John Douglas Witmer (February 1951 – July 3, 2004) was a Canadian
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
singer, songwriter and harmonica player, most notable as the lead vocalist for the band
Whiskey Howl
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.Downchild Blues Band
The Downchild Blues Band is a Canadian blues band, described by one reviewer as "the premier blues band in Canada". The Blues Brothers band was heavily influenced by the Downchild Blues Band.
History Early history: 1969-1982
The Downchild Blue ...
.
Biography
Described as "one of Toronto's great blues singers from the late '60s to the mid-'80s",Toronto Blues Society Notice of Death of John Witmer , "Loose Blues News", September 2004;www.torontobluessociety.com. with "a raspy vocal style", John Witmer co-founded the seminal Canadian blues band,
Whiskey Howl
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.Whiskey Howl – The First Year 1969–70 ; www.livinblues.com. The Toronto-based Whiskey Howl, along with the
Downchild Blues Band
The Downchild Blues Band is a Canadian blues band, described by one reviewer as "the premier blues band in Canada". The Blues Brothers band was heavily influenced by the Downchild Blues Band.
History Early history: 1969-1982
The Downchild Blue ...
, also formed in 1969, were two of the principal influences in the development of Canadian blues music.
One of Witmer's first professional engagements with Whiskey Howl was as one of the acts playing at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival in September 1969. This was a one-day festival, featuring an historic appearance by
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
and The Plastic Ono Band, and which resulted in the release of the album '' Live Peace in Toronto 1969''.
Despite the early success and promise of Whiskey Howl, the band broke up as of 1972, shortly after the release of their first album. Witmer continued to sing locally through the balance of the 1970s, rejoining Whiskey Howl for a reunion concert that resulted in the band's second album release, ''Live at The El Mocambo'', in 1981.
Between 1982 and 1986, Witmer was the lead singer of the
Downchild Blues Band
The Downchild Blues Band is a Canadian blues band, described by one reviewer as "the premier blues band in Canada". The Blues Brothers band was heavily influenced by the Downchild Blues Band.
History Early history: 1969-1982
The Downchild Blue ...
, one of three singers who replaced Downchild co-founder Richard "Hock" Walsh, during various periods when Walsh either left the band or was fired as Downchild's lead singer. He recorded one album with Downchild, ''But I'm on the Guest List'' (1982), recorded live at Toronto's El Mocambo club, after Downchild had regrouped following the death of band member Jane Vasey.
Witmer relocated to Vancouver in the late 1980s, where he joined The BelAirs, a band that existed between 1985 and 1995, after which it became known as The Fabricators.Se Profile of The Fabricators at Pacific Northwest Bands; www.pnwbands.com. The Fabricators were described by the West Coast Blues Review as "one of Vancouver's hottest R&B acts". The music with which Witmer was associated at the time was described as "the raw & powerful
Delta
Delta commonly refers to:
* Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet
* D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet
* River delta, at a river mouth
* Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...
and
Chicago blues
Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the fi ...
, rhythmic
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
and
Tex-Mex
Tex-Mex cuisine (derived from the words ''Texas'' and ''Mexico'') is a regional American cuisine that originates from the culinary creations of Tejanos, Tejano people. It has spread from border states such as Texas and others in the Southwestern ...
tunes, old rock and roll gems, the smooth urban sounds of Detroit and Philadelphia, as well as many original compositions." During this same period and for the last fifteen years of his life, Witmer was an employee of the
British Columbia Institute of Technology
The British Columbia Institute of Technology (also referred to as BCIT), is a public polytechnic institute in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. The technical institute has five campuses located in the Metro Vancouver region, with its main cam ...
, where he worked with Larry Smith, co-founder of The BelAirs and The Fabricators.E-mail correspondence with Larry Smith, co-founder of The BelAirs and The Fabricators, September 2009. The Fabricators, established in 1995 as a successor band to The BelAirs, broke up in 2002, and was Witmer's last band. He ceased performing after the band's breakup. Witmer died suddenly two years later, on July 3, 2004, at the age of 53. He was survived by his second wife, a daughter and two sons.John Witmer Death Notice ''
The Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands division.
The newspaper was establis ...
'', July 24, 2004, as reprinted in to-nitemagazineforum.
:''It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that The Fabricators announce the passing of John Witmer (lead singer). He was truly one of Canada's best blues singer-songwriters. ...John's passing is a great loss to the Canadian music scene, and he will be sadly missed by all his fans, friends and family.''
:: News Announcement, The Fabricators, July 12, 2004.
In the week following his death, a memorial service was held for John Witmer in Vancouver, attended by family, musical contemporaries and colleagues from the British Columbia Institute of Technology. In Toronto, on July 27, 2004, John Witmer was remembered by his Toronto family and colleagues in music through an additional memorial service.
Discography
Whiskey Howl
*1972 ''Whiskey Howl'' (
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...
; CD Release 2008, Pacemaker)
*1981 ''Live at The El Mocambo'' (As The Whiskey Howl Big Band; CD Release 2005, re-release 2009, Solid Gold)
Downchild Blues Band
* 1982 ''But I'm on the Guest List'' (
Attic
An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building. It is also known as a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because they fill the space between the ceiling of a building's t ...
K-tel
K-tel International Ltd is a Canadian company which formerly specialized in selling consumer products through infomercials and live demonstration. Its products include compilation music albums, including ''The Super Hits'' series, ''The Dynamic ...
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...