lillie asked him to join a new line up of The Just Us. To complete the new line up, the band picked up former C. J. Feeney & The Spellbinders members Stan Endersby (b. July 17, 1947, Lachine, Quebec) and Wayne Davis (b. April 28, 1946, Toronto) and convinced Ablack to rejoin.

An album’s worth of material was recorded at Arc Sound during in early 1966, but disappeared with the band’s manager. The Just Us were one of the few bands that could play the clubs on Yonge Street, Toronto high schools and the Yorkville village scene.

In June 1966, Davis left to play with Bobby Kris & The Imperials and Lillie learnt bass in two weeks to fill the spot. Around this time, an American duo with the same name appeared on the charts and the group was forced to adopt a new name, The Group Therapy for one show (opening for The Byrds on June 22). Another local group laid claim to the name, so the band took on a new moniker, The Tripp, in September.

Recordings

45 I Don’t Love You/I Can Tell (Quality 1738) 1965

Advertised gigs

September 6 1965 – Devil’s Den, Toronto
September 10 1965 – Mimacombo’s, Mimacombo, Ontario

November 12 1965 – Club 888, Toronto

December 3 1965 – Gogue Inn, Toronto with Little Caesar & The Consult and Jeff & The Continentals

January 1 1966 – Gogue Inn, Toronto with The Lively Set and Ronnie Lane & The Disciples

February 11 1966 – Gogue Inn, Toronto with Shawne Jackson and The Majestics and The Lively Set
February 12 1966 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto
February 25 1966 – Gogue Inn, Toronto with Jack Hardin and The Secrets

March 3 1966 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto

April 8-9 1966 – Avenue Road Club, Toronto
April 22 1966 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto
April 30 1966 – The Avenue Road Club (billed as The Just Us Group)

May 21 1966 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto

June 4 1966 – Avenue Road Club, Toronto
June 22 1966 – Varsity Arena, Toronto with The Byrds (as Group Therapy)

July 8 1966 – Boris’, Toronto
July 16 1966 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto
July 20 1966 – North York Veterans Hall, Toronto
July 28 1966 – Don Mills Curling Club, Don Mills, Ontario with The Ugly Ducklings, The London Set and The Del Tones

August 6 1966 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto
August 19 1966 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto
August 20-21 1966 – El Patio, Toronto
August 28 1966 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough, Ontario with Jon and Lee & The Checkmates and The All Five
August 31 1966 – Don Mills Curling Club, Don Mills, Ontario with The Twilights, A Passing Fancy and Little Diane & The Jades

September 3 1966 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto
September 10 1966 – El Patio, Toronto (may be last show before becoming The Tripp)

Many thanks to Stan Endersby, Neil Lillie (aka Neil Merryweather), Ed Roth, Bill Munson, Carny Corbett and Craig Webb.

Thank you Stan for the great photos. The live dates are taken from the “After Four” section in the Toronto Telegram. Label scans courtesy of Ivan Amirault and Wyld Canada.

Later lineup, l-r: Stan Endersby, Bob Ablack, Ed Roth, Jimmy Livingston, Neil Lillie and Wayne Davis

Categories: Atlantic, Canada, KR, Ontario, Toronto

Mandala

December 6, 2008 Nick Warburton 17 Comments

Together with Jon and Lee & The Checkmates, Mandala spearheaded a vibrant R&B scene in Toronto during the mid-1960s. Helmed by the late Domenic Troiano, the band recorded a string of stunning singles and a noteworthy album before morphing in to the funk blues group, Bush in late 1969.

Although Mandala’s jazz-inspired soul-rock was too experimental for the mainstream rock market, interest in the band’s recorded output has been rekindled in recent years and a comprehensive CD detailing its entire work is long overdue.

Originally known as The Rogues, the group first came to prominence during the summer of 1964, working as the house band at the club Bluenote, supporting visiting US soul artists like The Supremes. Keyboard player Josef Chirowski (b. 2 March 1947, Germany), bass player Don Elliott (b. 8 December 1944, Toronto, Canada) and drummer Whitey Glan (b. Finland) had previously worked together in Whitey & The Roulettes (alongside future Luke & The Apostles guitarist Mike McKenna) and The Belltones.

During early 1965, former Belltones and original Roulettes singer George Olliver (b. 25 January 1946, Toronto, Canada) and ex-Robbie Lane & The Disciples and Ronnie Hawkins guitarist Domenic Troiano (b. Michaele Antonio, 17 January 1946, Mondugno, Italy, naturalised Canadian in 1955, d. 25 May 2005) completed the “classic” Mandala line up.

The Rogues, l-r: Don Elliot, Whitey Glan, Joey Davis, Don Troy (Troiano) and George Olliver, and (inset in lower right) David Clayton-Thomas

With Olliver and Troiano in place, The Rogues began playing extensively on the local scene, appearing regularly at clubs like the Devil’s Den, Club 888 and the Hawk’s Nest. For a brief period, the band took on a second lead singer – future Blood, Sweat & Tears front man David Clayton-Thomas but reverted to a five-piece in early 1966.

Following Clayton-Thomas’ departure, the band’s name was modified and, as The Five Rogues, they recorded two rare tracks – “I Can’t Hold Out No Longer” and “I’ll Make It Up To You” as rough demos.

The Rogues – I Can’t Hold Out Much Longer

Throughout 1966, the group consolidated its local standing by landing some important support slots, most notably opening for Wilson Pickett at the Gogue Inn on 25 May, and The McCoys at the North Toronto Memorial Arena on 9 August. In September 1966, however, the band decided to reinvent itself and emerged with a new name and image – Mandala.

Mandala is a symbol (a circle within a circle within a circle) used by Buddhist monks as an aid to contemplation and was chosen by the band’s manager, Rafael Markowitz (aka Randy Martin), a former TV clown. Markowitz envisioned the band as being a channel for the audience to release its emotions and the newly named outfit returned to the Toronto scene with its “Soul Crusade”, which was met with mass hysteria.

In its new guise, Mandala also made a visual impact with their pinstripe, gangster-style suits and were apparently among the first Canadian bands to use strobe lights at their concerts. Markowitz proved to be a master at manipulating the media and made sure that the band was one of the best paid on the local circuit.

The US market soon beckoned and in late November, Mandala travelled to Los Angeles to play (initially) a weekend show at the Hullabaloo and four nights at the famous Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood. Kicking off with a performance at the Hullabaloo on 26 November, Mandala’s stage show caused quite a stir and the following weekend a huge crowd turned up, curious to see what all the fuss was about.

