Mendelson Joe


Birrell Josef Mendelson, known as Mendelson Joe, was a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, painter, and political activist, who was known for his art's political themes. Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, and then moving to Maple, Ontario, at age 13. He attended University of Toronto, graduating with a B.A. in arts, 1966.
Joe was the nephew of Ruth Eisenberg, "Ivory" of Ebony and Ivory. He died through medical assistance in dying on February 7, 2023, at the age of 78.

Music career

He began performing as a blues musician under the name Joe Mendelson in 1964. Four years later, he joined with guitarist Mike McKenna to form the band McKenna Mendelson Mainline. Despite achieving some success, he was dissatisfied with being in the group, and left in 1972 to pursue a solo career. The group reformed briefly in 1975.
In 1975, after releasing two albums as "Joe Mendelson", he adopted his current name, "Mendelson Joe". On his earlier albums, he worked closely with other artists as co-producers, including former McKenna Mendelson Mainline bandmate Edward "Ted" William Purdy and Colin Linden. His later works were mostly self-produced. Likewise, his early albums mostly appeared on a series of independent labels, but his later self-produced albums were released independently. In total, Joe recorded more than 30 solo albums, although only about half were officially released.
In 1988, he appeared in an episode of Sharon, Lois & Bram's Elephant Show titled "Sunday in the Park". Around this period, a music video for a novelty song he recorded, "Dance with Joe", received extensive airplay on MuchMusic.

Painting career

First putting brush to canvas in 1975, Joe would also make a name for himself as a contemporary artist, pursuing painting, often portraits of famous Canadians. In 1980, he had a show of his work at the Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris in which his art style was described as "Dauntless Evidentiam". In 1985, he had a show of 25 portraits at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa titled "Working Women", curated by Joan Murray. His most famous painting depicted Prime Minister Brian Mulroney with his face superimposed on a pair of human buttocks. He published a book of his portraits, Joe's Toronto, in 2005.
Joe appeared in Derek May's 1981 documentary film on the Toronto art scene, Off the Wall.

Discography

[McKenna Mendelson Mainline]

  • McKenna Mendelson Blues 'bootlegged demo tape'
  • Stink
  • Canada - Our Home and Native Land
  • The Bump 'n' Grind Review
  • ''Mainline: No Substitute - The Grand Reunion of Mainline''

    Solo

  • Mr. Middle Of The Road 'as Joe Mendelson'
  • Sophisto 'as Joe Mendelson'
  • Not Homogenized
  • Jack Frost
  • Let's Party
  • Not Safe *
  • The Name of The Game Ain't Schmaltz: Some of the Best of Mendelson Joe
  • Fragile Man *
  • Born To Cuddle 'recorded with the Shuffle Demons'
  • Addicted
  • Women Are the Only Hope *
  • Humans Bug Me *
  • Spoiled Bratland *
  • Everybody Needs a Pimp *
  • Humans *
  • Live At Sixty-Five *
  • Buried Treasure *
''* Independently released''