Downchild Blues Band
Encyclopedia
The Downchild Blues Band is a Canadian blues band, described by one reviewer as "the premier blues band in Canada". The band is still commonly known as the Downchild Blues Band, though the actual band name was shortened to "Downchild" as of the early 1980s.
Band, the Colin James
Band, the Powder Blues
, Sue Foley
, The Sidemen and The Highliners could also enjoy their success. The Canadian blues scene, which has blossomed nicely in the last few years, was relatively barren in the late 1960s when The Downchild Blues Band first started out.
Don't ever forget where the blues came from, or why.
Never forget why you play the blues; if it was to make big money, you probably won't.
The Downchild Blues Band was formed in Toronto in the year 1969 and continues to perform today. It was co-founded by two brothers, Donnie ("Mr. Downchild") Walsh and Richard ("Hock") Walsh. The band's international fame is partially due to three of its songs, the originals "I've Got Everything I Need (Almost)" and "Shot Gun Blues", and its adaptation of "Flip, Flop and Fly
", all from its 1973 album, Straight Up, being featured on the first Blues Brothers album, Briefcase Full of Blues
(1978). "Flip, Flop and Fly" has been Downchild's only hit single, and became the signature song
of Hock Walsh. The band's musical style is described as being "a spirited, if fundamental, brand of jump-band
and Chicago-style blues
".
The band name came from the Sonny Boy Williamson II
song, "Mr. Downchild". The initial band membership was Donnie ("Mr. Downchild") Walsh, who remains the sole constant band member, with younger brother Rick "Hock" Walsh on vocals, accompanied by Dave Woodward, Cash Wall, John Tanti and Jim Milne. They were the house band at the fabled Grossman's Tavern from 1968–1970, managed briefly by former musician, Ron Gerston. Classically-trained pianist Jane Vasey
joined the band in 1973.
The initial blues musical influence on Donnie Walsh was Jimmy Reed
. He was later greatly influenced by James Cotton
, both in terms of musical style and band format. Walsh and Cotton later became personal friends. Donnie Walsh described these early influences as follows: "Jimmy Reed. I heard him at my girlfriend’s birthday party. Some guys brought a Jimmy Reed album over and that was it, for me. ...I’d put him on the record player, and when I went to sleep at night, it would still be playing when I’d get up in the morning. Then I’d play him all day, and it was unreal. Then, of course, I spread out to Sonny Boy Williamson
, Little Walter
, Muddy Waters
, B.B. King, and Albert King
. Then, I got a job in a record store. A blues record store that stocked 45s only. All alphabetical all around the whole room. You’d go to the Muddy Waters section, and there would be eight Muddy Waters singles. You’d go to the Sonny Boy Williamson section, and there would be five Sonny Boy Williamson singles."
The band's first album, Bootleg, is regarded as one of the first independent albums ever produced in Canada. It was recorded over two nights in 1971, in a makeshift studio at Toronto's Rochdale College
. Donnie Walsh and others distributed the album by hand. It was welcomed by major Toronto music retailer Sam Sniderman
, of Sam The Record Man
renown, who was very much disposed to promoting Canadian music. The record was soon acquired by RCA Records
Canada for more general distribution.
According to Donnie Walsh, more than 120 musicians have been associated with Downchild since its 1969 founding. The band has never lost its focus on blues music. While certain band members have left to pursue what was perceived to be a more lucrative rock music career, Donnie Walsh has a different perspective: "Just around when I started here were all these guys in blues bands and of course they were impatient and they wanted to make some more money so they became rock bands. I played the blues then and I play the blues now. That's what I love. ... It's a living thing, it's living music. By living and breathing it goes on and what that means is that instead of being the same kind of music somebody else wrote years ago, it lives and evolves. Blues is serious stuff, it's a heavy kind of music in your soul. You show up with the blues I play, you lighten up. That's what it's all about. It's like medicine."
club, But I'm On The Guest List.
