The Mynah Birds

The Mynah Birds
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Rhythm and blues, rock and roll, garage rock, blues rock
Years active	1964–1967
Labels	Columbia, Motown, Hip-O
Associated acts	Jack London & The Sparrows, Steppenwolf, Buffalo Springfield, The Sparrows, Sailorboys
Past members	Jimmy Livingstone Ian Goble Rick Cameron Goldy McJohn Nick St. Nicholas Rick James (deceased) Frank Arnel Bruce Palmer Rickman Mason Tom Morgan John Taylor Neil Young Neil Merryweather John Klasen

The Mynah Birds were a Canadian R&B band formed in Toronto, Ontario, that was active from 1964 to 1967. Although the band never released an album, it is notable as featuring a number of musicians, such as Rick James and Neil Young, who went on to have successful careers in rock, folk rock and funk.

Over its short lifespan, the group featured a large number of members in its many different configurations. Its most memorable lineup included Rick James, Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, Rickman Mason, and John Taylor. Rick James would later become a major funk star in the 70s and 80s. Young and Palmer went on to become two of the founding members in the popular West Coast folk rock group, Buffalo Springfield. After leaving Buffalo Springfield in 1968, Neil Young would go on to achieve even greater fame as a solo artist.Goldy McJohn and Nick St. Nicholas would later become members of the rock band Steppenwolf. Also, a late-running 1967 version of The Mynah Birds featured heavy rocker Neil Merryweather.

The Mynah Birds grew out of a 1964 group fronted by Jimmy "Liver" Livingston (born February 28, 1938, Nova Scotia; died June 1, 2002) and also including guitarist Ian Goble, drummer Rick Cameron, organist John Goadsby (aka Goldy McJohn and bassist Nick Kassbaum (aka Nick St. Nicholas).

In the early 1960s, a 15-year-old singer named James Johnson signed up for the U.S. Naval Reserves. When called up for active service in August 1964, he went to Canada and made his way to Toronto, Ontario. There he almost immediately got into an altercation on Yonge Street. As he tells it in his autobiography, Johnson was rescued from a beating by a couple of local musicians, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson of Levon and the Hawks, who would achieve legendary status as the Band. Hudson and Helm took the shaken young sailor to a local bar, where he jumped up onstage with the band playing at the time. That group was impressed enough that they invited him to join them, and renamed themselves the Sailorboys.

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