In “Los Angeles ‘Sun-set’ raves over The Mandala”, an article for the Toronto Star published on 12 December, the Hullabaloo’s manager Gary Bockasta spoke about the band’s immediate impact on the scene. “They have built up an impetus since their first day,” he said. “They drew 1,000 people billed as co-headliners with a local group. The next Saturday night we had 1,400, which is a capacity crowd for us, and they were our only attraction.

“Almost all of this rush comes from word-of-mouth, since we do almost no paid advertising. I think you could say that, for the money we are paying them, they have been our most successful act so far.”

According to the newspaper report, the band had to cut its finale short at its final weekend show as teenyboppers thronged the stage clutching at Olliver and dragging Glan off his drum stool. What’s more The Monkees, who reportedly were interested in signing the band for a US tour with them, had to flee the club when the excited fans rushed the stage, fearing their own safety.

Thanks to their dynamic stage act, Mandala had won a recording deal with the KR label in the US and, on their return to Canada, recorded their debut single, Troiano’s “Opportunity” c/w Olliver’s “Lost Love” at Chess studios in Chicago with The Dells providing backing vocals. Released back home at the tail end of January 1967, the group’s debut single stormed into the Toronto top 10, peaking at #3 on the CHUM chart on 20 February.

“Opportunity” is arguably one of the best recordings to emerge from the Canadian rock scene during the 1960s. Propelled by Olliver’s soulful voice and The Dells’ massed vocals, the track’s infectious rhythm and Troiano’s gutsy guitar solo is totally absorbing. It’s just a shame that the single never broke into the US national charts or attracted a wider audience.

Opportunity at #19 on CHUM's Hit Parade, Feb. 6, 1967- it would reach #3 two weeks later. — Opportunity at #19 on CHUM’s Hit Parade, Feb. 6, 1967- it would reach #3 two weeks later.

In March 1967, the band travelled to New York to perform at Steve Paul’s The Scene for an extended engagement, running from 6 March through to 2 April. While in the Big Apple, Mandala took part in Murray “the K’s” famous “Music in the Fifth Dimension” held at the RKO Theater from 25 March to 2 April. The show featured a number of artists, including Wilson Pickett and The Blues Project as well as British bands Cream and The Who, both making their debut US appearances. The group returned to Steve Paul’s The Scene for a second run from 25 April through to 4 May.

While all this was going on, the group’s second single, Victor Chambers’s “Give and Take” c/w band collaboration, “From Toronto ‘67” was released but didn’t fare as well as its predecessor, only peaking at #21 on Toronto’s CHUM chart on 22 May.

In mid-June, Mandala returned to the New York area to play two shows at the Farm at Monroe County Fairgrounds, followed by a welcome back tour, kicking off with a one-nighter at the Bonaventure in Montreal on 22 June. Then, shortly after a show at the Broom and Stone in Scarborough, Ontario with Livingstone’s Tripp on 9 July, Mandala headed back to New York to play at Steve Paul’s The Scene on 18 July. Later that month, the group participated in the highly publicised Garden of Stars show in Montreal.

Returning to Toronto the musicians began work on an album, but creative differences resulted in the sessions being abandoned and after another show at Steve Paul’s The Scene in New York on 27 September, Olliver quit the group in frustration. After a brief respite, where he spent three weeks in the north country wondering what to do next, he formed his own band, the 10-piece soul outfit, George Olliver & His (Soul) Children, which featured several musicians who would end up playing with Mandala in later years.

Speaking to Ralph Thomas in the Toronto Daily Star on 2 December, the day before his new group debuted at Marsaryk Hall in Toronto, Olliver confessed that one of the reasons why he left Mandala was because each member of the group had been on a mere $40-a-week salaries. “It’s true that our weekly salary was $40, but Randy [Martin, the group’s manger and part-owner] used to fine us $1-a-minute if we were late for rehearsals or appointments,” he says.

Olliver explained to Ralph Thomas that he found it hard to be on time in the first year because he was in a state of almost complete exhaustion from overwork. It particularly became a problem when Mandala played at the Murray the K Show from 10am to 10pm, followed by late evenings playing at Steve Paul’s The Scene, where the group worked from 11pm to 4am. “That left us about five hours of sleep a night,” he says. “If we got to the job late the next morning, there would be Randy with his little black book. I averaged about $20-a-week after fines.”

Despite gigging incessantly on the Toronto scene from December 1967-January 1969, and opening for The Hollies in Ottawa during March 1968, Olliver’s new group never recorded and in mid-1969, he emerged with a new outfit, Natural Gas, who recorded an album for Firebird Records in 1969 (the long player, incidentally, includes an Olliver-Chirowski instrumental from the Mandala repertoire, “Tribute to Rubber Boots”).

When the band broke up in late 1970 following a US tour, Olliver subsequently recorded two singles, “I May Never Get To See You Again” c/w “Shine” for Much Records and “Don’t Let The Green Grass Fool You” c/w “If I Can Just Be Strong Enough” for the Corner Stone label (with George Olliver and Friends) before playing and recording with Toronto band The Royals in the mid-’70s. He continues to perform regularly on the local circuit.

Olliver’s departure prompted keyboard player Chirowski to also leave in September 1967. At first Chirowski found work for Canadian Pacific Railways, but soon returned to the live scene with The Power Project. When that band folded, he became a member of the highly-rated rock band, Crowbar. During the ‘70s, Chirowksi worked with Alice Cooper and briefly toured with Lou Reed. In later years, he did session work for Peter Gabriel among others.

Mandala meanwhile recruited singer Roy Kenner (b. 14 January 1948, Toronto, Canada) and keyboard player Henry Babraj from local outfit Roy Kenner & The Associates, who’d made the obscure recording “Without My Sweet Baby”.The new line up debuted at the Roost in Ottawa on 8 October 1967 and the following month kicked off their fourth US tour with a show at the Cheetah in Hollywood.

While playing on the West Coast, Mandala supported Buffalo Springfield at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, California on 3 November.The new personnel signaled a change in the group’s fortunes. After Atlantic chief Ahmet Ertegun acted on a tip from producer Phil Spector and bought the group’s contract from KR, Mandala returned to the studios to record their Soul Crusade album.

The band reportedly recorded six tracks at Atlantic Studios, New York in February 1968 with Arif Mardin, including the new single, the Scales/Jacobs written “Love Itis” c/w Troiano’s “Mellow Carmello Pallumbo”, which was another huge Toronto hit, peaking at #9 on the CHUM chart on 8 July 1968. The band completed the sessions for its long-awaited album, and while in New York, played a show at the Action House with The Fallen Angeles on 17 April.