Despite being closely identified with the band's initial sound and also being the co-writer, with brother Donnie Walsh, of "Shot Gun Blues", later recorded by the Blues Brothers, Hock Walsh would leave, rejoin and be replaced as lead singer in the band on several occasions. He was first fired from the band in 1974, shortly before work began on the band's third album, Dancin. At that time, he was replaced by Tony Flaim
. Hock rejoined the band in 1977 and 1985. He was fired by his brother Donnie for a final time in 1990, and replaced by Chuck Jackson. Chuck Jackson has remained the lead singer of Downchild since that time.
Notwithstanding their strained relationship, Donnie Walsh assessed his brother's ability as follows: "He was a fabulous singer; he could sing the blues better than anybody I've ever heard. He had the timing, the phrasing, a fabulous voice… he was just great." Hock Walsh died on December 31, 1999, at the age of 51, of an apparent heart attack. Performing on his own and with his own bands since 1990, he had been scheduled to perform a New Year's Eve concert with blues singer Rita Chiarelli
. His last recordings were three tracks on 4 Blues, the 1998 debut album of Toronto's Big Daddy G Review.
Tony Flaim, the initial replacement for Hock Walsh in Downchild and featured on six of the band's albums, also died of a heart attack, on March 10, 2000, less than three months after Hock Walsh. He was 52. Flaim's near nine year association with Downchild covered most of the 1975 to 1982 period, including a period when Hock Walsh rejoined the band in 1977, plus 1986 to 1988. He was succeeded by a returning Hock Walsh, who was fired by his brother for a final time in 1990. During the 1982-1986 period, Flaim was replaced by John Witmer
, former lead singer of the well-respected Toronto blues band Whiskey Howl
, while Hock Walsh rejoined the band for a brief period in 1985. One of Tony Flaim's last public performances was at a tribute to the late Hock Walsh, in February 2000, at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern
.
(keyboards) joined Donnie Walsh (guitar and harmonica) and Pat Carey (sax). Sax player Pat Carey was the first to join the current Downchild lineup, in 1985, a year after arriving in Toronto and commencing his Toronto musical career playing with both Hock Walsh and Tony Flaim. Bass player Gary Kendall
joined Downchild for a second time in 1995, after first playing with the band during the 1979-1983 period. They were later joined by drummer Mike Fitzpatrick, who first recorded with the band on the Come On In album (2004).
Recent accolades include a Juno Award nomination for "Blues Album of The Year" in 2005, plus winning the Maple Blues Award
as "Entertainers of The Year" in both 2005 and 2006. In addition, the band's connection to The Blues Brothers has continued. In 2005, when Dan Aykroyd
and James Belushi
toured as The Blues Brothers, Donnie Walsh joined them onstage at Ontario's Casino Rama
. Donnie Walsh's song, "I've Got Everything I Need (Almost)" was recently selected as one of 125 "essential" Canadian songs, and the only blues song on the list.
Early History: 1969-1982
(Donnie) Walsh has been called the 'father of Canadian blues' and with good reason. He is a blues pioneer on the Canadian scene. It was Walsh who paid the highest dues so that later Canadian blues acts, such as the Jeff HealeyJeff Healey
Norman Jeffrey "Jeff" Healey was a blind Canadian jazz and blues-rock vocalist and guitarist who attained musical and personal popularity, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...
Band, the Colin James
Colin James
Colin James is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, who plays in the blues, rock, and neo-swing genres. He grew up as a Quaker.-Early years:...
Band, the Powder Blues
Powder Blues Band
The Powder Blues Band is a Canadian blues/pop/jazz band formed in 1978 in Vancouver. Its first album Uncut went double platinum in Canada. The second album Thirsty Ears was similarly popular...
, Sue Foley
Sue Foley
Sue Foley is a Canadian blues singer and guitarist.-Career:Foley has been writing and playing professionally since 1984. She has recorded ten albums, for both Antone's Records and Shanachie Records. She has spent over fourteen years on the road as a bandleader, lead vocalist, guitarist and...
