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.
© Nick Warburton
Later lineup, l-r: Stan Endersby, Bob Ablack, Ed Roth, Jimmy Livingston, Neil Lillie and Wayne Davis
how bout posting “I Can Tell”
Speaking of Group Therapy maybe you can help me solve this.. I have a 4 song EP on Raymond Records label RC 109.. “Group Therapy – From Britain With Beat” the back cover liner note has this to say ” Group Therapy are six young Toronto boys with a great talent for arranging Music. These fellows are real musicians and have played instruments all their lives. They range in age from 17 to 21 years, and are a lively important part of the Toronto Go-Go set….” Would these lads be the ones with the claim to the name & who exactly would they be..
PLPD !VJ!
The drummer in Group Therapy is/was my cousin Mike, I don’t think any of the family have a copy of the EP anymore, not even his son or brother. We’d love to hear it again, I remember listening to it as a kid, but I believe my parents must have lost or thrown out the copy of it I had when I moved back to the UK from Canada. Thanks for any help in getting hold of even a digital copy of the original, it’d mean a lot to the family as we lost Mike unexpectedly last year.
I can hear a big Animals and Kinks influence there..
Ookpiks was the Quebec instrumental band Megatones, changing their name because they decided to sing.
I remember that Bill Ross was fired and wound up going with the Bossmen a few weeks later. Al Morrison never really played with the band that long and Eddie and I wanted Bob Ablack back in the band. Ablack was a fabulous drummer. I don’t think we ever had a picture of the band with Morrison in it. It was Bill that got Al involved in Daves band. As far as Brian Hughes going with the Bossmen, it’s not what happened. Brian left to devote his full attention to school. The band thing for Hughes was not what he wanted to do with his life. I’m not sure if he ever played in a band again after he left – Ed would know that for sure. That little record we did was not reflective of the sound the band in any way – the bands sound was R&B rooted. The arrangements were quite unique and by the time we evolved into the Tripp we were doing some pretty bizarre stuff. NM
Did bill Ross go crazy?.is that why he never played again?
Yes he spirited hanging around York ville actin crazy but he tried not to show it
How can you fire me from the band I started from scratch
Hi Bill
Are you still around?
Hello Rick
I just noticed your post . I would love to hear the names of the songs on that disc
The Producer who took off with the tapes was English, (I heard he went to New York)
They could be cuts from our Arc sessions.
Someone once phoned me from Quebec and told me they had our Arc album.
I tried to fallow up and got no where.
Richard Bell was on those tapes and Ed Roth and they played some great stuff.
I love keyboards.. would love to hear that combo
Rick had some test tape of some of the songs he played me years ago but it had beeps in it. So it couldn’t be copied or heard very well
All the best
Stan Endersby
Guitar Just Us, Group Therapy, The Tripp, Livingstones Journey , Mapleoak, Heaven and Earth, The Bryan Maclean Band. Buffalo Springfield Revisited, The Village ,The Ugly Ducklings etc.
PS PS
Reminds me of a line from a Jackson Brown Song ” must have played in a thousand Bands”
I have a copy of the Group Therapy From Britain With Beat EP too. The songs on it are:
It Ain’t Me Babe
Let Me Be
Take Me Back
What Have They Done To The Rain
The cover says Raymond Records Scarborough, Ont.
Got this EP too. To bad the sound quality is very crude and too damn low-fi or is it the canadian pressingplant who couldn’t handle pressing an EP? Anyway “Take me back” is the best track on it but as I wrote unfortunatly very low-fi recorded or pressed but it has a more cool garagy feeling than David Clayton Thomas & Shags version.
Question: Who’s repsonsible for this cool track: David Clayton Thomans, Group Therapy or somebody else?
I’m also still wondering why Cicadelic Records rereleased this track in 1987 on their Texas Punk vol. 10 LP Together with Teas bands like S.J. & The Crossroads, KNights Bridge Quintet, Deuces Wild….pretty odd if you aks me!
Thanks for the info on the Group Therapy, EP.
Very interesting. It is not a recording by Just Us.
When we opened for the Byrds, at Varsity Stadium June 22.66 is the only time we used Group Therapy .
That is the night a lawyer came on stage with a document that said we couldn’t us the name,his son was in a band called “Group Therapy”, and they were from Scarborough Ontario.
The reason I wanted to know the songs, is the same thing Happened when the producer, who did the Quality Records went to the States and took our name and gave it to a Band that did “Can’t grow peaches on a cherry tree”.
That was the reason we were changing our name in the first place.I’m still explaining in radio interviews that song has nothing to do with our group.
I just read in a book on Rick James where he talks about coming to the Nite Owl in Yorkville to take our band down to L A . He calls us the OokPiks.( we were the Just Us then.)I was never an Ookpik.
I
Everybody who’s a player has that band that got them going .I have a lot of great memories with the Just Us Tripp, Livingstones Journey. I am very proud to have been part of that band and worked and played with such a great mix of fine Musicians.
“Take me Back” I can play that song to-day still love it.
a great Record from David Clayton Thomas.
and a great Guitar solo from Freddy Keeler.
Check his solo out in” Boom Boom”
I’m so glad to read good things about the bands my cousin Jimmy was in
I always thought he got a bad rap from family members
Though I’m younger I did see him play with Livingstons Journey on Sparks St Ottawa in the late 60s and I ended up on stage talking with him and the band during one of the breaks …we ended up on the local news so that was pretty exciting to me lol.
I plan on doing more research on him and I would love to get my hands on some music.
Hi Bobbie
This is a wild chance you will see this. I played with Jimmy in all those bands . He was an amazing singer song writer performer. If you see this lets talk. I remember his brother Lorne.