They
honed their sound playing in Winnipeg bars
under the name "Mr. Dithers" for a few
weeks in the early 70's until they felt
they were ready to introduce "Flying
Tiger" to Winnipeg. They immediately
had a following with a well mixed
repertoire of current and classic rock
tunes of the day, as well as many original
songs that Jerry had written.
In 1974 Jerry was starting to take the
band in a different musical direction, and
wanted to do night clubs and upscale disco
clubs. Jim and Brian left the band
at that time. Jim went on to start
up a blues/rock band called "Coaltrain"
and Brian started the band "Justice".
Jerry's new line up with the members you
see above, went on to be one of the top
requested show bands in Winnipeg at that
time. Flying Tiger went on to record
in the studio, with part of the Winnipeg
Symphony Orchestra's violins and horn
section. Rick Mallett and Gary
Nichol were added to the group.
Jim Rose
3/4
of the original Flying Tiger, 1973
L-R: Mel Spaller (bass), Brian
Simmons (lead guitar), Jim Rose (drums)
L-R: Jim Rose,
Jerry Bednar
After their playing days were
over, Jerry and Jim hosted a
rock/comedy radio show in Winnipeg
called "The Great AM Shakedown" on
CJUM FM 101.5 in the mid
70's. The show consisted of
playing great rock songs from that
era, as well as improv comedy
bits, and poking (good natured)
fun of the AM radio DJs as
well. Since FM radio at that
time basically consisted of slow
talking ... sometimes even
whispering radio personalities,
playing soft music ... we decided
to use that format as a platform
to show FM radio could really be a
force to be reckoned with on the
rock and roll front. They
had a two year run with the show
before moving on to other
adventures.
