Leigh Ashford was a Canadian

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

group formed 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 ...

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, and which existed between 1966 and 1974. Many of the band members would go on to form Moxy in 1973.

History

The group was formed in 1967 by, the

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

Gord Waszek,

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

Dave Cairns,

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

Joe Agnello and keyboard player Newton Garwood. With Garwood as keyboardist, the band opened for The Vanilla Fudge. Later on in 1969 a lead singer was added for more dynamics...Percussionist Vocalist Glenn Brown was recruited from another iconic Toronto band, A Passing Fancy ...During his stint in the band Leigh Ashford opened for the bands

The Foundations The Foundations were a British soul band who were primarily active between 1967 and 1970. The group's background was West Indian, White British and Sri Lankan. Their 1967 debut single " Baby Now That I've Found You" reached number one in the ...

at the

Electric Circus ''Electric Circus '' (also known as ''EC'') is a Canadian live dance music television program that aired on MuchMusic and Citytv from September 16, 1988, to December 12, 2003. The name originated from a nightclub that once existed at Citytv's fir ...

in Toronto and

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

at the Rockpile in 1969.

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Jack Richardson took the band to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

to record. A

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 ...

"Country Place" was released on the Nimbus 9

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

, but the

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

itself was never issued. The band kept busy in the clubs in Toronto until 1970. Garwood was replaced by keyboardist Bruno Weckerle, Craig Kaleal (of The Witness) became the permanent drummer and a new vocalist

Buzz Shearman Moxy is a Canadian rock band, formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1973. They toured Canada before having a hit in late 1975 with "Can't You See I'm A Star". Moxy then toured the United States on the strength of their radio airplay. Markets in which t ...

was added. The band was invited to appear at three day long, Strawberry Fields Festival, in August 1970. In 1971, they recorded their debut album called ''Kinfolk'' in the

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

studios in Toronto. Things were looking good for the band with a US tour. In addition, the album's first single, "Dickens", began gaining attention of US radio stations. However creative differences due to member turn-over rate was breaking the band up. It fell to singer Buzz Shearman to pick up the pieces and soldier on in 1972, when founding members Gord Waszek joining Fludd and Joe Agnello joining

Grant Smith & The Power Grant Smith & The Power were a popular Canadian (from Toronto) rock-soul outfit from the 1960s that had a hit with a cover of Jackie Edwards' "Keep On Running" (previously a big hit for The Spencer Davis Group) and was also a training ground for ...

. Wally Cameron and Doni Underhill also decided to leave in 1974, with Underhill also joining Fludd. Shearman recruited Earl Johnson (guitar, and former member of the

King Biscuit Boy Richard Alfred Newell (March 9, 1944 – January 5, 2003), better known by his stage name, King Biscuit Boy, was a Canadian blues musician. He was the first Canadian blues artist to chart on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the US Newell played gui ...

band), Kim Fraser, then Terry Juric (bass guitar) and Bill Wade (drums), the latter being former members of Outlaw Music. This group ultimately evolved with a harder sound into the hit recording act Moxy in late 1974. In 1997, Pacemaker Records re-issued the sole Leigh Ashford album, ''Kinfolk'', on CD.

Career

In December, 1970, the group had their single out on the

Revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

label that was headed by Mort Ross. A distribution deal between Revolver and

had been signed. In addition to Leigh Ashford, other acts included Chimo!, Motherlode and Jam Jar.

Members

*Dave Cairns (drums) *Joe Agnello (bass) *Newton Garwood (keyboards) *Gord Waszek (guitar) *Glenn Brown (vocals) *Wally Cameron (drums; replaced Cairns 1970) *Lance Wright (drums; replaced Cameron) *Craig Kaleal (drums; replaced Wright) *

(vocals; replaced Brown 1971) *Bruno Weckerle (keyboards; replaced Garwood) *Don Elliot (bass; replaced Agnello) *Doni Underhill (bass; replaced Elliot) *Kim Fraser (bass; replaced Underhill 1973) *Earl Johnson (guitar; replaced Waszek 1973) *Terry Juric (bass; replaced Fraser 1974) *Bill Wade (drums; replaced Kaleal 1973)

Discography

Singles

45Cat
Leigh Ashford - Discography, Canada

Albums

* ''Kinfolk'' - Revolver– LSP-4520, 1971 # "Dickens" - 2:40 (Sherman, Waszek) # "Mighty Fine Cookin'" - 3:15 (Waszek) # "Never Give Myself" - 4:27 (Waszek) # "Juicy Lucy" - 3:25 (Waszek) # "County Country" - 3:24 (Sherman, Waszek) # "Good Day" - 4:00 (Agnelio, Kaleal,

Shearman Shearman is an English surname, which may be pronounced as "Sherman" (as for example with John Shearman). Notable people with the surname include: *Ben Shearman (1884–1958), English footballer *Billy Shearman, English footballer * Bob Shearman (1 ...

) # "Lee Oompa Kum Pah Pah" - 3:10 (Agnello, Shearman, Waszek) # "Lady" - 4:44 (Sherman, Waszek) # "Sicawine, Part 1" - 3:27 (Sherman, Waszek, Weckerle, Agnello) # "Sicawine, Part 2" - 6:39 (Sherman, Waszek, Weckerle, Agnello) # "Workin' All Day" - 2:05 (Sherman)- Bonus track on 1997 re-issue CD # "The Country's Got a Soul" - 3:14 (Sherman) - Bonus track on 1997 re-issue CD

References

External links

Leigh Ashford biography
at

allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

* {{discogs artist, Leigh Ashford
Leigh Ashford
at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. T ...

Canadian rock music groups Musical groups established in 1966 Musical groups disestablished in 1974 1966 establishments in Ontario 1974 disestablishments in Ontario Revolver Records (Canada) artists