Information/Write-up
Oscar McLollie was born in Caldwell County, Louisiana in 1924 and rose to prominence in Los Angeles during the 1950s with a string of jump blues recordings that blurred into early rock ’n’ roll. Records like “The Honey Jump,” “Dig That Crazy Santa Claus,” and his 1958 duet “Hey Girl, Hey Boy” with Jeanette Baker carried his name well beyond the West Coast, even if sustained chart success eluded him.
In the late 1960s McLollie took his career in a new direction, moving north to Canada and settling in the Chilliwack Valley of British Columbia. There he became part of Vancouver’s vibrant recording community, working with many of the city’s top studio players. Keyboardist Robbie King, bassist Doug Edwards, and drummer Kat Hendrikse were central to the sessions, alongside others who had been active in bands like Papa Bear’s Medicine Show, Spring, and Brahman. Edwards and Hendrikse in particular were already fixtures on Vancouver pop recordings, playing on Terry Jacks’ international hit Seasons in the Sun and countless other sessions. Surrounded by this talent, McLollie’s Canadian work took on a polish and groove that reflected the best of the city’s late-sixties studio sound.
His first Canadian release was the 1970 single So Pleasing Loving You b/w As Long As You Care at All on the New Syndrome label, a soulful and contemporary track that showed him at ease with modern funk stylings. A year later he issued Chilliwack Valley b/w She’s a Child on 6th Avenue Records, a heartfelt tribute to his new home in the Fraser Valley. The culmination of his Canadian period was a self-titled LP on Big 3 Records in 1973, with cover artwork designed by legendary Vancouver poster artist Bob Masse.
Though he eventually returned to California, where he died in Oakland in 2008, McLollie’s Canadian recordings remain a fascinating and overlooked part of his legacy. They capture an American rhythm and blues pioneer reinvigorated by the Vancouver scene, leaving behind a soulful musical time capsule rooted as much in Chilliwack as in Louisiana or Los Angeles.
-Robert Williston
No Comments