Canadian Folk Music in the Late Twentieth Century The Canadian folk music revival continued, with Parallel to the folk festivals were the folk clubs. ebbs and flows, during the last quarter of the twenti- You can find in the pages of Canadian Folk Music eth century. It has been called a time of festivals and periodic reports on the activities of certain clubs, too famous names, but there are four main aspects to this many to notice more than a few here. For example, ongoing story. There was a burgeoning of institu- Tony Montague discussed the history of the Vancou- tions, especially the folk clubs and folk festivals that ver club in “Spanning the Revival: 20 Years of the provided an infrastructure for the folk music scene, VFSS,”13 Caroline Parry reported on “Christmas at mainly in the big cities. The work of scholars of tra- Fiddler’s Green” (Toronto)14 and Sandy Greenberg ditional music continued, whether they were working gave a brief account of the Harbour Folk Society in independently or for such organizations as the CBC, Halifax.15 Others include James Prescott on the “Cal- the National Museum, and a few universities, such as gary Singers’ Circle,”16 Warren Sparks on “The Ke- Memorial, Laval, and York. Many artists, too, still lowna Folk Club”17 and Ian Robb and Vince Veness sang and played traditional songs or, like Stan Rog- on the humorously-titled “The Old Sod Folk Music ers, created new music that was clearly ‘in the tradi- Society.”18 tion’. The careers of big name artists such as Gordon It is also important to examine the key role Lightfoot who had become well established in the played by the CBC in furthering Canadian ‘national’ 1960s expanded further, but several of them con- music and multiculturalism, topics discussed by tinued to perform as headliners at folk festivals, alt- Gilles Potvin in “The Canadian Broadcasting Corpo- hough others drifted into the commercial rock and ration and Canadian Folk Cultures.”19 pop music scene or, like Ian Tyson, into country & We can briefly take note of some of the scholarly western. A host of new artists emerged, some of advances made in the collecting and study of Cana- whom performed traditional songs solo or in folk- dian traditional music during the last three decades of rock bands, while others were singer-songwriters the century. Edith Fowke published The Penguin with a debt to traditional music who continued to Book of Canadian Folk Songs in 1973,20 and she sub- employ an acoustic playing style. sequently brought out a revised edition of Canada’s We can begin by looking at the institutional in- Story in Song as Singing Our History.21 Similarly, a frastructure of the revival, examining the function of new edition of Songs of Work and Freedom appeared festivals such as Mariposa, Winnipeg and Vancouver as Songs of Work and Protest.22 And More Folk by means of the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada Songs of Canada was reprinted as Folk Songs of piece on “Folk Festivals” and the articles on individ- Canada II.23 In 1980 Jon Bartlett and Rika Ruebsaat ual festivals.1 Exploring the history of Mariposa can released the first edition of their cross-Canada survey be done through the previously-noted Usher and Songs and Stories of Canada.24 Neil Rosenberg’s Page-Harpa book ‘For What Time I Am in This edited collection Transforming Tradition: Folk Music World’: Stories from Mariposa2 and Sija Tsai’s use- Revivals Examined was an influential work of a gen- ful account in Canadian Folk Music titled “Mariposa: eral nature.25 In 1994 Rosenberg also wrote a pro- Surface Sketches of a Wandering Festival.”3 One of vocative article titled “The Canadianization of New- the most useful articles in Stories from Mariposa is foundland Folk Song; or the Newfoundlandization of Debra Sharp’s “Mariposa: How Times Have Chang- Canadian Folk Song.”26 ed.”4 There is quite a wealth of other articles in Ca- Most important academic works, however, were nadian Folk Music on folk festivals in the late twen- of a more specialized character, limited to a particular tieth century. As examples we may cite Jon Bartlett subject or region such as Newfoundland. Starting and Rika Ruebsaat’s “The State of the Art: The Folk with that province, we’ve seen that Kenneth Pea- Revival in Canada,”5 Ken Bloom’s “The Performer at cock’s Songs of the Newfoundland Outports had been Festivals,”6 Greg Brunskill’s “Winnipeg Folk Festi- published in 1967,27 followed by Maud Karpeles’ val 1986,”7 Michael Cooney’s “Some Thoughts on Folk Songs From Newfoundland in 1971.28 Sheldon Folk Festivals,”8 Gary Cristall’s “The Function of Posen and Michael Taft reported on “The New- Folk Festivals,”9 Anne Davies’ “Calgary Folk Festi- foundland Popular Music Project” in the 1973 issue val,”10 Lanie Melamed’s “Big Festivals Don’t of Canadian Folk Music Journal.29 One follow-up Work...At Least for Me!”11 and Ken Persson’s “Ed- from this was Taft’s A Regional Discography of monton Folk Festival.”12 Those are just a few – there Newfoundland and Labrador, 1904-1972.30 In 1981 are many more. Gordon Cox’s Folk Music in a Newfoundland Out- 32 port was published by the National Museum of his important article “The Three Westernmost Prov- Man,31 and a few years later Genevieve Lehr edited inces: A Call for Some Much-Needed Research” to Come and I Will Sing You: A Newfoundland Song- Canadian Folk Music Bulletin in 1985.52 Dave Spal- book, which included the fruits of her collecting with ding’s discovery of “What We Sang Down On the the fine local ballad-singer Anita Best.32 And as just Farm: A Forgotten Manuscript on Western Canadian one example of academic scholarship we can mention Singing Traditions” appeared in Canadian Folk Mu- Gerald Pocius’ influential article on Newfoundland sic Journal in 1985.53 Jon Bartlett introduced “The folk customs titled “The Mummers Song in New- P.J. Thomas Collection of British Columbia Folk foundland: Intellectuals, Revivalists and Cultural Songs” in a 1976 issue of Canadian Folk Music Nativism.”33 Journal,54 and the first edition of Phil Thomas’ Songs For the Maritimes, notable publications included of the Pacific Northwest was published in 1979.55 Helen Creighton’s Folksongs from Southern New We next focus on certain artists whose perfor- Brunswick (1971), which featured the repertoire of mances and recordings were at least partially con- Angelo Dornan,34 and her autobiography A Life in cerned with popularizing Canadian traditional music, Folklore four years later.35 In 1979 the National Mu- and who thereby helped maintain in existence older seum reprinted her collaboration with Calum Mac- regional musical traditions, whether they came from Leod on Gaelic Songs in Nova Scotia,36 and 1988 Newfoundland, the Maritimes, Quebec, Ontario, the saw the publication of her collaboration with Ron prairies or British Columbia. We find introductory Labelle, La Fleur du Rosier: Chansons folkloriques articles from the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada d’Acadie.37 Edith Fowke edited Sea Songs and Bal- on such individuals as John Allan Cameron, Clary lads from Nineteenth Century Nova Scotia: The Wil- Croft and Allister MacGillivray,56 and on four liam H. Smith and Fenwick Hatt Manuscripts in groups, Figgy Duff, the Barra McNeils, the Rankin 1981.38 Randall and Dorothy Dibblee’s edition of Family and Rawlins Cross.57 To explore more deeply Folksongs from Prince Edward Island39 increased the contributions of two individuals, both Nova Sco- public awareness of the folk music heritage of that tians, in greater depth we can read Clary Croft’s per- province. John O’Donnell, the expert on Nova Scotia sonal memoir “Carrying the Tune: The Personal Re- mining songs, edited a collection of material sung by flections of a Traditional Music Popularizer”58 and the miners’ choir that he directed, Men of the Chris McDonald’s article on “John Allan Cameron: Deeps,40 following this in 1992 with ‘And Now the The Godfather of Cape Breton’s Celtic Music,”59 Fields Are Green’: A Collection of Coal Mining both of which can be found in Canadian Folk Music. Songs in Canada.41 Stan Rogers was the most important figure to The first volume of Marius Barbeau’s grand pro- emerge in the late 1970s and early 1980s, while Gar- ject of printing all the Quebec folksongs he had col- net Rogers developed into a major singer-songwriter lected over the decades, Le rossignol y chante,42 had after his brother’s untimely death. Stan was a hugely been issued back in 1962, but it was twenty years talented and influential songwriter, but his songs (and before the second, En roulant ma boule,43 appeared performances, which included sea-shanties) were and another five before Le Roi boit 44 saw the light of clearly “in the tradition,” so much so that some of his day. Madeleine Béland and Lorrine Carrier-Aubin’s creations have been assumed by later singers to be collection Chansons de voyaguers, coureurs de bois anonymous and traditional. His work may thus be et forestiers,45 published in 1982, complemented seen as an important example of how a folk tradition Barbeau’s work. Between 1977 and 1984 Conrad may be developed and expanded without losing its Laforte’s magnifient five-volume Le Catalogue de la essential nature. Zak Morgan’s article on Stan and chanson folklorique française was published by Garnet and on Scottish singer James Macpherson Presses Universitaires Laval.46 interrogates the issues of tradition and identity that Moving on to Ontario, Edith Fowke’s Lumbering are illustrated by Rogers’ career and oeuvre.60 There Songs from the Northern Woods was published in is also an Encyclopedia of Music in Canada article on 1970,47 but it was over two decades before her book “Stan Rogers,”61 and several articles about him in the on LaRena Clark followed in 1994.48 Fowke, howev- pages of Canadian Folk Music, to which Rogers him- er, was not the only important collector/scholar work- self was an occasional contributor.62 They included ing in Ontario.