Mike McKenna
Encyclopedia
Mike McKenna is a professional Canadian rock / blues guitarist
noted for his electric slide playing. He is also notebale as a professional sound engineer. He is headliner for the Mike McKenna Band.
playing, McKenna began playing professionally in the early 1960s in Yorkville
where he formed the group Luke & The Apostles
. McKenna was one of the first Toronto rock guitar players to play a hollow body while most rock musicians were still playing solid bodies (for example Stratocasters and Telecasters). McKenna got a particularly rich sound by playing through 200 watt Marshall Plexi stacks and using banjo strings on the high end to make note bending easier (a trick he learned through Robbie Robertson
- then playing with The Hawks and backing Ronnie Hawkins). Mckenna has worked with such artists as; Robbie Robertson, Jerry Garcia, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Neil Young, and Shania Twain.
Luke and the Apostles were asked to open for Jefferson Airplane
and The Grateful Dead by Bill Graham (of Fillmore East / Filmore West fame) for a week long stint at Toronto's O'Keefe Centre in 1967. Jerry Garcia
apparently liked the sound of McKenna's Les Paul so much he bought it (reportedly it's the black Les Paul Garcia once posed with when he was being photographed for Rolling Stone magazine). An invitation to visit New York to open with the Dead followed and the Apostles recorded a single for Elektra Records
(produced by The Doors' Paul Rothchild).
Unfortunately inconclusive contract negotiations and conflicting priorities saw the band returning to Canada and eventually disbanding. (Paul Rothchild reportedly said the Luke and The Apostles material was the "greatest album he never made").
Back in Canada and a couple of years later, a newspaper ad put Mike in touch with Joe Mendelson
, leading to the formation of the McKenna Mendelson Mainline
(later known simply as Mainline), recording the album McKenna Mendelson Blues - a demo recorded in Canada but unreleased till after the band had gone to England (at John Lee Hooker's
suggestion) and had great success with the landmark (and seminal McKenna mendelson Mainline) album Stink (recorded in 1969 in the UK). "Stink" garnered considerable success in England and throughout Europe and the band returned to Canada to critical and popular acclaim. However for various reasons MMM disbanded in the early 70s . There were a couple of posthumus reunions as "Mainline", including two very successful tours of Australia, and the notorious "Bump and Grind Review" which yielded a live album "The Mainline Bump and Grind Review Live at the Victory" (recorded at Toronto's famous Victory Burlesque Theatre) in 1972. A final album with Joe Mendelson entitled "No Substitutes" was released in 1973, after which McKenna and Mendelson never played together again.
McKenna has been with a number of notable groups throughout the years since Mainline called it quits, including tenure with Downchild Blues Band
(one of actor Dan Aykroyd
's favourite bands), the legendary Diamondback band, and The Guess Who
(replacing Domenic Troiano
on guitar). After a hiatus of some years, he formed Slidewinder with saxophonist Ronnie Jacobs ( a Mainline alumnus and a founding member of the Downchild Blues Band) in the early - mid 90's and released a self-titled CD "Mike McKenna and Slidewinder" in 1997.
When Toronto's internationally known El Mocambo
Tavern closed down in November 2001, McKenna and the alumni Mainline members(but without Joe mendelson)were invited to perform and McKenna along with Tony Nolasco (drums, vocals, Ted Purdy (acoustic guitar, vocals) Mike Harrison (bass) and Bob Adams (harp) entered Toronto's rock history as the last band to grace the El Mo's famous upstairs stage. Ironically, neither McKenna Mendelson Mainline or Mainline ever performed at the El Mo while they were together, although McKenna did perform there with his band Diamondback in the mid-late 70s.
In later years, McKenna reformed with Luke Gibson (of Luke and the Apostles) as lead guitarist for The Luke Gibson Band - the house band for the Blues on Belair Club in Toronto in the late 1990s. He also played briefly with the original Mainline members (sans Mendelson) at the same venue. Some excellent live recordings exist but have never been released.
McKenna is currently rehearsing and recording with the original members of Diamondback. There are plans to release the Diamondback album originally recorded in 1974 (but never released) as a re-recorded and re-mastered CD in the fall of 2008. Mike also continues to play regularly headlining The Mike McKenna Band, and appearing as "the special guest artist" with many local bands and musicians on the central / southern Ontario club circuit. He is also working on material for a new CD (reportedly an all-acoustic mix of original material and blues standards).
On April 25, 2009 McKenna celebrated both his birthday and his 45 years on the Toronto music scene by hosting an all day event at the Black Swan Tavern in Toronto. The sold-out event featured a whos-who of Toronto's rock and roll / blues / Yorkville Sound scene including the original members of Mainlne - Tony Nolasco, Mike Harrison, Ted Purdy (who replaced Mendelson) and Bob Adams (sitting in on harmonica); Luke Gibson (of Luke and the Apostles), Dave Bingham (of the Ugly Ducklings), Kensington Market, various members of DiamondBack, Scott "Professor Piano" Cushnie among others. A CD - DVD is tentatively planned for release 2010/2011.
