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The Mynah Birds

The Mynah Birds

Origin Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Genres Rhythm & blues, rock & roll

Years active 19641967

Labels Columbia, Motown, Hip-O

Associated acts Jack London & The Sparrows, Steppenwolf, Buffalo Springfield, The Sparrows, Sailorboys

Past members

Jimmy Livingstone

Ian Goble

Rick Cameron

Goldy McJohn

Nick St. Nicholas

Rick James

Frank Arnel

Bruce Palmer

Rickman Mason

Tom Morgan

John Taylor

Neil Young

Neil Merryweather

The Mynah Birds were a Canadian R&B band based in Toronto, Ontario in the 1960s.[1]

Although the band never

released an album, it is famous as one of the earliest efforts of a number of musicians who went on to be successful.

The Mynah Birds grew out of a 1964 group called the Sailorboys, fronted by Jimmy Livingstone and also includingguitarist Ian Goble, drummer Rick Cameron, organist Goldy McJohn and bass player Nick St. Nicholas, soon joined

by Rick James.

Over its short lifespan, the group featured a large number of artists in its many different configurations. Its most

memorable lineup included future funk star Rick James, Rickman Mason, John Taylor and future folk rock music

stars Neil Young and Bruce Palmer, both of whom went on to form Buffalo Springfield.[1]

[2]

McJohn and St.

Nicholas would later become members of the rock band Steppenwolf. Also, a late-running 1967 version of The

Mynah Birds featured heavy rocker Neil Merryweather.[3]

Early years

An early line-up, comprising James, St. Nicholas, Cameron and guitarist Frank Arnel (aka Frank Iozzo), recorded

"The Mynah Birds Song" for Columbia Records in late 1964 as a prospective single. However, the track was not

deemed strong enough and a new track, "The Mynah Birds Hop", was recorded to grace the A-side.[1]

The second

track saw James, St Nicholas and Arnel joined by second singer, Jimmy "Liver" Livingstone (born February 28,

1938, Nova Scotia; died June 1, 2002), keyboard player John Goadsby aka Goldy McJohn (born May 2, 1945,

Toronto, Ontario) and drummer Richie Grand (born June 11, 1945 in Toronto, Ontario). The single was released in

Canada in early 1965, but flopped.

Shortly thereafter, Bruce Palmer joined the band in an unusual bass-player swap: Jack London & The Sparrows gave

up Palmer to get Mynah Birds bassist St. Nicholas.[1]

James and new bass player Bruce Palmer (born September 9, 1946 in Toronto, Ontario; died October 1, 2004) then

put together a new version of The Mynah Birds, featuring drummer Rickman Mason (born December 2, 1945 in

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bruce_Palmerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bruce_Palmerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jack_London_%26_The_Sparrowshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bruce_Palmerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Columbia_Recordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neil_Merryweatherhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Steppenwolf_%28band%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Buffalo_Springfieldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bruce_Palmerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neil_Younghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Folk-rockhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rick_Jameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nick_St._Nicholashttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Goldy_McJohnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ontariohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Torontohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rhythm_and_blueshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Canadahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neil_Merryweatherhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neil_Younghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bruce_Palmerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rick_Jameshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nick_St._Nicholashttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Goldy_McJohnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Sparrowshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Buffalo_Springfieldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Steppenwolf_%28band%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jack_London_%26_The_Sparrowshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hip-O_Recordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Motown_Recordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Columbia_Recordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Record_labelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rock_and_rollhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rhythm_and_blueshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Music_genrehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Canadahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ontariohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Toronto

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Brantford, Ontario) and guitarists Tom Morgan (born Tom Catherwood, July 4, 1944 in Brantford, Ontario) and John

Taylor (born John Yachemac, June 12, 1946 in Welland, Ontario; died September 27, 2002).

After leaving The Mynah Birds in April 1965, Jimmy Livingstone joined The Muddy Yorks and then The Just Us,

which evolved into Livingstone's Journey through The Tripp. But thats not the end of the Mynah Birds story.

As Rickman Mason points out, the Motown contract stipulated that the group had six-months of work to fulfil

and pressured to honour these commitments or face being sued, Mason and John Taylor drafted in former guitaristTom Morgan and two new musicians singer Mark Smith and former Bunkies bass player John Klasen (b.

Brantford, Canada). The Mynah Birds resumed gigging, appearing at numerous venues throughout Ontario,

including a return to the El Patio in Toronto (8-10 August), a performance at the Whitby Arena (31 August) and a

show at Peggys Pavilion in Stroud (10 September) by which point, Robert Benedict had replaced Morgan on

guitar.

Morgan was replaced by Neil Young in January 1966.[1]

Sign to Motown Records

The Mynah Birds signed a seven-year deal with Motown Records in 1966.[1]

They recorded a number of tracks, and

their first album was in the works when James was arrested, having deserted the United States Navy prior to forming

the Sailorboys. Motown subsequently shelved their recordings.

A planned single, "It's My Time" b/w "Go On And Cry", assigned the catalog number V.I.P. 25033, was withdrawn

just prior to its scheduled release by Motown.[1]

Both sides of this single were included in the 2006 box set The

Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 6: 1966, released in a limited edition of 6000 by Universal archival label Hip-O

Select, marking the first time any of the 1966 Motown recordings by the Mynah Birds had seen the light of day.[4]

[5]

Young and Palmer left the band after James' arrest.[1]

Several of the remaining members continued to perform as the

Mynah Birds throughout 1966, but did not make any recordings.

James put together a new short-lived line up of the band in the summer of 1967 with bass player Neil Lillie aka Neil

Merryweather (born December 27, 1945 in Winnipeg, Manitoba). The group recorded a new version of "It's My

Time" but broke up soon afterwards.

Discography

Singles

Year Title Label Notes

1965 The Mynah Bird Hop/The Mynah Bird Song Columbia

Compilation inclusions

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Columbia_Recordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manitobahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Winnipeghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neil_Merryweatherhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neil_Merryweatherhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hip-O_Recordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hip-O_Recordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_Navyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Motown_Recordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neil_Younghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Tripphttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Just_Ushttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Welland%2C_Ontariohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brantford%2C_Ontario

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Article Sources and Contributors 4

Article Sources and ContributorsThe Mynah Birds Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=431727646 Contributors: - tSR - Nth Man, Argolin, Arjayay, Babedacus, Bearcat, Bruce1ee, CharlesMartel, Derek R

Bullamore, Dl2000, Emilyalamode, Fhb3, Gobonobo, GoingBatty, GrahamHardy, Joefromrandb, Larrybob, Mindmatrix, Mrblondnyc, Ncsaint, Nick Warburton, Powerball2, R. S. Shaw,

SilkTork, Technophallus, The Interior, Tonywalton, Victoriagirl, Yoursvivek, 40 anonymous edits

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