(Originally Written in 1954) Vera Johnson
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Canadian Folk Music BUUEllN 30.2 (1996) ...5 (originally written in 1954) Vera Johnson One of the most remarkable child It was the kind of program that radio hour Mills strove with increasing exasper- prodigieson record is a deceptivelygenial artists dream about in their most fright- ation to overcome her objections, without Montrealer who chain-smokescigarettes ening nightmares, where musical scores results. She was afraid to take a chance. and drinks his whiskey straight. Techni- are lost and the whole program has to be Now, if he would only sing something cally, Alan Mills is only six yearsold, yet altered five minutes before air-time and reliable, like "Road to Mandalay." Even- he has already solidly establishedhimself nervesare tenseand throatstighten up and tually he stormed out in a rage, leaving as Canada'sbest-known folksinger. How- the station managerfalls into an apoplec- behind him an expensive book of Schubert ever, this achievementis not quite as tic fit. Even now, Alan cannot recall the lieder. phenomenalas it sounds,for Mills sprang detailswithout wincing-but the broadcast That was 1937, and he has stayed into being in 1947 as a full-fledged adult did lead to one rather significant incident. mad ever since. Furthermore, when he with years of training and experience A prominent Montreal clubwoman turned his back on Schubert as his particu- behind him-the "alter-ego" of an ex- heard it and decidedthat Alan Mills was lar means of musical expression-though newspapermanand actor named Albert just what she neededfor the next regular he still treasures his collection of Miller. meetingof her group. In an interview she lieder-it was a permanent decision. For Originally, the new namewas simply offered him ten dollars to deliver the Alan Mills there is only one kind of a useful device which enabled him to usual baritone's program-including the music-folksongs. Behind his pleasant avoid being typed as an "actor who inevitable "Road to Mandalay." Sincehis exterior this passion seethesin him like a sings." Therewas nothing to indicate that accompanist'sfee was ten dollars, Mills volcano, and whenever he comes in con- actually he wascreating a personalitywho respondedwith somethingless than wild tact with people who think these songs are would soon push Albert Miller into the enthusiasm.He madean alternativeoffer. "cute" or "quaint," or regard them as an background. In fact, there was some "Let me sing folk songs,unaccompanied," inferior art form, or quote American doubt at the beginningwhether Alan Mills he said, "and I won't chargeanything." authorities by the yard but ignore the would be able to survive. "Folk songs?Unaccompanied?" The existence of native Canadian songs-then His debut-on the first (and last) lady was taken aback at this wild sug- the volcano erupts. programof a scheduledseries over station gestion. Such a thing was unheard-of. It In spite of his explosive tendencies, CFCF in Montreal-was a dismal failure. had never been done before. For half an Mills is essentially a good-natured, easy- 6...BULl.EllN de musiquefolkJonque canadienne30.2 (1996) going fellow with an immensezest for life the Montreal Evening Journal at a fabu- headquartersand instructed AI to rush and a warmth of personality that makes lously small weekly salary. aroundto the comer restaurantand phone itself felt even over the air-waves. One Saturdayin Decemberthe com- from there. AI agreed.After hangingup, He was born in Lachine, Quebec, plete reportorial staff of the Journal was he reflected that it was cold and slippery where his Jewish parents had bought a hanging about police headquarters(with outside, and anyway the boss was being small store after emigrating from Bes- the insoucianceproper to a newspaperman unreasonable.So he waited ten minutes sarabia. As a boy he caddied at various of nearly four months' experience)when and then phoned his sister again, pre- clubs along the lakeshoreand becamea the phone rang. The desk sergeantpicked tending he was calling from the restau- fair golfer-though not as good as his it up and after listening a moment stam- rant. To guard against the remote possi- brother, Cecil Miller, who is one of the mer"ed "Qw..? ... Ri cot.h ?" A t t his AI bility of police interference,this time he top-ranking amateurs in Montreal. In pricked up his ears. Richot was the name spokein Yiddish (in which he is as fluent 1926the family movedto Montreal where of a lumberjackwho had choppedhis wife as he is in French and English). AI (as he is known to his friends-a to bits in their Montreal flat and was now On hearing the news, the boss con- nicknamewhich covers both facetsof his being sought by all police forces of the gratulated AI (both on his acumen as a split personality) continued his education province, with the hunt concentratedon journalist and his devotion to duty in at Baron Byng High School. With the the Quebecbackwoods