After further shows on the West Coast, this time at the famed Troubadour in West Hollywood in May, Mandala returned to Toronto where keyboard player Barry Hutt was brought in to replace Babraj after an audition on Parliament Street. (Hutt, incidentally, later played in George Olliver and Friends.)

The new line-up continued to be a popular local draw but Barry Hutt did not stay long and was replaced by Hugh Sullivan from local group, Mr Paul and The Blues Council. Sullivan, who’d once been a member of George Olliver’s band, was later credited on the album’s sleeve for keyboards (along with Babraj). With Sullivan on board, the band made a prestigious appearance at the Philadelphia Music Festival on 24 July 1968.

Bad luck, however, dogged the band; Mandala had intended to tour Canada to promote Soul Crusade but Elliot was involved in a car accident and the tour was delayed until October.

Despite the setbacks, Soul Crusade received positive reviews in Canada. The album features some choice cuts, including “Every Single Day” co-written by Troiano with Kensington Market singer Keith McKie (when he was with The Vendettas) and Troiano’s “World of Love” and “Come on Home”. Local R&B singers Jimmy Livingstone, Diane Brooks, Eric Mercury and Shawn Jackson are among the cast of supporting players.

Mandala’s final single, the non-album tracks and Kenner-Troiano penned “You Got Me” backed by “Help Me”, was only given limited release in December and the group began to fall apart. Despite the positive reviews, the album failed to attract the sales the group had expected (some sources suggest that Ertegun felt artistic differences with Markowitz and Atlantic did not push the album).

During early 1969, the band made several visits to Michigan. On 7 April, Mandala played at the Detroit Pop Festival, held at the Olympia Stadium, alongside the MC5, SRC, Amboy Dukes and others, and then on the following day, performed at another festival, the Grand Rapids Pop Festival, held at the city’s Civic Auditorium, again with the same artists billed.

The end, however, was in sight. Returning to Ontario to play a string of dates, Mandala performed its final show on 1 June at the Hawk’s Nest in Toronto.

Following the group’s demise, Elliot went on to play with Leigh Ashford and Milestone while Sullivan moved to Los Angeles to briefly work with Toronto bass player/singer Neil Merryweather, before later doing sessions for former Steppenwolf frontman John Kay (alongside Glan).

Kenner, Troiano and Glan meanwhile brought in local bass player Prakash John and made a lone album as Bush (the live segment also features Sullivan) before splitting in 1971.

Glan and John subsequently became top session players, working for the likes of Lou Reed and Alice Cooper among others while Kenner and Troiano joined The James Gang after guitarist Joe Walsh left for a solo career. Troiano, who later joined The Guess Who and established a moderately successful solo career, sadly died in May 2005 after a long battle with cancer.

Kenner is currently doing jingles and voice-overs and working with a band in Toronto.While the group’s individual members have continued to plough successful careers as performers, Mandala’s recorded legacy remains largely undiscovered by the wider record buying public. The fact that the band’s Soul Crusade album and the non-album singles have yet to be picked up for a comprehensive CD collection probably doesn’t help, although there are murmurings that one collectors label may be set to put the record straight.

Many thanks to Carny Corbett, Bill Munson, Martin Melhuish, Nicholas Jennings, Brian Hunt, Elliott Prentice, Daniel Sneddon and Craig Webb for their help in piecing the Mandala story together. Special thanks to Craig Webb for the photos and transfers of Oppurtunity and the Rogues’ I Can’t Hold Out Much Longer. Hit Parader, Village Voice and Canadian Teen magazine also proved invaluable sources. Thank you to Ivan Amirault for the RPM scan.

To contact the author with further information or corrections, please email nick_warburton@hotmail.com

Mandala Promotional Bio (scans courtesy Ivan Amirault)
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Advertised gigs

October 9 1966 – Club Kingsway, Toronto with Shawne & Jay Jackson, The Majestics, The Secrets and The Tripp

November 26 1966 – Hullabaloo, West Hollywood

December 3 1966 – Hullabaloo, West Hollywood

December 1966 – Whisky A Go Go, West Hollywood with Fever Tree (four nights)

December 10 1966 – Hullabaloo, West Hollywood

December 16 1966 – Michael Power High School, Toronto

December 17 1966 – George Harvey High School, Toronto

December 26 1966 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto

December 29 1966 – Avenue Road Club, Toronto

January 7 1967 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto

January 12 1967 – Ryerson Winter Carnival, Ryerson Theatre, Toronto with Dee & The Yeomen, The Creeps and Dianne Brooks, Eric Mercury and The Soul Searchers

February 3 1967 – Hawk’s Nest, Toronto

February 11 1967 – Orange Hall, Brampton, Ontario

February 11 1967 – Clarke Hall, Port Credit, Ontario

February 12 1967 – Syndicate Club, Toronto (formerly Club Isabella) with The Syndicate Five

March 6-April 2 1967 – Steve Paul’s The Scene, New York with Eric Anderson

March 25-April 4 1967 – Murray the K’s Easter Rock Extravaganza, RKO Theater, Manhattan, New York with The Blues Project, Cream, Wilson Pickett, Jim & Jean, Chicago Loop, Mitch Ryder and others

April 8 1967 – YMHA, Toronto (first show back from US trip)

April 15 1967 – Oshawa Civic Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario with The Tripp, Shawne Jackson, Jay Jackson & The Majestics, Jack Hardin & The Silhouettes, The Midnites and others

April 16 1967 – Crang Plaza, Downsview, Ontario

April 25-May 4 1967 – Steve Paul’s The Scene, New York

June 16-17 1967 – The Farm, Monroe County Fairgrounds, New York state

June 22 1967 – Bonaventure, Montreal (welcome back tour)

June 23 1967 – Kin-Oak Arena, Oakville, Ontario

June 24 1967 – Milton Arena, Milton, Ontario

June 27 1967 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto

June 30 1967 – North York Centennial Centre, Toronto with The Power Project, The Spirit and Livingstone’s Tripp

July 1 1967 – Orange Hall, Brampton, Ontario

July 9 1967 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough, Ontario with Livingstone’s Tripp

July 18 1967 – Steve Paul’s The Scene, New York

July 23-24 1967 – Le Hibou, Ottawa

July 30-August 5 1967 – Garden of Stars, Montreal

August 14 1967 – Laporte County Fair, Laporte, Indiana with The Detroit Wheels

August 14 1967 – Laporte County Fair, Laporte, Indiana with Every Mother’s Son

August 14 1967 – Laporte County Fair, Laporte, Indiana with Every Mother’s Son and The Grass Roots

