By DEANNE TREMAYNE
Not every popular singing group learns music by just picking it up. A good many of them go through a long and tedious series of lessons. But a Winnipeg group, the Deverons, say they just learned by ear. Although they are young they can certainly put on a great show. Burton Cummings, leader of the group, is 16: He plays piano, sax and vocal. Derek Blake 16, plays guitar. Edd Smith 16, is on bass, Ron Savoie, 17, on drums and Bruce Decker, 17, guitar.
The Deverons are not all that crazy about the Beatles. "We think the Rolling Stones are the greatest. We don't try to copy anyone," said one of them. "We try to give the kids what they want and if that happens to be Beatle numbers then that's what they get."
But whether they like the Beatles or not, it was during the Liverpool group's brief visit to Winnipeg recently that the Deverons — and one member in. particular — achieved the greatest publicity of their career to date. It was Bruce Decker who was the ambitious young lad who came close to getting inside the Beatles' plane before took off to resume its flight to Seattle, Washington.
The Deverons are currently making Winnipeg's Cinema Hall swing Thursday evenings. They hope to be even busier, with school dances, when the school year starts next month. And they hope they may be offered a recording contract in the near future. The Deverons certainly display enough energy. Who knows? Maybe if they can channel it in the right direction we'll be hearing a lot more of this local group.
