Barking Dog: May 12, 2022
Star Thistle - Starting Over
A project from the mind of Winnipeg artist Uncle Sinner
Off his debut album The Best of Star Thistle, from 2020
David Francey - Ballad of Bowser MacRae
Scottish-Canadian folksinger who was a railyard worker for many years before pursuing a career in music at the age of 45
This is from his 2006 album Right of Passage
Jon & Alfie - Farewell to Whalley Range / Standard Jon Meal
Jon Dyer & Alfie Gidley
Flute and guitar duo from Cornwall, England
This is a medley of tunes, the first of which is by English folk musician Michael McGoldrick, and the second of which is by Alfie Gidley
Andrew Rowan Summers - O, No John, No!
Was an American folk singer and Appalachian dulcimer player, credited with preserving a large amount of Appalachian music that otherwise would have gone extinct
A variant of a singing game, which is descended from an older ballad
The singing game is from America, and many versions of it exist
The tune is a variant of “Billy Taylor”
We’ll hear another variant of the song after this, which likely developed after this version
Sam Amidon - Spanish Merchant’s Daughter
Contemporary folk artist from Vermont, parents are also folk musicians who I’ve played on the show
From his 2020 self-titled album
Leonard Cohen - Elegy
From a 1957 album of poems by six Montreal poets
Cohen wrote that one in 1955
The Weather Station - Everything I Saw
Fronted by Tamara Lindeman and based out of Toronto
From her 2011 album All of It Was Mine
Arthur Russell - I Wish I Had a Brother
He was a cellist, singer, composer, and producer from Iowa who was part of the New York avant garde scene in the 1970s
He died from AIDS in 1992 at the age of 40 when his work was still somewhat obscure, but rereleases, books, and a documentary about him brought more attention to his work throughout the 2000s, and more of his recordings have been released over time
This is off the 2019 compilation album Iowa Dream
Karen Dalton - Trouble in Mind
American singer, guitarist, and banjo player known for her association with the 60s Greenwich Village folk music scene—including with artists Fred Neil and Bob Dylan
She was largely unrecognized for her contributions to the folk genre during her life, but has become an important influence for artists like Nick Cave, Devendra Banhart, and Joanna Newsom
The title comes from two earlier Black spirituals, but the song was written by jazz pianist Richard M Jones in the vaudeville blues style, and first recorded by Thelma La Vizzo in 1924
Dalton’s version is from a newly released album of live recordings from 1963, called Shuckin’ Sugar, the reel-to-reels of which were rediscovered in 2018
Walter Ferguson - Farewell to the USA
He is a Costa Rican calypso singer born in 1919 who has spent almost his whole life in Cahuita, a small fishing village
He started recording his music on tapes in the 1970s after one of his sons gave him a tape recorder, and he sold his music to travellers from around the world
Ferguson did this until the 1990s, when he retired from music
In 2018, to recover some of his lost music—since each tape was unique and he never wrote down his lyrics—one of his sons put out a call for help to find more of his tapes in preparation for his 100th birthday, which resulted in a worldwide effort and several volumes of newly discovered music
Ferguson had his 103rd birthday just last week, so we’ll celebrate by playing this tune from his 1982 Folkways album Calypso of Costa Rica
Kacy & Clayton - Let It Shine on Me
From Wood Mountain, SK
Traditional gospel-blues song first recorded by the Wiseman Quartet in 1923
William Riley - Bye and Bye
From an album of recordings made by or for the folklorist Helen Creighton between 1943 and 1967 of black Nova Scotian music
Creighton recorded William Riley at his home in Cherry Brook on August 25, 1943
The liner notes for the album remark that Creighton’s archival recordings let us hear the vocal styles of the tradition bearers, which sometimes contain traces of traditional African vocal qualities, like the falsetto break that we hear from Riley in this song--what they describe as “a twisting of the voice with an abrupt breaking off at a higher pitch”
This is a hymn written by Charles Albert Tindley in 1905
Kilby Snow - All My Friends Gonna Be Strangers
American autoharp virtuoso from Virginia
Awarded the title of Autoharp Champion of North Carolina at the age of 5
This is off the new Smithsonian Folkways album The Village Out West: The Lost Tapes of Alan Oakes, which is a collection of field recordings from the 1960s California folk scene
Country songwriter Liz Anderson composed this song which was Merle Haggard’s first top-ten country hit
Pharis & Jason Romero - Salt and Powder
