The Good Brothers are a Canadian country, bluegrass and folk music group originating from

Richmond Hill, Ontario Richmond Hill (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 202,022) is a city in south-central Regional Municipality of York, York Region, Ontario, Canada. Part of the Greater Toronto Area, it is the York Region's third most populous municipality and th ...

. The band's core members are Brian Good (guitar), his twin brother Bruce Good (

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of ...

) and younger brother Larry Good (

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

). Brian and Bruce Good initially joined guitarist James Ackroyd to form the band James and the Good Brothers in 1967. Their self-titled album was released on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

in 1971. After a tour itinerary throughout North America, including a Toronto concert opening for

Grand Funk Railroad Grand Funk Railroad (often shortened to Grand Funk) is an American rock band formed in 1968 in Flint, Michigan, by Mark Farner (vocals, guitar), Don Brewer (drums, vocals), and Mel Schacher (bass). The band achieved peak popularity and succes ...

, the Goods wished to return to Canada while Ackroyd sought to continue in the United States. In 1973, younger brother Larry Good joined the twins to form a new band which first performed 14 May 1974 in Toronto at The Riverboat club. Since then, the band has extensively toured Canada, United States and Europe. Their role in Canadian music was strengthened by winning the Juno Award for Country Group or Duo for eight consecutive years from 1977 to 1984. In 1980, the group signed to

Solid Gold Records Linus Entertainment is a music company operating as an independent record label, distributor and music publisher. While founded in Mississauga, Ontario, Linus spent many years in Burlington, Ontario before recently moving operations to Waterdow ...

. Their first two singles were covers -

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

's ''

Brown Eyed Girl "Brown Eyed Girl" is a song by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison. Written by Morrison and recorded in March 1967 for Bang Records owner and producer Bert Berns, it was released as a single in June of the same year on the Bang la ...

'', and

Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

's '' How Long''. While the latter single failed to chart, its b-side, an original song called ''Hot Knife Boogie'', from their ''Live'' LP, recorded at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern (as were both sides of the former single) and featuring The Powder Blues Band, was popular on college campus radio stations, and received some play on FM rock stations like Toronto's Q107. It would later be included on their 2008 compilation LP, ''Restricted Goods'' The Good Brothers have been supplemented by other musicians over the years, such as John P. Allen (

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

) and Bruce's son Travis Good of

The Sadies The Sadies are a Canadian rock and roll / country and western band from Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of Dallas Good, Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky. Dallas and Travis are the sons of Margaret and Bruce Good, and nephews of Bria ...

(guitar and

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

). Travis was a regular member of The Good Brothers when Larry took a leave of absence throughout the 1990s, this lineup used the alternate name "The Goods". Bruce and Larry were joined by Bruce's wife

Margaret Good Margaret Elizabeth Rowell Good (born August 23, 1976) is an American lawyer and politician from Florida. She served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2018 to 2020, representing the Sarasota area. She is a member of the Democratic Party ...

, Brian's daughter D'arcy Good, and all of

to record and perform live as "The Good Family" in 2013. The 1988 single entitled "You Won't Fool This Fool This Time" was written by

Bernie LaBarge Bernie LaBarge (born March 11, 1953) is a Canadian performing and session guitarist, an award-winning singer and songwriter, and producer, who has gone on tour and made recordings with Canadian and international artists. In a wide-ranging care ...

. It reached No. 14 on the Canadian country charts. The Good Brothers reached a younger generation of fans when

Pat Burns Patrick John Joseph Burns (April 4, 1952 – November 19, 2010) was a National Hockey League head coach. Over 14 seasons between 1988 and 2004, he coached in 1,019 games with the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, and New Jer ...

(then coach of the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

hockey team) joined them on-stage to play some music. Burns also played guitar on one of their albums. In 1996 the Good Brothers provided entertainment at the Queen's Park Provincial Legislature's Canada Day celebrations in Toronto, Ontario. In 2003 the Good Brothers performed at the Palmer Rapids Twin Festival, in Palmer Rapids, Ontario. In 2006 the band released a gospel album, ''Blind Faith'', and then headed out on their 29th tour of Europe.Quill, Greg, "Good move toward gospel", ''The Toronto Star'', 5 October 2006.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

The Good Brothers official siteThe Canadian Encyclopedia: The Good BrothersCMT: The Good Brothers profileJam!: The Good BrothersPaquin Entertainment (management): The Good Brothers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Good Brothers, The Musical groups established in 1972 Canadian country music groups Canadian folk music groups Juno Award winners Musical groups from the Regional Municipality of York Richmond Hill, Ontario RCA Records artists Canadian twins 1972 establishments in Ontario