Ian & Sylvia | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Folk, country, country rock |
| Years active | 1959–1975 |
| Labels | Vanguard, MGM, Columbia |
| Past members | Ian Tyson Sylvia Tyson |
Ian & Sylvia were a Canadian folk and country music duo which consisted of Ian and Sylvia Tyson. They began performing together in 1959 (full-time in 1961), [1] married in 1964, and divorced and stopped performing together in 1975. [2] [3] [4]
Ian Tyson, CM, AOE was born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1933. In his teens, he decided upon a career as a rodeo rider. Recovering from injuries sustained from a fall during the mid-1950s, he started learning guitar. In the late 1950s, he relocated to Toronto, aspiring to a career as a commercial artist. He also started playing clubs and coffeehouses in Toronto. [5] By 1959 he was performing music as a full-time occupation.
Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker, CM, was born in Chatham, Ontario in 1940. While still in her teens, she started frequenting the folk clubs of Toronto.
The two started performing together in Toronto in 1959. By 1962, they were living in New York City, where they caught the attention of manager Albert Grossman, [6] who managed Peter, Paul and Mary and would soon become Bob Dylan's manager. Grossman secured them a contract with Vanguard Records and they released their first album late in the year. [7]
Their first album, self-titled Ian & Sylvia, on Vanguard Records consists mainly of traditional songs. [8] There were British and Canadian folk songs, spiritual music, and a few blues songs thrown into the mix. The album was moderately successful and they made the list of performers for the 1963 Newport Folk Festival.
Four Strong Winds, their second album, was similar to the first, with the exception of the inclusion of the early Dylan composition "Tomorrow Is a Long Time" and the title song "Four Strong Winds", written by Ian Tyson. "Four Strong Winds" was a major hit in Canada and ensured their stardom. [9] [10] Years later, the song was named as the greatest Canadian song of all time by the CBC-Radio program 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version. [1]
The two married in June 1964; they also released their third album, Northern Journey, that year. It included a blues song written by Sylvia, titled "You Were on My Mind", recorded by both the California group We Five (a 1965 #4 on the RPM charts, #1 on the Cashbox chart, #3 on the Billboard Hot 100) and British folk rock singer Crispian St. Peters (#29 on the RPM charts, #36 in 1967). [11] A recording of "Four Strong Winds" by Bobby Bare made it to #3 on the country charts around that time.
On the Northern Journey album was the song "Someday Soon", a composition by Ian Tyson that would rival "Four Strong Winds" in its popularity. (Both songs would eventually be recorded by dozens of singers.)
Their fourth album, Early Morning Rain, consisted in large part of new songs. They introduced the work of the couple's fellow Canadian songwriter and performer Gordon Lightfoot through the title song and "(That's What You Get) For Lovin' Me". They also included the first recording of the song "Darcy Farrow" by Steve Gillette and Tom Campbell, as well as a number of their own compositions.
They performed at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. [12] Play One More, their offering of 1965, showed a move toward the electrified folk-like music that was becoming popular with groups like the Byrds and the Lovin' Spoonful. The title tune used horns to evoke the mariachi style.
In 1967, they released two albums, one recorded for Vanguard, the other for MGM. These two efforts, So Much For Dreaming and Lovin' Sound, were far less dynamic presentations.
From 1970 to 1975, Ian Tyson hosted The Ian Tyson Show on CTV, known as Nashville North in its first season. Sylvia Tyson and the Great Speckled Bird appeared often on the series. [13]
They moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where they recorded two albums; one to fulfill the terms of their Vanguard contract, the other to supply MGM with a second (and last) album for that label. The albums can be defined as early country rock music; Nashville for Vanguard was cut in February 1968, one month before the Byrds' Sweetheart of the Rodeo , widely considered the first collaboration of rock and Nashville players. [14] Three of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes songs are included on their Nashville albums; most of the rest were written by Ian or Sylvia. [14]
In 1969, Ian & Sylvia formed the country rock group Great Speckled Bird. In addition to participating in the cross-Canada rock-and-roll rail tour Festival Express, they recorded a self-titled album for the short-lived Ampex label. Produced by Todd Rundgren, the record failed when Ampex was unable to establish widespread distribution. Thousands of copies never left the warehouse, and it has become a much sought-after collector's item. Initially, the album artist was given as Great Speckled Bird but later copies had a sticker saying that it featured the duo.
