Ed Keenan from The Toronto Star dropped by yesterday for his quarterly appearance on Toronto Mike'd and I dropped the name Ben Kerr because I remember Ben Kerr always ran for Mayor of Toronto. When I lived at Charles Street and Yonge in the mid-90s, I'd see Ben Kerr daily by the Yonge/Bloor subway station.
Ed shared a story he learned from Ben, a musician who would play Toronto's folk scene in the 1960s. One band from that time was The Mynah Birds, a collective most famous for including Rick James and Neil Young before they were famous.
In this clip from episode 1877 of Toronto Mike'd, Ed tells us how Ben Kerr came to write a song for The Mynah Birds, that sadly was never released.
And here's a recording of The Mynah Birds with Rick James and Neil Young performing The Mynah Bird Hop, written by Ben Kerr.
