Information/Write-up
Stu Phillips is a serious-minded young Calgary television announcer dedicated to producing in ballad form the stories and legends of the early history of Canada.
Unheralded, almost undiscovered, this is one folk singer who is really going to get the plays for his albums thanks to the Canadian fraternity of disc jockeys.
Phillips entered radio in Montreal doing school broadcasts at CJAD, and was also heard on CFCF and CKVL. In 1950, he arrived in Edmonton driving a Model “A” convertible. He quips:
“The car expired as I hit the city limits and I felt obligated to at least push it to its final resting place — in the city dump.”
He worked briefly for the now-defunct Edmonton Bulletin before catching on as a morning DJ at CFRN. It was here that he discovered a growing audience for his folk singing. By late 1952, station management decided folk music didn’t quite fit between regularly scheduled news and commercials, and Phillips moved on.
He relocated west to CJIB in Vernon, B.C., where he became supervisor of production and continued his research into regional history. Many of the songs on this album—especially those centered on the Okanagan Valley—were inspired by this time.
Canada’s Western Wonderland
BRITISH COLUMBIA
The third largest province in Canada, British Columbia shares the roof of the Rockies with Alberta.
Unlike Alberta, however, its mountains do not descend into the plains, but instead continue marching westward for over 400 miles to the Pacific.
Even the ocean cannot hold them; they reappear as a chain of green islands along the Inside Passage to Alaska, one of the world’s most scenic water routes, carved with bays and fjords, lined with glaciers, forests, and towering peaks.
Vancouver, nestled between the sea and mountains, is the province’s commercial capital and third-largest city. It reflects B.C.’s mix of modernity and wilderness with unique architecture, Stanley Park, and a lifestyle intertwined with nature.
Victoria, the legislative capital of the province, is a floral city on Vancouver Island with a history dating to 1843 as a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post.
Cover Photo: Totems – Kitwanga, British Columbia
Photographs and Notes Courtesy of Canadian Pacific Railway
Cover design byRudy Assaly
Distributed in Canada by London Records of Canada Ltd.
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