John Till

 ( 1945 Births ) 

Till played in local Toronto bands on the Yonge Street Strip through the early 1960s until he was asked to join Hawkins's band The Hawks, that Hawkins had to rebuild after all the previous members of his band left to tour with Bob Dylan (see The Band).

Till played with Hawkins for three years before accepting an offer to join Janis Joplin's Kozmic Blues Band, replacing guitarist Sam Andrew. Joplin would eventually disband Kozmic Blues and form the Full Tilt Boogie Band, taking Till and bassist Brad Campbell with her. Till toured extensively with Full Tilt Boogie and appeared on several television shows, including This Is Tom Jones and The Dick Cavett Show. The band also rode the Festival Express, with the Grateful Dead, The Band and Delaney and Bonnie among others, who toured across Canada and played shows in Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary. Full Tilt Boogie recorded their classic Pearl album, which reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts in February 1971, after Joplin's death.

After Joplin's death, Full Tilt Boogie attempted to regroup and relocated to Woodstock, New York, to write and record new material. While there, Till played and recorded with several other musicians, including Bobby Charles and Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul and Mary. When Full Tilt Boogie finally disbanded for good, Till moved back to Stratford, Ontario, retiring from the music industry and raising his family there. In the foreword of Love, Janis (1992), Laura Joplin's biography of her relationship with her famous sister, Till, and his wife are thanked for providing some of the material for the book.