Married duo from Horsefly, BC
From their 2018 album, Sweet Old Religion
Willie Dunn, Ron Bankley - The Tide Rises
Was a Mi’kmaq musician, film director, and politician from Montreal
Joined by Ron Bankley, who was an Ontario guitarist, poet, and songwriter
The Kingfisher Trio - A Beautiful Life
From a 1994 album of Native American music, presented by the National Museum of the American Indian
Members of the Johnson Prairie Indian Baptist Church in Oklahoma
Both Cherokee people and missionaries adapted songs directly from English songs, but others are unique to the Cherokee language
This one is a translation
Hobart Smith - Stormy Rose the Ocean
An old-time musician who was rediscovered in the 60s after performing throughout the first half of the 20th century, often with his sister Texas Gladden
This is from the 1964 album Hobart Smith of Saltville, Virginia
It’s an interesting version of a traditional song because of Smith’s misinterpretation of some of the lyrics
While the song is usually called “The Storms Are on the Ocean,” Smith instead sings “Stormy Rose the Ocean”
It’s an old song that seems to have come from at least two older sources: the very depressing Scottish ballad “The Lass of Roch Royal” and the many, many songs about sailors leaving girls behind, which were very popular in America during the mid-nineteenth century
Frank Proffitt - Tom Dooley
Appalachian musician who inspired musicians during the 60s folk revival to play the traditional 5-string banjo
Was known as a skilled carpenter and luthier who made and played his own banjos and dulcimers
He’s also known for preserving this song
A North Carolina folk song about the 1866 murder of Laura Foster by the confederate soldier Tom Dula
A local poet named Thomas Land wrote a poem about the events soon after
Dula’s name was spelled D-U-L-A but pronounced “Dooley” in the Appalachian tradition of pronouncing the final “a” as a “y”, as is the case with the Grand Ole Opry
The McIntosh County Shouters - I Want to Die Like Weepin’ Mary
This is from an album of slave shout songs, a tradition involving call-and-response singing, percussive rhythm, formalized dance-like movement, and Christian belief, localized largely to the coast of Georgia
Lucille Holloway leads this one
Sheesham and Lotus - We All Go to Heaven When the Devil Goes Blind
From Wolfe Island, ON
This tune seems to be by Ed Morrison of Kentucky
Son House - John the Revelator
Mississippi delta blues artist who influenced Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters
He and his band were recorded for the Library of Congress by Alan Lomax in 1941 and 1942, and in 1943 he left Mississippi for New York and gave up music
In 1964, though, a group of record collectors rediscovered him and his music, and persuaded him to relearn his music
He reestablished his music career, playing in coffeehouses, at folk festivals, and on tours
He also recorded several albums
Traditional gospel song based on John of Patmos and his role as the author of the book of Revelations
Ian & Sylvia - Green Valley
Ian and Sylvia Tyson from Toronto
It’s possible they got this song from Marie Hare of New Brunswick, since it was a relatively uncommon song at the time it was recorded
There were only a couple published variants from the east coast of Canada, and some of its stanzas appeared in songs in the States
Letys Murrin - Mary of the Wild Moor
From an album of folk songs of Ontario from 1958
A widely collected ballad, which Murrin learned from her grandfather
She uses the tune of “Old Rosin the Beau,” which is used for many American songs, including “Down in the Willow Garden”
Joan Sprung - John of the Hazelgreen
Off her 1980 album Pictures to My Mind
Comes from a Scots ballad, "Jock o' Hazeldean,” which became a lighthearted ditty when it migrated to the US
Stanley MacDonald - Roger the Miller
From the 1962 album Lumber and River Songs from the Miramichi Folk Festival, recorded in Newcastle, New Brunswick
An 18th century song sung throughout North America
This is a Miramichi version that was likely brought over from Scotland, and it’s one of the most complete variants found in North America
Lord Myrie, Cecil Mitchel, James Convery - Goodnight Ladies
From a 1960 album of Jamaican calypso music
This is a medley of songs, which includes “Goodnight Ladies,” which was originally a minstrel song from 1867, as well as “Loch Lomond” and “Show Me the Way to Go Home”
Harrison Kennedy - Shake Em Free
Harrison Kennedy a Hamilton artist with a career in blues and roots music spanning over 50 years
Off his 2011 album Shame the Devil
Old Man Luedecke - In the Beginning
From Chester, NS
Off his 2008 album Proof of Love
The Golden Gate Quartet - Lord, Am I Born to Die?
