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Motherlode was a Canadian pop rock group formed in 1969 in London, Ontario. The group scored some success in the US with their single, "When I Die",〔 which hit #18 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in 1969. The act remains a one-hit wonder. ==Biography== William Smith and Steve Kennedy had been playing together with Eric Mercury and Dianne Brooks in a Toronto band called the Soul Searchers that Mercury and Brooks fronted as lead vocalists. After the Soul Searchers broke up, first Kennedy and then Smith joined a group called Grant Smith and the Power which also featured David Clayton Thomas. Smith and Kennedy formed Motherlode in 1969 and relocated to London, Ontario, where they struggled and stayed with friends. They finally got a break following their debut at the Image Club when Mort Ross signed them to Revolver Records that same year. Their first single, "When I Die" that was produced by Doug Riley and Terry Brown did not make any headway on the radio. A reciprocal deal in the US with Buddah Records made the song a hit reaching Number 18 on the charts. The song sold more than 500,000 copies and it eventually climbed to Number 5 in the Canadian charts.〔 Brooks contributed a song "Memories of A Broken Promise" as well as some background vocals to Motherlode's ''When I Die album''. Motherlode also contributed a song and instrumental backing on Brooks album, ''Another Kind Of Soul'' that was released on Revolver Records.〔Toronto Blues Society (More About Dianne Brooks by Bill Munson )〕 The group broke up in January 1970 and their second album, ''Tapped Out'', was released posthumously only in the United States. Steve Kennedy, Ken Marco and Wayne Stone went on to be founding members of Dr. Music in Toronto, Canada. As Revolver Records owned the name Motherlode, it decided to reform the group, keeping William Smith making this the second version of the group. They had Smith bring in three new musicians, Doug Richardson (saxophone), Anthony Shinault (guitar) and Philip Wilson (drums). This version of Motherlode, the second released one single in late in 1970, "I'm So Glad You're You (And Not Me)" / "Whipoorwill" (instrumental). Their new single flopped and the group quickly broke up. Mort Ross, Revolver Record's president brought in Gord Waszek, of the rock group Leigh Ashford, to begin writing for the third version of Motherlode. They recorded "All That's Necessary", with Breen Leboeuf on vocals, Mike Levine on bass plus Gord Waszek and several other members of Leigh Ashford. The B-side of this single was "My Chant" which was just a renamed version of "Hiro Smothek" from 1970's ''Tapped Out''. To promote this record, another version of Motherlode, the fourth was created with Mike Levine (bass), Wayne St. John (vocals), Kieran Overs (guitar) and two former members of Leigh Ashford, Wally Cameron (drums) and Newton Garwood (keyboards). Despite a major promotion push the record flopped and the band broke up. By March 1971, a fifth version of Motherlode was created from the remnants of Natural Gas, a Montreal-based group. The members were Dave Berman (saxophone),Brian Dewhurst (drums), Gerry Legault (bass, vocals), Joey Roberts () (guitar) and Brian Wray (keyboards). They never managed to recording anything, and became Truck with the addition of Graham Lear.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Motherlode (band)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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