Manitoba Music Museum

Burton
                      Cummings & Neil Young 1987


THE  ORFANS


HOME  ARTISTS  |  SPECIAL EVENTS  |  MUSIC ASSOCIATES  |  MEMORABILIA  |  OBITUARIES  |  CONTRIBUTORS  LINKS  |  CONTACT US




SHADOW



The Orfans 1965

Clockwise from top left:  Dave Roberts (drums), Danny Holmes (lead guitar),
Ed Heppner (bass) and Paul (Boots) Loreque (rhythm guitar).
Circa 1965

To set themselves apart from the competition, quartet the Orfans made the bold move of dying their hair blond and sporting matching white guitars.  The band formed after guitarist Paul (Boots) Loreque from River Heights and Eddie Heppner from Woodlands met in 1964 while working at the Manitoba Sugar refinery off Chevrier Boulevard in Fort Garry (immortalized in the 1972 Guess Who song Smoke Big Factory).

“I went home with him one day after work,” says Heppner, “and he played Lonnie Mack’s Memphis on guitar and knocked my socks off.”

Recruiting friends Danny Holmes on lead guitar and drummer Dave Roberts, the Orfans rehearsed in Woodlands before making their debut in Churchill, of all places.  Several out-of-town gigs followed until the band entered the Winnipeg community club circuit.
 
The Orfans’ vocal abilities became the envy of their contemporaries.

“We’d really worked on our vocals” says Heppner.  “We would work up in our hotel rooms on the road with just a guitar practising our harmonies.  We wanted to become good musically.”

Roberts bowed out, and ex-Kingbeats drummer Ken (Dutch) Schultz from Crescentwood joined.
“The first gig I played with them was at the Town ‘n’ Country nightclub, and I had to wear Dave Roberts’ suit,” says Schultz.  “It was huge on me, and I had to roll up the sleeves to play.”

The band developed a well-earned reputation for covering the intricate vocal numbers by British group the Zombies.

“Nobody in town was doing Zombies songs,” says Schultz.

Besides local dances and regular appearances at the Twilight Zone, Transcona’s Pink Panther and J’s Discotheque, the Orfans played Fort William’s Flamingo Club.  In 1966, after performing at Teen Fair at the Red River Ex (where yours truly, decked out in a fur vest made by my mom, had his photo taken with Loreque and Holmes), they tried their luck in the Toronto area, playing clubs in Yorkville.

But the pay was poor, forcing them to travel to gigs with all their gear by streetcar.  Loreque quit and was replaced by Ken Holm.  Heppner and Schultz agree the magic was gone after Loreque left.

Schultz later departed, and Marcus Fisher joined, but by this point, the Orfans had moved into playing pubs to survive.  Heppner, Holmes and Fisher recorded a rare single on their own Nafro label before folding in 1968.  Loreque later played in the Coach ‘n’ Four and Fellowship (with Heppner), Holmes was in Chopping Block and Heppner played in Granny and B.B. Bullion.

John Einarson
As published in Winnipeg Free Press, January 24, 2016
UNSUNG BANDS HELPED BUILD ROCK SCENE

The Orfans

L-R:  Danny Holmes (lead guitar), Paul Loreque (rhythm guitar), Winnie, Ed Heppner (bass), Ken (Dutch) Schultz (drums)

The Orfans 1967

L-R:  Ed Heppner, Marcus Fisher, Danny Holmes, Ken Holm
Gateway Hotel in The Pas, Manitoba, Canada
The Orfans
                              1967

L-R:  Ed Heppner (bass), Danny Holmes (lead guitar), Ken Holm (guitar/keyboards), Marcus Fisher (drums)
1967

The Orfans 1968

L-R:  Danny Homes, Ed Heppner, Marcus Fisher
1968

BACK TO ARTIST INDEX


HOME  ARTISTS  |  SPECIAL EVENTS  |  MUSIC ASSOCIATES  |  MEMORABILIA  |  OBITUARIES  |  CONTRIBUTORS  LINKS  |  CONTACT US

©  Manitoba Music Museum  All Rights Reserved