Information/Write-up
In the narrow but electrifying lane of Canadian funk and soul rarities, few singles carry the mystique — or the price tag — of Mr. Fortune. Pressed in painfully small numbers on Toronto’s short-lived Heart Records imprint in 1971, this 45 has become a talisman for serious collectors, not merely for its scarcity but for its deep, undeniable groove. But behind the music lies a fascinating crosscurrent of cultural migration, Toronto nightlife, and a group of musicians who were quietly forging something exceptional just north of Motown.
By 1971, Frank Motley was already something of a fixture on Yonge Street’s thriving live circuit. Having previously split his time between the U.S. and Canada, Motley’s twin-trumpet attack — one horn for each hand — had become legendary in both Washington, D.C. and Toronto. But it was the arrival of a young Jamaican émigré named Earle Heedram — soon to become The Mighty Pope — that injected a bold new force into Motley’s group, The Hitch-Hikers. What began as a refuge for exiled ska musicians was rapidly transforming into a blistering soul revue.
The A-side, Mr. Fortune, is the single's undeniable centerpiece. Written by the group’s guitarist Wayne McGhie (himself a towering figure in Toronto’s under-documented funk underground), the track fuses tough syncopated rhythms with tightly coiled brass arrangements, all anchored by The Mighty Pope’s growling, impassioned delivery. Unlike the smoother soul recordings The Pope would later make for RCA, here his voice is rough-hewn, bluesy, and utterly captivating — a perfect match for the song’s gritty, hard-edged vibe.
This single is also a snapshot of a very particular moment in Canadian music history — when the cross-pollination between the Caribbean immigrant community and the city’s burgeoning R&B scene birthed a uniquely Canadian soul aesthetic. Bands like The Sheiks and the house bands at venues such as Club Jamaica, and The Hitch-Hikers weren’t merely imitating American trends; they were synthesizing them through their own lived experiences as first-generation immigrants navigating the cultural collision of Yonge Street’s vibrant after-hours world.
Heart Records’ brief marketing push — including scattered ads in RPM magazine — couldn’t rescue the single from obscurity at the time, but its reputation has grown steadily in the decades since. Today, Mr. Fortune stands as one of the rarest and most coveted 45s in Canadian funk and soul, a testament to a scene that was quietly thriving far outside the commercial mainstream.
For The Mighty Pope, this was just one step on a longer career arc that would see him break new ground as one of Canada’s first major-label Black soul stars. But for collectors, Mr. Fortune is where the electricity still crackles the strongest — a pure, undiluted blast of Toronto funk history pressed into two-and-a-half unforgettable minutes.
-Robert Williston
Written by Wayne McGhie (Mr. Fortune); and Claire Torrey (I May Have Been a Fool)
Arranged by Jimmy Carver
Produced by Robert Kates for Heart & Soul Music
Distributed by London Records
No Comments