Chimo!

Websites:  No
Origin: Parry Sound, Ontario, 🇨🇦
Biography:

Chimo!’s roots reach back to Parry Sound, Ontario, where the band’s earliest incarnation emerged in 1964 as The Georgian IV. That group consisted of Ross Raby (vocals, organ, piano), John Johnson (vocals, guitar), Stewart McCann (bass), and Rick King (drums). Touring steadily throughout Ontario, Québec, and New York State, the Georgian IV developed a reputation as a road-hardened working band before regional lineups and musical directions began to shift.

The turning point came following the dissolution of The David Clayton-Thomas Combine, itself an offshoot of Clayton-Thomas’s earlier group The Bossmen. Guitarist Jack Mowbray, formerly of the Bossmen, joined the Georgian IV, prompting a name change to The Georgian People. Seeking to expand the group’s musical vocabulary, Mowbray soon brought in his former Bossmen bandmate Tony Collacott, a jazz-trained pianist whose playing had already made a mark on Canadian rock through his explosive solo on the Bossmen’s “Brainwashed.”

Now operating primarily on the southern Ontario bar and lounge circuit, the Georgian People began writing and refining original material alongside their live commitments. Their efforts coincided with the launch of Mort Ross’s Revolver Records, which soon signed the band. As momentum built, personnel changes followed. Stewart McCann stepped away from bass duties, with John Johnson shifting roles to cover the position while relinquishing guitar to Mowbray. Drummer Rick King departed and was replaced by Pat Little, formerly of the David Clayton-Thomas Combine and Luke and the Apostles.

The group’s final transformation came with the addition of powerhouse vocalist Breen LeBoeuf, at which point the band adopted the name Chimo!—an Inuit word commonly translated as “hello,” “brotherhood,” or “peace.” One further lineup change occurred just prior to recording, when jazz-influenced drummer Andy Cree replaced Pat Little behind the kit.

In the spring of 1970, Revolver issued Chimo!’s debut single, a reworking of Clayton-Thomas’s “Quicksilver Woman.” Though the record attracted attention, sales were modest. A second single, “Silken Silver Melody,” followed later that summer and fared slightly better, hinting at the group’s emerging identity: a dense, progressive blend of jazz harmony, rock organ, and extended arrangements. Despite limited commercial traction in Canada, Mort Ross succeeded in placing the band’s self-titled album with Epic Records in the United States, where it received positive notices but only middling sales.

Shortly after the album’s completion, Andy Cree exited the band, and Pat Little returned to the drum chair. By the end of 1971, however, internal strains became increasingly evident. John Johnson and Ross Raby departed around the time Chimo!’s final single, “Cross Country Man,” was released. Tony Collacott soon followed, leaving Mowbray, Little, and LeBoeuf to continue briefly as a trio before the project finally dissolved.

In the years that followed, Chimo!’s members dispersed into notable and varied careers. Pat Little became a respected session drummer and later performed with acts including Modern Rock Quartet, Fludd, and Diamondback. Breen LeBoeuf went on to a brief reformation of Motherlode, followed by work with Southcote, and ultimately became a defining presence in Offenbach. Jack Mowbray formed a lounge-oriented duo with his wife before retiring from the music industry altogether. Tony Collacott returned largely to jazz and low-profile work, while Ross Raby stepped away from the spotlight. Stewart McCann ultimately left the music business entirely and later became a Professor of Psychology at an east coast university.

Though short-lived, Chimo! occupies a distinctive place in Canadian rock history—bridging the explosive R&B-rock of the Bossmen era with the more exploratory, jazz-inflected progressive sounds that emerged in Canada at the dawn of the 1970s.
-Robert Williston

Core Chimo! Lineup (Album Era)

Jack Mowbray: guitar
Tony Collacott: keyboards
Ross Raby: keyboards, vocals
John Johnson: guitar, bass
Andy Cree: drums
Breen LeBoeuf: lead vocals

(Pat Little: drums — earlier and later configurations)