On Dec. 28, 1968, hard rock pioneers Vanilla Fudge performed at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum. Opening for them that night was the Trials of Jayson Hoover, a psychedelic-soul group fronted by local singer Jayson Hoover. Sandwiched in between Hoover’s band and the headliners was an upstart group from the U.K. named Led Zeppelin.
On that night, it’s likely more fans in the crowd were familiar with Hoover — a stalwart in Vancouver’s soul music scene with a single getting radio airplay — than the British band, who was weeks away from having their debut album released in North America.
“One of the guys in the Trials of Jayson Hoover, when I interviewed him, said that for a week Jayson was more famous than Led Zeppelin,” said David Jones, who operates Vinyl Records in Vancouver’s Gastown neighbourhood and is working on a documentary about the singer.
Led Zeppelin returned to Vancouver the next year as massive stars.
Broader success eluded Hoover, however, although he went on to a lengthy music career, mostly focused in B.C., says Jones.
Hoover released a dozen 45s, more than any other soul artist in Vancouver of that era, Jones says. His 1974 single Love Will Get You received airplay on 200 stations across Canada.
Hoover passed away on Nov. 5 at the age of 78. Jones hopes his documentary will bring attention to a performer that was the focal point of Vancouver’s soul and R&B scene in the ’60s and ’70s.
“He had the respect of the top local musicians in town,” Jones said.
‘King Size’ talent
Hoover came to Vancouver from Edmonton in 1964. He appeared on the CBC program Let’s Go!performing cover versions of Motown hits.
Hoover was the frontman of the Epics, a soul band that disbanded in 1968. He then formed the Trials of Jayson Hoover, a group with a more psychedelic sound in the mould of Sly and the Family Stone.
The Trials of Jayson Hoover released a single in 1968, King Size, that received radio airplay.
While King Size was released under the name The Trials of Jayson Hoover, it was recorded by the Epics and featured a soul style more in keeping with music from studios like Stax and Motown.
“What it captures is the raw sound of R&B in the ’60s and what it was really like here,” Jones said.
“I would say it’s arguably the greatest soul single that’s ever come out locally.”
The band performed across Canada. During an appearance on the CBC music program Where It’s Athost Fred Latremouille noted the band was travelling the country in a purple tour bus “so you can’t miss them when they come to your town.”
The Early Edition7:02One of the songs in contention for The Early Edition’s Holiday #1 is a 1968 song called “King Size” by a Vancouver band called The Trials of Jayson Hoover
We are joined by filmmaker David Love Jones who tells us about Jayson Hoover.
Hoover went on to record with Vancouver’s Mushroom Records. Around that time, Mushroom released the album Dreamboat Annie by Heart, a band featuring Ann and Nancy Wilson, that would become a smash hit.
Jones says Hoover was “bitterly heartbroken” over the fact that the label chose to focus more on Heart, and less on his music.
Jones held a memorial at Vinyl Records in Gastown, attended by several members of Hoover’s family.
He hopes to complete his documentary about Hoover in about a year.
Jones notes that King Size is “internationally known” among aficionados of rare soul music. He believes Hoover’s music deserves a wider audience, saying his legacy extends far beyond his tangential connection to Led Zeppelin.
“Once we unleash more of his music to the public, they’ll realize just how good he was.”
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