Early
version of Charles Baker Harris
L-R, Standing: Jeff Zipman (drums),
Robert Mulvaney (vocals), Bill Kroeber
(bass)
L-R, Seated: Marvin Finkel (guitar),
Allen Hunnie (guitar)
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Charles
Baker Harris in front of the Hartford
Avenue practice house.
L-R: Marvin Finkel, Allen Hunnie,
Robert Mulvaney, Jeff Zipman, Bill Kroeber
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I feel privileged and honored
to have been asked by the Manitoba Museum
of Music to recall the days of humming
tube amps, thin necked vintage Fenders and
Gibsons, smoky bars, yelling crowds and
vinyl LPs. The musicians and bands
in Winnipeg in the 60's and 70's let the
badger loose and made the walls and halls
shake.
Rock n' roll! Winnipeg!!
Our band was called Charles Baker Harris.
Which one is Charles? Which one is
Baker? Who is Harris? No one
in CBH had those names. Charles
Baker Harris was Charles Baker "Dill"
Harris, the small strange boy who
befriends Scout in the Harper Lee novel
“To Kill a Mockingbird". We thought
it was appropriate for our group.
Here's what happened ...
A young North-ender (St John's High) named
Bill Kroeber hitch-hiked to Vancouver in
the early 70's.When he returned he hid in
the basement with a cheap bass and an even
cheaper record player for a long
time. (Sound familiar?). He
was invited to a party at the now long
gone H.A.S.H. jeans warehouse on Lombard
and watched a group of guys jamming.
One of those guys was an excellent young
guitarist named Allen Hunnie. Allen
was ahead of his time musically and was
already a savvy young veteran of local
bands. The two jammed, talked and
found they had a lot in common
musically. They decided to start a
band.
They somehow conned a friend of Bill’s
named Greasy Joe ( yup ... that was his
name) into letting them practice in his Mc
Adam Street garage two blocks from the
crinkle-cut chips and chili sauce of the
North End Salisbury house. Jamming
there solidified their styles and
friendship. One summer night during
a major thunderstorm, Al and Bill (and a
tin washtub of stubby beers) were in the
garage watching nature’s fireworks and
decided to put together something that was
visually as well as musically different.
Al and Bill were heavily influenced by the
hard rock coming out of England and the
States at the time. Bands such as
Led Zeppelin, Queen, Cheap Trick, Bowie,
Montrose (RIP Ronnie) Humble Pie, T-Rex,
Ten Years After (RIP Alvin Lee) and
Geordie (singer Brian Johnson's original
band) were major influences. The
heavy yet melodic and danceable style that
was Charles Baker Harris’ trademark was
born of those influences. The idea
of the look and sound of CBH was slowly
coming into focus.
Thunder and Lightning was coming to
Winnipeg and like all storms CBH were
short-lived but very intense.
Eventually the neighbors signed a petition
(true story) for them to move out of the
garage (and practice on the moon where
they could probably still be
heard!). Allen Hunnie lived on
Jefferson Avenue in West Kildonan and
through the grapevine and his connections
Garden City’s Jeff Zipman was found,
jammed with and became their
drummer. Jeff's style was jazz
influenced while still maintaining a very
steady heavy backbeat. The guys left
the garage and found offices downtown
where Dave Whitehouse (neighbor, friend of
Jeff Zipman and future CBH manager)
introduced them to another guitarist named
Steve Polson who had a little studio.
With some help from their soundman/roadie
(Terry Smith), the guys tore down the
interior wall and carted it out to the
street to make room for the
equipment. The owner wasn't informed
of this renovation (he never did notice),
but it was now a great place to practice
and start auditioning singers. After
a brief search, Robert Mulvaney was added
as the bands vocalist. Robert took
the band back to the blues roots they
would always have in the heart of much of
their music. Steve Polson left to
continue his studio project and an old
North End friend named Marvin Finkel was
then added as a rhythm guitarist.
