 | This article contains content that is written like an advertisement .(October 2016) |
McKenna Mendelson Mainline | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Blues |
| Years active | 1968–1975 |
| Labels | Liberty |
| Past members |
|
McKenna Mendelson Mainline was a Canadian blues band that released four albums. [1] In the spring of 1969, the band was signed to Liberty Records (United Artists). [2]
In the summer of 1968, in May, Toronto, Ontario, Canada blues guitarist Mike McKenna (born April 15, 1946, in Toronto), formerly of Luke & The Apostles, placed an ad in The Toronto Star seeking musicians for a new project. In replying to the ad, acoustic blues artist Joe Mendelson (born July 30, 1944, in Toronto, died February 7, 2023, in Toronto) suggested to McKenna that the idea of searching for blues musicians through the want ad milieu was an exercise in naïveté. Nevertheless, the two worked well creatively and the basis of McKenna Mendelson Mainline's dynasty was formed.
The Spassticks' Tony Nolasco (born July 9, 1950, in Sudbury, Ontario) was also recruited, along with American bass player Timothy O'Leary, who was dumped in the first month. Former The Paupers bassist Denny Gerrard (born February 27, 1948, in Scarborough, Ontario) was invited to join, completing the quartet. [3] The band debuted at the Night Owl club in Toronto's Yorkville Village from August 5–10 and the following month recorded demos which later became the basis of a bootleg album, McKenna Mendelson Blues. Gerrard left the band in early October immediately after a show at Massey Hall supporting The Fugs because of artistic differences and was replaced by Mike Harrison (born November 1, 1948, in Brampton, Ontario), bassist from popular Canadian R&B band Grant Smith & The Power [ citation needed ]
In November 1968, MMM opened for The Jeff Beck Group at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, and garnered several standing ovations. [ citation needed ]
In December 1968, MMM reversed the trend of English bands coming to North America, and proceeded to England to gig and hopefully to pursue a major record deal. [ citation needed ] The band hit the stage almost immediately, their first show being at the Utrecht Pop Festival on December 27/28, 1968, filling a prime timeslot just vacated by Jimi Hendrix and his duo (Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell). MMM started soon thereafter gigging on an English club circuit which included such notables as The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, Family, The Keef Hartley Band, Gun, and the newly formed Led Zeppelin. [ citation needed ]
After several false starts, they signed with Liberty/United Artists in the spring of 1969, and in April 1969 recorded a best-selling album, Stink. [4] It was subsequently reissued on CD. [5]
Homesickness, dissension in the ranks, and the vagaries of youth facilitated a return to Canada in June 1969. Shortly after the July 1969 release of Stink, Allied Records released the demos recorded in September 1968 as McKenna Mendelson Blues. MMM thus became Canada's first "major label" act to be the victim of a bootlegged album. However, while in Europe and England selections from the Stink album appeared on various blues samplers and compilations, notably Liberty's Gutbucket (1969), subtitled 'An Underworld Eruption', and Son of Gutbucket (1969). [ citation needed ]
Following "Stink", and a brief hiatus resulting from the internal dissension, the band reformed with Zeke Sheppard on bass and was signed in Canada by GRT Records. In 1971 Mainline recorded a second studio album, "Canada Our Home and Native Land" in San Francisco. [ citation needed ]The album featured horn arrangements on some tracks and was engineered by Fred Catero, who worked on many albums by top artists, including Bob Dylan, Al Kooper and Santana. The album had more of a production sheen than the "Stink" album, owing perhaps to the California influence and that of its producer Adam Mitchell, formerly of the Paupers. The subsequent supporting tour included dates in Australia. [ citation needed ]
