There’s a reason it’s considered the “Holy Grail” of Toronto Funk. The story behind this album is as amazing as the
music itself. It begins in Montego Bay, Jamaica, 1947
with the birth of Wilfred "Wayne" McGhie. McGhie first gained
notoriety playing on the Island circuit with the likes of the Celestials, Dizzy
Barker, and Jimmy Wisdom. In the 1960’s, after the Canadian Government relaxed
immigration policies, the streets of Toronto were no longer solely dominated by
the white European, Scotts and Irish. Instead there were pockets of immigrant
communities springing up all over the city. The Jamaican community used the
West Indian Federation Club located on
Brunswick Avenue as one of their cultural embassy’s. Or as
Harry Gairey wrote,
“We felt it would be some place for West Indian girls to go on their day off.”
This is where Jo Jo Bennett was tasked with
forming a house band and where our story begins. Bennet recruited McGhie from
Jamaica and after gigging at the
WIF
McGhie began to rise in local prominence. McGhie’s virtuoso was quickly
recognized and found him writing songs like, “Chips-Chicken-Banana Split”, performed
by Jo-Jo & The Fugatives and, “Mr. Fortune”, performed by the Hitchhikers –
both featured on the
Jamaica to Toronto compilation.
McGhie befriended Reggae superstar and
co-founder of the Skatalites, Jackie Mittoo – with whom he would later play in
a band. Mittoo recorded McGhee’s album at
Art Snider’s Sound Canada Recording Center in 1969
. (Interestingly enough,
Art’s brother, Dave, was the founder of
the famous
Dave Snider’s music store on Yonge St.) The credits on the album read
like a best-of list featuring the likes of Alton Ellis, Ike Bennett, Everton
Paul and Lloyd Delpratt. The record was a hit and they knew it. Snider saw
potential in the record and made a deal with
Quality Music’s subsidiary
Birchmount to distribute the album. Everything was going perfectly.
But! Just as
Wayne
McGhie & The Sounds of Joy was hitting the shelves, there was a fire at
Birchmount’s warehouse destroying all
remaining copies. After the record failed to initially sell, plans to re-issue
it were abandoned and it seemed like this album would be lost to the sands of time.
After the albums commercial failure, McGhie
returned to Jamaica and continued to try and produce music. Moving between
Toronto and Jamaica, a dissuaded McGhie eventually dropped off the map – both
with friends and the broader Toronto music scene. During all this, John Carraro, an NYC record dealer, managed to find a copy of the long-lost
Birchmount original and sold it to
P.M. Dawn (New Jack Swing duo) for a supposed $300. Side note, copies today go up to
$584 USD. As word of the fat breaks and heavy beats on the album spread thanks
to DJ’s like Q-Tip, Mr. Supreme, Pete Rock, DJ Sureshot, Buck 65, and Gary G-Wiz (Public Enemy), the album began to gain prominence in the funk world. But
where was Mr. Mcghee?
After a chance encounter with
Jay Douglas
(Torontonian reggae/soul artist), the great guys at Seattle based
Light In The Attic Records were able to
track him down at his sister's house in Toronto. McGhee looks to be doing well and I’m sure he’s happy that his long lost album is finally gaining the
recognition it deserves as the Holy Grail of Toronto Funk.
The album features Everton Paul and J. Joseph on drums. Listen for the distinct bass drum and complementary tight snare and hi-hat in the first four bars of "Dirty Funk". I'm not sure exactly how they recorded it, but the drums have a real punch, and in turn power the rest of the band. Tracks to look out for include the R. B. Greaves cover "Take A Letter Maria" and the feel-good classic "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye". Enjoy.
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The group was formed in 1973 in Washington DC by Jazz legend Donald Byrd. Byrd was teaching at Howard University and selected six promising pupils to record an album. With the help of production genius Larry Mizell, they cut this album at Fantasy's studios.
The album is famous for it's fusion of complex and melodic horn lines with straight ahead funk rhythms - finding a solid balance between jazz and funk. It's also great sample material (The Beastie Boys shout out the Blackbyrds on their song Do It)! Songs to check out include Do It Fluid, Runaway and Life Styles.
