Jimmy Livingston (Vocals)

Stan Endersby (Guitar, vocals)

Ed Roth (Keyboards)

Dennis Pendrith (Bass, vocals)

Bob Ablack (Drums)

Ted Sherrill (Drums)

Bobby Kris (Vocals)

This short-lived, albeit important, Toronto rock band evolved out of The Tripp in late May 1967 and was briefly known as Livingstone’s Tripp. In July the musicians modified the name to Livingstone’s Journey.

Jimmy Livingston, Stan Endersby, Ed Roth and Bob Ablack had all earlier been in The Just Us. Livingston had also briefly co-fronted The Mynah Birds in 1965 with Ricky James Matthews (aka Rick James).

The Livingston-led line up entertained fans at Toronto’s Esplanade (a plaza on the ground floor of the Richmond-Adelaide Centre) during mid-August 1967 and played at Ottawa’s Mall and Parliament Hill (the latter at a ‘smoke-in’ in support of pot legislation).

Sometime in October, Ted Sherrill came in on drums from The Vendettas (Keith McKie of Kensington Market fame’s old band) and former The Imperials frontman Bobby Kris (real name Bob Burrows) was drafted in to replace Livingston.

The new line-up lasted only a few months and in the spring of 1968 the group played its final date at Toronto’s Night Owl (which was recorded live but never released).

These recordings included group originals ‘Inner City’ (written by Bobby Kris) and ‘Bull Feathers’ (written by Ted Sherrill), and a heavy version of The Beatles ‘You Can’t Do That’.

Endersby left for England soon after, where he met The Kinks’ Peter Quaife at Hatchettes Playground in Piccadilly, London (together they later formed Mapleoak), while Roth travelled to Los Angeles and worked with former Tripp members Neil Lillie (aka Neil Merryweather) and Livingston, who later died of cancer on 1 June 2002. Kris reformed The Imperials, who gigged into 1969.

Burrows and Pendrith continue to perform and record with Burrows & Company, who have a number of tracks on Spotify.

Selected gigs

2-4 June 1967 – Boris’ Red Gas Room, Toronto (billed as Livingstone’s Tripp)

9 June 1967 – Boris’, Toronto (billed as Livingstone’s Tripp)

11 June 1967 – Boris’, Toronto (billed as Livingstone’s Tripp)

30 June 1967 – North York Centennial Centre, Toronto with Mandala, The Spirit and The Power Project

1 July 1967 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough (billed as Livingstone’s Tripp) with The Reelers and The Deep End

5 July 1967 – Hawk’s Nest, Toronto (billed as Livingstone’s Tripp).

9 July 1967 – Broom and Stone, Scarborough with Mandala (billed as Livingstone’s Tripp)

28 July 1967 – Kin-Oak Arena, Oakville, Ontario (billed as Livingstone’s Tripp)

4 August 1967 – Hawk’s Nest, Toronto

5 August 1967 – Broom & Stone, Toronto with A Passing Fancy and The Dana

14-19 August 1967 – Esplanade, Toronto

19 August 1967 – Danceiro, near Sauble Falls, Ontario (Sun Times, Owen Sound)

22-27 August 1967 – Le Hibou, Ottawa (Ottawa Journal)

26 August 1967 – The Mall, Ottawa (Ottawa Journal)

August 1967 – Parliament Hill, Ottawa

29 August-3 September 1967 – Le Hibou, Ottawa

22 September 1967 – Purple Peanut Teen Club, Toronto

3 November 1967 – Hawk’s Nest, Toronto (billed as featuring Bobby Kris), with the Tiffanies

8 December 1967 – Purple Peanut, Toronto (billed as Bobby Kris with Livingstone’s Journey)

6 January 1968 – Purple Peanut, Toronto

26-27 January 1968 – Club 888, Toronto

10 February 1968 – El Patio, Toronto

15 February 1968 – The Flick, Toronto

8 March 1968 – BCI, Brantford, Ontario (cancelled when truck broke down) (billed as Bobby Kris & The Livingstone Journey) (The Expositor)

Toronto gigs from the Toronto Telegram and Ottawa gigs from the Ottawa Citizen. This article is based on research originally undertaken in the early 2000s. Many thanks to Bob Burrows, Stan Endersby, Ed Roth and others for their help.

Copyright © Nick Warburton. All Rights Reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any from or by any means, without prior permission from the author