This week features the follow-up to last week’s story on the former Swan River band called The Group.
As The Group kept playing more gigs, Hornbeck and his band members began earning some money, from what started out as just a hobby. Hornbeck recalls the first big ticket item he purchased with his money earned from playing in The Group.
“We had a strict policy that each band member was responsible for looking after replacing and maintaining their musical instrument,” said Hornbeck. “After each gig, we would pool the money together and divide it equally. We all bought our own stuff with the money we earned over the years and we were quite proud of ourselves. Each time we bought better and better equipment. As I look through the array of photographs over that time span, we had some pretty decent-looking equipment towards the end of it.
“I ordered myself a British set of Premier drums from Scalif’s, just like the ones Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones had.
“I can also recall, one day I had accumulated $52 dollars in my bank account, so I went over to Emerson Barnard’s Jewelry store on Main Street, and I asked what they had for rings,” said Hornbeck. “I wanted to buy a ring and he showed me some. I picked one out, had it sized and paid $50. I’ve still got the ring and wear it. It’s gold with a red round ruby like stone in the center of it and is my Group ring forever.”
It wasn’t long before The Group decided to do some recording locally in the area. They caught the attention of a well-known DJ in the area, and he helped them to record some songs in studio at a radio station in Dauphin.
“There was a radio company in Dauphin that had a DJ named Ron Waddell, The Ugly Duckling,” said Hornbeck “He was quite popular with the music he played. Waddell invited us to do come down and do a recording at the studio. We travelled to Dauphin and recorded some songs. That was quite the experience for us.”
Hornbeck has quite the elaborate collection of The Group memorabilia to this date. He has the performances documented through a series of videos and photographs.
“I have the name of the band, The Group, on the bass drumhead, still today,” said Hornbeck. “It’s one of the main artifacts I’ve kept over the years. I printed it myself onto the drumhead. From then on we were The Group. I have hundreds of photographs from our time together and several framed in my home in chronological order. The entire story of the Group is documented within those photos.
“I still have my wooden block for the drum kit, the cowbell and a handful of drumsticks from our days together. I used to go through a lot of drumsticks back then from banging on the drums so hard. I would throw my broken drumstick into the crowd and people would be scrambling to pick it up as a souvenir, I guess. I always had an instant grab for replacement sticks at hand. Garry Pederson of the Guess Who, taught me that.
“I was so fortunate that I got all the band members to sign the drumhead before some of them passed on,” said Hornbeck.
Even fans of The Group hung on to some time-honoured memorabilia from the band’s glory days.
“Dennis and Maureen Bowles were always in the front of the stage during our performances,” said Hornbeck. “I even have them on the home movies. Dennis went on to buy my parents’ home. One day he told me to come by the house and he had something he wanted to show me. I hadn’t been back to the house after my parents had passed away. So I went over and there in the rumpus room, where The Group played and practiced, on the door, perfectly intact with black friction tape was our band name still glued to the door, along with the artifacts on the floor. Dennis said he couldn’t bare to take it off.”
Hornbeck recalls The Group getting together for a reunion and doing one last performance together.
“Our very last performance was in 2003, here in Swan River at the Legion Hall,” said Hornbeck. “The High School Reunion Committee asked us to get together for their program. At first, the guys weren’t interested in getting together, but eventually we did. We all met the night before at Glenn’s basement, where his band called Kind of Country, would practice. We only played about two or three songs and got caught up musing about the past. The guys were having a good time reminiscing.
“The night of the big concert where The Group was to entertain over 300 people, we played three songs and then Jimmy asked, out of the blue, if anyone remembered a certain song. Then all of a sudden it all came back and we were playing music we hadn’t played together for 45 years. The dinner became a dance floor again and it felt magical.
“We have all of that performance, the crowd and interviews with members from The Group all filmed and I have it on DVD thanks to Jim Makichuk,” said Hornbeck.
The Group band members all went their separate ways after 1967 and their band is listed as one on the Manitoba Music Museum’s webpage with photographs going back to that time.
“Jimmy Hooper became a solo performer,” said Hornbeck. “He would play his acoustic guitar and sing, despite not singing in The Group. He has since passed on and the funeral was held in Hudson Bay, SK. An old friend, Jim Webster and I made the trip out for his funeral. There were artifacts of his life all across the stage and wall-to-wall music tributes.
We were ushered in and seated amongst his family at the front.”
Aaron Burnett went on to become an elementary school teacher and then realized his musical calling was still prevalent. He started playing rhythm guitar and doing lead vocals for Salvek Hanzlik’s bluegrass band in Winnipeg. The band parted ways and Barnett formed another bluegrass band called Ain’t No Mountain Boys that toured around Manitoba and northwestern Ontario. From there he moved on to join the Keystone Bluegrass Quartet, which became a popular band.
Burnett decided to record an album in 2002 and received a Juno nomination. He released a second bluegrass album with the musical backing of the Dry River Boys. He now plays traditional bluegrass music in a band called Prairie Grass.
Glenn Kerestes went on to marry Marilyn Shaver of Swan River, raised a family and became a loans officer at the Swan Valley Credit Union. He kept his love of playing bass guitar by playing in the band Kind of Country. Kerestes passed away last year on Nov.18, 2021 at the age of 74.
Raymond Fulford entered the medical profession and went stateside for a while. He now resides in Winnipeg, designing amputee prosthetics.
Gord Hornbeck is 74 now and winding up business in the Valley. He and his companion, Dale, are happy with growing old together and keeping busy.