William Smith and Steve Kennedy and Smith had been playing together with Eric Mercury and Diane Brooks in a Toronto band called the Soul Searchers that Mercury and Brooks fronted as lead vocalists. After the Soul Searchers broke up, first Kennedy and then Smith joined a group called Grant Smith And The Power which also featured David Clayton Thomas. They formed Motherlode in 1969 and relocated to Ontario where they struggled and stayed with friends. They finally got a break following their debut at the Image Club when Mort Ross signed them to Revolver Records that same year.