by Richard Skelly » Wed Aug 23, 2017 2:51 am
Yorkville definitely boasted one of the most colourful labels of the late '60s/early '70s indies. Surprising since they were an offshoot of ARC which had one of the drabbest. To hear Virginia, you'd picture Bill Amesbury as a standard, handsome hetero vocalist. Bill later transitioned to Barbra Amesbury and became a Toronto socialite-philanthropist.
Before that, however, Bill had one more masterpiece: A Thrill's A Thrill. It was a sort of subdued Walk On The Wild Side that, in retrospect, hinted at the composer's imminent life changes. Long John Baldry did an epic version of that largely spoken-word-with-soaring-chorus arrangement. Mitch Ryder also covered it. Between that and Virginia, Bill/Barbra made two significant contributions to CanCon rock.