Postcard Memories is a weekly series of historic postcard views and photos submitted by Marcel Rousseau.
Some were previously published by the Orillia Museum of Art and History and in the book Postcard Memories Orillia.
In the late 1950s, Pat Sweeney, Bobby Branch, Danny Harrison, George Snache and Alex Coules formed a group called The Shadows. Sweeney played bass guitar and can be seen in this group photo with his 1959 Fender Precision Bass.
For four or five years the group played clubs from Oshawa to Muskoka including the Rainbow Room and The Pav in Orillia and the Charlie Parker Pavilion in Midland.
During this time Jim McEachern took over the sax when Snache, one of the best sax players in central Ontario, left to play in Muskoka with the Sandsmen group. Alex Coules also left and Andy “Legs” Diamond took over the drums.
When the group broke up Branch, McEachern and Harrison joined the Count Victors band in Peterborough, travelling all the way to New York City to play in one of its top night clubs.
In 1961 and 1962 the Count Victors had Harrison playing guitar and vocals, Jim McEachern playing piano and sax and Bob Branch on the bass. Danny Harrison, who some say was the most talented singer/songwriter/guitarist Peterborough had ever seen, passed away in Toronto in 1992 at the age of 51.
Bob Branch, who started his career singing with the Teen Timers, a high school group that included Gordon Lightfoot, later formed his own group called Bobby Blue and the Electric Kool-Aid. This group toured the province with Sweet Daddy Siki, a well-known wrestler and singer.