, The Sidemen and The Highliners could also enjoy their success. The Canadian blues scene, which has blossomed nicely in the last few years, was relatively barren in the late 1960s when The Downchild Blues Band first started out.
- David Dicaire, More Blues Singers: Biographies of 50 Artists from the Later 20th Century (McFarlandMcFarland & CompanyMcFarland & Company, Inc. is a book publisher of primarily academic and adult nonfiction based in Jefferson, North Carolina. Its president and editor-in-chief is Robert Franklin, who began the enterprise in 1979...
, 2002), pp. 215-216.
Don't ever forget where the blues came from, or why.
Never forget why you play the blues; if it was to make big money, you probably won't.
- Two of "13 bits of advice for musicians from Mr. Downchild himself"
The Downchild Blues Band was formed in Toronto in the year 1969 and continues to perform today. It was co-founded by two brothers, Donnie ("Mr. Downchild") Walsh and Richard ("Hock") Walsh. The band's international fame is partially due to three of its songs, the originals "I've Got Everything I Need (Almost)" and "Shot Gun Blues", and its adaptation of "Flip, Flop and Fly
Flip, Flop and Fly
"Flip, Flop and Fly" is a jump blues-style song recorded by Big Joe Turner in 1955. Called a "prototypical rocker", the song was a hit reaching number two in Billboard magazine's R&B chart...
", all from its 1973 album, Straight Up, being featured on the first Blues Brothers album, Briefcase Full of Blues
Briefcase Full of Blues
-External links:* *...
(1978). "Flip, Flop and Fly" has been Downchild's only hit single, and became the signature song
Signature song
A signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...
of Hock Walsh. The band's musical style is described as being "a spirited, if fundamental, brand of jump-band
Jump blues
Jump blues is an up-tempo blues usually played by small groups and featuring horns. It was very popular in the 1940s, and the movement was a precursor to the arrival of rhythm and blues and rock and roll...
and Chicago-style blues
Chicago blues
The Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois, by taking the basic acoustic guitar and harmonica-based Delta blues, making the harmonica louder with a microphone and an instrument amplifier, and adding electrically amplified guitar, amplified bass guitar, drums,...
".
The band name came from the Sonny Boy Williamson II
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Willie "Sonny Boy" Williamson was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, from Mississippi. He is acknowledged as one of the most charismatic and influential blues musicians, with considerable prowess on the harmonica and highly creative songwriting skills...
song, "Mr. Downchild". The initial band membership was Donnie ("Mr. Downchild") Walsh, who remains the sole constant band member, with younger brother Rick "Hock" Walsh on vocals, accompanied by Dave Woodward, Cash Wall, John Tanti and Jim Milne. They were the house band at the fabled Grossman's Tavern from 1968–1970, managed briefly by former musician, Ron Gerston. Classically-trained pianist Jane Vasey
Jane Vasey
Jane Elizabeth Vasey was a Canadian blues piano player, best known for her years playing with the Downchild Blues Band. Vasey played with the band from 1973 until her death, from leukemia, on July 7, 1982.-Biography:...
joined the band in 1973.
The initial blues musical influence on Donnie Walsh was Jimmy Reed
Jimmy Reed
Mathis James "Jimmy" Reed was an American blues musician and songwriter, notable for bringing his distinctive style of blues to mainstream audiences. Reed was a major player in the field of electric blues, as opposed to the more acoustic-based sound of many of his contemporaries...
. He was later greatly influenced by James Cotton
James Cotton
James Cotton is an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who has performed and recorded with many of the great blues artists of his time as well as with his own band.-Career:...
