Maple Sugar - Songs of Early Canada.

 

While browsing at the local Salvation Army yesterday, I stumbled on this flipping through the records. In among the James Last, and the Herb Alpert records was this rare gem. "Maple Sugar - Songs of Early Canada", released in 1973. A 2 LP set with early logger jigs, paddling songs, some pipes, election songs, a couple sea shanty's, just about everything under the sun, in both English and French. Before this record was put out "Maple Sugar" was a festival of Canadian Folk Music at the University of Guelph, and the album combines live recordings from that day as well as studio recordings from afterwards. In the liner notes it says:

"Maple Sugar is dedicated to all those

guitar-pickin', banjo-fralin', harp-blowin', 

country-fiddlin', sod-busters, gold-dusters,

tree-choppers, and train-hoppers who stole this land

from Winter and didn't get away with it, buried

now beside good women, but ready to drink, dance,

or sing with any of us who'd care to knock on

the graves, that being the way of people who get 

involved with stringed instruments."

It really is quite a collection of songs, and it from the one of the oldest local public schools library in Milton. The album is titled after a song written by Ward Allen, a Canadian Fiddler.  Take a Listen to "Maple Sugar" by Ward himself on the fiddle.