Truck was a 1970s Canadian rock group with a musical style similar to Natural Gas and Lighthouse. Signed to the Capitol label, they released two singles and an album. The outfit started out as Sound Spectrum in 1966 and by the early 1970s they had absorbed experienced musicians from groups Natural Gas and Motherlode. Their name had also been changed to Truck! The 1970s lineup was completely different to what it was when the group began. A busy live attraction, they did reasonably well with their album Truck which had an unbroken run for about a month-and-a-half in the charts.
Background
Beginning as Sound Spectrum, the early members were Dave Borland, Bill Caldwell, Bruce Fleming Sandy MacKay and Rob Oliver. In 1972, and now called Truck, they had a completely different line up. They were managed by Clark Spencer and Peter Francey. Their management company was Magic Management which was a division of the Toronto-based company, Truck Music Ltd. They were recorded and produced by Dennis Murphy of Sun Dog productions.
Michael Curtis was a founding member of the Goshen, Indiana band, These Vizitors which included Travis Rose, his brothers Rick Curtis, Tom Curtis and sister Patti Curtis. Relocating to Florida, they played at the Kandy Bar and played at local clubs in West Palm Beach area. They also opened for numerous touring bands. He co-wrote a single for the group, "Happy Man" bw "For Mary’s Sake" which was released on Capitol P-2163 in May 1968.
Larry Ernewein was a young man who was very passionate about music. He joined Truck when he left high school.
Graham Lear had been in George Olliver's group Natural Gas and Freedom North.<ref>The Sherbrooke Record, Wed Nov. 18, 1973 - Page 3 Freedom North to help coffee-house]</ref>
Saxophonist Jimmy Roberts was originally from Virginia, he came to Toronto in 1969 with a group made up of John T. Davis, George Brown and Doug Walker. William "Smitty" Smith got them a job at the Sapphire Club.A Stroke of Luck by William D. Smith 2008, - Page 35
Joey Roberts aka Joey Miquelon had come in from Motherlode.
In the 1960s, Brian Wray was in the group Five Of a Kind which also had a pre-Mashmakhan Brian Edwards in their line up, and had been an arranger for some tracks on Freedom North's self-titled album that was released in 1970. He had also been in both Natural Gas and Motherlode.
Converting a trademark red school bus, they toured extensively throughout Ontario and other parts of Canada. The group gained a good amount of attention for their bold use of "Keep On Truckin'" posters and car-bumper stickers. The group performed every week from 1970 to 1973, until their management took them off the road for a short period in February that year.
During their time, Truck opened up for ELP, Deep Purple and Fleetwood Mac. The biggest gig they played was to 20,000 people at the Rockwood Music Festival in Orangeville, Ontario.
Career: Sound Spectrum
The group started in 1966 in Ingersoll, Ontario. The early line up consisted of Dave Borland, Bill Caldwell, Bruce Fleming Sandy MacKay and Rob Oliver. Drummer Sandy McKay was originally from Ingersoll. In 1969, he moved to London to play with the group.
In 1970, the group was located in London, Ontario. Still billed as Sound Spectrum, one event they played at was the Rock Hill Rock-In festival that ran from September 5 to September 6 that year. Other groups that were booked to appear there were Mud Flat from Toronto, Pour Soul from England, Madrigal from Hamilton and April from Orangeville.Dufferin County Real-estate Guide, OCTOBER 29, 2013 - 365 Things To Do In Orangeville, ON Rock Hill Rock-In The BigFun Week end, The ‘Freak Out’ Festival Of 1969 – Rock Hill Park by David Waters, Poster