BILL and SUE-ON HILLMAN: A 60-YEAR MUSICAL ODYSSEY On this date, Saturday, June 27, 1987, the Shakin' All Over Bands & Fans Reunion weekend kicked off with a preview event held at The Bay's downtown Paddlewheel Restaurant, the popular spot for bands and fans to hang out in the 1960s. Everything was coordinated for the launch of my book "Shakin' All Over: The Winnipeg Sixties Rock Scene" sponsored by the Variety Club on Manitoba. Here's an excerpt from a story I wrote a few years back in the Winnipeg Free Press:
ROOTS AND WINGS SECTION
Presents
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JOHN EINARSON REMEMBERS
THE SHAKIN' ALL OVER BANDS & FANS REUNIONReunions can be risky business. Attempting to relive the past is never easy and can be fraught with pitfalls. Nonetheless, on the weekend of June 27 and 28, 1987 nine of Winnipeg’s best loved ‘60s era rock bands reunited for a one-off concert event under the title “Shakin’ All Over: The Winnipeg 1960s Bands And Fans Reunion” organized by Variety Club. All proceeds from the event were earmarked for the charity. This was the first reunion event of its kind and required a herculean effort contacting musicians, many of whom hadn’t seen or spoken to former band mates in years, asking them to put together a set of songs. Some hadn’t touched their instruments in years while others had carried on playing. To their credit The Quid, Mongrels, Jury, Vaqueros, Shondels, Galaxies, Pallbearers, Carmine LaRosa & the Thunderstorms, Wayne Walker & the Strollers (augmented by a horn section) all came together and performed admirably to the delight of the 4000 in attendance at the Convention Centre. Original Guess Who vocalist Chad Allan closed the formal part of the evening bringing the crowd to its feet with Winnipeg’s ‘60s rock anthem, Shakin’ All Over.
The event was organized to tie in with the release of Shakin’ All Over: The Winnipeg Sixties Rock Scene, a book chronicling that vibrant and colourful time in Winnipeg when rock ‘n’ roll was the catalyst to social change. Well over 250 bands plied the local community club, high school sock hop, teen club and church basement dance circuit by the mid ‘60s. In addition, bands played movie theatres, fashion shows, drive-in restaurants, car lots, sporting events, in fact just about anywhere teens might congregate. Here was an opportunity to experience that excitement again for fans and for bands to relive their glory days.
Joan Black, Variety Club’s executive director at the time, along with Variety’s Pat Riorda, brought their immense organizational efforts to the table not only publishing the book but also mounting the event. Coca-Cola was the sponsor. Saturday afternoon was the kickoff with a book launch at popular ‘60s hangout the Bay’s sixth floor Paddlewheel Restaurant. The Sunday evening five-hour concert, with tickets cleverly priced at $19.60, would be held the following evening at the Convention Centre. Further icing on the cake was added when three of the biggest stars to emerge from that ‘60s scene – Neil Young, Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman – jumped on board for the reunion. It helped that Young would already be in town for the Kelvin High School reunion that same weekend.
Saturday afternoon at the Paddlewheel, Neil Young, accompanied by his wife Pegi, and Burton Cummings showed up voluntarily and took seats at a table where they signed copies of the book for a long line of elated fans. Young mixed with the crowd before retiring to a back room to meet up with members of his best-known Winnipeg band The Squires and do an interview for Videon cable channel. He was clearly enjoying the reunion atmosphere. A few of the bands previewed their sets while MC Pat Riordan gave away draw prizes. Later that evening, Young would enjoy a reunion of his own when members of his ‘60s Winnipeg band The Squires took the stage at the Blue Note Café on Main Street for an impromptu jam session. Meanwhile Cummings regaled patrons at a local hotel piano bar with favourites well into the wee hours.
The following night was the Shakin' All Over concert. More on that tomorrow.
The Pallbearers playing the afternoon event at The Bay.
SHAKIN' ALL OVER CONCERT Shakin' All Over Bands & Fans Reunion weekend, Sunday evening, June 28 was the day of the concert. Some 4000 tickets had been sold for the Winnipeg Convention Centre event.