They are a vocal quartet formed in Virginia by four high school students in 1934
They are still active today, but have obviously undergone multiple changes in membership
This is a standard Sacred Harp hymn written by Charles Wesley and first published in 1788
Stan Rogers - Rolling Down to Old Maui
Born and raised in Ontario, but known for his maritime-influenced music that was informed by his time spent visiting family in Nova Scotia during the summers of his childhood
Rogers recorded this for his 1979 album Between the Breaks Live!
This is a traditional sea song likely from the mid-19th century
Larry Penn, Darryl Holter - So Long Partner
Penn was Wisconsin’s Labour Poet Laureate, a songwriter, toymaker, activist, and union man
Pete Seeger said of his music: "Larry's work was as good as anything Woody Guthrie ever created."
Holter is a musician and historian from Minneapolis
This is from their 1989 album Stickin’ with the Union: Songs from Wisconsin Labor History
Based on a Fred Wright cartoon produced by the United Electrical Workers International Union
First panel depicts a boss with his arm around a worker saying, “We are partners in production”
Second picture, after they over-produced and the recession set in, with the boss saying, “So long, partner”
Pete Seeger - The Popular Wobbly
Seeger was a folk singer and an activist who advocated for Civil Rights, environmental causes, and peace through his music
A labour song written by Finnish-American labour activist, hobo, poet, writer, and humourist T-Bone Slim in 1920
It was later revived and given new lyrics during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s
Pink Anderson - The Kaiser
Pink Anderson was an American blues singer and guitarist born in Laurens, SC
Began performing in medicine shows in 1914 and continued to perform in medicine shows for about four decades
Folklorist Paul Clayton recorded him at the Virginia State Fair in May 1950, and he also recorded an album in the 60s and played a few shows, though he reduced his activity after a stroke in the late 1960s
The song likely comes from Henry Whitter’s 1923 Okeh recording, “The Kaiser and Uncle Sam,” or the Ernest V. Stoneman cover “Uncle Sam and the Kaiser,” recorded for Okeh in 1925
Sebastian McKenzie - Bear Hunting Song
Off an album of Algonquin music from 1972
A song about hunting black bear in the wintertime
Edmund Henneberry - Jocky to the Fair
This is from an album of Nova Scotia folk songs, and that song comes from Nova Scotia, specifically Halifax
Cara Luft - Sunset Pendulum
From Winnipeg
This is a cover of Willie P Bennett’s song, off her 2011 album Black Water Side and Other Favourites
Alan Mills and the Four Shipmates - Goodbye, Fare Ye Well
Canadian folk singer, writer, and actor from Lachine, Quebec
Known for popularizing Canadian folk music, and for writing I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
Made a member of the Order of Canada in 1974 for his contributions to Canadian folklore
This shanty is sometimes called “Homeward Bound,” and was often sung when a ship was preparing to leave a foreign port and sail home
Aimé Cagné - Le Set Americain
Frank Fairfield - The Winding Spring
