Information/Write-up
A Song Is Born
A few months ago songwriter Bob Roberts was listening to my weekly program on AM 1040 in Vancouver, when he heard me tell a story about the difficulty I had encountered in my search for a recorded version of "The Maple Leaf Forever".
On the show I related how I had phoned a number of record stores, only to find that not only did they not have the song in stock, but they had never heard of it.
I went on to describe how a friend of mine with the CBC then conducted a computer search for the song in the CBC record libraries in the major broadcast centres, but to no avail.
Finally, Judy, in the Vancouver Studios, remembered it being on a record called "Anthems Of The World".
At last, I had a copy of "The Maple Leaf Forever", but not before I found the lack of awareness of its existence surprising and disappointing.
So did Bob Roberts.
Bob got in touch with me and told me that my story had inspired him to write a song that was distinctly Canadiana in form, and descriptive of our great country, and he was calling it "Beautiful Canada".
We had previously recorded several of Bob and his wife Helen's compositions and it was decided his new patriotic song also deserved recording.
Peter Chipman, whose performances on the Variety Club Telethon have made him a familiar figure to British Columbia audiences, agreed to sing the song, along with four other recent compositions of Bob and Helen's, and the result was the making of this album.
Also included are a number of earlier compositions by Bob and Helen, sung by Lynne McNeil.
The musical arrangements, as well as the piano solos, are by the highly talented Harry Boon.
Bob and Helen hope you enjoy this collection of their songs, entitled "Beautiful Canada".
— Dal Richards C.M.
Arranged and conducted by Dal Richards
Lynne McNeil: vocals
Peter Chipman: vocals
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