Merryweather was a late sixties Canadian rock band that relocated to California in the autumn of 1968 and recorded for Capitol Records. The band was led by singer/bass player Neil Merryweather

Neil Merryweather

Neil Merryweather is a Canadian rock singer, bass player and songwriter...

 and most of the band subsequently formed Salt and Pepper with Rick James

Rick James

James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. , better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. James was a popular performer in the late 1970s and 1980s, scoring four number-one hits on the U.S. R&B charts performing in the genres of funk and R&B...

.

Early years

After leaving Bruce Cockburn

Bruce Cockburn

Bruce Douglas Cockburn OC is a Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. His most recent album was released in March 2011. He has written songs in styles ranging from folk to jazz-influenced rock to rock and roll.-Biography:...

’s group, The Flying Circus

The Flying Circus

. For other meanings of this term see the disambiguation page under Flying CircusThe Flying Circus were a short-lived Toronto-based group fronted by singer/songwriter, Bruce Cockburn...

 in March 1968, Neil Lillie (born in Winnipeg on December 27, 1945) reunited with keyboard player Ed Roth (born in Toronto on February 16, 1947) and singer Jimmy Livingstone (born in Toronto on February 28, 1938) to form a new band. They had worked together previously in The Just Us

The Just Us

The Just Us were a short-lived Toronto based, R&B band from the mid 1960s, which later morphed into The Tripp and then Livingstone’s Journey. The group’s personnel included Neil Merryweather and Stan Endersby.-Origins:...

, The Tripp

The Tripp

The Tripp was a short-lived Canadian rock band, based in Toronto from the mid 1960s, featuring Neil Merryweather and Stan Endersby and formed the link between The Just Us and Livingston’s Journey.-The Just Us:...

 and Livingstone’s Tripp (which Roth and Livingston had renamed Livingstone’s Journey following Lillie's departure to join Rick James briefly in the final version of The Mynah Byrds in May 1967).

Adding guitarist David Kindred and drummer Gary Hall, the new group, initially called New King Boiler began rehearsing in Lillie’s grandmother’s basement in May 1968. Kindred was quickly replaced by ex-Fraser Loveman Group guitarist Dave Burt (born in Hamilton, Ontario on September 19, 1948). (Apparently, Gary Hall drank so much coffee that Lillie's grandmother called him ‘Coffee’, and the band started to call him ‘Coffi’.)

Signs to Capitol Records

Renamed Heather Merryweather after a song the band performed whose lyrics were written by a band friend, June Nelson, the group soon shortened it to simply Merryweather. After recording a lone unreleased track “Heather Merryweather” in the autumn, the band drove down to Los Angeles but Livingstone dropped out before the band signed to Capitol Records in the spring of 1968.

Shortly before the release of the band’s eponymous debut, produced by John Gross, Lillie changed his surname and became Neil Merryweather. The band’s second (double album) was recorded in Los Angeles with the same line-up (Merryweather, Roth, Hall and Burt) but also featured help from Steve Miller

Steve Miller (musician)

Steven H. "Steve" Miller is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter who began his career in blues and blues rock and evolved to a more popular-oriented sound which, from the mid 1970s through the early 1980s, resulted in a series of successful singles and albums.-Early years:Born in Milwaukee,...

, Barry Goldberg

Barry Goldberg

Barry Goldberg is a blues and rock keyboardist, songwriter and record producer.-Career:As a teenager in Chicago, Goldberg sat in with Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, and Howlin' Wolf. He played keyboards in the band supporting Bob Dylan during his 1965 'electrified' appearance at the Newport Folk Festival...

 and Charlie Musselwhite

Charlie Musselwhite

Charlie Musselwhite is an American electric blues harmonica player and bandleader, one of the non-black bluesmen who came to prominence in the early 1960s, along with Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield. Though he has often been identified as a "white bluesman", he claims Native American heritage...

, ex-Traffic

Traffic (band)

Traffic were an English rock band whose members came from the West Midlands. The group formed in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason...

 guitarist Dave Mason

Dave Mason

David Thomas "Dave" Mason is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic...

, guitarist Howard Roberts and violinist Bobby Notkoff. The group was advertised as playing at the Whisky a Go Go

Whisky a Go Go

The Whisky a Go Go is a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard, on the Sunset Strip.-History:...

 in West Hollywood with Mountain

Mountain (band)

Mountain is an American hard rock band that formed in Long Island, New York in 1969. Originally comprising vocalist and guitarist Leslie West, bassist Felix Pappalardi and drummer N. D. Smart, the band broke up in 1972 before reuniting in 1974 and remaining active until today...

 on July 29, 1969.

Rick James

Merryweather performed at Thee Experience in Los Angeles on September 21-23, 1969 and appeared at Balboa Stadium, San Diego with Country Joe & The Fish, Poco

Poco

Poco is an Southern California country rock band originally formed by Richie Furay and Jim Messina following the demise of Buffalo Springfield in 1968. The title of their first album, Pickin' Up the Pieces, is a reference to the break-up of Buffalo Springfield. Highly influential and creative,...

, Chicago

Chicago (band)

Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...

 and Framework on October 12, 1969, after which Burt, followed by Hall and Roth, left to join forces with Rick James in a group called Salt and Pepper.

Aftermath

Neil Merryweather reacted by flying to Toronto to recruit replacements (ex-Ugly Ducklings drummer Robin Boers and guitarist John Richardson from Nucleus - and before that Lords of London), returning to Los Angeles to record an album for the Kent blues label in early 1970. The album was credited to Neil Merryweather, John Richardson and Boers - for some reason neglecting the presence of ex-49th Parallel member JJ Velker on organ. It attracted only limited interest, but the group, with the addition of Goldberg, Musselwhite and Merryweather's girlfriend, ex-CK Strong singer Lynn Carey

Lynn Carey

Lynn Carey is an American singer, songwriter, model, and actress best known as the lead vocalist in the band Mama Lion. She is also the daughter of actor Macdonald Carey.-Biography:...

, recorded "Ivar Avenue Reunion", then (minus Goldberg and Musselwhite) half of "Vacuum Cleaner" for RCA. The latter was completed with a new lineup featuring guitarist Kal David and a returning Roth and Hall and released as by Merryweather/Carey. The group evolved and recorded four more albums as Mama Lion (with Carey) and as Heavy Cruiser (without) before falling apart. Neil Merryweather went on to record with a new band called The Space Rangers.

In 1978 after visiting London Neil recorded the album Differences with British musicians including drummer Clive Edwards

Clive Edwards

Clive Edwards is a drummer, who is best known as a former member of the British band, UFO ....

 of Pat Travers and UFO fame.

Gary "Coffi" Hall died suddenly in his home on December 4th, 2010. He had been directing Midway's high school band and choir while living in Lakota, ND with his 12 year old son, Collin.

Trivia

Merryweather and Roth very nearly became the rhythm section in Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young but turned down an offer because “Word of Mouth” had just been released and they wanted to commit to the band.

Discography

• LP Merryweather (Capitol SKAO-220) 1968
• LP Word of Mouth (DBLP) (Capitol ST BB 278) 1969
• LP Kryptonite - Merryweather's Space Rangers (Capitol 1975) (SRM-1-1024) Great songs! Thanks Neil!
• Differences (1978)

Sources

• Rolling Stone review, October 18, 1969
• Bill Munson, interview with Ed Roth, 1976
• Bill Munson, interview with Jimmy Livingston, 1978
• Nick Warburton, interview with Neil Merryweather 2005
• Nick Warburton, interview with Dave Burt, 2006