Here's my Winnipeg Free Press story from John Einarson Remembers from a few years ago.Reunions can be risky business. Attempting to relive the past is never easy and can be fraught with pitfalls. Nonetheless, on the weekend of June 27 and 28, 1987 nine of Winnipeg’s best loved ‘60s era rock bands reunited for a one-off concert event under the title “Shakin’ All Over: The Winnipeg 1960s Bands And Fans Reunion” organized by Variety Club. All proceeds from the event were earmarked for the charity. This was the first reunion event of its kind and required a herculean effort contacting musicians, many of whom hadn’t seen or spoken to former band mates in years, asking them to put together a set of songs. Some hadn’t touched their instruments in years while others had carried on playing. To their credit The Quid, Mongrels, Jury, Vaqueros, Shondels, Galaxies, Pallbearers, Carmine LaRosa & the Thunderstorms, Wayne Walker & the Strollers (augmented by a horn section) all came together and performed admirably to the delight of the 4000 in attendance at the Convention Centre. Original Guess Who vocalist Chad Allan closed the formal part of the evening bringing the crowd to its feet with Winnipeg’s ‘60s rock anthem, Shakin’ All Over.
The event was organized to tie in with the release of Shakin’ All Over: The Winnipeg Sixties Rock Scene, a book chronicling that vibrant and colourful time in Winnipeg when rock ‘n’ roll was the catalyst to social change. Well over 250 bands plied the local community club, high school sock hop, teen club and church basement dance circuit by the mid ‘60s. In addition, bands played movie theatres, fashion shows, drive-in restaurants, car lots, sporting events, in fact just about anywhere teens might congregate. Here was an opportunity to experience that excitement again for fans and for bands to relive their glory days.
On Sunday evening several of the city’s favourite radio personalities from the 1960s including Doc Steen, Boyd Kozak and Ron Legge introduced the bands for their sets. Wayne Walker & the Strollers kicked off the evening in fine style followed by Carmine LaRosa & the Thunderstorms. Burton Cummings joined The Vaqueros and Mongrels (the Allan Schick lineup) during their performances. The Pallbearers rock the place. There were many highlights including Quid vocalist Ron Rene demonstrating he had lost none of his dynamic vocal power in the intervening decades. The Mongrels performed the Beatles Abbey Road medley flawlessly while The Vaqueros’ Ralph Watts dazzled on guitar (the band sporting sombreros and ponchos). The Jury’s George Johns came all the way from Florida to perform while Galaxies drummer Don Maloney flew in from Port Alberni BC. Backstage former Teen Dance Party host Bob Burns interviewed musicians for a later television special. Even Burton Cummings’ mother Rhoda was interviewed.
Between sets, Garnet amplifier maker Gar Gillies, CKRC recording engineer Harry Taylor, and CKRC deejay Doc Steen were each honoured for their contributions to Winnipeg music. Young’s first recordings were at CKRC’s studio with Taylor producing and he gave a Taylor a warm introduction stating, “This guy got us all making records. I was one of his first experiments.” On another break between bands, Young, Cummings, Bachman, Fred Turner of BTO, and Chad Allan were each presented with The Order of The Buffalo Hunt statuettes by the province and a civic citation from the city.
Following Chad Allan’s closing set (backed by yours truly), the inevitable jam commenced with Bachman and Cummings, who had joined Allan for Shakin’ All Over, welcomed Young to the stage for rousing renditions of American Woman and Albert Flasher (joined by later Guess Who guitarist Kurt Winter). Young took to the mic for Bob Dylan’s Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues altering the lyrics to “I’m going back to Kelvin High School, I do believe I’ve had enough.” He then launched into his signature song Down By The River trading licks with Bachman. Back in the early ‘60s Young was an acolyte of Bachman. This marked the first time they had ever played together. The evening concluded with an extended workout of BTO showstopper Takin’ Care Of Business. As they all left the stage arm in arm Cummings shouted, “Thank you Winnipeg! This is our home and always will be.” In the end Variety Club was presented with a cheque for some $40,000.
While there have been similar reunion events since, none have captured the energy and exuberance of the 1987 Shakin’ All Over reunion weekend. “To see those original five guys in The Quid together again and to hear Ron Rene singing is just amazing,” gushed Cummings afterwards. “I’m just so glad someone put this together. We all needed the chance to see each other again.”
His sentiments were echoed by others. In the intervening years many who participated in the event and contributed to the exciting Winnipeg 1960s music scene sadly have passed away.