In late 1971, Zeke Sheppard moved on to other things and the band, again by newspaper advertisement, hired Ted Purdy to take over the mantle of bass player for the otherwise intact band. [ citation needed ] In February 1972, the band recorded a live album featuring striptease artists at the run-down Victory Theatre, a vintage Toronto burlesque venue. The resulting album, "The Mainline Bump and Grind Review" was mixed at Moses Znaimer's Thunder Sound studios, long before Znaimer gained notoriety as the founder of CITY-TV. [ citation needed ] The album was recorded by Jay Messina and Jack Douglas on the Record Plant mobile studio out of New York City. Messina and Douglas later engineered the likes of John Lennon, Aerosmith and Lou Reed. [ citation needed ] The Record Plant mobile encountered difficulties crossing the border due to customs officers' unfamiliarity with high-tech equipment of such nature being packed into a truck, with the result that there were only a couple of hours to do a complete sound check prior to the performance. This difficulty was compounded by the fact that the band was in an advanced state of inebriation from drugs and alcohol, and consequently played at much higher volume during the performance than they had during the sound check. As a result, most of the individual instrument and vocal tracks were too distorted to be useful, which left only the house stereo pair for mixing. The mixing sessions at Thunder Sound were therefore quite protracted, and studio back-up vocal and horn tracks were added to buttress the live tracks. Mick Jagger dropped in one afternoon and enjoyed a convivial visit with the band while listening to the tracks. Despite the technical shortcomings of the recording, the concert became the stuff of minor legend with its combination of hard-driving covers of blues classics and the estimable performances of talented striptease performers. The tribute to vaudevillian burlesque form was completed by the use of a comedian as opening act and MC and the formal dinner-jacketed, tuxedoed attire of the band members. The critical acclaim that the "Mainline Bump n' Grind Revue" garnered was unfortunately not followed by commercial success. The 1972 Bump n Grind Revue is sometimes confused with a later burlesque show that the band performed at the Victory Theatre on New Year's Eve, 1974. That concert was recorded on video by TV Ontario, a public broadcaster, but was not the subject of a major label album release. The other main distinguishing feature of that show was that band members appeared in drag.[ citation needed ]
By June 1972 Mendelson's continuing differences with McKenna led to his departure from the band. The band continued without him, typically billed as "The Mainline". Mendelson's place was taken by the up-and-coming talent of Rick James, who would go on to great fame with multiple platinum albums for Motown and singles such as "Superfreak". The funk/R&B stage presence of James seemed a mismatch for the sittin' down heavy blues signature of the band, but the formula worked, with large receptive crowds in venues such as Carleton and Dalhousie Universities. Eventually, however, the reconstituted band fell apart when James left the band and Nolasco pursued a record deal for what he viewed as a super-talented performer in Rick James—a goal that Nolasco would ultimately achieve in 1978 with the release of James' debut album, "Come Get It!".
After Mendelson left the band he pursued a solo career. In 1975, Mendelson was signed by Taurus Records to record a studio album with producer Adam Mitchell (of The Paupers). Released as "Sophisto", the album was not a commercial success, so the label instead pursued a project in which Mendelson and McKenna, joined by Mitchell, would reunite and record a Mainline reunion album. This led to the album "No Substitute" released the same year credited to "Mainline Featuring Joe Mendelson and Michael Mckenna." The sessions were rancorous with Mendelson at his dictatorial best and the album was, unsurprisingly, a failure. This was to be the last recording featuring Mendelson and McKenna as bandmates.
Changing his name to Mendelson Joe, Mendelson returned to his solo career, joined by former MMM bandmate Ted Purdy, who worked with Joe on several of his early solo albums as musician and co-producer. [6]
The Mainline reunited in the 1990s without Mendelson, but with Mike McKenna (guitar, slide guitar, vocals), Tony Nolasco (drums, lead vocals), Mike Harrison (bass, vocals), Ted Purdy (acoustic guitar, vocals), and Bob Adams (harmonica). This group played regularly into the 2000s, including to a sold out crowd at the last ever show at the El Mocambo Tavern, later released by Bullseye Records as the album Last Show @ The Elmo. To date, their final show was at the Black Swan Tavern On April 25, 2009, celebrating McKenna's 45 years on the Toronto music scene.
Mainline's albums today remain available on music streaming services such as Apple Music and Spotify.
Frank "Zeke" Sheppard died of lung cancer on October 10, 1997, at the age of 56. [7]
Mike Harrison died on January 7, 2022, at the age of 74, after suffering a stroke in late 2021.
Mendelson Joe, after five years suffering from Parkinsons Disease, chose an assisted death on February 7, 2023, at the age of 78. [8]
Ellen McIlwaine was an American-born singer-songwriter and musician best known for her career as a solo singer, songwriter and slide guitarist.