September 27 1967 – Steve Paul’s The Scene, New York (probably George Olliver’s final show)

October 8 1967 – The Roost, Ottawa (probably Roy Kenner’s first show)

October 27-29 1967 – Cheetah, Hollywood, California (fourth US tour)

November 3 1967 – Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, California with Buffalo Springfield and Yellow Payges

December 27-28 1967 – Mad Hatter, Allentown, Pennsylvania

April 17 1968 – Action House, New York with Fallen Angels

May 10-12 1968 – Troubadour, West Hollywood

June 27 1968 – North Toronto Memorial Arena, Toronto

June 30 1968 – Port Carling Surf Club, Port Carling

July 6 1968 – Balm Beach Danceland, Balm Beach, Ontario

July 13 1968 – Jubilee Auditorium, Oshawa, Ontario

July 20 1968 – Biquin Island Hotel, Bracebridge, Ontario

July 24 1968 – Philadelphia Music Festival, Philadelphia with The Who, The Troggs, Pink Floyd and others

August 3 1968 – Kee-to-Bala, Bala, Ontario with Rifkin

August 4 1968 – Pav-Orillia, Orillia, Ontario with Scarboro Fair

August 5 1968 – Nelson Arena, Burlington, Ontario with The Dana

August 13 1968 – The Hawk’s Nest, Toronto

August 17 1968 – Balm Beach Danceland, Balm Beach, Ontario with Mornington Drive

August 24 1968 – Dorval Arena with the Raja

September 14 1968 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough, Ontario

September 21 1968 – Neil McNeil’s High School, Toronto

October 6-20 1968 – Canadian tour accident – Elliott drops out and others play as quartet with Sullivan covering bass on keyboards

January 24 1969 – Village Pub, Detroit with Electric Blues Band

April 7 1969 – Detroit Pop Festival, Olympia Stadium, Detroit with MC5, SRC, Amboy Dukes and others

April 8 1969 – Grand Rapids Pop Festival, Civic Auditorium, Grand Rapids, Michigan with MC5, SRC, Amboy Dukes and others

May 17 1969 – Whitby Arena, Whitby with The Bedtime Story

May 24 1969 – Pavilion, Orillia, Ontario

June 1 1969 – Hawks Nest, Toronto

Sources: Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Star and “After Four” section in Toronto Telegram.

Mandala with the Raja at Dorval Arena, August 24, 1968

Categories: Canada, Cancut, Ontario, Toronto

The Ardels

March 31, 2008 Chris Bishop 17 Comments

Ardels Promo Flyer — 1964, l-r: Fred Masson on bass, Doug Dixon, Gary Brennan (at drumset), David Burt, Bob McKay and Jim Pernokis with Fender. Flyer thanks to Terry Gomes.

The Ardels formed in Etobicoke, just outside Toronto, in 1963. They released an album of rock n’ roll standards of the day in 1964, then three 45s, one on Hallmark and two on Cancut, including what is now their most well-known work, “Piece of Jewellery”, an original by vocalist Doug Dixon. Fred Masson, bassist and founding member of the group took the time to answer my questions about the band.

Fred Masson: The Ardels were originally formed when three of us: Dave Burt (piano), Robin Scott (guitar) and I met at a local church dance. I’m not sure that, at that point, we had any defining musical influences other than current pop tunes and early blues. Rather, as I remember, we were more influenced by the bands that were playing the local circuit. We came up at the same time as a bunch of local bands who were fairly busy copying one another and stealing licks and stage business that worked. As an example of that I can vividly remember playing a John Lee Hooker song in the style of a local band long before I actually heard the original.
After a few months of practicing we realized that none of us had the type of voice that would work as a front man and we recruited Bruce Saracini for the position. We also added Gary Brennan on drums at about the same time.
Over the first 6 months or so we probably played no more than 7 or 8 jobs, mostly local restaurants, house parties and a bunch of university frat parties.
We were competing in the neighborhood at the time with two very good garage bands, “The Checkmates” (later “John and Lee and the Checkmates”) and The Lucernes (years later Doug, Russ and I would form “The Green Apple Quickstep” with Doug Duff, the horribly talented piano player from “The Lucernes”) and realized that we needed a dynamic front man – leading us to Doug Dixon who lived in the neighborhood and had an unswerving drive to be a pop singer and composer. Doug joined us replacing Bruce and was responsible for writing almost all of the original Ardels material.
About the same time Robin Scott decided that he wanted to devote more time to his studies and we held open auditions for a new guitar player. Jim Pernokis, the brother of Ken, the guitar player for “Little Caesar and the Consuls” (which, over a few years, had included Robbie Robertson and Gene McLellan and was probably the most popular local/area group at the time) came to sit in for an hour and stayed around for about 40 years.
At the same time we recognized that we needed a horn in the group and recruited Bob McKay on tenor sax. Bob not only proved to be a terrific addition musically but also added a huge amount of charisma to the group. He can be heard on “Comin’ Down”.
As to the album, we had recorded about 12 songs at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and had been given access to the master tapes. At that point we were playing regularly around Ontario and were getting requests for recorded material. Using the CBC masters we self-produced an album through Quality Records in Scarborough, Ontario so that we’d have promotional material to offer at dances – and to promoters. I think we only had about 500 of them to begin with!
The album leaned very heavily on standard rock songs of the period and borrowed heavily from Ronnie Hawkins (“Lonely Hours”) and James Brown (“I Go Crazy”) which showed off Doug’s range.
About the same time we had been contacted by Bill Gilliland of ARC Records who had auditioned us at the Met Dance Hall in Toronto and was interested in looking at the group for the label. This brought about an ARC recording session which didn’t result in a contract. Unfortunately the masters of that session have been lost.
A few weeks thereafter we went into Hallmark Studios in Toronto – a huge, cavernous room used at the time for large orchestral recording – to produce a single – primarily to impress Stan Klees and Walt Grealis who were becoming a force in Canadian music at the time, just starting to publish RPM, the music magazine (which, over the years, would morph into The Junos – Canada’s national music awards) and Ron Scribner who ran Bigland Agencies – the only large and credible booking agency in the country. The session resulted in “Comin’ Down” (a song written for Bobby Darin that had been rejected by Darin – or so we were told) and “So Glad You’re Mine” [the Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup song].
The first single was impressive enough to bring about the deal with Cancut Records and representation with Bigland.
The band played very few (if any) bars or night clubs at that time. There were, in fact, not many venues of that type available for young bands in Southern Ontario. The Toronto Strip – an area about 4 or 5 blocks long – had Le Coq D’Or, which was Ronnie Hawkins’ (almost) permanent home; The Brown Derby booked larger national acts like Joe King and the Zaniacs; The Sapphire catered to a slightly more esoteric audience and regularly featured Jackie Shane backed by Frank (Duel Trumpet) Motley while The Zanzibar catered to a more blues-oriented audience and booked in groups like The Bossmen/Shays.
The rest of us played regularly at dance halls: The Mimicombo (a roller rink), The Met, Krang Plaza, Myzeric Hall, The Masonic Temple – along with the usual school, university and church dances.
Q. Did you play on the unreleased 45, “Stronger Than Dirt” b/w “I Should Have Known”? – Was that supposed to be for Cancut as well?
I’m not sure if I played on the unreleased version of “Stronger Than Dirt”. It had been redone several times over the years but I’m almost certain that Roger played on the one that you’re thinking of. And yes it, along with “I Should Have Known” (below) was (probably) going to be the next CanCut recording.
The band didn’t so much break up as slowly slip away. Several of us left to pursue either job or educational opportunities and some were drawn to different types of music. We were very fortunate to have been a part of the Canadian music scene at what would become known as the first gasp for recognition.
I can remember having a discussion with Garth Hudson in front of The Met Dance Hall on Lakeshore Road in Toronto at about 1:30 in the morning bemoaning the fact that there weren’t many opportunities for air-play (this was before the fabled days of CanCon, the government-mandated order for all Canadian radio stations to devote huge blocks of air time to Canadian talent. Check out the bios on Stan Klees and Walt Grealis for more on that). I seem to remember that Hudson managed to rise above the problem eventually.