Ian & Sylvia's last two albums were recorded on Columbia Records. The first, 1971's Ian and Sylvia (not to be confused with their 1962 self-titled release) consists largely of mainstream country-flavored songs. This album was released on CD, with extra tracks, as The Beginning of the End in 1996. [15] Their second Columbia record, 1972's You Were on My Mind, featured a later incarnation of Great Speckled Bird. The songs range from hard country rock to middle-of-the-road country material. Neither of the Columbia albums sold well. They were eventually combined and released as 1974's The Best of Ian and Sylvia.
In 1972, Ian & Sylvia performed the song "Let Her Alone" for Walt Disney Productions' live-action drama Run, Cougar, Run . Ian also served as the film's narrator. [16]
By 1975, Ian & Sylvia had stopped performing together and soon afterwards were divorced. Their final appearance as a duo was in May 1975 at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto. [4]
After their marriage ended in 1975, Ian returned to Southern Alberta to farm and train horses, but continued his musical career. His autobiography The Long Trail: My Life in the West was published in 2010. [17] [7]
Sylvia wrote, performed, and involved herself in various projects. In recent years, she has been recording new material, working as a member of the group Quartette, and performing a one-woman show entitled River Road and Other Stories. [18]
The duo's son, Clay Tyson (Clayton Dawson Tyson, [19] born 1966), [20] is also a musician and recording artist.
On August 16, 1986, folk singers who had recorded or written Ian and Sylvia songs, reunited for a concert that was filmed for the CBC. The group at the Kingswood Music Theatre in Maple, Ontario included Gordon Lightfoot, Judy Collins, Emmylou Harris, and Murray McLauchlan. [4]
Ian & Sylvia sang their signature song "Four Strong Winds" at the 50th anniversary of the Mariposa Folk Festival on July 11, 2010, in Orillia, Ontario. [21]
In 1992, they were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. [1]
In 1994, they were both made Members of the Order of Canada. [1]
In 2005, an extensive Canadian Broadcasting Corporation poll on the CBC-Radio program 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version named "Four Strong Winds" to be the greatest Canadian song of all time. Artists Neil Young, Johnny Cash, Sarah McLachlan, Harry Belafonte, and Bob Dylan recorded this song. [7]
In 2006, they were both inducted into the Mariposa Hall of Fame; the duo performed a song together at that time, long after they had gone their separate ways. [1] Back in 1961, Ian and Sylvia had headlined at the Mariposa Folk Festival.
In a poll of the Western Writers of America, two Ian & Sylvia songs, "Someday Soon" and "Summer Wages" (both written by Tyson), were selected among the "Top 100 Western Songs" of all time. [22]
Ian Tyson was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989. [17] Sylvia Tyson was inducted in 2003. [23]
In July 2019, it was announced that Ian Tyson and Sylvia Tyson would be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame individually, not as a duo. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation stated that its 1964 hit "Four Strong Winds" "has been deemed one of the most influential songs in Canadian history". The report also referenced the song "You Were on My Mind", written by Sylvia Tyson, as well as her four albums from 1975 to 1980. [24]
| Year | Album [25] | Chart Positions | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | US | |||
| 1962 | Ian & Sylvia | — | — | Vanguard |
| 1963 | Four Strong Winds | — | 115 | |
| 1964 | Northern Journey | — | 70 | |
| 1965 | Early Morning Rain | — | 77 | |
| 1966 | Play One More | — | 142 | |
| 1967 | So Much for Dreaming | — | 130 | |
| Lovin' Sound | — | 148 | MGM | |
| Nashville | — | — | Vanguard | |
| 1968 | Full Circle | 48 | — | MGM |
| 1970 | Great Speckled Bird | 54 | — | Ampex |
| 1971 | Ian and Sylvia | 60 | 201 | Columbia |
| 1972 | You Were on My Mind | — | — | |
| 1996 | Live at Newport | — | — | Vanguard |
(Canadian album charts did not start until 1967)
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN AC | CAN | US [26] | |||
| 1965 | "Early Morning Rain" | 1 | — | — | Early Morning Rain |
| 1967 | "Lovin' Sound" [27] | — | — | 101 | Lovin' Sound |
| 1971 | "Creators of Rain" | — | 73 | — | Ian & Sylvia |
| "More Often Than Not" | 22 | — | — | ||
| 1972 | "You Were on My Mind" (re-issue) | 4 | — | — | You Were on My Mind |
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. was a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s. He has been referred to as Canada's greatest songwriter and his songs have been recorded by some of the world's most renowned musical artists. Lightfoot's biographer Nicholas Jennings said, "His name is synonymous with timeless songs about trains and shipwrecks, rivers and highways, lovers and loneliness."
Ian Dawson Tyson was a Canadian singer-songwriter who wrote several folk songs, including "Four Strong Winds" and "Someday Soon", and performed with partner Sylvia Tyson as the duo Ian & Sylvia.
