Valvulado: Pepper Tree - Rock (Canada)

The Pepper Tree was the culmination of a handful of bar bands in Nova Scotia, formed when drummer Tim Garagan left his band Friends of The Family and got together with guitarist Ritchie Richmond and Lenny Brennan on bass when those two left their previous group Lost Children in '67. They soon augmented their sound with Tony Argent as a second guitarist, ex of The Outcasts. To set themselves apart from the rest they then persuaded friend Bonnie Oulton to take on lead vocal duties. The basement tape impressed Capitol's Wayne Paton enough he signed them to a deal in '69 and took them to Toronto's Nimbus 9 Studios to work with Jack Richardson (Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, Guess Who). Capitol only wanted original material, and they came out with "Everywhere," backed with "Mr Pride," both written by Garagan. Next up was "Shine Light Shine" and its b-side "Hometown Girl." Though neither single was a 'smash hit', both charted and impressed label execs enough they encouraged the band to move to Toronto, closer to the studios and closer to the obviously huger potential market. But some members were unwilling to make the move, and the band was basically reinvented, as Billard, Brennan and Richmond all stayed home. Jim White, ex of Axis, who Billard had played with back home on the coast with both Central Nervous System and Five Sounds was friends with Garagan and Quinn and was now living in Toronto as well. He agreed to be the new guitarist. And after Cornerbrook, NFLD native Chris Brockway answered an ad to fill in the bass position, the next phase of the band was set.

They released "Love Is A Railroad," a Quinn composition as a single, which actually featured the already departed Zemel on guitars. The band continued to find east coast'ers, as they picked up Halifax's Rick Edgett as his replacement, though he was replaced before long by Paul Butler. The band continued on the circuit, playing mostly eastern Canada dates but ventured into the US as well. They continued to try experimenting with their sound while maintaining their identity. With Paul White producing, they from left; jim white, tim garagan, joel zemel, chris brockwaycut "Midnight Lady," "Teach Me How To Fly," "Put A Smile On Your Face" and "Funky Music" as singles all by the summer of '72, none of which lived up to label execs expectations. The revolving door continued to spin, and founders Garagan and Quinn were both gone by the spring of '73. Brockway brought in Brian Too Loud Macleod as the new drummer, who'd previously played with Garrison Hill, and Ralph Parker to replace Quinn on keyboards.

1971 - You're My People