Motherlode was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

formed in 1969 in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

. The group scored some success in the US with their

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, " When I Die", which hit #1 in Canada and #18 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 1969. The group didn't have a bass guitarist. William Smith would play the bass notes on his keyboard. They did however use bass players on their studio recordings. The act remains a

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

despite two more singles in the top 100 in Canada.

Biography

Early years

The first connection can be traced back to the Blue Note club on February 22, 1964 where the club's house band,

The Silhouettes The Silhouettes were an American doo wop/ R&B group, whose single " Get a Job" was a number 1 hit on the ''Billboard'' R&B singles chart and pop singles chart in 1958. The doo-wop revival group Sha Na Na derived their name from the song's lyric ...

were playing. Steve Kennedy was a member of the band and in a relationship with the female singer,

Dianne Brooks Gwendolyn Dianne Brooks (January 3, 1939 – April 29, 2005), was a soul, r&b and jazz singer from New Jersey. With the Three Playmates, Brooks recorded several songs in 1957. She moved to Toronto shortly thereafter. Her part in Canadian soul m ...

Doug Riley Douglas Brian Riley, CM (April 12, 1945 – August 27, 2007) was a Canadian musician, also known as Dr. Music. He spent two decades with the Famous People Players as its musical director, besides his participation on over 300 album projects ...

was also in the group. This is where

William "Smitty" Smith William Daniel "Smitty" Smith (August 30, 1944 – November 28, 1997) was a Canadian keyboardist and session musician. Background He had been playing together with Steve Kennedy, Eric Mercury, Eric "Mouse" Johnson, Terry Logan and Diane Brooks ...

first met Kennedy. Smith was working at The Flamingo which was a club down the road. Getting on well with each other straight away, they kept in touch. They had a plan to put together a group to play behind Brooks and they eventually did. In 1966 The Soul Searchers were formed. The correct name for the group was

Diane Brooks, Eric Mercury and The Soul Searchers The Soul Searchers were an important part of Canadian soul music history. The group contained notable artists such as Diane Brooks, Eric Mercury, William "Smitty" Smith, Steve Kennedy and Eric "Mouse" Johnson. At times they are also referred ...

.''A Stroke of Luck'' by William D. Smith 2008,
Pages 278 to 280 Diane Brooks
/ref> The instrumental part of the group consisted of

Eric "Mouse" Johnson The Soul Searchers were an important part of Canadian soul music history. The group contained notable artists such as Diane Brooks, Eric Mercury, William "Smitty" Smith, Steve Kennedy (musician), Steve Kennedy and Eric "Mouse" Johnson. At tim ...

on drums and vocals, Steve Kennedy on tenor, baritone sax and background vocals, Terry Logan on guitar and vocals, and William "Smitty" Smith on Hammond B3 organ and vocals. Their first gig the group played was at the Memory Lane in Toronto. Steve Kennedy left the band and his replacement was saxophonist Glen McDonnell. Some time later, and following the break up of the Soul Searchers, William Smith went via the same direction as Kennedy and joined Grant Smith and The Power, a group which

David Clayton Thomas David Clayton-Thomas (born David Henry Thomsett, 13 September 1941) is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the American band Blood, Sweat & Tears. Clayton-Thomas has been inducte ...

had been a member of. Kennedy had officially become a member of Grant Smith and The Power in April 1968 and Smith came in to the group in September. They played on the group's debut album, '' Keep On Running'' which was released on Boo BST 6802 around October - November 1968. Among the musicians on the album were Wayne Stone on drums and Kenny Marco on guitar. Some things Smith, Kennedy, Marco and Stone weren't happy about was the fact that they were playing mostly covers. And they were disappointed with the lack of the album's success.citizenfreak.com (© Museum of Canadian Music)
Motherlode, BUDDAH’S BEST: THE STORY OF MOTHERLODE
/ref>

Motherlode formed

Smith, Kennedy and co. formed Motherlode in 1969 and relocated to

, where they struggled and stayed with friends. They finally got a break following their debut at the Image Club when Mort Ross signed them to Revolver Records that same year. According to Ritchie Yorke's book, ''Axes, Chops & Hot Licks: The Canadian Rock Music Scene'', they got about 25 songs together and cut some of them in the studio. Their first single, " When I Die" that was produced by

and Terry Brown did not make any headway on the radio. A reciprocal deal in the US with Buddah Records made the song a hit reaching Number 18 on the charts. The song sold more than 500,000 copies and it eventually climbed to Number 1 in the Canadian charts. Dianne Brooks contributed a song " Memories of a Broken Promise" as well as some background vocals to Motherlode's ''When I Die album''. Motherlode also contributed a song and instrumental backing on Brooks album, ''Another Kind Of Soul'' that was released on Revolver Records.Toronto Blues Societ
More About Dianne Brooks by Bill Munson
The bass guitar work and some acoustic guitar was handled by L.A. session-woman

Carol Kaye Carol Kaye (née Smith, born March 24, 1935) is an American musician. She is one of the most prolific recorded bass guitarists in rock and pop music, playing on an estimated 10,000 recordings in a career spanning over 50 years. Kaye began play ...

