Another old friend and unsung Hamilton rocker has recently passed away. Michael ‘OB’ O’Brien.I was just out of school and on my first real job when I met Michael. He was hired to replace me when I made my first step up the corporate ladder at Dofasco in early 1964. We got to talking and I found out he followed the music I liked and had seen the band I played with on weekends, Son Richard and the Chessmen, a few times around town.
At the time he was especially interested in Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland, stuff like “Little Boy Blue”, “Farther Up The Road”, “Cry, Cry, Cry” and “Don’t Cry No More” which I had on Duke Records 45s I’d picked up in Buffalo. We would get together and spin discs and talk about bands and such. I introduced him to other Duke recording artists of the time and lots of other obscure to the top 40 general public, R’nB and rock ‘n roll artists.
Soon I was bringing Son Richard (Newell) out to meet O’Brien and the world turned from there. In 1971, after Richard left Crowbar and formed his own band The Real Gooduns, OB let us rehearse endlessly for weeks in his basement in Westdale to get ready for an upcoming tour. Later on after the Gooduns, Michael decided to put his rock & roll smarts together and form his own band. I was asked to play bass and from then on I played with OB in several bands he formed and fronted on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, off and on, right through the mid-1980s.
The first band I participated in with him was when OB and Michael “Greek” Short set up The M&M Band in the fall of 1973. I spent a lot of quality bass time with “The Mikes,” at the Elmar Tavern at Main and Caroline South in the Hammer, then the hottest weekend draught room gig in town. OB handled vocals and Short played piano while Rick Golka on Telecaster and Steve Bannon on Les Paul, shared guitar duties. Ray “Buddy” Fennell, later replaced by Greg “The Shark” Zark, smacked drums and tinkled tin. In 1974, Stratford’s John Till late of Janis Joplin’s Full Tilt Boogie Band and Ronnie Hawkins’ Hawks replaced Rick.
We did a number of recent but relatively obscure songs that didn’t make the Top 40 but FM radio was becoming the king of airwaves in the mid-1970’ so we did songs like “It Takes A lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry” and lots of other electric Bob Dylan like “Down In The Flood” and “Lay Lady Lay”. And psychedelic country stuff like New Riders of the Purple Sages’Branded Man. “Dim, Dim Lights” and “White Line Fever,” as well as Chicago Blues like J. B. Lenoir’s “Mama, Talk To Your Daughter” and Muddy Water’s version of “Walking Blues.” Throw in lots of Chuck Berry, including “School Days and “Childhood Sweetheart” with some Merle Haggard, “Last Night The Bottle Let Me Down,” “Mama Said” and “Branded Man.” And some original music too. Upon request we did a mean take on Ronnie Hawkins’ version of Bo Diddley’s “Hey, Bo Diddley,” which, being the Hammer, meant we played it most every night and probably twice. It was the Rock‘n’Roll Hammer’s favourite anthem at that time. It was a good gig with loyal audiences. It lasted for a of couple of great, rockin’ years.
In 1977, I heard through a friend that the new owner of the venerable Park House at King Street West and Locke Street had renamed the old beer hall “Kilroys” and was looking for a band. Specifically a “vintage” pre-British Invasion Rock & Roll band. Stuff like from 1954 – 1959. I gave Mike O’Brien a call andOB talked to the cat and nailed the gig. We got together again with former Chessmen and M&M’s lead guitarist Rick Golka and newcomer Jain Dickinson, on vocals and drums. OB was the lead vocalist and played rhythm guitar while Rick blew lead and sang harmony as either Phil or Don in the numerous Everly Brothers songs we covered, from “Bird Dog” to “Claudette.” Twenty years or so in the time was right for rock and roll revival, the audience loved “Wake Up Little Suzie.” We did Buddy too. As in Holly. “Not Fade Away.” “Oh Boy.” “Think It Over.” “Rave On.” “Peggy Sue.” If a’ ya’ knew! And Michael was a great vocalist---he did fabulous Elvis before the Elvii impersonators arrived!
We called the band Almost Grown Berry after the Chuck Berry song. Yeah, we played lots and lots of Sun-era Elvis and, much to my delight, tunes by one of my all time favourite R’nB singers, Hank Ballard. Jain sang “The Twist”, “The Hootchy Kootchy Koo” and “Sugaree”. We pulled out old 50s favourites like Gene Vincent's “Lotta’ Lovin’”, “Woman Love” and his big hit “Be-Bop-a-Lula”. Jain did tasty versions of Little Richard’s “Lucille” and Jimmy Reed’s “You Don’t Have To Go” as well as duets with Mike like Brook Benton and Dinah Washington’s “Baby, You’ve Got What It Takes” and many other assorted Rock & Roll, Blues and R’nB ditties. The crowds love it and every weekend there were line-ups at the door.
In late 1977 Golka left the band and again was replaced by John Till. With John back in the mix the music got updated and veered towards tunes like David Lindley’s “Mercury Blues”, Muddy Water’s “Why Do People Act Like That” and the Band’s version of “Ain’t That A Lot of Love.” Jain began singing more leads as well as the duets. We also started doing original tunes incorporating songs written by Ron Copple: “Ass In Dixie” and “Teacher’s Pet”. We did Rick Golka’s “Here’s To You”, and we did the tune I had co-written with Richard Newell, Caledonia River, a local favourite at that time. Yeah, we were definitely bending vintage rock to our own rockin`blues style.
Outside in the real world, retro-vintage was getting weird. One day while I was hangin’ at OB’s when in walks this kid with a pompadour, black slacks and a white sports coat, the whole ball of wax. Turned out MIchael was givin’ this kid “Elvis lessons.” And the kid was paying MIchael money. Real green. Awesome! Subway Elvis (Michael McTaggart) also showed up in OBs life around this time. What a hoot Subway was, getting lots of media attention back in the late 1970`s hair like Elvis etc., swivelling his hips and belting out Elvis tunes in the Toronto subway system.
Back at Kilroy’s Almost Grown was getting hotter. In April of 1977 we went to Thunder Sound inToronto, a hot recording venue in Canada at that time, and recorded Copple’s “(Getting’ My) Ass In Dixie” and Golka’s “Here’s To You[”. In the end though, MIchael couldn’t find a label for them. But man it sure was great to be in a recording studio again doing original tunes.
After a couple of really great years the venue went belly up. Tax problems. Everyone from the owner to the waitresses, from the bartenders to the band to the guy who swept the floors probably, got audited by Canada Revenue. What started so great ended in a big screw-up! Sorry Mr. Taxman, I had no idea what was going on; please don’t hurt me.
I played lots of pickup gigs with O’Brien off and on through the mid-1980’s. We sure had a wonderful time. And OB, let’s do some juicin’, pass me a toke and reserve me a room at the Rock-It Hotel. Here`s to you Michael I’m drinkin’ to ya’!




