The Deverons got their start as the passion project of four St. John's High School students. They were, guitarists Boris Pawluk and Derek Blake, bassist Edd Smith and drummer John Gach. The band started rehearsing in 1962, but because none of them sang, their repertoire consisted of covering The Ventures, The Surfaris, Duane Eddy, and any other guitar-based instrumental acts that were popular at the time.
Whether at school or at one of their small-time gigs, they met Burton Cummings, who persuaded them to let him sing a couple of songs with the band. He was younger than the other members (being only 14 at the time), but his charisma and singing ability helped them land gigs. They would play intermittently over the next year and a half, gaining some notoriety, but also going through several line-up changes.
The band's lineup became solidified with Burton Cummings (Piano/Keys/Vocals), Edd Smith (Bass), Bruce Decker and Derek Blake (Guitar) and Ron Savoie (Drums). Burton Cumming's friend, Lorne Saifer, became their booking agent, as their repertoire and reputation continued to grow around Winnipeg. This resulted in them getting CKY's music director Daryl Burlingham, to be their manager. Burlingham managed to get them into the station's studio late one night and they recorded four songs. They shopped the tapes around and scored a deal with Reo Records in early 1965.
Unconvinced of the band's own writing abilities, Reo's label execs took the band to Minneapolis and had them record some songs written by 'professional' session writers. By September 1965 Blue Is The Night/ She's A Lover (B-Side written by Burton Cummings) was released, followed shortly after by a pair of covers, Lost Love/Feel All Right. The band was growing in popularity when Yes I Do/Leave Her Alone was released near the end of 1965 (both written by Cummings). Unfortunately it wouldn't last, Burton was coaxed by the Guess Who to replace their Keyboardist in January 1966.
The band soldiered on without their star vocalist; Derek Blake came into his own as a songwriter, penning both sides of their next single She Is My Life/You Can't Buy Me released in early-to-mid 1966. Without Burton, the band began to falter, but managed to release one more single in October 1966 before calling it quits; A pair of covers She/Farmer John.
After the demise of the Deverons in late 1966, the other members drifted off out of the business, except Bruce Decker. He formed The Electric Jug & Blues Band, then briefly joined Cummings in The Guess Who in 1969.
Enjoy the B-Side of their final single.
Негізгі бет The Deverons - Farmer John (1966)
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