Tommy Graham (singer)

Tommy Graham is a singer and record producer from Toronto, Canada.

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Life

Tommy Graham joined his first band in 1958. He worked his way through the Toronto club scene with Kay Taylor And The Regents. He moved to Los Angeles in 1960 and returned to Canada three years later. He formed the group Big Town Boys, which gained prominence as backing musicians for vocalist Shirley Matthews.

Big Town Boys split in 1968 (or 1965) and Graham went to journey around the world. In India, he met and studied under Ali Akbar Khan, Ravi Shankar's sarode player. In 1970 Graham returned to Toronto where he began working for producer Brian Ahearn. He did backing vocals on Anne Murray's hit Snowbird.

Capitol producer Paul White gave Graham the opportunity to record for the label. Tommy Graham's debut album, "Planet Earth" was released in 1972. The only charting single from the album was a cover of Neil Young's After the Gold Rush.

After a relatively unsuccessful album, Graham started producing albums for many artists, such as Bruce Cockburn and Brent Titcomb. In 1980 he started computer graphics company that pioneered a new process of putting high resolution images on film.

Starting 1993 Graham has resumed his career in music. He traveled to the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, Ecuador and Colombia where he recorded indigenous as well as New Age inspired interpretative and progressive Andean music, while continuing his work as a producer

In 2008, Amorphous Androgynous featured Tommy Graham's song Sahajiya on their compilation mix album A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Exploding in Your Mind: Volume 1.

Discography

Singles

  • 1971 Things You Say (Capitol)
  • 1971 Sahajiya (Capitol)
  • 1972 After The Goldrush (Capitol)
  • 1973 My Happy Song (Capitol)
  • 1974 Sea Cruise (Capitol)

with Shirley Matthews (featuring the Big Town Boys)

  • 1963 Big Town Boy (Tamarac)
  • 1964 Private Property (Tamarac)

with the Big Town Boys (aka BTB4)

  • 1965 Put You Down (Tamarac)
  • 1965 It Was I (Tamarac)
  • 1965 I Love Her So (Tamarac)
  • 1966 Hey Girl Go It Alone (Tamarac)
  • 1966 My Babe (Tamarac)
  • 1967 Do It To 'Em (Tamarac)
  • 1967 Jack Rabbit (Tamarac)

Albums

  • 1970 Planet Earth (Capitol)