Ian and Sylvia - Northern Journey (Vanguard, 1964)

Believe or not, I get more requests from blog visitors for albums by this duo than just about any other musicians. Most of these petitioners seem to be Canadians, which makes sense considering that Ian and Sylvia are probably the greatest folk singers that the country ever produced. For many who grew up there during the 1960s, this prolific husband-wife team provided a lot of fond musical memories. As someone who can definitely appreciate the importance of the soundtracks to our formative years, I'm more than happy to oblige any request that helps one take a stroll down memory lane.


For those who have a preference for loner acid folk records, I&S probably won't be your cup of tea. Their kind of folk music is immaculately crafted and precise. However, I take issue with those who dismiss this pair's recordings as blatantly commercial. One needs only to look at the incredibly diverse performances - including centuries-old ballads, blues, cowboy songs, gospel tunes, smart cover versions of material by contemporary writers, and even their own compositions - that appear on their albums to see that they were indeed artists of the highest caliber whose knowledge of and commitment to music was anything but superficial. Detractors will claim that Ian and Sylvia's interpretations of blues, hillbilly, and folk songs are just too clean and pretty. Nonsense, I say. I appreciate the fact that they were comfortable being a couple of white Canadians who did not pretentiously attempt to sound like something they were not.


While the preceding album, Four Strong Winds, includes Ian's best-known composition with its title track, Northern Journey features Sylvia's equally significant "You Were on My Mind." The influence of this song should not be underestimated. In addition to it being an excellent performance that represents everything great about this duo, Sylvia's prominent autoharp playing probably did as much to popularize the instrument during the folk revival as Mike Seeger's utilization of it on recordings by the New Lost City Ramblers. Not to mention the fact that folk rock group We Five, an important band in the embryonic San Francisco music scene, had a substantial hit with their cover version in 1965. This album doesn't let up after the leadoff track, either - especially with the instrumental contributions of John Herald on guitar, Monte Dunn on guitar and mandolin, and Russ Savakus and Eric Weissberg on bass. Arguably Ian and Sylvia's most Canadian album, Northern Journey contains an abundance of material from the mother country, both traditional tunes and works associated with other folk singers such as Omar Blondahl's "Moonshine Can" and Marie Hare's "Green Valley" in addition to the authorless "Nova Scotia Farewell" and "Brave Wolfe," with the latter detailing the death of General James Wolfe during the siege of Quebec in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). Elsewhere, Ian employs historical events and figures as the inspiration for "Four Rode By" (whose subject matter concerns the notorious "Wild McLeans" of British Columbia) and his own personal history as the basis for the lyrics of the countryish "Some Day Soon." "The Jealous Lover," "The Ghost Lover," and "Captain Woodstock's Courtship" are all old Anglo-American ballads, with the second and third titles being variants of pieces that had been collected by scholar Francis James Child during the 1800s. According to the liner notes, Irish singer Tommy Makem was the source for the sprightly "Little Beggarman," and the aforementioned Mike Seeger passed on "Texas Rangers" (performed here in a solemn a cappella style) to Ian and Sylvia, which had previously been recorded by Harry "Haywire Mac" McClintock and the Cartwright Brothers during the prewar era. Finally, the album concludes with an effectively rousing take on the gospel standard "Swing Down, Chariot," which may or may not sound overly pasteurized, depending on your taste in folk music.

AN ADMITTEDLY GRAINY SCREEN CAPTURE OF IAN AND SYLVIA
PERFORMING "YOU WERE ON MY MIND" ON CANADIAN TELEVISON

1. You Were on My Mind
2. Moonshine Can
3. The Jealous Lover
4. Four Rode By
5. Brave Wolfe
6. Nova Scotia Farewell
7. Some Day Soon
8. Little Beggarman
9. Texas Rangers
10. The Ghost Lover
11. Captain Woodstock's Courtship
12. Green Valley
13. Swing Down, Chariot