George, David

Websites:  No
Origin: Toronto, Ontario, 🇨🇦
Biography:

Toronto singer-songwriter David George emerged in the early 1970s as part of the city’s expanding pop-soul studio scene centered around Eastern Sound. His debut album, Bit of Both (G.A.S. Records GLP-2003, 1973), was an ambitious fusion of rock, funk, and orchestral pop that drew on some of Canada’s finest session players. Produced by John Stewart and arranged by David Van De Pitte—the Motown arranger behind What’s Going On—the sessions featured an A-list of Toronto and Detroit talent, including Guido Basso, Rob McConnell, Moe Koffman, Earl Van Dyke, Diane Brooks, and Colina Phillips.

Recorded at Eastern Sound in December 1972 and released the following March, the album blended polished songwriting with tight horn and string charts that reflected the Motown influence seeping into Toronto studios of the day. The title track was issued as a 45 (“Bit of Both” b/w “Underneath the Twilight Canopy,” G.A.S. G-1009) and reached the RPM Top 100, peaking at #49 on June 16 1973. In an RPM editorial letter that May, producer John Stewart revealed that the rhythm section for the album was performed by the Toronto band Rose, another G.A.S. Records act, linking George directly to the label’s tight creative circle.

Following the album, George maintained a low public profile but continued to record. A CBC Radio Canada single, Caught in the Rain (LM 320, 1975), marked his next release, and a brief run of singles for A&M Canada followed: “Tropical Heat” (1975), “It’s Alright (Caught in the Rain)” (1975), and “Scorpio” (1976). These recordings carried forward the sophisticated pop-soul sound of his debut while pushing for broader commercial recognition through A&M’s national distribution.
-Robert Williston