Ardels photo 1966: Gary Brennan, David Burt, Jim Pernokis, Bob McKay, Doug Dixon and Roger Charlesworth. — 1966: clockwise from top: Gary Brennan, David Burt, Jim Pernokis, Bob McKay, Doug Dixon and Roger Charlesworth.

Q. You were impressed by the Fireflies of Sault Ste. Marie when you were young – did you grow up in the Soo before moving to Etobicoke?
I lived in The Soo for about 5 years before my family moved to Etobicoke. There’s no reason that Eddie Pelletier and Howard Hall of the Fireflies [from Sault Ste. Marie Ontario] would remember me but their music – or, more accurately, the fact that a bunch of kids from the Soo could actually produce some great music – was the first bit of inspiration I needed to get on that same track. I have great memories of those guys playing the “Y” dances (and still fondly remember Eddie’s version of “Home”).
Q. I’ve read that the Ardels backed David Clayton-Thomas on a tour, is that correct?
The Ardels didn’t back Sonny Thomas at any time (at least not during my time) as he was associated with a very talented band – either The Bossmen or The Shays depending upon the time. A few of the guys in these bands – Freddy Keillor – guitar (sorry, I’m unsure of the spelling) and Tony Collicott – piano (listen to “Brainwashed” – Tony had 36 fingers.) were as good as anyone playing anywhere at the time.

The Ardels recorded a number of songs that have never been released. Along with “Stronger Than Dirt” and “I Should Have Known”, there is also an earlier version of “Piece of Jewellery”.

After the group broke up in 1968, Doug Dixon and Jim Pernokis joined The Bedtime Story, who had two 45s on Columbia.

In 1988, Fred Masson, Doug Dixon, Jim Pernokis and Ardels backup drummer Russ Crerar formed Pastime, playing together until 2000.

David Burt has had a long career as solo pianist, teacher and writer. Gary Brennan passed away in 2007.

Update February 2018

David Burt contacted me with information on the formation of the Ardels:

I just read with great interest your article on the Ardels. I thought I would take this opportunity to set the record straight on the formation of the group. To understand the process, I have to take you back to a completely unknown group called The Stereos. I on piano, and Robin Scott on guitar, formed this group around 1959 / 60. Over the short time we were together we brought in Peter Salter who was replaced by Paul Carrier on drums. Alan Dorsey, rhythm guitar, was replaced by Dave McDevitt on bass. Like the Ardels in the beginning, nobody was was good enough to front the group vocally. I found this guy named Mike Ferry who used to do pantomime. He admitted he never sang in his life; but, would give it a try. (We didn’t care, we just needed a singer who was better than the rest of us). We did start to get gigs, but soon it became clear that there was a difference of opinion as to direction of the group. Mike Ferry and Paul Carrier left and ended up forming The Checkmates. Mike became Lee of Jon and Lee. I received a call from Gary Brennan saying he heard about our split and would we consider him to replace Paul on the drums. Robin Scott, Gary Brennan, and I were the actual founding members of the group. Fred Masson, bass came on board immediately, replacing McDevitt. Bruce Saracini was replaced by Doug Dixon. I believe it was Doug who came up with name Ardels.

Thank you to Fred Masson for helping with material for this article and for patiently answering my questions, to Ivan Amirault for contributing many of the photos and scans from RPM magazine, and to David Burt for additional information on the formation of the group.

Ardels 1966, l-r: Doug Dixon, Jim Pernokis, Gary Brennan (top), Roger Charlesworth and David Burt. — 1966, l-r: Doug Dixon, Jim Pernokis, Gary Brennan (top), Roger Charlesworth and David Burt.

Categories: Arc Records, Canada, Ontario, Toronto, Yorkville

The Secrets / The Quiet Jungle

December 8, 2007 Chris Bishop 39 Comments

Promotional card for the Secrets – click here to see back

Updated March 27, 2008, to include comments by Doug Rankine.

The Quiet Jungle, one of the best bands to come out of Toronto in the ’60s. They only had two 45s, “Ship of Dreams” / “Everything”, and “Make Up Your Mind” / “Too Much In Love”.

I couldn’t find out much about them until Ivan Amirault set the record straight:

“Quiet Jungle started life as The Secrets. Same band as ‘Cryin’ Over Her’ fame on ARC Records. First they recorded a novelty pop tune called ‘Clear The Track Here Comes Shack’. A tune about a Toronto Maple Leaf hockey player from right here in Sudbury, Ontario! The tune made it to number one on CHUM radio in Toronto for two weeks starting February 28, 1966. It charted for nine weeks.”

The Secrets were Doug Rankine on vocals and guitar, Bob Mark lead guitar, Henry S. on electric piano, Mike Woodruff on bass and Rick Felstead on drums.

“Clear the Track Here Comes Shack” and the flip, “Warming the Bench” are pure novelty songs. Eddie Shack spoke fondly of the song in an interview on www.riredsdvd.com (site now defunct). While successful, it hardly demonstrates the talents of the band.