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"Four Strong Winds" is a song written by Ian Tyson and recorded by Canadian folk duo Ian and Sylvia. Tyson has noted that he composed the song in about 20 minutes in his then manager Albert Grossman's New York apartment in 1962. A significant composition of the early 1960s folk revival, the song is a melancholy reflection on a failing romantic relationship. The singer expresses a desire for a possible reunion in a new place in the future but acknowledges the likelihood that the relationship is over.
Sylvia Tyson, is a Canadian musician, performer, singer-songwriter and broadcaster. She is best known as part of the folk duo Ian and Sylvia, with Ian Tyson. Since 1993, she has been a member of the all-female folk group Quartette.
Quartette is a Canadian country-folk group consisting of Cindy Church, Caitlin Hanford, Gwen Swick and Sylvia Tyson. Each of the four members also record as solo artists in addition to their work as a group.
Great Speckled Bird was a country rock group formed in 1969 by the Canadian musical duo Ian & Sylvia. Ian Tyson sang, played guitar and composed. Sylvia Tyson sang, composed and occasionally played piano. The other founding members were Amos Garrett on guitar and occasional vocals, Ben Keith on steel guitar, Ken Kalmusky on bass and Ricky Marcus on drums. They were named after the song, "The Great Speckled Bird", as recorded by Roy Acuff (1938).
Great Speckled Bird is a country rock album by Great Speckled Bird, a band formed in 1969 by Canadian musicians Ian and Sylvia Tyson. The other group members at the time of recording were Buddy Cage, on pedal steel guitar, Amos Garrett, on guitar and backup vocals, and N.D. Smart, on drums. Nashville session musicians David Briggs and Norbert Putnam sat in, with Briggs on piano and Putnam on bass guitar. Although founding member Ken Kalmusky is listed in the original liner notes, he had actually departed the group prior to recording.
Colleen Susan Peterson was a Canadian country and folk singer, who performed both as a solo artist and as a member of the band Quartette.
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"You Were on My Mind" is a popular song written by Sylvia Fricker in 1961. It was originally recorded by Ian & Sylvia, but better known versions were recorded by We Five and Crispian St. Peters.
Shirley Rose Eikhard was a Canadian singer-songwriter. Although moderately successful in Canada as a performer in her own right, she had her greatest Canadian and international success as a songwriter for other artists, most notably as the writer of Bonnie Raitt's 1991 hit "Something to Talk About".
Cindy Church is a Canadian country and folk artist. Church released three studio albums on Stony Plain Records and was nominated for Best Country Female Vocalist at the Juno Awards in 1995 and 1996. She is also a member of the award-winning group Quartette.
"Someday Soon" is a song composed by Canadian singer-songwriter Ian Tyson who recorded the song with Sylvia Fricker as the duo Ian & Sylvia in 1963. Cited by Richie Unterberger of Allmusic as "clearly point[ing] toward [its writer's] future C&W/cowboy direction", "Someday Soon" would be brought to prominence via a 1968 recording by Judy Collins, and subsequently recorded by a number of artists primarily in the country and western field. In 2010 "Someday Soon" was honored by the Western Writers of America as one of the "Top 100 Western Songs" of all time.
Caitlin Hanford is an American and Canadian country and bluegrass singer and a music teacher. She is a member of the group Quartette and also the band The Marigolds. She is the ex-wife of musician Chris Whiteley.
Tom Russell is an American singer-songwriter. His discography consists of 29 studio albums, 3 live albums, 11 compilations, 3 videos, 3 EPs, 9 singles and 1 tribute album. In addition, his compositions have been featured on a number of albums by other artists.
Red Shea was a renowned Canadian folk guitarist. Over his career, he helped define the sounds of artists such as Gordon Lightfoot and Ian and Sylvia Tyson, and was a regular on the TV show of Canadian Country music singer Tommy Hunter. In 1965, he began working in the studio with Gordon Lightfoot, and toured with him until 1971, when he left the touring band to focus on his family. He continued working with Lightfoot in the studio and briefly toured with Lightfoot and his band during his 1975 tour. The same year, he left and began working with Ian Tyson. Later on, he hosted his own Canadian variety show and became the band leader for Tommy Hunter’s TV show in the early 1980s. Red Shea died of pancreatic cancer on June 10th, 2008, just a month after his 70th birthday.
Tyson is a recipient of the Order of Canada and in 2005 CBC Radio One listeners chose his song, 'Four Strong Winds' as the greatest Canadian song of all time, during a radio series titled "50 Tracks: The Canadian Version".
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