Milkwood was the brainchild of Louis McKelvey, who formed a tentative line up after he left Montreal group, Influence in late 1968. Through his previous band, McKelvey had befriended former King Curtis sideman, drummer Ron Frankel, who had previously played in The Soul Mates in the lounge band, Five of a Kind before joining King Curtis & The King Pins in early 1968. In July, McKelvey returned to England for six months and reunited with his colleague drummer/singer Malcolm Tomlinson, from early 1960s band, Jeff Curtis & The Flames. Tomlinson was currently playing with Gethsemane, and had recently done a BBC radio session with Elton John. When Gethsemane split up in December, Tomlinson returned to Toronto with McKelvey in January 1969 to put together Milkwood. Adding ex-Five Bells bass player Ron Blackwell, the band played at the Penny Farthing in Toronto in early May. According to Cashbox, Jimi Hendrix popped in one night and caught the group. He reported seeing a great band with two drummers. On May 25, Milkwood performed at the Rock Pile with The Kensington Market Band and Grand Funk Railroad.
Milkwood had sent a four-track demo to Polydor Records in late April and, according to Billboard, the label signed the band before it had played a single show. During sessions in July, Blackwell left and former Influence member Jack Geisinger was brought down to New York to help finish an album, produced by Jerry Ragovoy at the Hit Factory. In August 1969, the band embarked on a six-week Canadian tour. Meanwhile, the album, which was slated for release in September to coincide with an American tour, was shelved. The band's greatest claim to fame is that it appeared at Toronto's Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival concert on September 13, alongside The Plastic Ono Band, Gene Vincent, Alice Cooper and others. John Lennon and Yoko Ono went on after Milkwood, with Ono emerging from a bag on stage. On September 19, Milkwood performed at York University with Teegarden and Van Winkle and the following month, appeared at the Electric Circus. Shortly after a show at the Hawk's Nest on October 17, Milkwood travelled to Ottawa to play some shows and ran into Van Morrison at Le Hibou. Internal differences, however, led to the group's demise in November 1969.
Aftermath
McKelvey, Tomlinson and Geisinger reappeared in Damage. Frankel later did sessions for Jesse Winchester while Mary Lou Gauthier recorded a solo single, "In The Summertime" c/w "Come Run" for Polydor and currently sings with Celine Dion at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. She has recently recorded material with McKelvey and Tomlinson in Toronto. Blackwell is a computer consultant and lives in Las Vegas. Frankel and Gauthier later became the parents of voice actress Holly Gauthier-Frankel.
Trivia
It was reported in the Canadian music press at the time that The Band was interested in recording with Mary Lou Gauthier.
