*THE HALIFAX III
*Formed: 1961 (as the Colonials)
*Disbanded: 1964
*Label: Epic Records
*Location: (as the Colonials) Halifax, Nova Scotia
(as the Halifax III) Greenwich Village, New York
Members: Denny Doherty (vocals
Pat LaCroix (vocals, fingered washtub bass)
Richard Byrne (vocals, guitar)
Eric Hord (touring banjoist) [replaced by Zal Yanovsky]
Zalman Yanovsky (touring guitarist)
Evolved from: The Hepsters
(Denny Doherty, Richard Sheehan, Eddie Thibodeau and Mike O'Connell)
1956-1958
no known recordings exist
Recordings:
*DEMOS & UNRELEASED*
~none known
*ALBUMS*
~Hootenanny (RBS 1180 Mono) 1961 (as the Colonials)
[Canadian only release, extremely rare, two copies are known to still exist]
Tracklist: Cora, Scarlet Ribbons, Passing Through, Hold 'Em Joe, Blow Ye Winds,
Kisses Sweeter Than Wine, All My Trials Lord, Mangwani Mpulele, Maria,
17 Days In the Saddle
~The Halifax Three (LN 24038 Mono, BN 26038 Stereo, CSRP 26038 Stereo) 1963
~San Francisco Bay Blues (LN 24060 Mono, BN 26060 Stereo) 1963
*SINGLES*
~All My Trials b/w They Call the Wind Maria
(Rodeo Records) 1961 (as the Colonials) [very rare]
~Bull Train b/w Come On By (45:5 - 9560) 1963
~The Man Who Wouldn't Sing Along With Mitch
b/w Come Down the Mountain Katy Daly (45:5 - 9572) 1963
~San Francisco Bay Blues b/w All the Good Times (45:5 - 9637) 1963
Television Appearances:
~The Colonials had their own local Canadian show, 'Travellin' On Home', in 1961
Sixteen weekly episodes were produced, airing Wednesdays at 8:30 PM
~date and episode unknown - The Mike Douglas Show
~date and episode unknown - Let's Sing Out!
~date and episode unknown - The Merv Griffin Show
~date and episode unknown - Hootenanny!
Additional Info:
Denny Doherty, Pat LaCroix and Richard Byrne formed a folk trio they called the Colnials. Before leaving Halifax for greener pastures the trio did a 16-week TV series for CBC called Traveling on Home.
The next year or so was spent working the clubs in Montreal and Toronto as well as performing on such TV shows as Parade, Juliette and The Tommy Ambrose Show.
The next move was to New York where the group landed a two year recording contract with Columbia's Epic Records. They changed their name to the Halifax III, recorded two LPs for Epic and toured extensively, doing concerts all over North America. They also did TV appearances on The Mitch Miller, Merv Griffin and The Mike Douglas Shows and opened for Shelly Berman and later Bill Cosby.
In 1963, The Halifax III were booked on a 30-day, 15 state bus tour called Hootenanny USA. Also on the bill were Glen Yarborough of the Limelighters and The Journeymen with John Phillips. During this tour they had a run-in with the Ku Klux Klan after cancelling a concert in Jackson, Mississippi when it was discovered that the venue was segregated. The next day John F. Kennedy was assassinated and the tour moved out of the south and back to New York where the tour finished with a concert at Carnegie Hall.
It was about that time that the advent of Beatles was effectively bringing down the curtain on the Folk Music trend and after one last engagement at the Imperial Room of the Royal York Hotel the group disbanded.