A Belated Farewell To Canada’s “Blue-Eyed Prince Of Soul”

Master R&B Singer George Olliver of Mandala Fame Who Died This April At Age 79

A Brief Tribute by Niagara At Large reporter/publisher and life-long music lover Doug Draper

Posted May 23rd, 2025 on Niagara At Large

George Olliver, wowing an audience with The Mandala back around 1967.

Once upon a time, there was a neighbourhood in the City of Toronto called Yorkville that was –  before all of the  magic and kaleidoscope of  colours in  it were gentrified into oblivion –    one of the most alluring havens in Canada for aspiring young writers, painters, actors, musicians and bohemians of every stripe you could imagine.

Out of this cornucopia of creativity came something in the 1960s called “The Toronto Sound” that boomed from the amplifiers of groups with names like ‘Stitch In Tyme’, ‘The Ugly Ducklings’  and  The Paupers’ – groups that were just as talented as so many of their counterparts coming out of the United States at the time but did not make as large a splash on the music scene because they did not have the same access to what legendary Canadian singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell called the “star making machinery’ that included big record label distributors and radio stations that played to huge numbers of listeners.

Still with The Mandala, George Olliver had no problem exciting an audience.

One of the most popular groups that came out of Toronto in the last half of the 1960s was ‘The Mandala’ featuring a charismatic front man who danced, did the splits and wheeled a microphone like James Brown and other top-of-the-line soul singers from the United States and who had a voice with the passion and power to match.

That  singer was George Olliver who died this past April at age 79 without the fanfare that at least I feel he deserved, with the exception of  a full-page obituary in one of Canada’s most well-read newspapers, The Globe and Mail.

“George Olliver was the epitome of Toronto soul,” Paul Shaffer, a fellow Canadian and keyboard player extraordinaire who made it big in the U.S. heading up the band for the long-running Late Show with David Letterman’s and who worked in the studio  and went on tour with some of the biggest names in music over the past  40 years or more years.

George Olliver, still pouring it on decades later.

“He was a showman and vocalist worthy of the world stage,” Shaffer added, “but chose to favour Canada with his immense talent.”

Another fellow Canadian, David Clayton Thomas who is best known as the singer for the Grammy Award-winning band ‘Blood, Sweat and Tears’ was quoted saying the following in the same Globe and Mail article – “George was a gentleman (and) a complete pro who worked the stage just like James Brown and who always stayed true to his R&B roots.”

Before the end of the 60s and  after two songs – ‘Opportunity’ and ‘Give and Take’ –that shot up the CHUM charts in Toronto  alongside songs by The Beatles and Rolling Stones,  he and other members of The Mandala, including top-notch lead guitarist Don Troiano, parted ways and he stayed on in Canada, fronting  bands  like ‘Natural Gas’ and, later, ‘The Gangbusters’ that backed him in a very popular night spot in the Toronto area called The Club Bluenote.

Every once in a while he would perform in a club in Niagara and I will never forget taking a washroom break at the same time he and his band were  taking a break between sets, and coming back  to find him dancing to music on the club’s  sound system with my wife, who he dubbed his “soul princess” for the evening. My wife was thrilled to have a dance with George and he could not have been nicer to both of us that evening.

Right up to the end, he was one very nice guy to so many of the fans that he met.

In later years, I ordered a few CDs of his music from his official website and would receive them in the mail with a gracious note from him followed by his autograph which remain treasured additions to my music collection to this day.

With that I say farewell George, condolences to your family,  and I can’t help but think that you are already wowing audiences somewhere up there in rock and soul heaven.

Now let me leave you with a short video featuring the song  Opportunity recorded in 1967 by George Olliver and The Mandala that you can watch and hear by clicking on the screen immediately below and cranking up your speakers –

To read the Globe and Mail obituary referred to above, if you are a subscriber and can open it, click on – https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-rb-singer-george-olliver-was-known-for-dizzying-dance-moves-and/

For other tributes click on the following links –

Obituaries: Tributes to Toronto Soul Star George Olliver, Blondie Drummer Clem Burke | Billboard Canada

(20+) RIP George Olliver – The Toronto Blues Society | Facebook

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