Motherlode was a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

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 iden ...

formed in 1969 in

London, Ontario London 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 (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

. The group scored some success in the US with their single, " When I Die", which hit #1 in Canada and #18 on the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

''Billboard'' Hot 100

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, 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 repres ...

in 1969. The group did not 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 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 performers with ...

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 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 an American soul, r&b and jazz singer. With the Three Playmates, Brooks recorded several songs in 1957. She moved to Toronto shortly thereafter. Her part in Canadian soul music h ...

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 projec ...

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 Brook ...

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.''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 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 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 65 years. Kaye began play ...

. Just one track had Dave Young on bass. Motherlode was booked to appear at the "Freak Out" festival. A 72-hour event that ran on the Labor Day period from August 29 to September 1, held at Rock Hill, 16 miles north of Orangeville. Other acts booked to appear were The Brass Union, Brutus,

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

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

The Guess Who The Guess Who was a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1965. The band found their greatest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, under the leadership of singer/keyboardist Burton Cummings and guitarist Randy Bachman, wit ...

and Buckstone Hardware etc.

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 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 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. Released on Revolver REVS-008, the A side was composed by William Smith and Phyllis Gorman. The B side was composed by Anthony Shinault. For the week ending September 13, the single entered the Top 50 MAPL Canadian chart at #50. It reached its highest position at #33 on October 17 and held it for another week. By the 31st, ''RPM Weekly'' had changed the chart to the Top 30 Canadian MAPL Chart, making it drop off the chart. It was now in the Recommended Canadian Singles list. Their new single flopped in the US. 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, 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 record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

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!, 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 fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

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

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

with the addition of

Graham Lear Graham Lear (born July 24, 1949) is a Canadian rock drummer, best known for his time with Gino Vannelli, Santana (band), 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 24 February. Breen LeBoeuf eventually relocated to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

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. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

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, Halifax, Nova Scotia, led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Myles Goodwyn until his death in 2023. April Wine first experienced success with their second album, ' ...

in January 2007, replacing

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

on bass. Kennedy later joined the Canadian band

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

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

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 on his '' No Escape'' album, and

Rickie Lee Jones Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. Over the course of a career that spans five decades and 15 studio albums, she has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, pop, soul, an ...

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 the 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 fir ...

. He died in 1997, aged 53, of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. Newton Garwood left professional music in the mid-1970s, choosing instead to become a Toronto manager at Long & McQuade music instrument retailers. Garwood died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

in 2005.

Original members

* Steve Kennedy – saxophone * Ken Marco – guitar *

– keyboards *Wayne Stone – drums Guest musicians *

- background vocals *

- bass, acoustic guitar *Dave Young - bass *Paul "Mickey" Callum -

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

*Andy Cree - percussionAnswers.co
When I Die Album by Motherlode
/ref>

Later members

*Doug Richardson -

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 p ...

- replaced Steve Kennedy 1970 *Anthony Shinault -

Guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

- replaced Ken Marco 1970 *Philip Wilson -

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

- replaced Wayne Stoney Stone 1970 *Wally Cameron -

- replaced Philip Wilson 1971 *Newton Garwood - keyboards - Replaced William Smitty Smith 1971 * Gord Waszek -

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

- replaced Anthony Shinault 1971 * Dave Berman -

*Brian Dewhurst -

* Breen LeBoeuf -

Vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

*Gerry Legault -

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

* Mike Levine -

*Kieran Overs -

* Joey Roberts ( Miquelon) -

*Wayne St. John -

* Brian Wray - Keyboards