Full Tilt Boogie Band was a Canadian rock band originally headed by guitarist John Till and then by vocalist

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and songwriter. One of the most iconic and successful Rock music, rock performers of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and her "electric" ...

until her death in 1970. The band was composed of Till, pianist Richard Bell, bassist Brad Campbell, drummer Clark Pierson, and organist Ken Pearson."Full Title Boogie Band,"
Canadian Classic Rock Page, retrieved June 22, 2008.

History

Origin of the band in the late 1960s in Canada

In its original late 1960s incarnation, the Full Tillt Boogie Band Till played in the group as a side project from his usual gigs as a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

studio

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

. Like Till, the other members of the band were Canadians, mostly hailing from Stratford and

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Richard Bell was recruited by Michael Friedman back stage at a

Ronnie Hawkins Ronald Cornett Hawkins (January 10, 1935 – May 29, 2022) was an American rock and roll singer, long based in Canada, whose career spanned more than half a century. His career began in Arkansas, United States, where he was born and raised. He ...

gig at the

Fillmore East The Fillmore East was Promoter (entertainment), rock promoter Bill Graham (promoter), Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue (Manhattan), Second Avenue near 6th Street (Manhattan), East 6th Street on the Lower East Side section of Manhattan, ...

in 1969. Friedman was

Albert Grossman Albert Grossman (May 21, 1926 – January 25, 1986) was an American entrepreneur and manager in the American folk music and rock and roll scene. He was famous as the manager of many of the most popular and successful performers of folk and folk ...

's assistant at the time. He went backstage after the gig and approached Bell. Ronnie Hawkins got wind of it and almost got into a fight with Friedman.

Vocalist Joplin's in vain and partial changing of her backing band

When Joplin's management convinced her to discard

Big Brother and the Holding Company Big Brother and the Holding Company are an American rock band that was formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After ...

as her backing band, her record label put together a new group of musicians for her. This group, dubbed the Kozmic Blues Band, consisted of Till and several other Full Tillt Boogie Band members – all studio musicians whom her label was familiar with and felt were reliable – plus a horn section. However, Joplin was not happy touring with some of the group members, feeling them to be too "square", and the disappointing reviews of their 1969 album ''

I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! ''I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!'' is the debut solo and third studio album overall by American singer-songwriter Janis Joplin, released on September 11, 1969, by Columbia Records. It was the first album which Joplin recorded after leavin ...

'' led her to scrap everyone in the group except Till.

Final agreement with a whole and fitting backing band

Till soon convinced Joplin to hire his ''Full Tillt Boogie Band'' in its entirety, and he agreed to drop one of the "L's" from its name, thus creating Joplin's Full Tilt Boogie backing band. Joplin took a more active role in putting together the Full Tilt Boogie Band than she had with the Kozmic Blues Band, and she believed that hiring the remainder of Till's band would provide her with the powerhouse boogie outfit she needed to back her. Joplin was quoted as saying, "Full Tilt Boogie Band is ''my'' band. Finally, it's ''my'' band!"

Tourings with other acts throughout Canada and United States

Full Tilt Boogie Band played their first session with Joplin on April 4, 1970, at the

Fillmore West The Fillmore West was a historic rock and roll music venue in San Francisco, California, US which became famous under the direction of concert promoter Bill Graham from 1968 to 1971. Named after The Fillmore at the intersection of Fillmore ...

studios in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and began touring in May 1970. From June 28 to July 4, 1970, Joplin and Full Tilt joined the all-star Festival Express tour through Canada, performing alongside the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

, Delaney and Bonnie, Rick Danko and

The Band The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...

, Eric Andersen, and

Ian & Sylvia Ian & Sylvia were a Canadian folk and country music duo which consisted of Ian and Sylvia Tyson. They began performing together in 1959 (full-time in 1961), married in 1964, and divorced and stopped performing together in 1975. History Early ...

. They played concerts in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, and

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

. The group's last public performance took place on August 12, 1970, at

Harvard Stadium Harvard Stadium is a U-shaped college football stadium in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The Stadium is one of only four athletic facilities that are considered National Historic Landmarks. The stadium is owned and operated ...

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. A positive review appeared on the front page of ''The Harvard Crimson'' newspaper despite the fact that the band performed with makeshift sound amplifiers after their regular equipment was stolen in Boston.

Last release by Joplin and her backing band, and her death

During September 1970, Joplin and Full Tilt Boogie Band began recording a new album in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with record producer Paul A. Rothchild, who had produced

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

. Although Joplin died three months before all the tracks were fully completed, there was still enough usable material to compile an LP, which became her second solo album ''

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

'', released posthumously in January 1971.

References

External links

Full Tilt Boogie Band
on

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

*
Article at canadianbands.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Full Tilt Boogie Band Musical groups with year of establishment missing Musical groups disestablished in 1970 Canadian psychedelic rock music groups Musical groups from Ontario 1970 disestablishments in Ontario Janis Joplin Musical backing groups