Canadian Entertainment, Music and Catch All II

[elly63]

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[elly63]

Originally Posted by elly63

I didn't know it was him until the search engine years when you could look up old lyrics and songs you remembered and find out who performed the song.

For some reason, I had a lot of "The Sweet" songs on that "list" and a couple of Terry Jacks songs: "Concrete Sea" and "I'm Gonna Love You Too".

I just noticed that second song "I'm Gonna Love You Too" seems to evoke memories of another performer, anyone guess?

[Architype]

I didn't know Frank Mills was Canadian, and that's the only hit I think.

There are other forgotten Canadians, the Lombardos from London Ontario.

Guy Lombardo & his Royal Canadians - Red Sails In The Sunset (1935)
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[elly63]

Originally Posted by Architype

I didn't know Frank Mills was Canadian, and that's the only hit I think. There are other forgotten Canadians, the Lombardos from London Ontario. Guy Lombardo & his Royal Canadians

Frank Mills was/is quite popular. Remember be careful of calling people "one hit wonders". I posted Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians earlier as one of the top ten Canadian bands.

[Architype]

Originally Posted by elly63

Frank Mills was/is quite popular. Remember be careful of calling people "one hit wonders". I posted Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians earlier as one of the top ten Canadian bands.

Okay, how about something more obscure. Omar Blondahl was from Saskatchewan, but made an album of Newfoundland songs.

Omar Blondahl - We'll Rant And We'll Roar (1959)
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He recorded Nfld songs before anyone from Nfld recorded them.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by elly63

he was a lovely fella.

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[Architype]

Originally Posted by elly63

For some reason, I had a lot of "The Sweet" songs on that "list" and a couple of Terry Jacks songs: "Concrete Sea" and "I'm Gonna Love You Too".

I just noticed that second song "I'm Gonna Love You Too" seems to evoke memories of another performer, anyone guess?

Well, it's a Buddy Holly song.

[Gresto]

Curiously, all those Lightfoot songs you two mentioned are among my top favs as well: The Circle is Small, Don Quixote, Knotty Pine, Race Among the Ruins, Daylight Katy.
One of his later songs, Ringneck Loon, is beautiful as well, and I don't care what the critics say, I love his much-maligned 1986 album East of Midnight and its most well-known song, Anything for Love. Sure, it's not typical of his style (the David Foster influence is obvious), but it's a great song.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Gresto

Curiously, all those Lightfoot songs you two mentioned are among my top favs as well: The Circle is Small, Don Quixote, Knotty Pine, Race Among the Ruins, Daylight Katy.

Maybe just about every Lightfoot song is our favourite because as Dylan said he never wrote a bad song

[Gresto]

Originally Posted by elly63

Maybe just about every Lightfoot song is our favourite because as Dylan said he never wrote a bad song

Dylan was a fan. I remember in the Lightfoot docu of a few years ago how Gord talked of being starstruck when Dylan showed up at one of his, Lightfoot's, '60s get-togethers at his mid-Toronto home, I guess decades before he moved to the Bridle Path. (Why he, of all people, moved there is anyone's guess. Probably privacy.)
I have to disagree with Dylan, though. Every musician has his/her share of lesser songs, certainly including Dylan himself.
I decided to dig out my Lightfoot ratings list, lest I forget to mention worthy titles. Below are more of my favourite Lightfoot songs, listed chronologically. Those with asterisks are standouts, but all are roughly the equal, in my view, of those we discussed above. Unlike Dylan, I don't know that Lightfoot ever composed an outright masterpiece, but he was more consistently good than Bob, I think.

-Song for a Winter's Night
-Wherefore and Why
-Magnificent Outpouring
-Spin, Spin (live,1969)
-Old Dan's Records*
-A Tree Too Weak to Stand
-Sea of Tranquility
-Dream Street Rose
-In My Fashion*
-Heaven Help the Devil
-Salute
-Morning Glory
-A Passing Ship
-Only Love Would Know
-Waiting for You*
-Uncle Toad Said

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Gresto

-Song for a Winter's Night
-Wherefore and Why

Funny that the top two you posted are favourites of mine. Song for a Winter's Night is a beautiful song. There is a reviewer that I get a kick out of, she reminds me of an avid birdwatcher who used to work at the Commerce Bank long ago

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[kwoldtimer]

I wonder what Lightfoot thought of Sarah McLachlan's cover?

[elly63]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

I wonder what Lightfoot thought of Sarah McLachlan's cover?

I'm not a big one for most covers but I thought it suited her and it seemed sufficiently different to be of note.

[Architype]

Originally Posted by Xelebes

I typically don't consider Newfoundland folk country music because it is music by townies and for townies. There is a reason why those in Western Newfoundland never really jived with it and instead went into country music itself (Ron Hynes, Roy Payne, Eddie Coffey.) Secondly, the song structure is entirely different. Country uses 4-bar phrases while Newfoundland folk use longer bar (usually 8-bar) phrases. Rankin Family use 4-bars. For comparison Broadway tunes are usually 8-bars and Blues itself is anything from 8, 10 to 12 bars.

Then there is the centrality to the dance music which is common between Tennessee and Cape Breton. While Newfoundland dance music does exist and there is some commonalities (the use of the jig), there is a sharp difference between their sung music and dances because there was a sharp divide as to where you could dance and where you couldn't and where they did meet, it was largely restricted to kitchen parties.

And lastly, how they originally performed their audiences are extremely common between Tennessee and Cape Breton, playing in barn dances and jamborees. Where as in Newfoundland folk, they are playing in pubs and coffeehouses.

Thanks again for the explanations. I'm not sure that you can easily differentiate between eastern and western Nfld in traditional music, but I'll remember to think about it in those terms. Ron Hynes is from Eastern Nfld btw. There are many variations within these genres so it can be hard to generalize. Here is an example of how Nfld. music in a broader sense, borrowed from and overlaps with country music. These guys were both icons of their genres. I think you can hear similarities between these songs.



Traditional Country
Hank Williams - I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (1949)
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Newfoundland Folk Music
Harry Hibbs - Sweet Sixteen (1968)
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[elly63]

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[EnvisionSaintJohn]

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The Rehearsal Season 2 is absolutely amazing. I like it a lot more than season 1, and think it's the best thing he's done since Nathan For You.

Nathan is truly one of the funniest and most devious Canadians of all time.

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Also, Mayday: Air Disasters has to be the TV show "from up in Canada" that he mentioned. The episode about the Gimli Glider was absolutely epic.

[elly63]

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[Architype]

R.I.P Lou Christie 1943 - 2025

Lou Christie - Blue Canadian Rocky Dream (1973)
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[elly63]

That's really extending the Catch All limit of the thread First thing I think of with Lou Christie is the obvious "Two Faces Have I" and "Lightnin' Strikes"

[Architype]

Originally Posted by elly63

That's really extending the Catch All limit of the thread First thing I think of with Lou Christie is the obvious "Two Faces Have I" and "Lightnin' Strikes"

Well, it's in the title and lyrics, of course. I'll bet no one here has ever heard of that song.