, both in terms of musical style and band format. Walsh and Cotton later became personal friends. Donnie Walsh described these early influences as follows: "Jimmy Reed. I heard him at my girlfriend’s birthday party. Some guys brought a Jimmy Reed album over and that was it, for me. ...I’d put him on the record player, and when I went to sleep at night, it would still be playing when I’d get up in the morning. Then I’d play him all day, and it was unreal. Then, of course, I spread out to Sonny Boy Williamson
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Willie "Sonny Boy" Williamson was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, from Mississippi. He is acknowledged as one of the most charismatic and influential blues musicians, with considerable prowess on the harmonica and highly creative songwriting skills...
, Little Walter
Little Walter
Little Walter, born Marion Walter Jacobs , was an American blues harmonica player, whose revolutionary approach to his instrument has earned him comparisons to Charlie Parker and Jimi Hendrix, for innovation and impact on succeeding generations...
, Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
, B.B. King, and Albert King
Albert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...
. Then, I got a job in a record store. A blues record store that stocked 45s only. All alphabetical all around the whole room. You’d go to the Muddy Waters section, and there would be eight Muddy Waters singles. You’d go to the Sonny Boy Williamson section, and there would be five Sonny Boy Williamson singles."
The band's first album, Bootleg, is regarded as one of the first independent albums ever produced in Canada. It was recorded over two nights in 1971, in a makeshift studio at Toronto's Rochdale College
Rochdale College
Opened in 1968, Rochdale College was an experiment in student-run alternative education and co-operative living in Toronto, Canada. It provided space for 840 residents in a co-operative living space. It was also a free university where students and teachers would live together and share knowledge...
. Donnie Walsh and others distributed the album by hand. It was welcomed by major Toronto music retailer Sam Sniderman
Sam Sniderman
Sam Sniderman, is a Canadian entrepreneur best known as the founder of Sam the Record Man, the Canadian record store chain...
, of Sam The Record Man
Sam the Record Man
Sam the Record Man was a Canadian record store chain that, at one time, was Canada's largest music recording retailer. In 1982, their ads proclaimed they had "140 locations, coast to coast"....
renown, who was very much disposed to promoting Canadian music. The record was soon acquired by RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
Canada for more general distribution.
According to Donnie Walsh, more than 120 musicians have been associated with Downchild since its 1969 founding. The band has never lost its focus on blues music. While certain band members have left to pursue what was perceived to be a more lucrative rock music career, Donnie Walsh has a different perspective: "Just around when I started here were all these guys in blues bands and of course they were impatient and they wanted to make some more money so they became rock bands. I played the blues then and I play the blues now. That's what I love. ... It's a living thing, it's living music. By living and breathing it goes on and what that means is that instead of being the same kind of music somebody else wrote years ago, it lives and evolves. Blues is serious stuff, it's a heavy kind of music in your soul. You show up with the blues I play, you lighten up. That's what it's all about. It's like medicine."
1982-1990: Vasey, Hock and Flaim Gone
In 1982, the band suffered a major setback with the untimely death of keyboard player Jane Vasey, who succumbed to leukemia at the age of thirty two. Donnie Walsh, who was living with Vasey at the time, took a period of time off to reflect on his future and that of the band. The band came back in the fall of 1982, with both a new singer and a new keyboard player, by way of a live recording from Toronto's historic El MocamboEl Mocambo
The El Mocambo Tavern is a live music and entertainment venue in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located on Spadina Avenue, just south of College Street, the bar played an important role in the development of popular music in Toronto since the 19th century...
club, But I'm On The Guest List.
Despite being closely identified with the band's initial sound and also being the co-writer, with brother Donnie Walsh, of "Shot Gun Blues", later recorded by the Blues Brothers, Hock Walsh would leave, rejoin and be replaced as lead singer in the band on several occasions. He was first fired from the band in 1974, shortly before work began on the band's third album, Dancin. At that time, he was replaced by Tony Flaim
Tony Flaim
Tony Flaim was among the early professional blues singers in Canada, most notable as the lead singer for the Downchild Blues Band on six of that band's albums...
