The Tripp, known earlier as The Just Us and later Livingston's Journey, was a Canadian rock band, based 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 ...

from the mid-1960s, featuring

Neil Merryweather Neil Merryweather (born Robert Neilson Lillie, December 27, 1945 – March 28, 2021) was a Canadian rock singer, bass player and songwriter. Biography Merryweather was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and began his career in Toronto during the ...

and Stan Endersby.

History

Keyboard player Ed Roth, drummer Bob Ablack, lead guitarist Bill Ross and Brian Hughes started out playing rock

instrumentals An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to ...

in a suburban Toronto band the XLs, which became Gary & The Reflections with the addition of singer Gary Muir in 1964. In early 1965, singer Bob Neilson replaced Muir and the group changed its name to The Ookpiks, after a native-designed stuffed toy owl called Ookpik that was being promoted by the Canadian government. As another Ookpiks group already existed, they briefly became The Sikusis after another stuffed toy, but were unable to get permission from the Canadian government to use the name without compensation and settled on The Just Us. Through all of this they recorded a lone single on the Quality record label, which failed to sell – possibly due in part to confusion caused by name changes. Hughes, Ross and new drummer Al Morrison soon left to join

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 began his musi ...

's backup band, The Bossmen. Roth and Neilson (later known as

) brought in bassist Wayne Davis and guitarist Stan Endersby (born 17 July 1947, Lachine

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

), formerly of C.J. Feeney and the Spellbinders. and convinced Bob Ablack to return on drums. They also recruited a new singer, former Mynah Birds singer Jimmy Livingston. Richard Bell was subsequently hired away from Richie Knight and the Midknights as second keyboardist. The Just Us recorded an album's worth of material at Arc Sound in early 1966, but this was never released. Throughout this period, they played at various local clubs, including the Gogue Inn and the Hawk's Nest as well as in the city's high schools.

The Just Us becomes The Tripp

In June 1966, Davis left to play with Bobby Kris & The Imperials and Lillie took over as bassist. Around this time, an American duo with the same name released a couple of singles on Colpix and appeared on the charts and the group was forced to find a new name. They settled on The Group Therapy for one

show Show or The Show may refer to: Competition, event, or artistic production * Agricultural show, associated with agriculture and animal husbandry * Animal show, a judged event in the hobby of animal fancy ** Cat show ** Dog show ** Horse show ** ...

(opening for

The Byrds The Byrds () were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) being the so ...

Varsity Stadium Varsity Stadium is an outdoor collegiate stadium located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the "Varsity Centre & Arena", a sports complex at the University of Toronto's St. George Campus. Athletic events have been hosted on the site ...

in Toronto on 22 June), but another local group surfaced with a prior claim to this name. Shortly after a show at the El Patio on 10 September 1966, the band took on another new moniker, The Tripp. One of the band's first shows was at the Gogue Inn in Toronto on 16 September with Luke & The Apostles and others. The group released no recordings as The Tripp, but did appear on the first episode of

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

’s ''Sunday Show''"Merryweather, Neil – ST"
''Citizen Freak'', By Nick Warburton and performed regularly on the Toronto club scene, at the Flick, the El Patio and Boris' in Toronto's Yorkville district. Bell left soon after to join

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 ...

and the Hawks. In 1966 The Tripp performed at

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church and Wellesley, Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was originally constructed in 1931 as an indoor arena to host ice hoc ...

with other local bands, and took part in the Toronto Sound-a-gogo show. Lillie left in May 1967 to play with Ricky James Matthews in The Mynah Byrds and then formed a new band with

Bruce Cockburn Bruce Douglas Cockburn ( ; born May 27, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to folk- and jazz-influenced rock to soundscapes accompanying spoken stories. His lyrics reflect interests in spirit ...

, The Flying Circus. Dennis Pendrith from Simon Caine & The Catch replaced him and later that month the band changed their name again to Livingston's Tripp and then Livingston's Journey.

Members

*Ed Roth (born 16 February 1947, Toronto) *Bob Ablack *Bill Ross (born in Bel Air, California) *Brian Hughes *Bob Neilson (born Robert Neilson Lillie, 27 December 1945,

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 ...

, Manitoba, Canada) *Al Morrison *Wayne Davis (born 28 April 1946, Toronto) *Jimmy Livingston (born 28 February 1938) *Stan Endersby *Richard Bell *Dennis Pendrith

Recordings

The Just Us

I Don't Love You "I Don't Love You" is a song by American rock band My Chemical Romance that serves as the third single from their third studio album, ''The Black Parade''. Its music video premiered on the band's official YouTube and Myspace pages on March 7, 200 ...

" / "I Can Tell" (Quality 1738) 1965 – single

References

External links

* as Just Us * as The Ookpiks * as The Sikusi's {{DEFAULTSORT:Tripp, The Musical groups established in 1966 Musical groups disestablished in 1977 Canadian rock music groups Musical groups from Toronto 1966 establishments in Ontario 1977 disestablishments in Ontario