Back in 1958, a group of young men had formed a
Country music band which they called "Canada's Country Boys",
and had just started working at a
nightclub on the comer of Peel and St. Catherine Streets in Montreal
called "The Monterey". The band members were Jimmy Walker,
Wally Martin, Allan Stacey, and their leader, George Hill.
The Country music scene in Montreal was thriving during this time, with
an abundance of extremely talented bands working the many clubs around
the city, and the competition was fierce. "Canada's Country
Boys" were drawing their share of clientele to the club each
night, but they didn't stand out among their peers as anything
"special" or "different" until
the night that George Hill, being a Mohawk Indian, decided to bring his
headdress to work with him. Just before the band started into the old
Hank Williams song "Kawliga", George donned his plumage, and
the crowd went wild. Thus, "The Mighty Mohawks" were born.
Before long people were lined up for blocks to get a glimpse of this
truly different style of Country music presentation, and the Mighty
Mohawks' "show band" format raised the band to the top of
the local popularity scale.
This popularity eventually took the band out of the Monterey and onto
the road where they traveled and worked all over Canada and parts of
the United States. It was while they were making their name known on
the Ontario Country music circuit that they were booked to open the
World's Fair in Montreal, Expo 67, and for the first 10 days of the
exposition they entertained approximately one million people per day,
singing songs in English, Indian, and French.
Over the years the personnel has changed frequently - a tremendous
amount of talent has performed under the "Mighty Mohawks" title,
but the main staple that has kept the name alive for all this time,
it's founder, George Hill, continues to carry on
the tradition with pride. This pride can be experienced through his latest
CD - "The Mighty Mohawks - George Hill Sings Again With His
Friends".
For more information and a sample of these recordings,
visit the Music Page.
