The Spassticks' Tony Nolasco (born July 9, 1950, in Sudbury, Ontario) was also recruited, along with American bass player Timothy O'Leary, who was dumped in the first month.
[3] The band debuted at the Night Owl club in Toronto's Yorkville Village from August 5–10 and the following month recorded demos which later became the basis of a bootleg album, McKenna Mendelson Blues.
Gerrard left the band in early October immediately after a show at Massey Hall supporting The Fugs because of artistic differences and was replaced by Mike Harrison (born November 1, 1948, in Brampton, Ontario), bassist from popular Canadian R&B band Grant Smith & The Power [citation needed] In November 1968, MMM opened for The Jeff Beck Group at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan, and garnered several standing ovations.
[citation needed] In December 1968, MMM reversed the trend of English bands coming to North America, and proceeded to England to gig and hopefully to pursue a major record deal.
[citation needed] The band hit the stage almost immediately, their first show being at the Utrecht Pop Festival on December 27/28, 1968, filling a prime timeslot just vacated by Jimi Hendrix and his duo (Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell).
[citation needed] Following "Stink", and a brief hiatus resulting from the internal dissension, the band reformed with Zeke Sheppard on bass and was signed in Canada by GRT Records.
[citation needed] In February 1972, the band recorded a live album featuring striptease artists at the run-down Victory Theatre, a vintage Toronto burlesque venue.
[citation needed] The Record Plant mobile encountered difficulties crossing the border due to customs officers' unfamiliarity with high-tech equipment of such nature being packed into a truck, with the result that there were only a couple of hours to do a complete sound check prior to the performance.
This difficulty was compounded by the fact that the band was in an advanced state of inebriation from drugs and alcohol, and consequently played at much higher volume during the performance than they had during the sound check.
The tribute to vaudevillian burlesque form was completed by the use of a comedian as opening act and MC and the formal dinner-jacketed, tuxedoed attire of the band members.
The funk/R&B stage presence of James seemed a mismatch for the sittin' down heavy blues signature of the band, but the formula worked, with large receptive crowds in venues such as Carleton and Dalhousie Universities.