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Luke & The Apostles were one of Canada’s finest bands, but never achieved the success that they deserved. The group was formed in Toronto out of guitarist Mike McKenna’s band, Mike’s Trio in early 1964 and specialised in raw cover versions of blues standards. The original line up consisted of McKenna; singer Luke Gibson; keyboard player Peter Jermyn (b. 6 Nov. 1946, Toronto); bass player Graham Dunsmore and drummer Rich McMurray.
The group soon became regulars at Toronto’s top clubs, El Patio, Boris’ Red Gas Room and the Purple Onion. In fact, such was the demand from local fans that, according to Canadian rock journalist Nicholas Jennings, the band was still playing at the latter a year on from its debut. As a result of this interest, Luke & The Apostles were one of the 14 local bands, chosen to appear at the 14-hour long rock show held at Maple Leaf Gardens on 24 September, 1966.
Earlier that year, the group had attracted the attention of Elektra Records’ producer Paul Rothchild, who offered the band a recording deal in New York. By this point, the group had undergone several personnel changes with new bass player Jim Jones joining the band alongside harp player Ray Bennett. The group subsequently recorded around eight tracks and played at the Bitter End, Steve Paul’s Scene and the Cafe Au Go Go during its visit to the Big Apple.
However, only a lone single (coupling Bennett’s ‘Been Burnt’ with McKenna’s ‘Don’t Know Why’) was prepared for release, and then was put on hold for nearly a year while Rothchild served a prison sentence for marijuana possession. Following the recordings, Pat Little was brought in on drums in place of McMurray.
When the single finally appeared in early 1967, the label had dropped Luke & The Apostles and the band had undergone further changes – Jermyn and Jones had both left on separate occasions only to return shortly after the single’s belated release and Bennett had dropped out to pursue a non-musical career. During the interim, the band ploughed on with keyboard player Bob Kendall and bass player Dennis Pendrith, who subsequently went on to play with Simon Caine & The Catch and Livingston’s Journey (see Stan Endersby article at Classic Rock Page).
Despite the comings and goings of various members, Luke & The Apostles were still a major local draw. On 23 July, the band was invited to open for Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead at Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square in front of 50,000 people. Promoter Bill Graham was suitably impressed by their performance and asked them to repeat their support act at the O’Keefe Centre from 31 July-5 August. During the show the band performed a version of Neil Young’s ‘Mr Soul’, as well as covers of blues favourites ‘Good Morning Little School Girl’ and ‘You Can’t Judge A Book By Its Cover.’ The show proved to be the group’s swan song; everybody was ready for a change and immediately after the O’Keefe shows, the band broke up.
Gibson immediately accepted an offer to join the more progressive Kensington Market where he would develop his song writing skills. McKenna meanwhile subsequently played with the Ugly Ducklings before forming McKenna Mendelson (Mainline) the following summer. Little joined David Clayton-Thomas Combine briefly (appearing on the original version of ‘Spinning Wheel’), before joining The Georgian People (later better known as Chimo!), and Jones played with several local groups, including the Artist Jazz band. Jermyn, who passed on an offer to join The Blues Project because he would have been liable to be drafted, subsequently moved to Ottawa to join Heart, which evolved into The Modern Rock Quartet (MRQ).
Legend surrounding the band, grew locally over the following years and in January 1970, Gibson, McKenna and Little formed a super group version of the band with future Chris de Burgh sideman Danny McBride on second lead guitar and ex-Paupers bass player Denny Gerrard. The new line up however only lasted a few days and former Buffalo Springfield bass player Bruce Palmer soon replaced Gerrard before Jack Geisinger from local bands Damage, Milkwood and Influence arrived in time to play on a lone 45, issued on True North Records.
The resulting single, Gibson’s ‘You Make Me So High’, is arguably one of the best records to come out of the Toronto scene from that period, and even managed to reach #27 on Canada’s RPM chart in October of that year. The b-side, ‘Not Far Off’ written by Gibson, McKenna and Little has a Led Zeppelin feel and some tasty guitar interplay between McKenna and McBride.
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The new band however failed to gel; McBride and McKenna left after the recording (the latter to rejoin Mainline) and Geisinger’s former Influence cohort Walter Rossi joined in their place (See Influence article at Classic Rock Page).
In September, Gibson left for a solo career followed by Little and the remaining members recruited ex-Wizard member Mike Driscoll on drums. They continued briefly as The Apostles before splitting in early 1971. Rossi subsequently recorded a Hendrix-inspired album as Charlee in early 1972 with help from Geisinger and Driscoll before embarking on a solo career. Gibson also established a solo career, albeit a brief one and recorded a lone album for True North Records with help from Dennis Pendrith, Jim Jones and Bruce Cockburn.
But Luke & The Apostles’ story doesn’t end there. Early members Gibson, Jermyn, Jones and McKenna reformed the group in the late ‘90s for the ‘Toronto Rock Revival’ concert held at the Warehouse on 2 May, 1999 and later that year Jermyn, Jones and McKenna held down a residency at Yorkville club Blues On Bellair. On one weekend a month, the trio were joined by Gibson, who currently leads his own band. As recently as 1 June 2002, Luke & The Apostles, featuring a line up of Gibson, McKenna, Jermyn, Jones and drummer Cassius Perreira were playing at Blues on Bellair. Local label Bullseye Records was planning to record one of the group’s shows for a live CD, but so far nothing has emerged. Nevertheless, arguably Toronto’s finest blues band, still commands a loyal following, and it is only a matter of time before the world catches up with one of Toronto’s best kept secrets.
I have tried to ensure that the article is as accurate as possible. However, I accept that there may be errors and omissions and would be interested to hear from anyone who can add material or correct any mistakes. I can be contacted at
Warchive@aol.com
Many thanks to Bill Munson, Carny Corbett, Peter Jermyn and Mike McKenna..
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