Chimo! - Chimo (Reissue, Remastered) (1970/1995)

Canadian band active in the early 1970s. Original lineup was Jack Mowbray (guitar), Tony Collacott (keyboards), Ross Raby (keyboards, vocals), John Johnson (guitar), Andy Cree (drums), and Breen La Boeuf (lead vocals).

Chimo! formed out of the smoldering ashes of other Canadian bands from the ‘60s, like Georgian IV and Bossmen. Members of Chimo! included lead singer Breen LeBoeuf, guitarist Jack Mowbray, bassist Stewart McCann, pianist Tony Collacutt, organist Ross Raby, and drummer Rick King. When some of the lineup dropped out, bassist John Johnson and drummers Pat Little and Andy Cree were brought in to replace them.

The changeable and short-lived Chimo! recorded a debut single in 1970, “Quicksilver Woman,” released under the Revolver Records label. One other single followed that year, “Silken Silver Melody.” In 1971, the band finished a debut self-titled album and then a two-sided single. The full-length offering managed to cross the border into the United States with the help of a new label, Epic.

Even though things seemed to be heading in the right direction for Chimo!, inside the ranks there was trouble brewing. Shortly after the release of the debut album, both Raby and Johnson called it quits. In 1995, a new label, Pacemaker Records, reissued the one album the group had made together….. by Charlotte Dillon