Talk:Bobby Kris & The Imperials

This article must adhere to the biographies of living persons (BLP) policy, even if it is not a biography, because it contains material about living persons. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libellous. If such material is repeatedly inserted, or if you have other concerns, please report the issue to this noticeboard.

If you are a subject of this article, or acting on behalf of one, and you need help, please see this help page.

Biography: Musicians

	Biography portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles
	This article is supported by WikiProject Musicians (assessed as Low-importance).
	An editor has requested that an image or photograph be added to this article.

Canada: Ontario / Toronto / Music Low‑importance

	Canada portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Canada, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Canada on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.CanadaWikipedia:WikiProject CanadaTemplate:WikiProject CanadaCanada-related articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	Ontario portal This article is supported by WikiProject Ontario.
	This article is supported by WikiProject Toronto (assessed as Low-importance).
	This article is supported by WikiProject Canadian music.

Rock music Low‑importance

	Rock music portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Rock music, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Rock music on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Rock musicWikipedia:WikiProject Rock musicTemplate:WikiProject Rock musicRock music articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Roots music Low‑importance

	Music portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Roots music, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of articles relating to roots, folk and traditional folk music on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Roots musicWikipedia:WikiProject Roots musicTemplate:WikiProject Roots musicRoots music articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

It is requested that an image or photograph be included in this article to improve its quality. Please replace this template with a more specific media request template where possible.
The Free Image Search Tool or Openverse Creative Commons Search may be able to locate suitable images on Flickr and other web sites.

Upload

interesting[edit]

This musically interesting band was originally called J.S & The Imperials and was led by singer Jim Snowdon and featured pianist Pat Ricio Jr, who was replaced in 1964 by Martin Fisher (born December 26, 1945, Vancouver, British Columbia). The other original members comprised guitarist Al Waugh, bass player Brian Sefchek, saxophone players Jerry Mann (aka Shymanksi) and John Crone, and drummer Gordon MacBain (born August 5, 1947, Toronto). During the early part of 1965, the group underwent further changes in personnel, which saw Gene Martynec (born March 28, 1947, Germany) replace Waugh and Rick Haynes replace Sefchek.

In August 1965, the group changed name when Bobby Kris (real name: Bob Burrows), who was studying philosophy at Toronto University, joined as lead vocalist. (Originally the band had asked Jay Smith of The Majestics but he declined the offer). At the same time, Dave Wayne (aka Konvalinka) succeeded Haynes on bass and Rick Loth came in on saxophone instead of Crone who left to join The Majestics. Haynes later played with Gordon Lightfoot. The group’s debut single, a cover of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s ‘Walk On By’ was released in November 1965 and reached #8 on Canada’s RPM chart early the following year. The follow-up 45 was a Bob Dylan cover but was not as successful. The group also did an orange juice commercial, which was never released, around this time.

In early 1966, the group opened for Wilson Pickett at Toronto’s Masonic Temple (when Jimi Hendrix was his guitarist) and supported The Beach Boys in Sault St Marie. Bobby Kris & The Imperials were chosen as opening act for The Lovin’ Spoonful at Toronto’s Massey Hall in mid-1966. Shortly afterwards, Wayne Davis (born April 28, 1946, Toronto) from The Just Us replaced Dave Wayne who left to join The Majestics briefly. Loth also left at this point. The new line-up continued to play extensively in the Toronto area, although no other singles appeared. They were however, one of 14 local groups to play at a 14-hour pop show at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on September 24, 1966. The following month, Jerry Shymanski left to join Eddie Spencer & The Power, which evolved into Grant Smith & The Power.

In the spring of 1967 the band started to fragment. Martynec left to form Kensington Market, and was replaced by former Majestics keyboard player Jimmy Oskirko. The new line up started to experiment more and played regularly at the Concorde Tavern where the band performed a cover of The Beatles’ "A Day In The Life". This version of the group also opened for Jose Feliciano at Massey Hall. By September, however, it was all over. Fisher and MacBain left to join Bruce Cockburn’s Flying Circus. Kris replaced Jimmy Livingston in Livingstone’s Journey in late October while Davis subsequently joined 3’s a Crowd in December.

Bobby Kris reformed the band in mid-1968 with MacBain, Oskiro, Davis and former Jon and Lee and The Checkmates guitarist Larry Leishman (born April 4, 1947, Dunfermline, Scotland) but broke up in mid-1969. Leishman subsequently played with Rhinoceros while MacBain joined Peter Quaife's post-Kinks band, Mapleoak in England.