We have featured The Weakerthans before. "Tournament of Hearts" is absolutely the greatest song ever written about the uniquely Canadian sport of curling.
The single that followed that great song was this one, a working man's anthem from a working class band. The band, proud of their hometown of Winnipeg, filmed this video there. Together, they make a fitting tribute to life in the middle of Canada.
Who would have thought that an song that sounds like a traditional Irish folk composition would be a top 20 hit?
And yet, that's exactly what happened to Canadian Celtic singer Loreena McKennitt in 1997. A tribute to the mummers' plays of spring, it is an odd but sweet song, bolstered by her sharp soprano vocal. It would be her only hit outside of her native Canada, as she did take a hiatus from music following a deep personal tragedy in 1998 - but she has returned to music and is still releasing new material.
Spirit Of The West aren't a band most Americans have heard, but were wildly successful with their Irish-tinged music in their native Canada. So, this article is going to hit a certain number of you more in the feels than others.
That statement should sound familiar, and yeah, this story doesn't end better.
In 2014, the band's frontman, John Mann, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease. He continued with the band as long as he could, but it clear he was not long for the music industry. He passed away in 2019, at the age of just 57.
This song was an anthem of the band from 1990, but wasn't released as a single until 2014, when it was released in a limited manner on Record Store Day. In the wake of the announcement of Mann's illness, it was quite a bit more poignant than the drinking song it was originally intended to be.
The first time the band played at the famous Massey Hall was on June 6, 2015 - and it was one of their last shows. Mann actually forgets the lyrics for a bit during the song - but the audience had his back. It is one of the greatest moments in Canadian music history.
This song was recorded straight to 2-track in a Toronto church, as was the rest of the Trinity Sessions album - although one of the songs was recorded on a 2nd day, despite the mythology of the song. Famously, they ran out of time during the recording session - which famously featured Margo Timmins singing into a PA - and had to bribe a security guard to let them stay long enough to record this unrehearsed song - which they recorded in ONE TAKE.
This is the DEMO. And it is beautiful.
Of course, the Canadian band is best known for a cover they did, which you can heard today over on Totally Covered.
When Robbie Robertson of The Band went solo, no one expected such a soulful song like this to come out of him.
And yet, this sultry masterpiece is exactly what he came up with. But it happened accidentally. As Robertson was playing with chord progressions, he was telling a story, which producer and fellow Canadian Daniel Lanois secretly recorded. The chorus and backing vocals by Sam Llanas of The BoDeans were added later.
I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the video. There's three people in the video - Robertson, Llanas, and Maria McKee, who at the time was wrapping up her time with Lone Justice and embarking on a solo career. McKee herself sings some background vocals on other Robertson songs on his debut album, but her appearance her is solely visual.
The Stampeders had several hits, but this 1971 tune was their biggest hit by far outside of Canada - or even INSIDE Canada. The Calgary trio - who started as a quintet in the mid-1960 - broke up in the late 1970's, but reformed at the 1992 Calgary Stampede, and has not stopped touring since.
By the way, the Calgary Stampede is something I barely missed in my time in Alberta, and remains on my bucket list. It probably won't happen for me in 2021, but it will sometime soon.
I recently have been looking into my family tree, and have traced some of my genealogy back to 9th Century Europe. In fact, I have a branch of my tree that is, indeed, descended from Ferdinand III, king of Castile, Toledo, León and Galicia.... a real life King of Spain, I sincerely doubt that Moxy Früvous had me in mind when they wrote their prince/pauper tale in the 1990's, mostly because I never worked at the Pizza Pizza... but that's the story I'm telling everyone now.
Seriously, Moxy Früvous were a fun and satirical band, frequently poking fun at their native Canada and making a lot of "inside the Queensway" jokes. This is their biggest hit outside of Canada, which got some radio play in Western New York.
