The Original Caste
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The Original Caste is a Canadian
folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...
group. The band formed in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in 1966 under the name The North Country Singers. Because the name sounded too much like a folk group, it was changed in 1968. Instrumentally, the group consists of guitar, keyboard and bass.


History

Songwriter and guitarist Bruce Innes formed the group in Calgary, Alberta, in 1966. Initially, Bruce Innes, Graham Bruce and Bliss Mackie worked as a trio and Dixie Lee (Stone) Innes joined the group in 1967, contributing rich vocals. At that time, Dixie Lee Stone was a secretary at
Pacific Petroleums Pacific Petroleums Limited was a Canadian integrated petroleum company that existed between 1939 and 1979. The company was founded and run by Frank McMahon, a wildcat driller from British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC ...
in Calgary, and she sang on the weekly television programme ''
Calgary Safety Roundup The ''Calgary Safety Roundup'' was a popular Canadian television variety series broadcast by CFCN-TV in Calgary from 1961 until the mid-seventies. Origins The program was developed by Sgt. Don Hanson and Corporal Bill Chisholm of the Calgar ...
'' on CFCN-TV. Bruce Innes sang and played by himself while Graham Bruce worked as an accounts executive at Royal Trust. Bliss Mackie had worked as a Coca-Cola truck driver and a manager of a department store. In early 1968 Peter Brown (Seattle) became the first drummer in the group. Joe Cavender played with an acid rock group. In 1968, the band moved to Los Angeles and recorded the single "I Can’t Make It Anymore" for
Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...
with limited success. In 1969, the band signed with TA Records, a label distributed by
Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny ...
. The band did write many of their pieces but the writing and production team of
Dennis Lambert Dennis Earle Lambert (born 1947 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. Career Lambert began his music career in 1960 when he signed to Capitol Records as a recording artist. By the mid-1960s, he was w ...
and Brian Potter wrote and produced The Original Caste's two hit singles: "One Tin Soldier" and then "Mr. Monday"; both songs were from the 1969 LP ''One Tin Soldier''. The songs employ the use of strings, horns, and organ which adds a swinging, pop-friendly sound. "One Tin Soldier" was a hit in Canada and reached No. 34 on the
U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
''Billboard'' Hot 100
chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
in 1970.Joel Whitburn, ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits''. 7th edn, 2000 The follow-up single, "Mr. Monday", was a big hit in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and Canada but not in the United States. The two singles combined, worldwide, sold over three million copies and were certified gold in both Canada and Japan. The band toured extensively in Canada, the United States and Japan and made many television appearances. The band's success allowed them the opportunity to open for both B. B. King and
Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodt ...
. Having amassed a large following in Japan, they toured there and recorded
live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
s, in addition to releasing several further Japanese singles. The initial members of The Original Caste separated in 1972 with Graham Bruce and Bliss Mackie parting. Married couple Bruce and Dixie Innes continued to perform as The Original Caste and released songs with an increased country influence, including the full-length album ''Back Home''. The Original Caste finally split in 1980 as Bruce and Dixie divorced. Innes continues to perform as a solo artist and later revived the band name in the new millennium. "
One Tin Soldier "One Tin Soldier" is a 1960s counterculture era anti-war song written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter. Canadian pop group The Original Caste (consisting of Dixie Lee Innes, Bruce Innes, Graham Bruce, Joseph Cavender and Bliss Mackie) first ...
" was revived in 1971 when the song was featured on the ''
Billy Jack ''Billy Jack'' is a 1971 American action drama independent film, the second of four films centering on a character of the same name which began with the movie ''The Born Losers'' (1967), played by Tom Laughlin, who directed and co-wrote the scr ...
'' movie soundtrack; this version was performed by Jinx Dawson of the rock band
Coven A coven () is a group or gathering of witches. The word "coven" (from Anglo-Norman ''covent, cuvent'', from Old French ''covent'', from Latin ''conventum'' = convention) remained largely unused in English until 1921 when Margaret Murray promote ...
along with the studio's orchestra. This recording was released to radio, then retracted; Coven later released a version on an album. Both versions billed as being by Coven were based on substantially the original arrangement, though some cover versions diverged widely. The popularity of the song has endured as very diverse covers have been recorded by punk rock group Me First and the Gimme Gimmes and by Sonny and Cher; Roseanne Barr also recorded a parody of the song. A
strophic Strophic form – also called verse-repeating form, chorus form, AAA song form, or one-part song form – is a song structure in which all verses or stanzas of the text are sung to the same music. Contrasting song forms include through-composed, w ...
ballad, "One Tin Soldier" tells the tale of the materialistic "valley-people" who kill and cheat in search of a rumoured treasure on a mountain. The only treasure, though, is a stone inscribed with "Peace on earth"; ironically, the valley-people, a metaphor for mankind, destroyed this treasure whilst in the pursuit of it. The song ends with a repetition of the chorus which is a common arrangement technique used to engrain a song in the listener's memory.


Members

*
Bruce Innes The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been a ...
- Lead Guitar; Keyboard, and Vocals. Founder and Current Member. While in college, Innes played guitar with blues legend
Josh White Joshua Daniel White (February 11, 1914 – September 5, 1969) was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names Pinewood Tom and Tippy Barton in the 1930s. White grew up in the Sout ...
. In the late 1970s Innes worked on
John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...
's ''
Rocky Mountain High "Rocky Mountain High" is a folk rock song written by John Denver and Mike Taylor and is one of the two official state songs of Colorado. Recorded by Denver in 1972 it is the title track of the 1972 album ''Rocky Mountain High'' and rose to No. ...
'' album and supplied songs to
Ray Stevens Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "Misty", as well as novelty ...
and
Mickey Gilley Mickey Leroy Gilley (March 9, 1936 – May 7, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Although he started out singing straight-up country and western material in the 1970s, he moved towards a more pop-friendly sound in the 1 ...
. Upon the band's final split, Innes began
jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...
and
film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...
work. In 2003 Bruce Innes and Ian Tyson produced WMA Album of the Year for country artist Brenn Hill. Innes is remarried and currently resides in Alberta. *Julian Kerr - Guitar; Keyboard; Vocals *Shelley Jones - Lead Vocals *Bruce Mohacsy - Bass; Vocals; Keyboard *Lori Mohacsy - Vocals


Past members

*
Dixie Lee (Stone) Innes Dixie Lee (born Wilma Winifred Wyatt; November 4, 1909 – November 1, 1952) was an American actress, dancer, and singer. She was the first wife of singer Bing Crosby. Biography She was born Wilma Winifred Wyatt in Harriman, Tennessee, on No ...
- Vocals. After her divorce from Bruce Innes, Dixie left the music industry and found a new career as a social worker, living in Victoria, British Columbia. *Bliss Mackie - Rhythm Guitar and Vocals. *Graham Bruce - Bass *Peter Brown - Drums; jazz drummer and classical percussionist, currently performing and teaching in Skagit County, WA. *Joseph Cavender - Drums; replaced Brown in 1970 *Gary Carlson - Bass; replaced Bruce in 1972 *Dennis Coats - Rhythm Guitar; replaced Mackie in 1972 *Richard Harrow - Later addition *Glenn Mundy - Later addition *John Dunn - Later addition *Cheryl Morrell - Vocals; performed with in 2005 *Jilla Roberts - Vocals; performed with in 2006–2009


Discography


Albums


Singles


References


External links

*
Music Featured on the Simpsons
at Snpp.com

at CANOE -- JAM! Music - Pop Encyclopedia

at Yesterday's Pop Music Club * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Original Caste, The Canadian folk rock groups