John Kay And The Sparrow : John Kay And The Sparrow

 AT SIX O'CLOCK THIS MORNING

OH, THE MAN KNOCKED 

AT  MY DOOR

I SCREAMED IN HIS EAR

LOOKA' HEAR

I'M NOT THE GUY 

YOU'RE SEARCHING FOR...

 The Sparrows

 was a 

Canadian 

B

Blues Rock band

 of the 1960s. 

Notable for being

 the first group

 to bring

 musician

 John Kay 

into the mainstream,

 The Sparrows 

later morphed into

 the popular 

heavy rock group

STEPPENWOLF

Early Years

The original

 Jack London

 and the Sparrows

 line-up was formed in 

Oshawa, Ontario,

 in early 1964

 by British émigré 

Dave Marden

 (also known as Jack London) 

 guitarist

 Dennis Edmonton

 and 

keyboard player 

Dave Hare,

 who later played with

 Everyday People.

British Invasion

Jack London

 and the Sparrows

 began as a 

beat group 

and played

 heavily on 

Dave Marden's

 English background. 

Their early repertoire 

reflected

 the influence of the

 "British invasion" 

and London 

even went as far as

 coaxing the others to

 "fake" 

English accents, 

in order to

 convince

 the audience

 that they had

 just arrived

 from England. 

Shortly afterwards,

 Dennis' brother 

Jerry

 replaced the

 original drummer 

and

 Brent Maitland 

(stage name: Bert Enfield)

 joined on bass. 

The group began to 

build up a

 local following, 

playing at 

various venues, 

such as the

 local Jubilee Auditorium

After moving to Toronto

 later that year,

 C.J. Feeney 

joined on organ. 

A short while later,

 Bruce Palmer 

replaced Maitland, 

 This line-up signed to 

Capitol Records 

and scored a #3 hit 

on the RPM chart 

with debut single

 "If You Don't Want My Love". 

Palmer, however, 

soon tired of affecting

 an English accent

 and was traded

 for the 

Mynah Birds'

 member

 Nick St. Nicholas

 in January 1965. 

Around the same time, 

local jazz keyboardist 

Art Ayre

 replaced Feeney, 

who formed a 

new version 

of his former band,

 the Spellbinders.

The new line-up

 was responsible for

 the band's lone album 

and the 

subsequent singles. 

The single

 "I'll Be The Boy" 

reached #29

 in Canada

 in March 1965.

Only

 "Our Love Has Passed", 

however, 

neared the success

 of the debut single,

 reaching #7

 on the

 RPM chart

 in May 1965.

By mid-1965, 

the group was beginning

 to progress beyond

 its early 

British influences 

and was starting to

 incorporate more

of a North American

 blues-rock sound. 

At the same time, 

resentment was 

growing over

 London's role

 in the band; 

he had signed

 the recording deal 

so that he would collect 

most of the

 group's royalties. 

As a result,

 the band separated

 from London

 (who went solo) 

and recorded a

 final single as 

the Sparrows, 

"Hard Times With The Law",

 which hit #13

 on the

 RPM chart 

in August.

The Sparrows

During September 1965,

 the Sparrows added 

singer/songwriter, 

guitarist

 and

 harmonica player

 John Kay 

to the line-up. 

Art Ayre

 left at this point

 to pursue a 

career in jazz 

with the 

Art Ayre Trio

 (and later Moe Koffman) 

and was replaced by

 Goldy McJohn, 

formerly 

keyboard player

 for the Diplomats 

and for

 the Mynah Birds.

As the

 new look Sparrows, 

the group made

 its live debut at 

Waterloo Lutheran University 

(now Wilfrid Laurier University)

 in Waterloo, Ontario, 

during September 1965 

and immediately

 made an impact 

with its high energy, 

blues rock sound. 

The following month, 

the band supported 

Gary Lewis & the Playboys

 at Massey Hall 

in Toronto 

and also found

 regular work 

at Chez Monique 

and the 

El Patio

 in the city's 

Yorkville village.

After his solo career

 dried up,

 London moved into 

production 

and then became

 president of the 

Canadian Association

 of Real Estate Investors.

https://mega.nz/folder/u7RAgIYQ#9vtV3_ArHjTy2Bkt0JlBPw