country. The ser- braving the elements)and instructed him exception of gymnastics, in which he geantbabbled excitedly in French (which to return to headquartersto await further excelled,school was an unfortunateneces- AI speaksas fluently as English), then developments.AI "returned" by hanging sity rather than an interest, and when he rounded up some assistantsand left in a up the receiver. One hour later the Jour- was 14 he left it for good. rush. From the conversationAI gathered nal scoopedthe other papersby rushing a For a year he worked as a messenger that Richot had been found at a local four-sheetextra to the street,and the next boy for a ladies' dress store, but it was a hospital-dead. day AI was rewarded with a two dollar "joe" job, filling in time until he got his His job was to phone in the news, so raise. However, this was a dying moment big chance.That camein September1928, he called his sister at the Journal and of glory for the paper. Two weekslater it when he was fifteen. Through the influ- startedto tell her what had happened,but folded completely. ence of his sister, who was already an the boss intervened. He insisted that the With the scoop as his recommen- employee,he becamethe only reporteron story must not be phoned from police dation, Al movedto the Montreal Herald. In 1972, Shelley Posenand I receiveda grnnt from the CanadianFolk Music Societyto conductresearch on popular music in Newfoundland.We knew of the importanceof Newfoundlandmusic on the folksong revival, and the correspondinginfluence of non-Newfoundlandsingers on popular music on the island. We were certainly more awareof the part played by Alan Mills (along with singerssuch as Omar Blondahl and Ed McCurdy) in this interplay of traditions. During our researchwe found ourselvesin Montreal, staying with friends who lived in the sameneighbourhood as Alan Mills. We couldn't passup an opportunity to speakwith Mills, so we madean appointmentto interview him. For whateverreason (Shelley and I have beenkicking ourselvesever since) we did not bring a tape recorder to the interview. Perhapswe thought that a formal interview would be an imposition, although that never stoppedus before. Nevertheless, we spenta pleasantand useful hour with Mills-useful for us in understandingthe place of the folksong revival in Newfoundlandpopular music history. Most of our questionsdealt rather specifically with Mills's knowledgeand understandingof Newfoundlandsong: how he learnedhis Newfoundlandrepertoire, why he recordedNewfoundland songs, whom he influenced and who influenced him in this matter. Only occasionally,as I remember,did we discussthe wider issue of folksong as popular culture, or Mills's place in the wider world of the North American folksong revival movement. What impressedme most about Mills was his clear understandingof his motivations for singing folksongs. He saw his role as an interpreter; someonewho could take traditional material and interpret it so that a wider, cross-cultural audiencecould appreciateand understandit. Like others in the folksong revival movement,his aim was to translatean esotericart form into a style of performancein conformity with the conventionsof massmedia. As a young grnduatestudent in folklore, I was not appreciativeof Mills's motivations; I found them destructiveof the authenticity of songsas performedwithin traditional, esotericcontexts. But I had much to learn. "Authenticity" is a tricky issue, and neither the academicfolklorist nor the folk revivalist can lay claim to presentingan "authentic" tradition. Both are interpreters,and both use their separatein-group conventionsto representfolklore. The academic folklorist looks backwardto the song as sung in its traditional context, and tries to representthat performance,usually in the mediumof print. The folk revivalist looks forward to a cross-culturalaudience's ability to receivematerial taken out of its original context. In both cases,the "authentic" item is lost in the translation; in both cases,what is presentedis an essenceof the original. Canadian Folk Music BULlE1JN 30.2 (1996) ...7 A short while later Blair Fraserjoined the ering in Shaw's Pygmalion) for Rupert were in the big city before returning staff as a junior reporter-but as he had Caplan. Now-still under Caplan'sdirec- home. An agentpainted a rosy future for reachedthe advancedage of twenty, Blair tion-he beganto perform regularly over him and promisedhim a part in a musical was still senior to AI. On one occasion CBC. comedy, Friday at Four. After waiting a Blair was putting out the sports extra all Caplan is what Al terms a "great" few weeks for rehearsalsto begin, AI by himself when a murder was discovered director, one of his finest talentsbeing to quietly sneakedout of town. As far as he in a squalid little hotel on St. Lawrence infuse his actors with enthusiasmfor any knows, the rehearsalsstill haven't start- Main. The "senior" junior reporter (Blair) role and to get the most out of them in ed.