Brian Russell

Guitarist and singer, born in Calcutta, India, he lived for a time in England, moved with his family to the Okanogan Valley of central British Columbia, Canada, during the 1960s, and eventually on to Vancouver.

He is the brother of [a6539670].

Brian was an early member of the [a2942269].

In 1966, he formed [a2690987] with singer and guitarist [a1129146], bassist [a6220178] and drummer Claudette Skrypnyk (aka [a6465002], but I think this is the correct spelling), formerly of [a2741577], all of whom he met working as a studio musician around Vancouver.

The Three (the boys) To One (Claudette) moved to Toronto, Ontario, playing their first gig there in the suburb of Scarborough with [a505430] & The Associates, anđ The Mission featuring [a596599], eventually recording one 45 for [l91085] the same year.

About a year later, [a2690987] changed their name to the more current [a4221911], keeping the same lineup.

In spite of playing many local gigs and a big show in Montreal with [a1830393], as well as cutting a fine single on Arc affiliate [l98418], [a4221911] did not meet with much success.

By 1969, Brian had become a house musician and arranger for [l68183], doing a lot of the heavy lifting - including designing the cover - for [r=8066690] by [a3895489], a studio aggregation which included many musicians from [a284618].

He went on to do a lot of studio work around Toronto in the seventies, including playing on sessions for [a364535] and [a180935] and on the [a822667] Show on CBC television.

A few years later, after Brian had moved back to the West Coast, Whittaker was looking for a guitarist for his touring band, and Brian's name came up as a suggestion.

He ended up spending over a decade backing Whittaker and can be seen in several live videos of the show on youtube, including a solo instrumental showcase titled "Russelling Along."

Brian is a phenomenally talented, yet grossly underrated guitar player.

In recent years, he has been playing around Penticton, sometimes with his sister Gillian.