RIP Ian Tyson

[hankster]

Ian Tyson, Canadian folk legend, dead at 89.


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/ian-tyson-dead-at-89-1.6699778

[David Houck]

I remember Ian and Sylvia from the 60's folk scene.

[edwardofhuncote]

Ian & Sylvia penned a song that became something of a standard in bluegrass music circles after it was covered by J.D. Crowe & The New South, then later by Tony Rice, who had been in that band when "Summer Wages" was recorded.

I seem to remember Rick Turner had played with Ian & Sylvia for a time too, way on back.

Small, small world.

[hankster]

I estimate that I’ve sung “Four Strong Winds” and “Summer Wages” on a thousand stages. Ian was a very big deal everywhere but up here he was royalty.

[edwardofhuncote]

Now that you mention it Rich, Tony Rice covered "Four Strong Winds" too, on another album. He must have thought a lot of their music. He certainly got quite a bit of mileage from Gordon Lightfoot's catalogue, another brilliant, prolific Canadian writer.

*John over at Bluegrass Today posted a brief tribute- https://bluegrasstoday.com/ian-tyson-passes/

[hankster]

Thanks for posting that. Tony’s version is notable as he’s the only artist that recorded the so-called missing verse to Summer Wages.

Ian and Sylvia’s band, the Great Speckled Bird, has a footnote that might be of interest to Alembicians; they carried a young Canadian steel player named Buddy Cage, whose chair in the NRPS was pretty legendary. The GSB’s eponymous album, with Buddy, Amos Garrett and David Wilcox all on the band at once, is one of the great early “country rock” records.

[lembic76450]

This is sad news. My band has been playing "Someday Soon" for years.

[StephenR]

One of my bandmates in 1972 introduced us to Ian and Sylvia. We used to cover "Red Velvet", I still play it occasionally on the rare instances I pull out a guitar. Always sad to lose a great songwriter.

[paulman]

Wow, one of the highlights of the Festival Express for me.  This got me connected with their music.  RIP Ian.