Mainline
No Substitute
Final album (1975) from this seminal Canadian blues band, who started their journey in the late 1960s. Much of (McKenna Mendelson) Mainline's uniqueness stemmed from the originality of their approach to the blues genre. In the summer of 1968, blues guitarist Mike McKenna, formerly of Luke & The Apostles, connected with acoustic blues artist Joe Mendelson. The two worked well creatively. Former bassist for The Paupers, Denny Gerrard, was invited to join, and The Spassicks' Tony Nolasco completed the quartet on drums. 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. MMM started gigging on the English club circuit with such notables as The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, Family (band), The Keef Hartley Band, Gun, and the newly-formed Led Zeppelin. After several false starts, MMM signed with Liberty/United Artists in the spring of 1969, and in April recorded their best-selling album 'Stink.' Following the success of 'Stink,' MMM/Mainline had three subsequent releases of note - 'Our Home And Native Land,' 'The Mainline Bump and Grind Review - Live At The Victory' (a well known, somewhat risqué Toronto burlesque theatre), and 'No Substitutes.' Following the release of 'No Substitute's Mainline disbanded and McKenna and Mendelson never played together again.