In the fall of 2009, McKenna began rehearsing once again with Luke Gibson (of Luke & the Apostles). With David Martin / drums, percussion; William (Bill) Miller / bass; and Frank Sedlak / keyboards and vibes, Mckenna (on lead guitar, slide guitar, vocals) and Gibson (doing the honours on lead vocals and guitar) showcased the McKenna Gibson Band to a full-house at the Black Swan Tavern in Toronto on December 12, 2009.
as MCKENNA MENDELSON MAINLINE
Better Watch Out/ She's Alright (Liberty/United Artists - UK)
as MAINLINE
1969 Stink (Liberty/United Artists)
as MAINLINE
as MIKE McKENNA
with /DIAMONDBACK
Original cd (recorded 1974) for upcoming release (Pacemaker Records)
with DOWNCHILD BLUES BAND
with VARIOUS ARTISTS (COMPILATIONS)
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
noted for his electric slide playing. He is also notebale as a professional sound engineer. He is headliner for the Mike McKenna Band.
History
Known largely for his slide guitarSlide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
playing, McKenna began playing professionally in the early 1960s in Yorkville
Yorkville, Toronto
Yorkville is a district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, well known for its shopping. It is a former village, annexed by the City of Toronto. It is roughly bounded by Bloor Street to the south, Davenport Road to the north, Yonge Street to the east and Avenue Road to the west, and is considered part of...
where he formed the group Luke & The Apostles
Luke & The Apostles
Luke & The Apostles was a 1960s blues group from Toronto known for their 1967 hit "Been Burnt". Band members included Canadian guitarist Mike McKenna, Luke Gibson, Peter Jermyn, Jim Jones, and Pat Little...
. McKenna was one of the first Toronto rock guitar players to play a hollow body while most rock musicians were still playing solid bodies (for example Stratocasters and Telecasters). McKenna got a particularly rich sound by playing through 200 watt Marshall Plexi stacks and using banjo strings on the high end to make note bending easier (a trick he learned through Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson, OC; is a Canadian singer-songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known for his membership as the guitarist and primary songwriter within The Band. He was ranked 59th in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time...
- then playing with The Hawks and backing Ronnie Hawkins). Mckenna has worked with such artists as; Robbie Robertson, Jerry Garcia, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Neil Young, and Shania Twain.
Luke and the Apostles were asked to open for Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
and The Grateful Dead by Bill Graham (of Fillmore East / Filmore West fame) for a week long stint at Toronto's O'Keefe Centre in 1967. Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
apparently liked the sound of McKenna's Les Paul so much he bought it (reportedly it's the black Les Paul Garcia once posed with when he was being photographed for Rolling Stone magazine). An invitation to visit New York to open with the Dead followed and the Apostles recorded a single for Elektra Records
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
(produced by The Doors' Paul Rothchild).
Unfortunately inconclusive contract negotiations and conflicting priorities saw the band returning to Canada and eventually disbanding. (Paul Rothchild reportedly said the Luke and The Apostles material was the "greatest album he never made").
Back in Canada and a couple of years later, a newspaper ad put Mike in touch with Joe Mendelson
Mendelson Joe
Mendelson Joe is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, painter and outspoken political activist and uses his art to express political themes. His most famous painting depicted Prime Minister Brian Mulroney with his face superimposed on a pair of human buttocks...
, leading to the formation of the McKenna Mendelson Mainline
McKenna Mendelson Mainline
McKenna Mendelson Mainline is a seminal Canadian blues band, working the same English club circuit as the then up and coming bands Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin...
(later known simply as Mainline), recording the album McKenna Mendelson Blues - a demo recorded in Canada but unreleased till after the band had gone to England (at John Lee Hooker's
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
suggestion) and had great success with the landmark (and seminal McKenna mendelson Mainline) album Stink (recorded in 1969 in the UK). "Stink" garnered considerable success in England and throughout Europe and the band returned to Canada to critical and popular acclaim. However for various reasons MMM disbanded in the early 70s . There were a couple of posthumus reunions as "Mainline", including two very successful tours of Australia, and the notorious "Bump and Grind Review" which yielded a live album "The Mainline Bump and Grind Review Live at the Victory" (recorded at Toronto's famous Victory Burlesque Theatre) in 1972. A final album with Joe Mendelson entitled "No Substitutes" was released in 1973, after which McKenna and Mendelson never played together again.
McKenna has been with a number of notable groups throughout the years since Mainline called it quits, including tenure with Downchild Blues Band
Downchild Blues Band
The Downchild Blues Band is a Canadian blues band, described by one reviewer as "the premier blues band in Canada". The band is still commonly known as the Downchild Blues Band, though the actual band name was shortened to "Downchild" as of the early 1980s....
(one of actor Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...
's favourite bands), the legendary Diamondback band, and The Guess Who
The Guess Who
The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Initially gaining recognition in Canada, they also found international success from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s with numerous hit singles, including "American Woman", "These Eyes" and "Share the Land"...
