The story of the Ramblers goes back to around 1950 in Georgetown, British Guiana when the last three siblings of the Serrao family started playing with make-believe guitars made out of empty herring cans attached to a wooden pole, for the finger board, and four rubber bands secured with wooden heads used as tuning keys.
The two brothers Bing (Stanislaus) Serrao and Bernie Serrao began playing together in 1953 then Maurice Serrao joined in 1954 and the Serrao brothers formally started “The Ramblers” band with several friends; Michael Andrews, Romeo Rego, Mark Steele, and Ambrose De Sousa. The band was in demand for dances, house parties, and charity concerts produced by “Auntie Olga” Lopes-Seale, “Honest John” Fernandes, and the Ivy Campbell Dance School. Other well-known Guyanese artistes performing at those memorable concerts were “Raoul” Jack Cashmere, Nesbit Changur, Othmar Arthur, Willie Rodrigues, Ormond Lam, and Oscar Dummett.
By 1960, the Ramblers had made their first record with Cook Records. One of the tracks included what turned out to be one of their popular hits titled “The Three in One Saga.” Initially, the band played without amplification and used, bongos made from Guyana Wallaba wood and bicycle parts then they acquired additional amplifiers that improved their capabilities.
Bing Serao and The Ramblers took their music from Guyana to Toronto in the latter part of 1964 where every Friday and Saturday night the Guyanese and West Indians flocked to hear them play at the Jamaican Latin Quarter Club in downtown Toronto, now the site of the Eaton Center.
Caribbean, Latin American, and Europeans who loved to dance quickly learned about Bing Serrao and The Ramblers at 290 ½ Younge Street near Dundas, on the third floor, and even on cold winter nights, they played to capacity audiences. The band’s rendition of calypso, standards, and South American hits such as Spanish Eyes, Maria Elena, Amor Amor, Anna, and others, were the stuff that filled a void for the immigrants. The mixture of music included a waltz, tango, cha cha, ballad, and calypso which appealed to those who were looking for a nice evening of dancing.
The band showcased their songwriting skills, as heard on their CD “The Three in One Saga”, produced at their own Serrao digital music recording studio in Toronto, Ontario in 2002. The group has since released “Playing Your Favorites” in 2005, and more recently in 2007, a re-issue of their 33 1/3 LP “Boys Night Out” plus three bonus tracks which include their first ever recording of the original single “The Three in One Saga”
After 50 years, the Ramblers are playing to three generations of Guyanese. They are the winners of several awards including the prestigious Wordsworth McAndrew Award 2003 from the Guyana Folk Festival in New York, USA.
Their CDs are available on Amazon.com or directly from Bernie Serrao at
Email: sdmrecordings@ca.inter.net
Tel: 416-283-7072
