Photographed in 1967 upstairs at the Hawk's Nest in Toronto, the Paupers are (left to right): Skip Prokop (drums), Adam Mitchell (guitar), Chuck Beal (guitar) and Denny Gerrard (bass).
By 1967 The Paupers had gained a reputation as a live act - they opened for the Jefferson Airplane at Cafe Au Go-Go in March 1967 about which Village Voice reviewer Richard Goldstein said "... their music makes the average combo sound like a string quartet doing Wagner. The Paupers play electronic rock with a power and discipline I have never seen in live performance." From their first album here is the lead off track Magic People:
Everything was on the upswing until the Monterey Pop Festival where they played a disastrous set with equipment failures and poorly timed LSD on what was expected to be their big break. In 1968 Denny Gerrard departed and was replaced with Brad Campbell - they toured the US a second time, and opened for the Jimi Hendrix Experience & Soft Machine at the CNE, after which Skip Prokop left to form Lighthouse and Brad Campbell left for Janis Joplin's Kozmic Blues Band. The second album (Ellis Island) was released in 1968 as the group was breaking up - here's the closing track track White Song:
The Paupers would practice long hours in the Hawk's Nest - the shot below gives a good view of what the place looked like. After 1968 the Paupers re-formed (to pay debts) which brought Denny Gerrard back, but the band eventually folded in 1969.
One further Richard Goldstein quote: "And the rest of the act bristles with feedback, dissonance, and a pervasive beat pounded furiously on three sets of drums." You can see the three drum setup in the picture below:
Richard Goldstein's quotes from the Village Voice.
Images courtesy of York University.