Much better is their release on Arc Records, “Cryin’ Over Her”, featuring a solid beat, fluid guitar work and good contrast between the taut verse and melodic chorus. Bob Mark wrote “Cryin’ Over Her”, and would go on to write or co-write all four of the Quiet Jungle’s released sides.

In the interim, though, their association with Arc would lead to their recording a whole album of Monkees songs for the label, released anonymously with the title A Little Bit Me, I’m a Believer, She Hangs Out plus 9 other ‘Tail-Hanger’ Favorites. Their version of “Mary Mary” is as good as any track from the Monkees record.

Monkees covers LP cut anonymously by the Secrets
Anyone have a better scan of this cover, or the back?

Licensed Snoopy LP, label credits Quiet Jungle
Anyone have a better scan of this cover, or the back?

There’s also the The Story of Snoopy’s Christmas LP that credits them by name, now changed to Quiet Jungle. The credits for this record list Doug Rankine, Bob Mark and Rick Felstead, as well as Henry Taylor on percussion, while Henry S. and the bassist Mike Woodruff aren’t named. Henry Taylor was also known as Henry Thaler. According to a comment below, his full name was Henry Schwartzenthaler.

A Rolling Stones cover lp called Let’s Spend The Night Together was long rumored to be the Quiet Jungle playing anonymously, but Doug Rankine says the band wasn’t involved (see below).

“Ship of Dreams”, their first 45 as Quiet Jungle is a particular kind of 60’s song about bringing the girl who thinks she’s so hip back down to earth. There were more of these type of songs than you’d imagine!

The May, ’67 issue of Canadian Teen magazine gave “Ship of Dreams” the following review: “Good material with some weird sound effects but it lacks the professional touches and sound to make it a hit.” Take this with a grain of salt, the record the reviewer raves about on the same page is by Gordon Lightfoot!

Typically, it’s the b-side where a monster of a track hides, “Everything”, written by Bob Mark and Henry Taylor. The bass lays down the melody, a ferocious fuzz guitar dupes the riff, and the organ plays the changes in perfect textbook garage style. A minute and a half in, they repeat the break with the drums slamming away, the singer reaching his peak, and for a short while it’s as intense as this music gets.

Released in early 1967, “Ship of Dreams” reached as high as #31 in February, charting for five weeks on CHUM. The song was also featured on a compilation of Yorkville singles with a great cover called Yorkville Evolution

Their second 45, “Too Much In Love” / “Make Up Your Mind” is also first-rate work, and again the b-side is tougher. Ivan writes: “The ‘Too Much In Love’ single didn’t chart, and is much harder to find than the ‘Ship Of Dreams’ 45.”

There are possibly more tapes in the vaults at Arc, but who knows when those will come to light.

Compilation LP featuring the Quiet Jungle doing “Ship of Dreams”
Click to see back cover

Vocalist Doug Rankine has been in touch, and kindly gave these detailed answers to my questions:

As the Secrets, we had recorded a couple of singles, “Cryin Over Her” the most notable. While playing at the Toronto Pressmen’s club, Brian MacFarland introduced himself to us and asked if we would record a song he had written for his friend Eddie Shack. At that time, we were under the impression he wanted it just for Shack. We didn’t know it was going to be released as a single and played across the entire country. Once it was released, we thought (or hoped) it would just disappear into the night and nobody would care about it. As fate would have it, it didn’t disappear. For some reason people loved it.
We were very young and like 100’s of bands playing the local scene at the time, we had our sights set on “Stardom”. Clearly, we needed a way to distance ourselves from a “novelty song” such as Shack. The most logical solution in the eyes of the execs at Yorkville records was to change the name and get a couple of singles into the marketplace under our new name “The Quiet Jungle” as soon as possible. We released our first single “Ship Of Dreams” on the Yorkville label and things seemed to have turned the corner.
Our bookings increased and we were playing right across Canada. Everyone booking us however, wanted the “Secrets” to play “Clear The Track Here Comes Shack” and not the group that just released “Ship Of Dreams”. I was 17 at the time and the money being offered was pretty good, so we decided to take the bookings and pocket the money!
The major influences for the Quiet Jungle were the Rascals, Animals and believe it or not the Mamas & Papas. I want to clarify one point. While we did cover a “Monkees Album” and “Snoopy’s Christmas Album” for Arc Records, we did not cover any songs listed in the “Let’s Spend the Night Together” album. I was only used for the picture of the album cover.
Q. Did the Quiet Jungle have anything to do with the Flower Power album released on Arc by ‘The Okey Pokey Band and Singers’?
No we had nothing to do with the “Flower Power” album. There were a couple of TV shows at that time called After Four and High Time that were on CTV. We were on those shows varily often. There was an album produced at the time called “After Four”. There are some great tracks on that album from the Ugly Duckings, Big Town Boys and Stitch In Tyme to name a few. At the time of the album we recorded a song entitled “Four In the Morning”. Without going into a lot of detail, we recorded it under the name of the Scarlet Ribbon.
There were a few reasons the band broke up. After four years (having the time of my life), I came to the realization that “I personally” was not a good enough singer to hit the big time. While traveling the country, I got to hear bands and singers that were 10 times better than I was and realized that even they would not make it. We were playing the “Red River Exhibition” in Winnipeg one summer when I got to hear a young guy by the name of Burton Cummings sing. As soon as he opened his mouth, I knew I was in the wrong business. There was no mistaking, he had a voice from the Gods and was truly destined for stardom.
Bob Mark and Henry Taylor were the true talent of our band. Both were extremely accomplished, Bob on the creative side (writing original material) and Henry as the musical side (arranging). Both Rick and Mike were very solid on drums and bass but it was Bob and Henry who carried the band.
Mike left the band and we continued for about a year as a four member group. I left after a year. If I remember correctly, Bob, Henry and Rick got a new singer (I’m sorry I forget his name) and added Ron Canning from the Rising Sons and continued to play for another year or so.
Bob retired some years ago and lives somewhere up North. Rick lives in the Durham area. I believe Mike is somewhere in Toronto. Henry is in Toronto and is still active in the music business playing part time with a Doors tribute band.

Thank you to Ivan for the info, scans of promotion material on the Secrets, and most of the mp3s featured here, and special thanks to Doug Rankine for his detailed story about the band. Thanks to David for the tip about the Eddie Shack interview.

If anyone has goods scan or photo of the various LPs mentioned in this article, esp. the Flower Power, CTV After Four or Let’s Spend the Night Together LPs please contact me.

