Charlie Russell

Charles Edward “Charlie” Russell (July 11, 1937 – December 7, 2011) was a New Brunswick country broadcaster, songwriter, and recording artist best known for his 1975 Boot Records album The Bricklin & Other “Sound” Investments and for his long career in Canadian country radio. He was born in South Nelson, Miramichi, New Brunswick, and came from a musical family. He began playing harmonica at the age of nine and soon graduated to guitar and accordion. He sang and performed around his home town for years, and as a teenager helped form a dance band called The Gators. His first professional appearance came in 1958 when he played guitar behind Alan Mills during the Miramichi Folk Song Festival.

In 1966, Russell won the Maine-Maritimes Hootenanny Championship in Woodstock, New Brunswick, performing the satirical folk song “Duffy’s Hotel.” It was an early sign of the style that would become one of his trademarks: humorous, topical songs rooted in Maritime life and politics.

His debut as a disc jockey came in 1969 while working as comptroller at radio station CJCJ in Woodstock. When one of the station’s DJs left, Russell stepped in behind the microphone and continued doing both jobs until 1983. During those years he became one of New Brunswick’s best-known country radio personalities and did a great deal to promote Canadian country music artists. RPM documented him as CJCJ’s country programmer as early as 1973, and later described him as one of the earliest and strongest believers in Canadian country radio and CanCon. In 1975, he received the first Big Country DJ of the Year honour in Canada, and later earned national recognition for creating and broadcasting one of Canada’s earliest weekly country-only hit charts. RPM also identified him as one of the architects of the Academy of Canadian Country Music Entertainment (ACME), an early organization that helped shape the modern Canadian country music awards structure. In 1988, he came full circle by purchasing CJCJ, the station where he had first made his mark nearly two decades earlier.

Around the same time, Russell was becoming recognized for his satirical songwriting. In 1975, he first issued “The Bricklin” as a 45 on Tantune Records (MBS 0036), backed with a companion version titled “The Bricklin II.” The single likely predates the later Boot Records LP and shows that Russell was already developing the song as a topical two-part satire before it became the centrepiece of his best-known album. Later that year, he recorded The Bricklin & Other “Sound” Investments for Stompin’ Tom Connors’ Boot Records (BOS 7158), a political country satire album built around the title song “The Bricklin,” his musical take on New Brunswick’s short-lived Bricklin SV-1 automobile venture. The Bricklins were Canada’s contribution to automobile design, and all 3,000 cars were assembled in Saint John, New Brunswick. While the car itself failed, the song became Russell’s signature recording and brought him national attention. Other notable songs from the album included “On Parliament Hill” and “Let’s Bring Back The Ponies.” Produced by Chuck Goudie and issued by Boot Records, the album blended humour, social commentary, and straight country songwriting, and RPM covered the record during its release cycle.

Russell wrote more than fifty songs over the course of his career, balancing novelty, regional storytelling, and sincere country material. Songs such as “On Parliament Hill” and “Let’s Bring Back The Ponies” reinforced his reputation as a songwriter who could be funny without being frivolous, and pointed without losing the warmth of traditional country performance. His LP also included collaborations with Larry Mercey and carried a sleeve endorsement from Dick Damron, reflecting the respect he had earned within Canada’s country music community. The cultural impact of “The Bricklin” was strong enough that a paper titled “Goodtime Charlie and the Bricklin” was later presented in the Canadian historical and oral-history sphere.

Russell’s influence extended beyond broadcasting and recording. He published a frequently discussed and sometimes controversial country music newsletter, advocated for stronger ties between broadcasters and the recording industry, and remained active in New Brunswick country circles long after his national profile had peaked.

Charlie Russell was inducted into the New Brunswick Country Music Hall of Fame in 1984. He was later inducted into the Canadian Country Music Association Hall of Fame in the Broadcasters category in 2007, recognizing his pioneering contribution to Canadian country radio. Though best remembered for “The Bricklin,” he remains an important New Brunswick figure whose career connected broadcasting, songwriting, and the promotion of Canadian country music.
-Robert Williston