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Crowbar was originally formed as a backup band for the legendary "Father of Canadian Rock"... Ronnie Hawkins.
The original members were:
The original band was named "And Many Others" by Hawkins, who stated that the band would get universal exposure, as, that phrase appeared at the bottom of marquees around the world. "And Many Others" was primarily, a blues band, due to the principal direction, blues harp, and lead vocals of, Richard "King Biscuit Boy" Newell. Additional material was added by Kelly Jay, and John Rutter. Their talents added variety, and gave the band a wider appeal.
Shortly after the band was formed, Ronnie went on a worldwide promotional tour with rock columnist Ritchie Yorke. "And Many Others" spent this time rehearsing, originally, at a farm house (Ol' Yeller) situated on Hawkins' property in Streetsville, and later, in Hawkin's office and gym space, located two floors above the famed "Le Coq d'Or" tavern on Yonge street in Toronto Ontario.
After their debut at the Hawk's Nest, Hawkins' "teen club", Hawkins and the group began touring on weekends in the U.S. They played New York City with Joe Cocker - Mad Dogs and Englishmen, in Boston with Mountain, and Detroit with Lee Michaels, and received favourable reviews at all three locations.
The next appearance in Washington D.C. fell through, and an arrangement was made by Hawkins to place the band for a week engagement at The Grange, a popular nightspot in Hamilton Ontrio. During the week, an argument broke out between Hawkins and the band members, resulting in Hawkins choosing to depart. Richard Bell also left at this point, The band members were aware that this was going to happen, as he had been offered a job with Janis Joplin and the Full Tilt Boogie Band, a week prior to this gig. There was good reason for the band to stay together, as it had recorded an album with Richard "King Biscuit Boy" Newell, that was due for release shortly, and they hoped that it would generate some work for them. The band managed to obtain a one-nighter gig for $500.00, and rent a farm property near Ancaster Ontario. The farmhouse was named "Bad Manors" by Kelly Jay. After being trapped in an east Hamilton motel for several weeks after the break with Hawkins, the farm location, with its accompanying 200 acres of open land, was a welcome place of residence.
It was around this time that the band changed its name to Crowbar. While in discussion with their producer Frank Davies,
it was decided that a name change would be in order. The Hawkins name no longer conveyed any meaning. Just prior to this
decision, Ronnie had given an interview, and had stated that the band "were a nice bunch of boys, but they could f*ck up
a crowbar in about ten seconds!"
In light of the remark, the name seemed appropriate.
Richard Newell's album "Official Music" was acclaimed as a very good blues album after its release. There was no shortage of work, and Crowbar backed up Newell on local and tour dates.
During this time the band had to replace two of its original members. Richard Bell had left before the album's release, to play with Janis Joplin and the Full Tilt Boogie Band; and shortly after Crowbar moved into Bad Manors, Larry Atamaniuk left to play with the US group "Sea Train". Singer John Rutter left for personal reasons. Sonnie Bernardi came in to replace Larry Atamaniuk on drums; and Sonnie suggested Joseph "Joey" Chirowski as a replacement for Richard Bell on keyboards. It was shortly after these changes that Newell decided to leave the group because he was unhappy with the direction of the band was taking. It was becoming more rock oriented, and Richard was, and still is, a pure blues artist. The band continued on, with Kelly Jay taking over as front man. They went back into the studio to record "Bad Manors" their first solo effort as Crowbar. It was from this album that "Oh What A Feeling" was released as a single. The record went to number one on the charts in seventeen Canadian cities, and propelled the band to national touring status.
The band developed a faithful audience. Crowbar was approached by several prominent politicians of the day (Pierre Trudeau, William Davis, and others) to perform at various election rallies; and this also helped to increase their popularity. The band continued for another four years; recording three more albums in that time (see discography) They played major venues, appeared as guest artists on several Canadian television shows, and played at "just about every high school in Canada."
The original Crowbar broke up in 1974, shortly after the release of their last recording, "KE-32746" on Epic records. The individual members had developed different opinions of what the band should be. Joey Chirowski left the band to play keyboards with Alice Cooper.
Through the mid-seventies ('74-'78), Kelly Jay continued on, using the name Crowbar with a number of different backing musicians.
The original group (minus Chirowski...replaced by keyboardist Ray Harrison) was reprised in 1978 for a tour of Canadian cities. The tour was ill-fated. It began with the loss of almost all of the group's equipment in an accident. Their equipment truck left the road and rolled down a ninety foot embankment. The road crew thankfully survived the incident. (one broken collar bone and various cuts and scratches) The band soldiered on, completing the tour with rented equipment, but the incident caused stress and recrimination among the members and opened up some old wounds.The band returned from the tour, Sonnie Bernardi, and Roly Greenway leaving shortly after. Bernardi was replaced by Buffalo N.Y. drummer, Greg Zark. Later, Zark was replaced by drummer Ray Fennell. Greenway was replaced by bassist Rick Birkett, who was later replaced by bassist Vic Cassis. The band continued for another couple of months or so, but disbanded again.
Kelly continued playing Crowbar material along with new material with other versions of Crowbar, in addition to bands Bad Manors, and Trickbag. He eventually decided to move to the Calgary area, where he still resides.
Today's Crowbar regrouped in 1996.
There had been a renewed interest in "Oh What A Feeling" as a result of its use as the title of a collection of Canadian
music compiled to raise money for charity. The box set went "diamond" in the shortest time for any release in Canadian Music
history to that time.
Crowbar's first dates included Kelly Jay, who flew in from Calgary to perform with the band.
Four of the five members are original. Ray Harrison is back covering keyboards, and the band invites various guest artists to join in on occasion. Recently, Toronto blues vocalist John Dickie, has been featured with the band.
Crowbar plays a blend of many different styles of music, and this is due to the fact that each member of the band came up through different music idioms. Their repertoire consists of original material, (old and new) along with old R&B, Rock'n'Roll, and their version of Country-Rock music. The guys enjoy playing now, probably more than ever, as they feel there is no pressure at this stage in their careers.
Although the group's figurehead in the past, Kelly Jay is not a regular member of this version. He lives in, and continues to perform in, Alberta Canada, and that makes his participation difficult. He will hopefully, in future, be appearing with the band, as a guest, when and where possible.