. Hock rejoined the band in 1977 and 1985. He was fired by his brother Donnie for a final time in 1990, and replaced by Chuck Jackson. Chuck Jackson has remained the lead singer of Downchild since that time.
Notwithstanding their strained relationship, Donnie Walsh assessed his brother's ability as follows: "He was a fabulous singer; he could sing the blues better than anybody I've ever heard. He had the timing, the phrasing, a fabulous voice… he was just great." Hock Walsh died on December 31, 1999, at the age of 51, of an apparent heart attack. Performing on his own and with his own bands since 1990, he had been scheduled to perform a New Year's Eve concert with blues singer Rita Chiarelli
Rita Chiarelli
Rita Chiarelli is a Canadian blues singer. She has been dubbed "the goddess of Canadian blues" by CBC Radio One's Shelagh Rogers.-Biography:Born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Chiarelli began performing in Ronnie Hawkins' band in the early 1980s. She subsequently spent several years in Italy...
. His last recordings were three tracks on 4 Blues, the 1998 debut album of Toronto's Big Daddy G Review.
Tony Flaim, the initial replacement for Hock Walsh in Downchild and featured on six of the band's albums, also died of a heart attack, on March 10, 2000, less than three months after Hock Walsh. He was 52. Flaim's near nine year association with Downchild covered most of the 1975 to 1982 period, including a period when Hock Walsh rejoined the band in 1977, plus 1986 to 1988. He was succeeded by a returning Hock Walsh, who was fired by his brother for a final time in 1990. During the 1982-1986 period, Flaim was replaced by John Witmer
John Witmer
John Douglas Witmer was a Canadian blues singer, songwriter and harmonica player, most notable as the lead vocalist for the band Whiskey Howl and the Downchild Blues Band.-Biography:...
, former lead singer of the well-respected Toronto blues band Whiskey Howl
Whiskey Howl
Whiskey Howl was a Toronto-based Canadian blues band, most popular between 1969 and 1972. The band is notable as being one of the early Canadian bands promoting and developing blues music in Canada.- History :...
, while Hock Walsh rejoined the band for a brief period in 1985. One of Tony Flaim's last public performances was at a tribute to the late Hock Walsh, in February 2000, at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern
Horseshoe Tavern
The Horseshoe Tavern is a concert venue located at 370 Queen Street West in downtown Toronto, and has been in operation since 1947. Owned by "JC", Ken Sprackman, Craig Laskey and Naomi Montpetit, the venue is a significant part of Canadian musical lore...
.
1990-Present
Most of the current lineup has been together since 1990, when Chuck Jackson (vocals) and Michael FonfaraMichael Fonfara
Michael Fonfara is a keyboard player who is most notable for his work with the bands The Electric Flag and Rhinoceros in the 1960s, Lou Reed in the 1970s and The Downchild Blues Band, from 1990 to the present.- History :Fonfara's career as a professional musician commenced in 1963, when he started...
(keyboards) joined Donnie Walsh (guitar and harmonica) and Pat Carey (sax). Sax player Pat Carey was the first to join the current Downchild lineup, in 1985, a year after arriving in Toronto and commencing his Toronto musical career playing with both Hock Walsh and Tony Flaim. Bass player Gary Kendall
Gary Kendall
Gary Kendall is an award-winning Canadian bassist, vocalist and band leader, best known for his longstanding association with the Downchild Blues Band.-Biography:...
joined Downchild for a second time in 1995, after first playing with the band during the 1979-1983 period. They were later joined by drummer Mike Fitzpatrick, who first recorded with the band on the Come On In album (2004).