Categories: Canada, Caravan, Ontario, Sudbury, Toronto

East African Fair

December 2, 2007 Chris Bishop 7 Comments

East African Fair included some of the Inferno 5 Plus 1. Members were Randy Larocque (guitar and vocals), Dave Powers (keyboards and vocals), Dominic Fragomini (bass) and Rick Panas (drums and vocals). It seems John Bell was also a member for a time, as I think he appears in the photo above.

Their manager John Loweth sent me the 45 and scans of the neat poster and card of the band. He considers East African Fair to be a continuation of the Inferno 5 Plus 1, though their sound is quite different:

We changed the name to East African Fair and did pretty well with our second record, “Lovin’ Every Little Thing You Do Girl” which was a totally different style (more Hermans Hermits) than the Stones style of the first [Inferno 5 Plus 1] release.
Then we moved to the big city of Toronto. We did lots of auditions and things and played in trendy Yorkville where you just had to be if you wanted to be anywhere in Canada at that time of 1967.
The national CTV show ‘After Four’ was interested in replacing the current group Robbie Lane and Deciples and said they woud use us as the featured band next season, they suggested a name change and the remainder of the group now lead by Randy LaRocque became ‘York Lane’.
RPM Weekly, February 17, 1968
A major booking agent booked the group in southern Ontario and upper New York state, but unfortunately several band members became homesick and discouraged due to lack of money, and went home, leaving just Randy and myself. I think we were just inches away from stardom.

As John states, “Lovin’ Every Little Thing You Do” is a pop single like the Herman’s Hermits, though the eerie organ gives it a darker, carnival-like quality. “I Won’t Stare” is a truly original side, slow, with a nice blend of organ and guitars and obsessive lyrics. Randy LaRocque wrote both songs on this record.

After the single was released in 1968, Bill Battersby replaced Dominic Fragomini and an unknown drummer replaced Rick Panas, and the band’s name changed to York Lane. Some recordings by this lineup done at Sound Canada in late 1968 are now lost.

Update: I’m sorry to report that John Loweth passed away on April 4, 2009. John produced the Inferno 5 + 1 and continued managing the group when they changed to East African Fair. He generously shared his recollections and memorabilia to help document the story of this band.

In February 2011 I added the photo at top, the news clips from the Sudbury Star and RPM Weekly and better scans of the promotional card, all courtesy of Ivan Amirault. Thank you to Lauraine Friskey for providing IDs for the top photo.

East African Fair the Sudbury Star, Feb. 16, 1968 — East African Fair reaches #21 on CHNO’s Top 45 The Sudbury Star, Feb. 16, 1968

Categories: Canada, Columbia, Ontario, Regency, Toronto

The Underworld and It’s All Meat

June 21, 2006 Chris Bishop 10 Comments

It's All Meat Columbia PS If Only / You Don't Notice the Time You Waste — Sleeve to their second single

It’s All Meat were from Toronto and in 1969 – 70 recorded a couple 45s and an LP for Columbia, released only in Canada. Their first 45, “Feel It”, is great hard rock garage. The second, “You Don’t Notice the Time You Waste”, is from just a year later, but the band had definitely matured.

To me, at this point they sound like the New York Dolls, even though this is three years before the Dolls even got together. This song is also on their very rare lp, which has many other good tracks like “Make Some Use of Your Friends” and “Crying Into the Deep Lake”. Despite good song writing and a promising sound, the band broke up before anything could really get going.

Band members were:

Jed MacKay – organ, piano and lead vocals
Rick Aston – bass and vocals
Rick McKim – drums
Wayne Roworth – guitar
Norm White – guitar

All their songwriting was done by McKim and MacKay, who also produced one of the great Canadian garage 45s, the Underworld’s “Bound” / “Get Away”.

Since writing about It’s All Meat here a few months back, I started corresponding with Jed MacKay, keyboardist, singer and songwriter for the band. Here are his answers to the many questions I had. Jed has also kindly given me permission to post three songs of unreleased tracks by the Underworld, taken from a rare acetate.

“The Strange Experiment of Dr. Jarrod” is a psychedelic gem, driving, frantic, with cool lyrics and all hell breaking loose after the guitar solo! There can’t be many unreleased songs that come up to the level of this classic!

“Love 22” is a fine pop garage song taken at a very fast tempo.

There’s a longer version of “(Tied and) Bound” which had been edited by about a minute for the 45.

Jed MacKay: Rick and I weren’t in the Underworld – we just produced them. We were in the process of forming It’s All Meat at the time. The singer was Ken Ketter (known as Mondo), and the lead guitarist was Jim “Spanish” Carmichael. A footnote is that their drummer – Gil Moore – went on to form the successful band Triumph.

Chris Bishop: How did you come to produce the Underworld?

Jed MacKay: Rick’s mother knew Gil Moore’s mother. We went out and had a listen, liked them, and decided to try and get them recorded. Regency was a pretty successful label, but our stuff was too wild for them. It was early ’68 – Regency (and mainstream radio) were still trying to deal with the sonic universe Jimi had opened up. I believe “Bound” was released as the A side. I don’t remember ever hearing it on the air. “Go Away” was deemed too wild for radio as was another unreleased track, “The Strange Experiment of Dr. Jarrod.” They didn’t suggest we produce anything else for them either!

Chris Bishop: Was there a 4th song recorded at those sessions?

Jed MacKay: Yes, we recorded Go Away, Dr. Jarrod, (Tied and) Bound, and Love 22. We’d hoped “Jarrod” would be the A-side of the 2nd single, and were trying to make sure of it. It never crossed our minds that Go Away/Bound would be too much for radio, effectively scuttling all future plans. Love 22 was definitely a b-side, very much a 60s song.

Chris Bishop: I read that Rick McKim’s dad was president of Phonodisc and that’s what helped sign the Underworld. Is this true? Did that connection help It’s All Meat get onto Columbia?

Jed MacKay: It certainly helped get The Underworld recorded. It’s All Meat was managed by a guy who called himself Jack London – (he’d had a hit as Jack London and the Sparrows – some of whom went on to form Steppenwolf I think) – and Jack was responsible for our Columbia deal.

Chris Bishop: Were you in bands before It’s All Meat?

Jed MacKay: From 1965-67, Rick and I were in a band called the Easy Riders. Our repertoire mostly consisted of blues, & Stones, Kinks, with some amped up folk stuff as well.

Chris Bishop: Was It’s All Meat named after the Animals song?

Jed MacKay: The name of the band was inspired by a dog food commercial that boasted “100% meat – no filler.”

Chris Bishop: Did It’s All Meat play many live shows or tour?

Jed MacKay: We played around Toronto, and out of town now and then. Our home base was a club called The Cosmic Home.