. Just one track had Dave Young on bass.

Break up and personnel changes

The group broke up in December 1969, their second album, ''Tapped Out'' which had already been recorded, previously was released posthumously only in the United States. Steve Kennedy, Ken Marco and Wayne Stone went on to be members of

Dr. Music Dr. Music was a Toronto jazz group founded in 1969 by producer, arranger and performer Doug Riley. The band recorded three albums and toured across Canada. The personnel of the band changed throughout its history, with Riley remaining at the cor ...

in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The album contained the song "Black Cat", which was sampled by Gang Starr's "Daily Operation" (intro). ;2nd version As

Revolver Records Recreational Records was a British record label set up in 1981 by the Bristol record shop and distributor Revolver Records. Originally formed as an independent record label with its own distribution as part of the Cartel. Revolver Records and ...

owned the name Motherlode, it decided to reform the group, keeping William Smith making this the second version of the group.The Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia
MOTHERLODE
/ref> This new Motherlode was formed with Smith and three new musicians, all black! This line-up consisted of Doug Richardson (saxophone), Anthony Shinault (guitar) and Philip Wilson (drums).'' A Stroke of Luck'' by William D. Smith, 2008,
Page 34 - 35
/ref> It was reported by ''RPM Weekly'' in the July 11 issue that Mort Ross was producing new recordings for Motherlode and Chimo!. Also at that time, their single " Dear Old Daddy Bill" was at #20 in the Top 50 Canadian MAPL Chart. It was reported by ''Billboard'' in its July 18, 1970 issue that their new single, "I'm So Glad You're You (And Not Me)" bw "Whipoorwill" which was produced by Mort Ross was scheduled for immediate release, with the Canadian release to be on Revolver and the United States release to be on Buddha. Their new single flopped. This line up stayed together for around seven months. ;3rd & 4th versions Mort Ross, Revolver Record's president had brought in Gord Waszek, of the rock group

Leigh Ashford Leigh Ashford was a Canadian rock group formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and which existed between 1966 and 1974. History The group was formed in 1967 by, the guitarist Gord Waszek, drummer Dave Cairns, bassist Joe Agnello and keyboard p ...

, to begin writing for the third version of Motherlode. They recorded "All That's Necessary", with Breen Leboeuf on vocals, Mike Levine on bass plus Gord Waszek and several other members of Leigh Ashford. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of this single was "My Chant" which was just a renamed version of "Hiro Smothek" from 1970's ''Tapped Out''.The Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia
MOTHERLODE, ''with notes from Bill Munson, Breen LeBoeuf, Wally Cameron and Gord Waszek.''
/ref> It was reported by ''RPM Weekly'' in their December 5, 1970 issue that Motherlode had reformed for recording with the previous line up having failed to capitalize on the success of "When I Die". The group was now under the leadership of Mike Levine. The line up consisted of Mike Levine (bass), Wayne St. John (vocals), Kieran Overs (guitar) and two former members of Leigh Ashford, Wally Cameron (drums) and Newton Garwood (keyboards). According to the December 5 article, there was still a high amount of American interest in the band. The group was working in Sudbury and Thunder Bay and later they moved to Western Ontario. Reactions to the group were said to be excellent. Along with Jam Jar, and

Chimo! Chimo! (Inuit for "Hello") was a Canadian jazz-rock/jazz fusion band, founded in 1969. The band played with some of the biggest acts of their era, and recorded one album, ''Cross Country Man'' for Revolver Records. History Chimo! evolved from Geo ...

, Motherlode had been signed to the R.A.M. and Concept 376 agencies for Canadian representation. The record flopped and this 4th version that was assembled to promote the record broke up. ;5th version By March 1971, a fifth version of Motherlode was created from the remnants of

Natural Gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

, a Montreal-based group. The members were Dave Berman (saxophone), Brian Dewhurst (drums), Gerry Legault (bass, vocals), Joey Roberts aka Joey Miquelon (guitar) and

Brian Wray Brian Wray was a veteran Canadian musician and musical arranger. He had been a member of three major Canadian bands, Natural Gas in the late 1960s, Motherlode and Truck in the early 1970s. He also worked with Lisa Hartt, Freedom North, Moe Kof ...