Recent accolades include a Juno Award nomination for "Blues Album of The Year" in 2005, plus winning the Maple Blues Award
Maple Blues Awards
The Maple Blues Awards are Canada’s blues awards, "honouring the finest in Canadian blues". They are the only comprehensive national best in blues awards program. The program's goal is to promote blues music across Canada, and to recognize outstanding achievement...
as "Entertainers of The Year" in both 2005 and 2006. In addition, the band's connection to The Blues Brothers has continued. In 2005, when Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...
and James Belushi
James Belushi
James Adam "Jim" Belushi is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is the younger brother of comic actor John Belushi.-Early life:Belushi was born in Chicago...
toured as The Blues Brothers, Donnie Walsh joined them onstage at Ontario's Casino Rama
Casino Rama
Casino Rama is a large casino, hotel and entertainment complex located on the reserve land of Chippewas of Rama First Nation, in the town of Rama, Ontario, Canada...
. Donnie Walsh's song, "I've Got Everything I Need (Almost)" was recently selected as one of 125 "essential" Canadian songs, and the only blues song on the list.
Band Awards
- 1991 Juno Award, Best Roots and Traditional Album (Gone Fishing)
- 1992 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Great Canadian Blues AwardSaturday Night BluesSaturday Night Blues is a Canadian radio program, which airs Saturday nights on CBC Radio One. Hosted by Holger Petersen, the program airs a mix of blues concerts, recordings and interviews with blues musicians. SNB first broadcast in 1986....
- 2005 Maple Blues Award, Recording of the Year (Come On In)
- 2005 Maple Blues Award, Electric Act of The Year
- 2005 Maple Blues Award, Entertainers of The Year
- 2006 Maple Blues Award, Entertainers of The Year
Donnie Walsh
- 1990 Blues With a Feeling Award, Toronto Blues Society, honouring distinguished career
- 2010 The Canadian Blues Museum Hall of Fame Induction 'Mr. Downchild" June 20, 2010
Chuck Jackson
- 1999 Maple Blues Award, Male Vocalist of The Year
- 2002 Blues With a Feeling Award, Toronto Blues Society, honouring distinguished career
- 2007 Maple Blues Award, Male Vocalist of The Year
Pat Carey
- 1999 Maple Blues Award, Horn Player of The Year
- 2000 Maple Blues Award, Horn Player of The Year
- 2001 Maple Blues Award, Horn Player of The Year
- 2002 Maple Blues Award, Horn Player of The Year
- 2004 Maple Blues Award, Horn Player of The Year
- 2007 Maple Blues Award, Horn Player of The Year
Gary Kendall
- 1993 Blues With a Feeling Award, Toronto Blues Society, honouring distinguished career
- 1997 Maple Blues Award, Bassist of The Year
- 1999 Maple Blues Award, Bassist of The Year
- 2000 Maple Blues Award, Bassist of The Year
- 2002 Maple Blues Award, Bassist of The Year
- 2002 Thunder Blues Award, Thunder Bay Blues Society
- 2002 Keeping The Blues Alive Award, Thunder Bay Blues Society
- 2005 Maple Blues Award, Bassist of The Year
- 2007 Maple Blues Award, Bassist of The Year
Michael Fonfara
- 2000 Maple Blues Award, Piano/Keyboard Player of The Year
- 2004 Maple Blues Award, Piano/Keyboard Player of The Year
- 2007 Maple Blues Award, Piano/Keyboard Player of The Year
- 2009 Maple Blues Award, Piano/Keyboard Player of The Year
Mike Fitzpatrick
- 2005 Maple Blues Award, Drummer of The Year
- 2007 Maple Blues Award, Drummer of The Year
Discography
The list is based on the Canadian Pop Encyclopedia, with subsequent additions and amendments.Singles
- 1973 "Flip, Flop and FlyFlip, Flop and Fly"Flip, Flop and Fly" is a jump blues-style song recorded by Big Joe Turner in 1955. Called a "prototypical rocker", the song was a hit reaching number two in Billboard magazine's R&B chart...
