January
1966 promo photo taken at
Winnipeg International Airport
for The Eternals first tour.
Well we know our first personal manager,
Terry Morris, will well remember how this
pix became reality.
Back in late spring of 66, we realized
that simply playing dance music would not
cut it in the bar & club scene as 95%
of the rooms were show based - no dance
floors. OUCH!
Terry Morris gave us a play-by-play of
what he saw when he toured the Toronto
rock & club scene and said you have to
put on a show - so get creative! And
thanks to Terry's vision we DID!
This was to the Champs tune TEQUILA so we
dressed it up and dropped some jaws with
the routines and rock sound music. This
was taken in WAWA, Ontario - MelAire
Showroom - and they held us over for the
entire summer of 66 - Imagine - Lake
Superior, U of Toronto many young lady
students all coming to the resort town for
summer jobs - couldn't get much better
than this!
Ronny And The Eternals
- or Just The Eternals as many
fans prefer - recently returned
from the East where they
entertained at The Friar, a
Toronto night spot. Their
current release Christmas
has been a fast chart
climber. The group now is
rehearsing for the release of Total
Sound, written by Randy
Bachman of The Guess Who.
Together for five years, the boys
in the combo are (left to right)
Harry Hildebrand, on bass, rhythm
and lead guitar; Ted Paley, on
drums and fiddle; John Hildebrand,
on bass and lead guitar; and Ron
Paley, on piano, organ, drums and
sax. -- 1967 Newspaper
Article
Few realize that this talented group are
Winnipeggers because they perform here so
rarely and people forget so quickly.
To be more specific, the group, which has
remained the same for 5 years, except for
one member leaving, composed two of two
sets of brothers, are from Rosa and
Steinbach, Manitoba.
Out East, The Eternals have gained a
reputation for themselves in the past 3
years that is "second to none".
Instead of having to play at the Village
and up, as other clubs have had to do, The
Eternals opened at the Friar, the biggest
and best known club going. Each time
they appear at a club, they break
attendance records, inevitably the one
they made at their last engagement.
Every time they appear, they make new
fans, and old fans go out of their way to
see them, even going as far as to phone
Winnipeg to see if anyone knows where
they'll be playing!
It's obvious that The Eternals have the
East in the palm of their hand. But
they're not taking advantage of it.
They know that if they stop giving the
public what it wants, it's the beginning
of the end. They're not idols,
they're just people … people who love
people, life, and doing what they know
best hot to do, entertain.
As mentioned before, The Eternals are made
up of two sets of brothers, Ron, the
businessman, who plays organ, piano, drums
and sac, and Ted, the quiet one, the
drummer and fiddler of the group make up
the Paleys. The Hildebrands are made
up of John, who's got the weirdest sense
of humour going, lead guitarist, and bass
player, and the clown of the group, and
Harry, who plays bass, rhythm, and lead
guitar. The two families look after
each other, keep each other in line, and
musically produce the nicest harmony ever
to come out of Canada.
This is clearly exemplified in the four
releases they had in the last year, "Girl
In The Window", "Come Go With Me",
"Raining In My Heart", and their latest,
"Christmas", done with the well loved
"Santa Claus is Comin' To Town". On
January 2nd, they will return to Winnipeg
and begin rehearsals for a "Total Sound"
session, with two original songs written
by Randy Bachman. A lot of work and
research has gone into this, and its
effect is going to be fantastic and
widespread. But The Eternals don't
mind waiting. They've seen too many
groups that were born overnight come and
go just as fast. They'll just let
things work themselves out.
While in the vicinity, they will be
appearing at St. Pierre on January 5th,
and the University of Manitoba on the
6th. If you have never seen them,
make it a point to do so. It will be
worth your while, because The Eternals
want to make it, can make, and will make
it! They're that kind of people.
Tania James From the Metro Teen Scene, December 1967
Thank
you to Claire Guenther, Ron Paley, John
Hildebrand, and
Terry Morris for contributing the
images appearing on The Eternals page.
The
Eternals - with lead singer Al Johnson
(centre)
