The Cascades, Neepawa’s rock ‘n’ roll pioneers

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Published on Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Submitted photos. Left: The Cascades in 1962 (from left): Barry Hunter, Gerry Suski, Darwin Crabbe, Larry Novak and Ted Greenhaulgh. Right: The Cascades, in the same order, at their 2013 reunion performance

By Rick Sparling

Neepawa Press

The year was 1960. I remember heading up to the hospital where Larry Novak had a room  throughout his high school days. Larry looked after a few duties at the hospital, such as garbage detail,  checking on the boiler room (daily) and other responsibilities, in exchange for the room. Larry had a bunch of songs he had written and a couple of us would go to listen to him play the guitar and sing. We always requested songs like Johnny Horton’s “Sink the Bismarck”, for example, which he knew all the words to: He usually entertained us for a couple of hours, with both his original and popular songs that were on the charts, back in 1960.  

A couple of other musical friends, Gerry Suski and Barry “Tab” Hunter, got together with Larry and they had several jam sessions, each feeding off the other, as they were all just perfecting the guitar at that time. Larry had a tape recorder next to his radio and that helped them to learn a lot. 

Forming a band

One night, while parked at the Agassiz Drive-Inn, they first spoke about  forming a band. They knew that Darwin Crabbe played the drums and Teddy Greenhalgh was proficient on the saxophone, however they weren’t too sure about Teddy. They thought that he was more into classical music. 

Much to their surprise, Teddy knew the latest rock ‘n’ roll songs and he also knew Bert Kaempfert’s “Wonderland at Night,” (on saxophone) which, at that time, was #1 on the Hit Parade.  He also knew popular songs like “Tequila” and the “Theme from Peter Gunn”, which also featured the tenor sax. This period was in the spring of 1962.

Occasionally, the band practiced at Joanne Cox’s parents’ place, since Joanne was Gerry’s girlfriend. Their house was right near the Agassiz Drive-Inn, where many of the local kids hung out. It didn’t take very long before they were drawn to the music, with many of the kids were dancing on the driveway. 

Darwin remembers his first audition with the band was in Barry’s back yard.

Another time, they were practicing at the Arcade. Teddy’s father, Walter, owned The Arcade, which enabled the band to practice there; within a little time, they were booked in for dances. 

Flash mob

One sunny Sunday afternoon, during one of their practices, the kids in town heard them and all converged on the hall. In Gerry’s words, a “flash mob dance” ensued. This was well before flash mobs were even a thing. During this time period, the boys’ parents told them (repeatedly) that rock ‘n’ roll wouldn’t last, “It was just a fad.”

In those days, one of  Barry’s relatives, in London, England, was communicating with him and sending him early Beatles songs. This was a couple of years prior to The Beatles’ appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show (in 1964), but they already had some very popular hits. The band learned these Beatles songs and picked up on Chubby Checker’s two biggest hits, “The Twist” and “Limbo Rock.”

They also had some slow waltzs, polkas, two-steps and other rock ‘n’ roll songs in their repertoire.

The boys were more 

interested in the music

Another method used for picking up new songs was the tape recorder: The guys headed out to the drive-inn theatre with their dates, where an Elvis movie was playing. The girls, thinking that they may be in for some romance, didn’t realize that the boys had brought along a tape recorder; they ran an extension cord all the way to the concession booth. The boys were more interested in recording the songs from the film than romance! Even though the girls might have been disappointed, the guys accomplished their real mission of the night. 

Things got out of hand

Larry came up with the name ‘The Cascades.’ All of the members thought it was a classy name and the only thing that they lacked was a gig. Gerry and Barry knew a couple of girls in Arden and one of the girls’ fathers was the caretaker of the hall in Arden. This was the “in” that they needed to get their first paying job. Well, sort of...  

Many people showed up from Neepawa (and area) and the evening was going quite well, until some (in Larry’s words) ‘scallywags’ came in. They proceeded to demand that the band play “Limbo Rock”, after ripping a piece of wood from the rafters. They used this board as their ‘limbo pole.’