The first gigs with this line-up were at
the Polish Hall on Mountain and Main, the
Northstar Inn, the Viscount Gort and the
Vibrations lounge. This version of
CBH continued for a short period until the
boys moved to the practice house on
Hartford and Main where they decided a
keyboard rather than a second guitar would
suit the sound they were looking
for. Dave brought in Bill (two
stash) Cook and his raunchy Hammond as the
final pieces of the puzzle. Along
with great friends Terry Smith (sound) and
Big Bill Scolnik (roadie, driver and a
great bass player as well) CBH was ready
to go!!!
CBH took the music seriously and
approached the band as a full time
commitment. They practiced and
practiced until it was right. The
clothing worn and their stage presence
were just as important as the music.
A lot of recognition has to be given to
manager Dave Whitehouse who took CBH from
the practice hall to the stage. He
set up gigs in local High Schools and in
Southwest Manitoba. They played in
wonderful towns like Treherne, Killarney,
and Baldur and many others and word of
mouth spread in that district until the
band was playing Legion halls and socials
all around the area. CBH did the
full stage show no matter how small the
audience. Changing in a room or in a
washroom the band looked and gave their
all. Every show and crowd was
treated with respect and therefore
received the best CBH could give.
Eventually, the boys started playing in
Winnipeg. The band had the show down
tight with a big following from out of
town. The Village Inn was the first
(and last!) club the band played and the
first night was packed with a line-up
around the block. The band was
quickly doing all the major bars in the
city while still doing one nighters and
writing original music to add to the
show. The unique feature of CBHs'
music was that the band would take a
standard danceable song such as “Born to
be Wild" and use the outer shell of the
song as a vehicle to jam to and in doing
so making the song feel fresh each
night. The dance floors were always
packed and encores were given at almost
every date. CBH gave the bar
audiences the same all out stage show that
it had grown accustomed to doing for the
out of town large dates.
The excitement of a CBH show lay in the
fact that anything could happen and the
band was often as surprised as the
audience at where the music would lead
them. The roadies would often bet
the band couldn't find its way back to the
shell of the original song! Many
audience members started showing up to the
shows wearing the CBH style of clothes
(long gone is Cockatoo Fashions on Portage
and Vaughn). Other bands also started
getting less inhibited and joined in the
fun. CBH didn't make it to the very
top but it did change the Winnipeg scene
musically and visually. Extremely
loud, full of attitude and fun, the band
had as much of a good time as the dancers
and the listeners. In the morning,
(when the ears were still ringing) a night
with CBH was always remembered and passed
along to friends. CBH was a
grassroots, word of mouth, and
exceptionally interesting little group of
musical scallywags.
Well … all good things had to end and
eventually CBH had made its statement and
run its course. We were privileged
to have played for a short while near the
end of CBH with such great musicians as
Glen Willows, Steve Heygi and the late
Dave Inglis (miss you Dave). The
members of CBH all went on to do different
things, all staying as musicians for the
most part. Allen Hunnie went on to
play with such notable Winnipeg bands as
Playground X and Vienna to name a
few. He is now extremely busy doing
incredible work as a Mastering Engineer
with Allen Hunnie Audio. The rest of
CBH is still involved or playing in some
capacity in the business we all
love. Jeff Zipman is working as a
wellness coach now in B.C. and is still
playing. So is Robert Mulvaney at
last news. Bill Cook also had stints
with various local bands. I still
have the 73' Rickenbacher bass I got from
(River and Osborne) Long and McQuade and
still play a lot. Never sell your
guns and spurs. We thank the
Manitoba Museum of Music for the trip back
to a time when the best bands and
musicians in Canada were all assembled in
one exciting place. Here. Our
home. Winnipeg.
Rock On!!
Special thanks to (Allen Hunnie for the
rare old pictures) and our friends Dave
Whitehouse (for jogging the memories,
press clippings and being instrumental in
CBH’s story), Terry Smith, Big Bill
Scolnik, Marvin Finkel, Jimmy Smith, Mike
Hlatky, Rick Demo, Rob Robinson, Glen and
Fred at Long and McQuade, the late Jerry
Kolt (RIP and thanks for all the gigs)
from Hungry I and all the many CBH fans
for coming on the ride (short but sweet)
Bill Kroeber
April 26, 2013
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