Shirley Matthews and the Big Town Girls had a huge hit with the song “Big Town Boy” in 1963. The backing band was a group of Canadians led by singer Tommy Graham - based on the success of the single, they named themselves The Big Town Boys and started putting out a number of singles and one LP (in 1966, the eponymous Big Town Boys, Capitol KAO 6168). From that LP here’s is “Put You Down” :
And here is “August 32nd” which is the b-side of a single they put out in 1966 (Bell records 653):
They toured across Canada several times, and for over a year they were the host band for CTV’s After Four television show. They moved to Toronto in 1967 and recorded a couple singles for Yorkville records under the name BTB-4, including “Tell Me” (the flip side of which is on a compilation album called “Yorkville Evolution“ YVM33001).
In 1968 the Big Town Boys split up and lead singer Tommy Graham travelled the world for a couple of years before landing back in Toronto in 1970 to pick up on his solo career. The lineup of the Big Town Boys was:
Josh Collins (percussion, vocals)
James Ardnt (tenor sax, vocals)
Tommy Graham (guitar & vocals)
Brian Massey (bass, harmonica, vocals)
John Henderson (guitar, Hammond organ, vocals)
Michael Lewis (brass, keyboards; left in 1964 on scholarship to Germany)