Motherlode - When I Die: The Best Of (2008)

Like another Canadian group from the same era (Mashmakhan out of Montreal), Motherlode will forever be ensconced in that ignominious club known as the One-Hit Wonder, probably due to the fact they had to be one of the most fluid bands of that time, eventually encompassing some 19 different members in no less than five reincarnations over the years. Starting their careers primarily in Toronto, saxophonist/harmonica player Steve Kennedy and keyboardist William "Smitty" Smith both played in a band called The Soul Searchers which featured vocalists Eric Mercury and Diane Brooks. When that group disbanded, Kennedy and Smith drifted over to briefly join Grant Smith & The Power, a band that also included David Clayton Thomas, before relocating to London, Ontario and linking up in 1969 with guitarist Ken Marco and drummer Wayne Stone.
In the midst of a gig at the Image Club they were noticed and signed to a recording contract with the Canadian label Revolver Records, owned by Mort Ross, and soon released When I Die b/w Hard Life as Revolver REVS 002. It received little or no air play anywhere in Canada - until, that is, Buddah Records executive Neil Bogart happened to catch their act and offered to pick up the record for distribution in the U.S. After it came out as Buddah 131 and began a steady climb to a very respectable # 18 Hot 100 late in the summer of 1969, only then did Canadian DJs realize what they had been ignoring, and the resulting increased play at home saw it peak at # 5 on the Canadian CHUM/RPM charts in September.
The follow-up Memories Of A Broken Promise b/w What Does It Take (To Win Your Love?) made it to # 25 in Canada as Revolver REVS 004, but when released in the U.S. as Buddah 144 the best the two sides could do were # 116 and # 111 respectively in November on the Hot 100 Bubble Under charts. Nor did two albums on Revolver, When I Die and Tapped Out (the last distributed only in the U.S.), make any impact. In January 1970 the band broke up with Kennedy, Marco and Stone becoming original members of the Toronto-based band Dr. Music.
Ross, however, owned the name Motherlode and decided to try and capitalize on their modest success in the U.S. by having Smith bring in saxophonist Doug Richardson, guitarist Anthony Shinault and drummer Philip Wilson who then released two singles in 1970, Dear Old Daddy Bill b/w Living Life" as Revolver REVS 005 and I'm So Glad You're You (And Not Me) b/w the instrumental Whipoorwill as Revolver REVS 008, which also came out in the U.S. as Buddah 185. Both flopped and this gathering soon broke up as well.
Ross then hired Gord Waszek of the band Leigh Ashford to write new material for yet another gathering under the name Motherlode, vocalist Breen Leboeuf, bass player Mike Levine, Waszek and a couple of other Leigh Ashford personnel, who recorded All That's Necessary b/w Chant (Revolver REVS 011), with the B-side being simply Hiro Smothek from the 1970 album Tapped Out under a different title. Since this gathering of artists were not available to promote the disc, a fourth gathering consisting of vocalist Wayne St. John, bass player Mike Levine, guitarist Kieran Overs and, from Leigh Ashford, drummer Wally Cameron and keyboardist Newton Garwood took on that task. When the record went nowhere this collection also disbanded.
Early in 1971 the fifth version of Motherlode was cobbled together from members of the defunct Natural Gas out of Montreal - vocalist/bass player Gerry Legault, saxophonist Dave Berman, drummer Brian Dewhurst, guitarist Joey Roberts and keyboardist Brian Wray. However, they never cut a record and would later re-organize as Truck.
Many of the sides just mentioned are in this volume, and if the sound is different to your ears, and you aren't all that familiar with the history of the band, you now know why. Of the original members, "Smitty" Smith, who had gone to become a respected studio musician on the U.S. west coast, passed away following a heart attack on December 12, 1997.