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The Luv-Lites
Where It's At / Born in Chicago - 7"
Op-Art - 1967
Michael Panontin
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The Luv-Lites may be barely a footnote in the annals of CanRock, but that doesn't excuse fans of r'n'b from not knowing about their scorching version of Nick Gravenites' 'Born in Chicago'. Gravenites was part of the windy city's coterie of white boy blues rockers that included Elvin Bishop, Michael Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield. Butterfield of course recorded the song for his first LP on Elektra in 1965 and it is that version that found its way into the hands of four other white boys from Toronto.
The Luv-Lites were bassist and singer Jeff Elliott, guitarist Pete Nichol, organist Ron Burns and drummer Larry Roberts (born Larry Atamanuick). "We were formed initially to back up Ernie Lyons, a rock/pop singer who had a contract to record with Capitol Records through his manager, Art Snider." Elliott explained to CM. "[But] after 18 months of playing dances and bars around Ontario, we left Lyons and continued on as the Luv-Lites, playing blues with me on vocals."
The guys were kept busy with gigs all across Ontario. "We played bars like Friar's Tavern, were the house band at Club 888 (which became the Rock Pile) in Toronto and worked all around the province," Elliott recalled. "And we opened for numerous touring acts, including Wilson Pickett, Ike and Tina Turner and others." They often shared the stage with fellow labelmates the Tiaras, with at least one documented appearance together at the Hawk's Nest on Yonge Street as well as a couple of shows at The Oak Door up in Ottawa.
'Where It's At' was the Luv-Lites' only release. The tune was actually written for a popular late night r'n'b show on Toronto radio station CKFH, which used it as their theme. But as Elliott remembers, the group never intended it to be the top-side. "We were fans of Paul Butterfield and had been doing 'Born in Chicago' live, so we chose it as the a-side and wrote 'Where It's At' as the b-side."
It hardly mattered, as it was the searing 'Born in Chicago' that got all the attention back in the day. To wit, an excerpt from the May 13th, 1967 edition of RPM magazine: "Now you westerners hang on for a few lines 'cuz I got a few thousand words to talk at you about the Toronto scene. You think that English blues groups have the world by the axis? Wait, you ain't heard nothin' 'til you wrap your eardrums around 'Born in Chicago' by the Luv-Lites, a gas of a group."
'Born in Chicago' may have flopped commercially, but to Elliott it clearly served its purpose. "While the record didn't sell loads of copies," he writes, "it burnished our reputation as a live act and generated appearances up until the day we shut down the band in the late sixties."
('Born in Chicago' can be found on the 2009 CD Wyld Canada Vol. 6, but for those who like their blues on black wax, original copies of 'Born in Chicago' can still be had for about a hundred bucks.)
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