Singalong Jubilee - Christmas Album

Tracks

Side 1

		Track Name	Length
	1	Bill Langstroth and the Jubilee Singers - It's Christmas Day	01:44
	2	The Don Burke Four - Il est ne	02:20
	3	Fred McKenna, Jim Bennet and the Jubilee Singers - The Holy Baby	02:10
	4	Kay Porter and the Jubilee Singers - The Huron Carol	02:33
	5	Catherine McKinnon and Michael Stanbury - Virgin Mary Had One Son	02:18
	6	Karen Oxley, Jim Bennet and the Jubilee Singers - Good King Wenceles	01:56

Side 2

		Track Name	Length
	1	Michael Stanbury and the Jubilee Singers - The Holly Berry	02:21
	2	Bill Langstroth and the Jubilee Singers - Go Tell it On the Mountain	01:42
	3	Catherine McKinnon - The Cherry Tree Carol	02:30
	4	The Don Burke Four - Bethlehem	02:44
	5	Jim Bennet and the Jubilee Singers - O Tanenbaum	02:08
	6	Brian Ahern - Jingle Bells	01:51

Photos

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Information/Write-up

Singalong Jubilee was one of the most influential and quietly far-reaching programs in Canadian music history, serving both as a weekly national showcase for folk and roots music and as a proving ground for an extraordinary generation of Canadian performers. Produced from CBC Television’s Halifax studios, the series aired from 1961 to 1974 and helped define how Canadian folk, country, gospel, and traditional music was heard, understood, and celebrated across the country during the 1960s and early 1970s.

The show emerged as a summer replacement for Don Messer’s Jubilee, but quickly developed an identity of its own. Rather than focusing on established stars, Singalong Jubilee centered on community singing, regional repertoire, and contemporary folk material, encouraging audience participation and emphasizing musical authenticity over polish. Under producer Manny Pittson’s guidance, the series blended Maritime tradition with the wider folk revival then sweeping North America, presenting a mix of ballads, spirituals, sea songs, humour pieces, protest songs, and newly written Canadian material.

At the heart of the program were its hosts and musical anchors. Bill Langstroth, who combined his on-air role with behind-the-scenes work as producer-director at CBHT, became the show’s guiding presence, introducing songs, leading group numbers, and shaping the program’s inclusive tone. Alongside him, Jim Bennet emerged as one of the show’s most versatile voices, equally at home with traditional folk airs, country-leaning material, and original songs such as “Nova Scotia Diet.” Multi-instrumentalist Fred McKenna contributed a distinctive instrumental voice on guitar, banjo, fiddle, and steel, while also serving as a featured singer across a wide stylistic range.

One of Singalong Jubilee’s most lasting legacies was the careers it helped launch. Catherine McKinnon became an early standout, her clear soprano and theatrical poise making her one of the series’ most recognizable performers. In 1965–66, a young Anne Murray joined the cast fresh from university in New Brunswick, making her television debut on the program before going on to an international recording career. The show also introduced audiences to Ken Tobias, whose songwriting would soon attract wide attention, as well as Acadian singer Edith Butler, whose inclusion reflected the program’s expanding embrace of French-language and regional traditions.

The ensemble aspect of Singalong Jubilee was central to its sound. The Jubilee Singers—a rotating vocal group drawn largely from the Halifax area—provided rich choral backing and frequently stepped forward as soloists. Over the years, the chorus included performers such as Karen Oxley (who also served as choral director), Hal Kempster, Lorne White, Penny MacAuley, Marg Ashcroft, Jay Gallant, Linn Carroll, Michael Scott, Clary Croft, Tom Kelly, Vern Moulton, Gordon McMurtry, Hazel Walker, and others. Instrumental support evolved as well, with musicians such as Brian Ahern, Don Burke and the Don Burke Four, Vic Mullen, Garth Proude, Jack Lilly, Paul Mason, and Georges Hébert contributing to the show’s flexible, folk-rooted arrangements.

The material presented on Singalong Jubilee ranged widely. Traditional songs from the British Isles and Maritime oral tradition sat alongside African-American spirituals, Acadian folk songs, gospel numbers, and contemporary compositions by writers such as Gordon Lightfoot and Phil Ochs. The program made little distinction between sacred and secular, old and new, instead presenting Canadian music as a living continuum shaped by geography, community, and experience. This approach helped normalize Canadian-written songs on national television at a moment when domestic content was still finding its footing.

The popularity of the series naturally extended into recordings. Beginning in 1964, CBC partnered with Arc Sound to issue a run of Singalong Jubilee LPs, including Singalong Jubilee, Singalong Jubilee Volume II, Volume III, and The Singalong Jubilee Christmas Album. These releases captured many of the show’s most requested performances and preserved early recordings by artists who would soon achieve major success. In the early 1970s, material from the program was reissued on RCA Camden, and later anthologized on CD, ensuring the music remained accessible long after the television series ended.

By the time Singalong Jubilee concluded in 1974, it had quietly reshaped the landscape of Canadian folk and country music. It provided sustained national exposure for regional artists, documented a broad cross-section of Maritime and Canadian traditions, and helped bridge the gap between community music-making and the professional recording industry. Today, the show stands as one of the clearest audiovisual records of Canada’s folk revival era—a program rooted in participation, regional pride, and the belief that the country’s most compelling music was already being sung at home.
-Robert Williston

Musicians
Bill Langstroth
Catherine McKinnon
Don Burke
Fred McKenna
Jim Bennet
Karen Oxley
Kay Porter
Michael Stanbury
Brian Ahern

The Jubilee Singers
Don Burke Four

Production
Produced by Manny Pittson
Audio Engineer: Bob Theakston
Chorus Consultant: Graham Day

Liner Notes
Traditions are not easily come by in an undertaking that is as new as television. But this Arc L P is the result of a television tradition in the making, for here at CBC Halifax it's beginning to seem that Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a SINGALONG JUBILEE Special to prepare for telecast on December 25.

It's no secret that this time of year brings with it the constant repetition of the many familiar seasonal selections to the point where enjoyment and appreciation become impossible. Because of this, we consider ourselves fortunate to be able to bring viewers on Christmas Day Christmas music that is every bit as appropriate to the season as those we hear too often, but not nearly as well-worn. For here is the folk music of Christmas and as the celebration of Christmas varies in form from country to country, so do the folk songs vary, while the basic message of Christmas that they express remains unchanged.

IL EST NE is a traditional air of French Canada. From English Canada the Nova Scotia version of THE CHERRY TREE CAROL comes to us by way of the Creighton collection. THE HURON CAROL can be sung in the language of the tribe for which it was created more than three centuries ago, in French, the language of its lyricist or in any language for that matter. O TANNENBAUM also lends itself to many tongues. IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY need only be sung with gusto, HOLLY BERRY with compassion. No less than four of these songs bear the imprint of the American Negro in slavery — THE HOLY BABY, VIRGIN MARY HAD ONE SON, BETHLEHEM and GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN. GOOD KING WENCESLAS and JINGLE BELLS have always been with us, although the latter may never be the same after the unique instrumental treatment it receives here.

The cast of SINGALONG JUBILEE are pictured in the set of the Christmas show. In and around the sleigh are (left to right) Jim Bennet, Catharine McKinnon, Bill Langstroth, Don Burke, and Fred McKenna. Standing in the front row directly behind Bill is Karen Oxley and behind Fred stands Kay Porter. In the back row Michael Stanbury (extreme left) and Brian Ahern (second from the right). Bob Theakston was the Audio Engineer for this recording session. The Chorus Consultant was Graham Day.
-Manny Pittson, Producer.
SINGALONG JUBILEE.

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