(replacing Domenic Troiano
Domenic Troiano
Domenic Troiano was a Canadian rock guitarist, most notable for his contributions to Mandala, The James Gang, The Guess Who and as a solo artist.-History:...
on guitar). After a hiatus of some years, he formed Slidewinder with saxophonist Ronnie Jacobs ( a Mainline alumnus and a founding member of the Downchild Blues Band) in the early - mid 90's and released a self-titled CD "Mike McKenna and Slidewinder" in 1997.
When Toronto's internationally known El Mocambo
El Mocambo
The El Mocambo Tavern is a live music and entertainment venue in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located on Spadina Avenue, just south of College Street, the bar played an important role in the development of popular music in Toronto since the 19th century...
Tavern closed down in November 2001, McKenna and the alumni Mainline members(but without Joe mendelson)were invited to perform and McKenna along with Tony Nolasco (drums, vocals, Ted Purdy (acoustic guitar, vocals) Mike Harrison (bass) and Bob Adams (harp) entered Toronto's rock history as the last band to grace the El Mo's famous upstairs stage. Ironically, neither McKenna Mendelson Mainline or Mainline ever performed at the El Mo while they were together, although McKenna did perform there with his band Diamondback in the mid-late 70s.
In later years, McKenna reformed with Luke Gibson (of Luke and the Apostles) as lead guitarist for The Luke Gibson Band - the house band for the Blues on Belair Club in Toronto in the late 1990s. He also played briefly with the original Mainline members (sans Mendelson) at the same venue. Some excellent live recordings exist but have never been released.
McKenna is currently rehearsing and recording with the original members of Diamondback. There are plans to release the Diamondback album originally recorded in 1974 (but never released) as a re-recorded and re-mastered CD in the fall of 2008. Mike also continues to play regularly headlining The Mike McKenna Band, and appearing as "the special guest artist" with many local bands and musicians on the central / southern Ontario club circuit. He is also working on material for a new CD (reportedly an all-acoustic mix of original material and blues standards).
On April 25, 2009 McKenna celebrated both his birthday and his 45 years on the Toronto music scene by hosting an all day event at the Black Swan Tavern in Toronto. The sold-out event featured a whos-who of Toronto's rock and roll / blues / Yorkville Sound scene including the original members of Mainlne - Tony Nolasco, Mike Harrison, Ted Purdy (who replaced Mendelson) and Bob Adams (sitting in on harmonica); Luke Gibson (of Luke and the Apostles), Dave Bingham (of the Ugly Ducklings), Kensington Market, various members of DiamondBack, Scott "Professor Piano" Cushnie among others. A CD - DVD is tentatively planned for release 2010/2011.
In the fall of 2009, McKenna began rehearsing once again with Luke Gibson (of Luke & the Apostles). With David Martin / drums, percussion; William (Bill) Miller / bass; and Frank Sedlak / keyboards and vibes, Mckenna (on lead guitar, slide guitar, vocals) and Gibson (doing the honours on lead vocals and guitar) showcased the McKenna Gibson Band to a full-house at the Black Swan Tavern in Toronto on December 12, 2009.
Singles
with LUKE & THE APOSTLES- 1967 Been Burnt c/w Don’t Know Why (Bounty 45105)
- 1967 Been Burnt c/w Don’t Know Why (Elektra 45105)
- 1970 You Make Me High c/w Not Far Off (TN 101)
- 1970 You Make Me High c/w You Make Me High (TN 102)
as MCKENNA MENDELSON MAINLINE
Better Watch Out/ She's Alright (Liberty/United Artists - UK)
- 1969 Don't Give Me No Goose For Christmas/Beltmaker (Liberty/United Artists - UK)
as MAINLINE
- 1971 Get Down To/Pedalictus Rag (GRT)
Albums
as MCKENNA MENDELSON MAINLINE1969 Stink (Liberty/United Artists)
- 1969 McKenna Mendelson Mainline Blues (Paragon/Allied)
- 1996 McKenna Mendelson Mainline Blues [CD re-issue] (Pacemaker)
as MAINLINE
- 1971 Canada Our Home & Native Land (GRT)
- 1972 The Mainline Bump 'n' Grind Revue
- 1973 No Substitute
- 1994 Stink (Capitol-EMI / re-issue)
- 2002 Last Show @ The Elmo (Bullseye)
as MIKE McKENNA
- 1996 Mike McKenna and Slidewinder (Pacemaker)
- 2007 Live Bootleg (Indie)
with /DIAMONDBACK
Original cd (recorded 1974) for upcoming release (Pacemaker Records)
with DOWNCHILD BLUES BAND
- 1987 It's Been So Long (Stony Plain)
with VARIOUS ARTISTS (COMPILATIONS)
- 1998 North Of Watford Volume 3: 24 RARE POP &
- SOUL CLASSICS 1966 - 1992 (KRL) - track - "She's Alright"
- 197-? Steps ... From Anywhere (LIBERTY) - track - "Better Watch Out"