Format: LP
Label: A&M SP 4169
Year: 1968
Origin: Toronto, Ontario, 🇨🇦
Genre: rock, psych, garage
Keyword:
Value of Original Title: $150.00
Make Inquiry/purchase: email ryder@robertwilliston.com
Release Type: Albums
Websites:
No
Playlist:
Ontario, Rock Room, 1960's, MOCM Top 1000 Canadian Albums
| Track Name | Length | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eventual Love | 02:48 | |
| 2 | Crystal Palace | 03:28 | |
| 3 | Think I Can't Live Without You | 03:18 | |
| 4 | Princess Mary Margaret | 03:29 | |
| 5 | City Lights | 03:01 | |
| 6 | Fish on a Line | 06:09 |
| Track Name | Length | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Weeks Go By | 03:11 | |
| 2 | Where Will You be Tomorrow Time Piece | 04:49 | |
| 3 | Reservations | 02:11 | |
| 4 | Gypsy Lee | 05:35 |
Churls - ST BACK
Churls - ST LABEL 01
Churls - ST LABEL 02
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No Video
The album was originally posted here on Apr 10, 2011. Bill Riley (manager of The Churls) provided an update to this page in 2020. A review was posted at the bottom of page. Higher resolution scans were added Jun 30, 2024. The album was added to the Top 1000 Canadian Albums of All Time on Jun 30, 2024.
Canadian rock band formed 1967 in Toronto, Ontario by Bob O'Neill and Nick McCombie. By that summer they were one of the hottest bands on the Yorkville scene and they signed that winter to Glotzer and Katz Management, the same people who managed Blood Sweat & Tears. They were encouraged to play the US and spent much of early 1968 playing in New York as the houseband at both Cafe a Go-Go and The Scene, where they notably received encouragement from John Lennon and Paul McCartney and jammed onstage with Jimi Hendrix.
They then headed west to Hollywood and caught the attention of A&M Records, where they recorded their self-titled debut featuring cameos from The Tijuana Brass and Leigh Ashford keyboardist Newton Garwood. The album was released in the fall of 1968 and they toured for a few months on both sides of the border then returned to A&M's Hollywood studio to record their follow up album in the summer of '69. Garwood guested on the album again and this time also co-wrote some of the material but friction between the band and label ultimately resulted in A&M dropping them. The band returned to Toronto in early 1970 and continued touring for a few months before dissolving.
Bob Oneill and Nick McCombie the rhythm guitarist and songwriter was with the band over a year and toured with them until I had the unfortunate job of firing him as the manager on the rest of the band's instructions. Only then was Sam Hurrie hired as an 18 year old guitarist and he stayed till the band's breakup. I found the original lineup playing at Charlie Browns and became their manager at that time.
-Bill Riley, manager for The Churls
Bob Oneill: vocals
Nick McCombie: rhythm guitar (songwriter)
Sam Hurrie: guitar
Hal Ames: guitar
John Barr: bass
Brad Fowles: drums
This was a great album to find! This is like the Canadian cross of Cream and The Rolling Stones but with enough of a personal stamp to not be derivative. You will catch the bass riff to "Sunshine of Your Love" in one song and a guitar riff that sounds a lot like "Jumpin' Jack Flash" in another, but these guys rock their own through the rest of the album. One delightful surprise was to hear "Time Piece". It's a heavy, downer rock kind of song, and I had heard it before as Bloodrock from Texas covered it on their 1970 debut. The Churls' version is just as heavy and ominous. This is a great hard rock album that doesn't spend much time on the light side, nor does it play around with drug-induced jams sessions. These boys get straight to the point!