Peter and The Pipers

Peter and the Pipers were a short-lived Montréal, Québec rock group formed in 1967 from the musicians and history of J.B. and the Playboys and the Jaybees. The name lasted only a matter of months, but the musicians behind it had already spent several years at the centre of Montréal’s English-language rock scene.

The roots go back to the early 1960s. Allan Nicholls was singing with the Montereys when guitarist Bill Hill joined, and the partnership between the two grew into J.B. and the Playboys. With Nicholls on lead vocals, Hill and Andy Kaye on guitars, Louis Atkins on bass and Doug West on drums, the group built a following through dances, hotels and clubs across Montréal, Québec and Ontario, working rooms such as the Rawdon Inn and the Rockcliff Inn at Morin Heights. Manager Lionel Pasen put them in suits and Beatle boots and helped establish them as one of the city’s prominent young rock groups during the British Invasion years. On February 19, 1965 they opened for the Beach Boys at the Maurice-Richard Arena. They were also booked to open for the Rolling Stones there, but a backstage dispute over their place on the bill ended with J.B. and the Playboys being dropped from the Montréal show; they did open for the Stones in several other Canadian cities.

J.B. and the Playboys recorded for RCA Victor’s Canada International label. At the beginning of 1965 RCA issued three singles at once, each with a picture sleeve, and advertised the “triple jackpot” in RPM that March. ‘My Delight’ reached number 5 locally. They also cut a self-titled album in Toronto, and by 1966 they were recording as the Jaybees, a name adopted to avoid confusion with Gary Lewis and the Playboys. The records kept coming: ‘I Think of Her’ / ‘Unbelievable’, ‘I’m A Loner’ / ‘Do You Think I’m In Love’ and ‘Footsteps In The Snow’ / ‘One Love’ through 1966, followed by ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ / ‘Bad Sign’ in 1967.

By the summer of 1967 the group was changing again. Tim Forsythe left Our Generation that August, where he had played keyboards and harmonica for about a year and a half, and joined what was now Peter and the Pipers. The lineup identified in Dreams, Fantasies & Nightmares was Allan Nicholls, Bill Hill, Andy Kaye, Doug West and Tim Forsythe. No Peter among them.

Peter and the Pipers returned to RCA Victor’s Canada International label for what appears to have been their only release, ‘Rockin’ To Mars’ backed with ‘Girl On The Hit-Parade’, catalogue number 57-3430, issued in 1967. Both songs were written by Montréal poet and writer Mona Elaine Adilman, then 43. Adilman had graduated from McGill University in 1945 and was already writing for the stage; in 1954 she copyrighted Hit the Sky, a two-act musical for which she supplied both text and music. She later published several collections of poetry, taught Ecology and Literature at Concordia University and directed the heritage organization Save Montreal. A poetry prize at McGill now bears her name.

At 1:52, ‘Rockin’ To Mars’ is a compact rock-pop recording, with ‘Girl On The Hit-Parade’ running three seconds longer on the other side. The single did not establish Peter and the Pipers as a lasting name, and by the following year Nicholls and Hill had moved on.

Nicholls and Hill continued their long association in Carnival Connection, which released ‘Poster Man’ in 1968. Nicholls went on to theatre, film and television, starring in Hair on Broadway and working for years with Robert Altman. Hill remained active in Montréal music and became the guitarist, songwriter and producer at the centre of Freedom North, whose 1970 album became the first LP issued by Aquarius Records.

Peter and the Pipers left only one known single, but the record preserves a brief stage in the history of musicians who had already been recording together for several years. Within a year Nicholls and Hill were in Carnival Connection, while Hill would soon move on to Freedom North and another chapter in Montréal rock.

-Robert Williston