Monday Mural

I'm linking up at Monday Mural hosted by Oakland Daily Photo.

May 2017 - Toronto ON

I had just been on this block of Yonge St at College last week and never saw this new mural. I later found out that it was finished last November.

As I first saw it and it took my breath away.

So I zoomed in on parts of it.

Then as I walked on I realized that I hadn't seen the bottom portion so I crossed the street.

I found the following information here.
A 22-storey mural splashed with images of Gordon Lightfoot, Ronnie Hawkins and Oscar Peterson is taking appreciation for Yonge Street’s musical past to new heights.

Painted by artist Adrian Hayles with the help of a lift, will be visible from as far away as Bloor Street. They say it is meant to capture Yonge Street’s heyday in the ‘50s and ‘60s when music lovers flocked to Sam the Record Man’s famed store and stars like B.B. King and Muddy Waters played in clubs along the strip.

Who’s on the mural and what’s their Yonge Street connection?


Ronnie Hawkins – Hawkins is depicted strutting his stuff as an ode to his famous roster moves and the times he brought his rockabilly style to the street.


Glenn Gould – Gould was raised in the Beach neighbourhood, but quickly found a career as broadcaster and a pianist who performed at Yonge Street’s Massey Hall.

Dianne Brooks – This Candian vocalist made her name in the jazz music industry performing at The Bluenote Club.


Muddy Waters – This famous blues artist might have been grown up in Mississippi, but he often played a small club called Colonial Tavern when he visited Toronto.

Shirley Matthews – This Ontarian pop singer was a hit at Yonge Street’s Club Bluenote, whose house band helped her launch her solo career.


B. B. King – Just like Muddy Waters, King came from the U.S., but always made sure to perform at Colonial Tavern during his Toronto trips.


Gordon Lightfoot – This Canadian legend has played plenty of Yonge Street venues including Massey Hall and decades earlier, Steele’s Tavern, where he celebrated his first U.S. single being released.


Oscar Peterson - This jazz pianist recorded an entire live album from Yonge Street’s Town Tavern.



Legendary venues such as Le Coq d’Or and Massey Hall, and the dual neon discs of the famed Sam the Record Man sign, will also be prominently featured alongside the faces of the era’s music luminaries.