Chris Bishop: How was the Toronto scene in the 60’s and early 70’s? Did you know any other bands there like the Ugly Ducklings, David Clayton Thomas, Dee & the Yeomen, etc? What did you think of them?

Jed MacKay: To be honest, we were so busy rehearsing and playing, we really didn’t get to be a part of their scene. They were all just a little ahead of us, I think. We were certainly aware of them, just never really crossed paths with them.

Chris Bishop: The LP lists the band members, but who sang? What kind of organ and keyboards did you play at the time?

Jed MacKay: I was the lead singer on every released track except Wayne sang lead on the LP cut “Self-Confessed Lover”. “If Only” – that was Rick Aston’s lead. Otherwise he sang the harmonies. I played a Gibson 101, which had a pretty good piano sound, organ sound, and a few others. Kind of a primitive synth.

Chris Bishop: It’s All Meat is a fantastic album, professional production and songwriting, of the time yet ahead of it in some ways. It’s surprising that the band didn’t release any more records, as you obviously had a lot of promise.

Jed MacKay: It’s a shame the band broke up. We had lots of material to go, but couldn’t hold it together. Some of the unrecorded songs will surface in a musical I’m currently working on.

Chris Bishop: Were you happy with the Canadian music scene in the 70’s?

Jed MacKay: I always found stuff to like, but it wasn’t as interesting to me as the eclecticism and experimentation of the 60’s.

Article on the Cosmic Home from the Toronto Daily Star, June 7, '69 — Article on the Cosmic Home from the Toronto Daily Star, June 7, ’69

Columbia Records promo ad for first It's All Meat single, RPM, November 23, 1969 — Ad for first It’s All Meat single, RPM, November 23, 1969

Guitarist Wayne Roworth recently contacted me and gave his story about the band in answer to my questions:

My first guitar was a dual pickup Sears (Simpsons back in the Canada day) when I was twelve. Learned by ear to songs like Tequila & Walk Don’t Run by the Ventures. Played in basements and local Community centers in Maple, Ontario. Moved up to a Harmony then a Vox then my Dad became interested in playing and he bought a used Rickenbacker 12 string.
I think I was playing a 1969 Gibson Custom Gold Top and was 18 years old when I answered an ad in the paper for a guitarist. Jed and Rick McKim were forming a band. I showed up with both guitars at I think a church somewhere in Toronto, Jed could tell you.
I think we jammed a bit then Jed wanted me to improvise on a song he and Rick had wrote called “Crying Into The Deep Lake..Baby”. For some reason I picked up my Dad’s Ric and picked off a melody in G. Jed said later that “moody” picking landed me the spot. I was the last member to join.
I talked my parents into me leaving school and becoming a full time musician. Since we rehearsed and played almost daily everything seems to blend together. I’ll try and highlight some moments.
– played the Cosmic Home club constantly as our home base. I remember Norm stabbing the headstock of his Strat into the white ceiling tiles and bits of tile would fall on people. He also used the mic stand as a slide, moving the guitar neck on the chrome pole. I remember Rick McKim used to hit his knuckles on the snare rim causing them to bleed. I have blood in one of my old guitar cases! After one gig there me and Norm got into my 1961 Comet and to our surprise there was a blonde in the back seat. She said she just wanted to hang with us, darn our socks, etc. Well she hung with us but I don’t remember my socks getting mended!
– recorded “Feel It” at Eastern Sound Studios. I think I wrote the guitar run on the Gold Top at the studio. It was my last time I used it before trading it in for a 1969 Gibson SG Custom.
– opened for “Muddy Waters” at the Rock Pile an old Masonic Temple on Yonge & Davenport. I saw Stevie Ray Vaughn play the same stage there in ’83 and it brought back memories. I remember that was our first large crowd, around 5,000, where we played “Feel It”.
– recorded the album at RCA Victor studios somewhere downtown Toronto. We did each track “Live” and only overdubbed the vocals and piano. Norm and I shared a lot of the leads. I still don’t know how to replicate the frenzied lead in “Roll My Own”.
– We used to haul our gear in Rick Aston’s VW bus which broke down a lot I remember it breaking down on the 400 heading to Barrie somewhere. We did make the gig. Don’t know how with no cell phones etc.
– speaking of gear here was our stuff as I remember it. We all had Marshall 4 x 12 dual stacks with 100 watt heads. Some sites mention Norm having a Traynor set up. That was after It’s All Meat. Rick McKim played a full Rogers kit. Norm played only his 1967 Strat. I played the 1967 Ric 12 string and the 1969 Gibson SG Custom. Rick Aston played a Ric bass with nylon strings. I think Jed’s keyboards were a Gibson something but check with him for accuracy. That gear, save the guitars, was stolen from a downtown practice warehouse sometime after the Columbia deal. We all thought it was our manager, Jack London, did it since we all were not doing well at the time.
As for me….I have always been playing in dozens of bands. I did go to Nashville to lay down some tracks on stuff I have been writing a few years back. I have several original cd’s recorded in various studios. Right now I am just having fun in a small trio playing the North Florida circuit and living in a log cabin on the Suawannee River. Over the years someone gave me the stage name of “Stayne” and it just stuck for some reason.

Jed MacKay commented to me on Wayne’s audition: “He had a Rickenbacker 12 string and a Les Paul. Norm had a Strat. We liked the variety. He’s right about the audition – I think it was in the basement of a church called St Lawrence United, on Bayview south of Lawrence. Rick and I had played Toronto’s first rock’n’roll church service there a couple of years earlier with our previous band, The Easy Riders. It was such big news it got a front page photo in the Toronto Star!”

It’s All Meat is legally reissued on CD on the Hallucinations label with bonus demo tracks and the Feel It single included. It was also issued on vinyl by Void Records in the late 1990’s in a fine gatefold cover with a 7″ of the Feel It single and a glossy photo of the band. Jed tells me that 2009 should see another limited release of the material on Hallucinations.

I want to thank Jed MacKay for his time in answering my inquiries and permission for posting the unreleased tracks, and to Wayne Roworth for his recollections. Thanks also to Mark Taylor and Masterbeat64 for their high-quality label scans and rips of the original Underworld 45 and also to Wesley for sending me the article on the Cosmic Home. Thank you to Ivan Amirault for the scans of the RPM articles.

Short article on It's All Meat, RPM, November 23, 1969, mentions positive review from Ryerson's Eyeopener, RPM, August 22, 1970 — Short article on It’s All Meat, RPM, November 23, 1969, mentions positive review from Ryerson’s Eyeopener, RPM, August 22, 1970

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Category Archives: Toronto

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The Underworld and It’s All Meat

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