Brother (Canadian band)
| Company type | Rock band |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1969 |
| Defunct | 1970 |
| Headquarters | Winnipeg , Canada |
| Products | Music recordings |
Brother was a brief-lived rock trio originating from Winnipeg, Manitoba, distinguished by the fact that all three members eventually became part of The Guess Who. Their recorded output consists of only three known tracks.
History
Established in 1969, the group featured guitarist and vocalist Kurt Winter, bassist and singer Bill Wallace, along with drummer and vocalist Vance Schmidt (later known as Vance Masters). Brother served as the main act at the 1970 Niverville Pop Festival, recognized as Manitoba's inaugural rock festival.
The band maintained a strong association with The Guess Who within the Winnipeg music community. Following guitarist Randy Bachman's departure from The Guess Who in 1970, frontman Burton Cummings brought in Winter, who contributed previously unrecorded Brother compositions such as "Hand Me Down World" and "Bus Rider" to The Guess Who’s 1970 release Share the Land. Additionally, other popular Guess Who songs like "Rain Dance" and "Runnin' Back to Saskatoon" were derived from Brother’s material.
Brother dissolved after Winter exited; Wallace and Schmidt went on to join other Manitoba-based groups. The trio briefly regrouped in 1971 to record singles funded by Winter, though these did not achieve commercial success. In 1972, Wallace took over bassist duties from Jim Kale in The Guess Who. Winter and Wallace overlapped within The Guess Who until Winter's exit in 1974; Wallace continued with the band until their 1975 breakup.
After The Guess Who disbanded, Winter participated in a Jim Kale-led reunion lineup during 1977-78, contributing to the 1978 album Guess Who's Back. Schmidt (under the name Vance Masters) joined Burton Cummings’s solo band in 1977 before playing with Kale’s version of The Guess Who through 1979, appearing on two albums. Wallace took part in a Guess Who reunion performance in 1979 and toured with them between 2000 and 2003.
Brother reunited once again for a charitable event in 1994. Winter retired from music in 1978 and passed away in 1997 at age 51. Masters remained active within Manitoba's music scene throughout the 1980s and performed with country-rock group Guns 4 Hire from 1992 until retiring in 2016 due to Multiple Sclerosis. He died at age 77 in June 2023 after suffering a severe COVID-19 infection.