James Ambrose Johnson Jr., better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in his teenage years. He was in various bands before entering the U.S. Navy Reserve to avoid being drafted into the army. In 1964, James moved to Toronto, Canada, where he formed the rock band the Mynah Birds, who eventually signed a recording deal with Motown Records in 1966. James's career with the group halted after military authorities discovered his whereabouts and eventually convicted him of desertion related charges. He served several months in jail. After being released, James moved to California, where he started a variety of rock and funk groups in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Lighthouse is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 in Toronto, Ontario, whose repertoire included elements of rock music, jazz, classical music, and swing and featured horns, string instruments, and vibraphone. They won Juno Awards for Best Canadian Group of the Year in 1972, 1973, and 1974.
Mmm or MMM may refer to:
Colin Kendall Linden is a Canadian guitarist, songwriter and record producer. Linden plays acoustic and electric guitar, specializing in slide guitar, country blues, and ragtime fingerpicking, who frequently collaborates with country and folk performers.
Flower Travellin' Band was a Japanese rock band that was formed in 1967. They were connected to Japan's counterculture movement and noted for their mixture of early heavy metal with psychedelic and progressive rock. They received wide acclaim from critics but failed to achieve commercial success and separated in 1973 to pursue individual careers. The band reunited in late 2007, but permanently disbanded after the 2011 death of vocalist Joe Yamanaka.
Kensington Market, aka 'The Market', was a Toronto-based rock band, active from 1967 to 1969. Named after a downtown Toronto neighbourhood, it was known for 'gentle, lyrical, rock music', masterful musicianship, and for being was one of the first Canadian rock bands to develop a style independent of US and British models.
The Paupers were a Canadian psychedelic rock band from Toronto, Ontario, who recorded between 1965 and 1968. They released two albums for Verve Forecast Records and appeared at the Monterey International Pop Festival.
Eugene McDuffy, known professionally as "Brother" Jack McDuff or "Captain" Jack McDuff, was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era of the 1960s, often performing with an organ trio. He is also credited with giving guitarist George Benson his first break.
Mandala was a Canadian R&B and soul band from the 1960s. The band was formed in 1965 in Toronto, Ontario as The Rogues and changed their name prior to their first Canadian Top 40 hit "Opportunity".
Mike McKenna is a professional Canadian rock / blues guitarist noted primarily for his electric slide playing.
Luke & The Apostles was a 1960s blues group from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The band is known for their 1967 hit "Been Burnt". Band members included Canadian guitarist Mike McKenna, Luke Gibson, Peter Jermyn, Jim Jones, and Pat Little. The band is considered to be innovators of the electric blues in the Toronto music scene of the sixties.
Grant Smith & The Power were a popular Canadian rock-soul outfit from the 1960s that had a hit with a cover of Jackie Edwards' "Keep On Running" and was also a training ground for musicians who went on to the likes of McKenna Mendelson Mainline and Motherlode.
The Ugly Ducklings were a Canadian five-piece garage rock group based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, most notable during the mid-1960s.
Birrel Josef Mendelson, known as Mendelson Joe, was a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, painter, and political activist, who was known for using his art to express political themes. Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario and then moving to Maple, Ontario at age 13. He attended University of Toronto, graduating with a B.A. in arts, 1966.
Michael Fonfara was a Canadian keyboard player who was most notable for his work as a member of The Electric Flag and Rhinoceros in the 1960s, Rough Trade and Lou Reed's backing band in the 1970s and The Downchild Blues Band, from 1990 to the present. He studied classical piano at The Royal Conservatory of Music. He is a multiple Maple Blues Award winner as Piano/Keyboardist of the year and a Juno Award winner with the Downchild Blues Band. His distinguished musical career was so honoured by the Maple Blues Awards as early as 2000 and a Juno Award in 2014.
"Who's Making Love" is a song written by Stax Records staffers Homer Banks, Bettye Crutcher, Don Davis and Raymond Jackson and recorded by singer Johnnie Taylor in 1968.
Whiskey Howl was a Toronto-based Canadian blues band, most popular between 1969 and 1972. The band is notable as being one of the early Canadian bands promoting and developing blues music in Canada.
Son of Gutbucket is a 1969 sampler album released to promote artists on the Liberty Records label. It followed the earlier release in 1969 of Gutbucket,.
Terry Wilkins is an Australian-born Canadian musician, composer and producer.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)| International | |
|---|---|
| Artists | |
