OL'EON AT 75
If craggy American character actor Harry Dean Stanton warbled professionally he'd probably sound like Canadian folk patriarch Ian Tyson on his new album "Yellowhead to Yellowstone and other Love Stories" released by Stony Plain on Nov. 11, 2008.
At age 75, Tyson didn't reckon on his rich, recognizable voice betraying him, the victim of strain and a virus that has left him with just a croak. Nor did he expect his 20-year second marriage to come to an end. Nor did he expect he'd record what may be the most reflective album of his career. And he doesn't look 75 in the album's cover art.
Still a cowboy pinup.
One of the album's best songs wasn't penned by Tyson, best-known for "Four Strong Winds" and "Someday Soon."
"My Cherry Coloured Rose" was written by little-known Canadian singer/songwriter Jay Aymar.
Aymar explains how the song about legendary Canadian hockey broadcaster Don Cherry and his late wife Rose came about.
"Five years ago, I was with my girlfriend (who lives in Charlotte, NC) watching a CBC feed of 'Hockey Night in Canada' in a sports bar. Imagine trying to explain to NASCAR fans who Don Cherry is.
"As I explained to my girlfriend and others Don's story, it occurred to me how much Rose was an integral part of the story. The next morning the song came easily to me. I wrote it in about an hour….I felt that it was much too personal to record. My girlfriend suggested that I send it to Don as a nice sentiment for him. I sent him a scratch mix and he gave me permission to record it. I recorded it, put in on a new CD ("Memories") and sent it to CBC Sports. Don called me back a few weeks later saying he and the family really loved the song. That was about three years ago. Never did much with it other than sell my CD off stage.
"In March of 2008, I read an article on Ian Tyson in the Toronto Globe & Mail entitled 'Tyson Comes Clean." It was a very moving piece about Ian and his trials and tribulations over the years. For some unknown reason I sent him a very short note of encouragement and mailed the CD to his coffee shop in Longview, Alberta. I didn't expect anything to come of it. He called me about two weeks later saying he enjoyed my music and thought I was a worthy songwriter. I was truly amazed and honoured. Then he mentioned how he loved 'My Cherry Coloured Rose' and would like to record it.
"Mr. Tyson performed the song wonderfully and I am very proud of his version of it."
Tyson first made his mark on the music scene in the '60s as half of the folk/country duo Ian & Sylvia, who were inducted into Canada's Juno Hall of Fame in 1991. Married in 1964, Ian and Sylvia Tyson were at the forefront of the North American folk movement. They recorded 13 albums before they split in 1975 as both an act and a couple.
One of the songs Tyson penned in the '60s was "Four Strong Winds," with the lines "Think I'll go out to Alberta/Weather's good there in the fall." Twenty years later, he did go out to Alberta and began living the Western cowboy life.
In 1983, Tyson recorded "Old Corrals and Sagebrush," an album of cowboy songs he intended as a Christmas present for friends. However, after his performance that year at the inaugural National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nev., Columbia Records picked up the album for release in Canada. Tyson has since released eight Western-themed albums, seven via Stony Plain and Vanguard.
For a free Ian Tyson download of "My Cherry Coloured Rose" go to:
http://www.stonyplainrecords.com/iantyson
You'll be moved. Even if you are not a hockey fan.