The band accommodated them and once again, they wanted it played. After the third time, things got out of hand and the scallywags ripped out some heating register covers and  left, but not before doing some damage to the front door. The caretaker had $35 in an envelope for the band’s work, but the cost of repairs totalled the same amount. Therefore, The Cascades first paycheck was exactly zero! 

Eventually, they found some relative financial success by playing many high school dances and local sock hops at the United Church Annex and performing around the various small towns in the area. 

One gig was in Rapid City, on a cold and windy winter night. They travelled in Teddy Greenhalgh’s Vauxhall, towing a two-wheel trailer that carried all of the band equipment. Just prior to crossing Highway #10, the Vauxhall got stuck in the snow. The band showed up late and, because of the weather, the dance had been cancelled. They were paid regardless, which the band thought was very noble of Rapid City...and  I suppose it made up for the losses they experienced in Arden. They usually netted about $10 each for the night; somehow, they still managed to afford buying guitars and amplifiers.

Versatile musicians

I can recall Barry being very talented on the lead guitar; he knew all of The Ventures instrumentals.   Although Larry was the top song writer of the band, Barry wrote an instrumental called “RCMP”, patterned after The Shadows hit, “FBI.” They incorporated “RCMP” into their playlist at each booking.

Although each band member played certain instruments, all the guitarists played lead guitar at times and all did some vocals, harmonizing when the song called for it. Versatile musicians, no doubt.

TV appearance 

increased popularity

Brandon’s CKX Television station had a weekly show, which was sort of a knock-off of American Bandstand, where they featured a high school band each week and had some of the local students dancing onstage. The Cascades were featured on this program, which helped to promote the band.            

The band accompanied the high school basketball team (with the cheerleaders) to Shilo. After the game, everyone went to the CKX studio where the entourage danced while the band played. This was a memory that stood out with all of the members of The Cascades. The band became very popular after this television appearance.

An American band made the top 10 with the song “Rhythm of the Rain” and they called themselves The Cascades. The Neepawa group didn’t patent the name and they were worried that they may have to change it. It turned out that the American version of The Cascades were short-lived; they were a one-hit wonder.

Members went their separate ways

The Neepawa-based band stayed and played together until the latter part of 1963. People were telling them they should go into Winnipeg and play the bar circuit, but after graduating from high school, the members went their separate ways and The Cascades became history. It was just in 2013 when the original members got back together for a reunion; despite a 50-year separation, they still sounded good. 

Larry currently lives in Neepawa and is still involved with a band, Larry and the Boys. Larry has written over 120 songs (to date) and over 35 of them have been recorded by Nashville musicians. 

Barry resides in Grandview, Manitoba. Barry’s son has followed in his dad’s footsteps, playing lead guitar for The Todd Hunter Band. Barry has filled in on  bass (on occasion) and even recorded an album with the band.  

Gerry, Teddy, and Darwin are all in Winnipeg. Gerry married Joanne, so they have been together since that day on Cox’s driveway. Gerry maintains that, because he was the best-looking member of the band, he was the first to get married. 

Gerry says his son plays the guitar better than him. Music is always a part of Gerry’s family functions.

 Larry’s daughter, Charla, plays the acoustic guitar.

Darwin’s son, Kevin, plays the drums in a pipe band and his daughter Melanie is a ‘highland dancer.’

Still playing

All of the Cascades are still playing, whether it’s at family gatherings or onstage, and some have changed their instrument(s) along the way. Darwin plays the bagpipes, which is how Melanie and Kevin got involved in music. Gerry has taken up the banjo. Teddy, who played mainly saxophone and clarinet with the band (and a little bit of keyboard) has exclusively switched to the keyboard. Teddy has sung with a Winnipeg barbershop group, where he learned even more about harmony. He has a small band (with his wife Jackie) called The Prairie Song Birds. They entertain at senior homes and hospitals a couple of times a week.

Larry has always played the six string guitar. He has also dabbled with the bass guitar and the harmonica, but these two instruments are currently collecting dust.

Music has always been a huge part of the lives of all of the Cascades; it has enabled them to meet many people in the music industry and to develop lifelong friendships along the way. This has all been possible because of a group of kids who pioneered the first rock ‘n’ roll band in Neepawa, The Cascades.