Brian Russell

Guitarist and singer, born in Calcutta, India, he lived for a time in England, moved with his family to the Okanogan Valley of central British Columbia, Canada, during the 1960s, and eventually on to Vancouver.
He is the brother of Gillian Russell (3).
Brian was an early member of the The Classics (9).
In 1966, he formed The Shadracks (2), all of whom he met working as a studio musician around Vancouver.
The Three (the boys) To One (Claudette) moved to Toronto, Ontario, playing their first gig there in the suburb of Scarborough with Arc Records (4) the same year.
About a year later, The Raja, keeping the same lineup.
In spite of playing many local gigs and a big show in Montreal with The Raja did not meet with much success.
By 1969, Brian had become a house musician and arranger for The Majestics.
He went on to do a lot of studio work around Toronto in the seventies, including playing on sessions for Tommy Hunter (2) Show on CBC television.
A few years later, after Brian had moved back to the West Coast, Whittaker was looking for a guitarist for his touring band, and Brian's name came up as a suggestion.
He ended up spending over a decade backing Whittaker and can be seen in several live videos of the show on youtube, including a solo instrumental showcase titled "Russelling Along."
Brian is a phenomenally talented, yet grossly underrated guitar player.
In recent years, he has been playing around Penticton, sometimes with his sister Gillian.