Ivar Avenue Reunion

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Origin: Winnipeg, Manitoba (Neil Merryweather); Toronto, Ontario (Robin Boers, John Richardson); Calgary, Alberta (JJ Velker)
Biography:

Ivar Avenue Reunion was a short-lived but remarkable Los Angeles blues-rock-soul project built around Canadian bassist-vocalist Neil Merryweather and American singer Lynn Carey, joined by a powerhouse lineup that included harmonica great Charlie Musselwhite, keyboardists Barry Goldberg and J.J. Velker, guitarist John Richardson, and drummer Robin Boers. Although they existed for barely a moment, the group captured an unusual and electric crossroads between Toronto’s late-’60s psychedelic diaspora and L.A.’s flourishing blues underground. They joined the Museum of Canadian Music back in 2011, and their lone 1970 album has since become a cult favourite among collectors of soulful West Coast rock.

The story begins in 1969, when Merryweather arrived in Los Angeles with his namesake Toronto band. Newly signed to Capitol, they cut two LPs in quick succession — Merryweather and the sprawling double-set Word of Mouth — sessions that brought him into contact with American heavyweights like harmonica titan Charlie Musselwhite and keyboardist Barry Goldberg. Goldberg was already a recognized figure on the West Coast scene: a Chicago-bred pianist who had played with Mike Bloomfield, fronted the Barry Goldberg Blues Band, co-founded The Electric Flag, appeared on Al Kooper and Stephen Stills’ Super Session, cut two solo albums for Buddah, and collaborated with everyone from Mother Earth to Harvey Mandel. Musselwhite, by this time, was firmly established as one of the finest modern blues harpists, with sessions under his belt for Tracy Nelson, John Hammond, the Barry Goldberg Blues Band, and his own early Vanguard solo recordings.

By late 1969, Merryweather had cut another album — Neil Merryweather, John Richardson and Boers for the Kent label — built around a trio of Canadian musicians he had recruited from the Toronto scene: former Ugly Ducklings drummer Robin Boers, ex-Nucleus guitar prodigy John Richardson, and former 49th Parallel keyboardist J.J. Velker. When Musselwhite and Goldberg reconnected with Merryweather at RCA Studios on Ivar Avenue, the idea of pooling their talents became irresistible. With the addition of Merryweather’s partner Lynn Carey — an exceptionally powerful vocalist freshly departed from Epic Records’ soul-rock group C.K. Strong — the seven-piece Ivar Avenue Reunion took shape almost instantly.

The name was both literal and sentimental: Ivar Avenue was where the sessions took place, and it also marked a reunion between Merryweather, Musselwhite, and Goldberg, who had previously collaborated during the Word of Mouth era. In the studio, the group settled into a thick, blues-rooted sound that allowed Carey’s enormous voice, Musselwhite’s expressive harp, and Goldberg’s soulful keyboard lines to rise over Merryweather’s muscular bass and the Richardson–Boers rhythm section. Velker appears selectively—electric piano on “Ride Mama Ride” and organ on “Magic Fool” and “Run, Run Children”—with Goldberg carrying most of the keyboard duties.

Released on RCA Victor in September 1970, the self-titled Ivar Avenue Reunion album stands as their only recorded work. It blended original material with deep blues influences: Merryweather and Carey co-wrote “Ride Mama Ride,” “Fast Train,” and “Run, Run Children”; Musselwhite contributed “My Daddy Was a Jockey”; Richardson added the psychedelic-tinged “Magic Fool”; and Carey and Goldberg paired on “Charlotte Brown.” The one cover was Otis Spann’s “After While,” delivered with a reverence that reflected the group’s roots. Guest musicians such as flutist Louise Di Tullio, French horn player Jim Decker, and clarinetist Sidney George coloured the arrangements subtly. Merryweather co-produced the album with Morey Alexander, and the cover design — done by Jan & Dean’s Dean Torrence — captured the group in a whimsical, watercolor-styled portrait beneath an Ivar Avenue street pole.

Although the album was strong, RCA saw greater commercial potential in Merryweather and Carey as a duo, and the label quickly redirected attention toward a follow-up project. In 1971 the pair released Vacuum Cleaner, recorded with Richardson, Velker, and Boers, as well as drummer Cofi Hall from Merryweather’s earlier band. They soon reinvented themselves again as Mama Lion, cutting two funk-soul-rock albums for Family Productions in 1972 and 1973. A parallel version of the group (minus Carey) recorded two hard rock albums as Heavy Cruiser, while Merryweather later moved into glam-space-rock territory with his acclaimed Space Rangers and Kryptonite LPs in 1974–75. Carey resurfaced in the 1980s as a jazz vocalist, and her work during the Ivar Avenue/Mama Lion era eventually became highly sought-after by collectors.

Musselwhite continued a lifelong career as one of the most recorded blues harpists of his generation, while Goldberg worked prolifically throughout the 1970s, contributing to sessions for Maggie Bell, Buzzy Linhart, and forming the hard-rock supergroup KGB in 1976 with Bloomfield, Carmine Appice, Ric Grech, and Ray Kennedy. Boers returned to Canada following his Los Angeles period, and Richardson continued carving out a career as a respected guitarist. Velker remained active through various projects tied to the Canadian West Coast scene.

For years the Ivar Avenue Reunion album remained a rarity until it quietly resurfaced on CD through American archivists Mandala, who specialized in obscure late-’60s/early-’70s reissues. Today the album stands as a one-of-a-kind meeting between top-tier Chicago blues lineage, L.A. soul-rock, and Toronto’s psychedelic expatriates — a brief but luminous snapshot of musicians whose paths crossed at exactly the right moment on a quiet stretch of Ivar Avenue.
-Robert Williston

Neil Merryweather: vocals and bass
Charlie Musselwhite: harmonica and vocals
Barry Goldberg: organ and piano
Lynn Carey: vocals
John Richardson: guitar
Robin Boers: drums
J.J. Velker: organ