“It is arduous to place into phrases what he meant to the Canadian music scene,” mentioned Neil MacGonigill, Tyson’s supervisor within the Nineteen Eighties.
Article content material
Canadian nation and folks music legend and famend Alberta troubadour Ian Tyson has died on the age of 89, his household has confirmed.
Commercial 2
Article content material
The singer-songwriter, finest recognized for writing and performing his tune 4 Sturdy Winds, which underscored his indelible connection to Alberta, died Thursday at his farm southwest of Calgary after lingering well being issues.
Article content material
This can be a tune he carried out on the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics at McMahon Stadium.
However his musical legacy runs a lot deeper, famous Ian Tyson Music in a social media put up Thursday.
“In the course of the (Nineteen Sixties) British Invasion, Ian and (spouse) Sylvia developed into pioneers of country-rock. Their band, Nice Speckled Chook, rivaled the Byrds and different teams that helped create trendy nation, a decade earlier than the City Cowboy part of latest ‘new traditionalists,’” they mentioned.
Commercial 3
Article content material
Tyson’s influence on Canadian music ‘arduous to place into phrases’
Born in Victoria, Tyson was a real cowboy who took up guitar after being sidelined by a rodeo harm.
After driving to Toronto, he met Sylvia whom he married in 1964 and the 2 have been a part of a folks scene populated by the likes of Phil Ochs and Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.
“We needed to go in a single path or one other as a result of we used up all the true roots music from the Delta within the north. Bob (Dylan) blazed the path into the wilderness, into unknown territory,” Tyson advised Postmedia in 2019.
“I spotted after I wrote 4 Sturdy Winds and some others, I had every kind of cowboy materials there from private expertise. I simply by no means considered it as folks materials, which after all it was.”
Commercial 4
Article content material
-
Ian Tyson inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Corridor of Fame
-
Cowboy legend Ian Tyson rediscovers his voice with the newest album Carnero Vaquero
-
First a songwriter: Sylvia Tyson on Corridor of Fame induction and the misplaced ties of Ian & Sylvia
Their musical union led to the band Nice Speckled Chook, whose affect resonates right now, mentioned Neil MacGonigill, who managed Tyson within the Nineteen Eighties.
“Nice Speckled Chook was the forerunner of all nation rock bands,” says MacGonigill, who was with Tyson throughout his remaining days on his farm close to Longview.
“It is arduous to place into phrases what he meant to the Canadian music scene,” he mentioned. “An argument could be made that he is the best singer-songwriter in Canadian historical past … He is reinvented himself two or thrice.”
Commercial 5
Article content material
MacGonigill was there in July 1970 when Ian and Sylvia took the McMahon stage with the Grateful Lifeless, Janis Joplin and The Band on their Pageant Categorical tour.
He mentioned their expertise and stature meant they belonged on that stage.
“Their efficiency was as electrical, as impressed as any of them,” MacGonigill mentioned.
Ian and Sylvia’s compositions, corresponding to Sometime Quickly and You Had been on My Thoughts, have been lined by quite a few artists, together with Dylan, Judy Collins and fellow Canadian Neil Younger.
MacGonigill was additionally current when Tyson recorded the 1983 album Outdated Corrals and Sagebrush within the basement studio of his Longview house, which is taken into account a seminal work within the style of cowboy music.
“It was sort of a musical Christmas card for my mates. We weren’t on the lookout for a success or radio play or something like that,” Tyson mentioned.
Commercial 6
Article content material
Many honors for revered musician
Tyson was inducted into the Canadian Nation Music Corridor of Fame in 1989 and the Order of Canada in 1994.
He gained a Juno Award for Finest Nation Male Artist in 1987 and has been nominated for a number of musical honors.
In 2019, he was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Corridor of Fame, an honor he mentioned “was about time.”
Canadian singer Ron Sexsmith paid tribute to Tyson in a tweet that put the Albertan’s place in Canada’s music pantheon into perspective.
Iconic roots rock group The Band, made up primarily of Canadians, famous Tyson’s passing in a tweet with a nod to his songwriting prowess.
“Unhappy information right now as we are saying goodbye to folks icon Ian Tyson. The band carried out their tune ‘4 Sturdy Winds’ with Neil Younger throughout ‘The Final Waltz’. Relaxation in peace, Ian,” the group mentioned in a tweet.
Commercial 7
Article content material
“RIP the large one Ian Tyson. I had the glory of assembly him on the Canadian Nation Music Awards in 2001 as a part of a Lightfoot tribute with Anne Murray as properly. Large night time for me to satisfy all these legends,” he tweeted on Thursday.
Lately, the musician has struggled with a misplaced voice, one which he recovered sufficient to report the album Carnero Vaquero in 2015.
“It simply got here to get my voice again. It was such an unimaginable factor,” he advised Postmedia on the time.
Regardless of his passing, MacGonigill mentioned extra music may very well be coming from Tyson within the type of a stay recording of a 2000 present in Longview with the icon’s then-trio.
“It is phenomenally nice, however we’ll let the mud settle right here and I will speak to his household,” mentioned MacGonigill, who has been working with Tyson in latest days to place collectively the recording.
Tyson’s household says a personal funeral service shall be held for him.
– With information from The Canadian Press
BKaufmann@postmedia.com
Twitter: @BKaufmannjrn
