Crowbar (Canadian band)
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Crowbar was a Canadian rock band based in Hamilton, Ontario, probably best known for their 1971 hit "Oh, What a Feeling".
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[edit] Members
The band consisted of a variety of players in various combinations over its lifetime including:
- King Biscuit Boy (Richard Newell) on harmonica[1]
- Roly Greenway on bass guitar
- Kelly Jay (Blake Fordham) on harmonica, vocals and piano
- John Rutter on vocals (1970)
- Richard Bell on keyboards (1970)
- Jozef Chirowski on keyboards
- Larry Atamanuik on drums (1970)
- Sonnie Bernardi on drums
- Rheal Lanthier on guitar
- John Gibbard on guitar and slide guitar
- Sonny Del-Rio on saxophone
- John Dickie on vocals (2000)
[edit] Career
From 1969 to 1970, most of the members of the group had been a backup band for Ronnie Hawkins under the name "And Many Others". However, in early 1970, he fired them, saying "You guys are so crazy that you could fuck up a crowbar in three seconds!" They recorded their first album in 1970 (Official Music) as King Biscuit Boy and Crowbar. King Biscuit Boy left the band later in 1970, but continued to appear off-and-on as a guest performer.[2]
Crowbar's rock, blues and boogie mix made it one of Canada's most popular touring bands of the early 1970s. The band toured in the United Kingdom but, otherwise, made little impact outside of Canada, perhaps the result of the strong nationalistic fervour that characterised its performances.[3]
Disbanded in 1975, it was revived in 1977 (minus Jozef Chirowski, who had joined Alice Cooper's band) for a tour of eastern Canada and again by Kelly Jay and others intermittently during the 1980s for club work in southern Ontario.[4]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Official Music (as King Biscuit Boy and Crowbar) (1970, Daffodil; 1996, Stony Plain)
- Bad Manors (1970, Daffodil SBA-16004)
- Larger than Life (And Liver than You'll Ever Be) (1971, Daffodil 2-SBA-16007) (recorded in concert at Massey Hall, Toronto)
- Heavy Duty (1972, Daffodil SBA-16013)
- KE-32746 (Epic KE-32746) (circa 1973)
- Crowbar Classics: Memories Are Made of This (1975, Daffodil SBA-16030)[5]
[edit] Singles
- Oh What a Feeling (Daffodil 1971)
- Million Dollar Weekend (Daffodil 1974)