" - 1974 "Flip, Flop and Fly" [re-issue] (Special)
- 1974 "I've Got Everything I Need" (Almost)
- 1974 "Tell Your Mother" (Special)
- 1975 "Goin' Dancin"
- 1976 "Old Ma Belle"
- 1980 "I've Been A Fool" (AtticAttic Records (Canada)Attic Records was a Canadian independent record label, founded in 1974 by Alexander Mair and Tom Williams. The label was known for developing Canadian talent, including Anvil, Lee Aaron, Maestro Fresh Wes, The Nylons, Teenage Head, and Triumph...
) - 1980 "Tryin' to Keep Her 88's Straight"/"Oh Oh" (Attic)
- 1981 "Hey Hey Little Girl"/"Drivin' Blues" (Attic)
- 1981 "Blood Run Hot"/"Coulda Had All Your Loving" (Attic)
Albums
- 1971 Bootleg (album)Bootleg (Downchild Blues Band album)Bootleg is the 1971, first lp release from the Canadian blues group the Downchild Blues Band.Having been rehearsing and playing live shows since 1969, the band proceeded to create one of Canada’s earliest independent records. Recorded over two nights in 1971 in a makeshift studio at Toronto's...
(Special) - 1973 Straight Up (Special)
- 1974 Dancin (Special)
- 1975 Ready To Go (Special)
- 1977 So Far (Posterity)
- 1979 We Deliver (AtticAttic Records (Canada)Attic Records was a Canadian independent record label, founded in 1974 by Alexander Mair and Tom Williams. The label was known for developing Canadian talent, including Anvil, Lee Aaron, Maestro Fresh Wes, The Nylons, Teenage Head, and Triumph...
) - 1980 Bootleg [re-issue] (RCA); also later re-issue by Downchild Music
- 1980 Road Fever (Attic)
- 1980 Double Header (Attic) (double album reissue of Straight Up and We Deliver)
- 1981 Blood Run Hot (with Spencer DavisSpencer DavisSpencer David Nelson Davis is a British musician and multi-instrumentalist, and the founder of the 1960s rock band, the Spencer Davis Group.-Early life:...
) (Attic) - 1982 Dancin [re-issue] (Attic)
- 1982 Straight Up [re-issue](Attic)
- 1982 But I'm On The Guest List (Attic)
- 1987 It's Been So Long (Stony Plain/BMG)
- 1988 We Deliver/Straight Up [double album re-issue] (Attic)
- 1989 Gone Fishing (Stony Plain/WEA)
- 1992 Dancin'/Road Fever [double album re-issue] (Attic)
- 1994 Good Times Guaranteed (Downchild Music)
- 1997 Lucky 13 (Downchild Music)
- 1997 It's Been So Long/Ready To Go [double album re-issue] (Stony Plain)
- 1998 A Case Of The Blues - The Best Of Downchild (Attic)
- 2000 A Matter Of Time - The Downchild Collection (Blue Wave - US)
- 2003 Body Of Work - The Downchild Collection Volume 2 (Blue Wave - US)
- 2004 But I'm On The Guest List [re-issue] (Unidisc)
- 2004 Blood Run Hot [re-issue] (Unidisc)
- 2004 Road Fever [re-issue] (Unidisc)
- 2004 We Deliver [re-issue] (Unidisc)
- 2004 Straight Up [re-issue] (Unidisc)
- 2004 Come On In (Downchild Music) with Gene TaylorGene Taylor (musician)Gene Taylor is an American blues rock and boogie-woogie pianist.-Biography:Taylor began his musical training as a drummer at age eight but two years later he had picked up both the guitar and his initial piano skills from boogie-woogie pianist-neighbours...
, winner at the 2005 Maple Blues AwardsMaple Blues AwardsThe Maple Blues Awards are Canada’s blues awards, "honouring the finest in Canadian blues". They are the only comprehensive national best in blues awards program. The program's goal is to promote blues music across Canada, and to recognize outstanding achievement... - 2007 Live At The Palais Royale (Downchild Music)
- 2009 I Need A Hat (Downchild Music)