(keyboards). They never managed to recording anything, and became part of

Truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

with the addition of

Graham Lear Graham Lear (born July 24, 1949) is an English-born Canadian rock drummer, best known for his time with Gino Vannelli, Santana and REO Speedwagon. He was born in Plymouth, United Kingdom. Background In 1952 his family moved to London, Ontario, ...

Later years

The original Motherlode members reunited in 1976, and recorded a song "Happy People" but, because of issues surrounding the name Motherlode, it had to be released as a Kenny Marco solo release. In November 1989, they used the name Motherlode for a reunion during a week of live performances at the Bluenote club in Toronto. In 1990 they recorded eight new songs, but those sessions have remained unreleased. Also in 1990, ''RPM Weekly'' mentioned William Smith and Motherlode as artists to appear in CBC Television's Supathon '90 13 hour long show, scheduled to begin on the 24th of February. Breen LeBoeuf eventually relocated to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in 1978 to join Offenbach. He later recorded three solo albums and did a two-year stint with

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

as bassist/background vocalist, before joining Canadian rockers

April Wine April Wine is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Myles Goodwin since its inception, April Wine's first success came with its second album, '' On Record'' (1972), which reac ...

in January 2007, replacing

Jim Clench James Patrick Clench (May 1, 1949 – November 3, 2010) was a Canadian bassist and vocalist known for his roles in the rock bands April Wine and Bachman–Turner Overdrive. With April Wine (first run) Clench was asked to join April Wine afte ...

on bass. Kennedy later joined the Canadian band

Lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

. He first performed with Lighthouse in 1982 at the One Fine Weekend Ontario Place reunion. Smith became a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

and played on and contributed background vocals to recordings by artists such as Eric Mercury on his ''Funky Sounds Nurtured In The Fertile Soil'' album,

Mark Tanner Mark Simon Austin Tanner (born November 1970) is a British Anglican bishop and academic. Since 2020, he has been the Bishop of Chester; he previously served as Bishop of Berwick, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Newcastle since his 2016 cons ...

on his '' No Escape'' album, and

Rickie Lee Jones Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author. Over the course of a career that spans five decades, she has recorded in various musical styles including Rock music, rock, Rhythm and blues, R&B ...

on her ''Flying Cowboys'' album. He also released a solo album ''Smitty'', which included a song "Sweetie Pie" that he co-wrote with

Eric Mercury Eric Alexander Mercury (28 June 1944 – 14 March 2022) was a Canadian singer who was a member of soul group The Soul Searchers during the 1960s. He later made waves in 1969 with his ''Electric Black Man'' album. He had two hits, the first on ...

. He died in 1997, aged 53, of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

. Newton Garwood left professional music in the mid-1970s, choosing instead to become a Toronto manager at

Long & McQuade Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

music instrument retailers. Garwood died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in 2005.

Original members

* Steve Kennedy –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

* Ken Marco –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

–

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* Wayne Stone –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Guest musicians *

Background Vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

- Bass,

Acoustic Guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

*Dave Young - Bass *Paul "Mickey" Callum -

Congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest) ...

*Andy Cree -

Percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Answers.co
When I Die Album by Motherlode
/ref>

Later members

*Doug Richardson -

- replaced Steve Kennedy 1970 *Anthony Shinault -

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

- replaced Ken Marco 1970 *Philip Wilson -

- replaced Wayne Stoney Stone 1970 *Wally Cameron -

- replaced Philip Wilson 1971 *Newton Garwood -

- Replaced William Smitty Smith 1971 *Gord Waszek -

- replaced Anthony Shinault 1971 * Dave Berman -

*Brian Dewhurst -

*Breen LeBeouf -

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

*Gerry Legault - Bass,

* Mike Levine - Bass *Kieran Overs -

* Joey Roberts (

Miquelon Miquelon-Langlade is the larger but less populated of the two communes (municipalities) making up the French overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, located to the south of Newfoundland in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It consists of t ...

) -

*Wayne St. John -

Keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Discography Canada

Discography USA

References

External links

CanConRox entry
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Motherlode Musical groups established in 1969 Musical groups disestablished in 1970 Musical groups from London, Ontario Canadian pop rock music groups 1969 establishments in Ontario 1970 disestablishments in Ontario Revolver Records (Canada) artists