Smithsonian Folkways
tackles the "Great White North" with its 72-minute ode to trappers, traders, and vagabonds with
Classic Canadian Songs
. Like all
SF
collections, the heavily researched liner notes and archival photos are as compelling as the tracks themselves -- it's hard not to love a record adorned with an old black-and-white picture of a group of distinguished looking ladies and gentlemen perched upon a frozen pond holding hockey sticks -- and they do wonders for putting some perspective on the musical melting pot that's been boiling over since the second biggest country in the world by area was colonized by the British and the French in the 1400s.
Celtic
and French reels, songs of the Cree,
square dances
,
cowboy
ballads
, and seafaring odes to loves both won and lost populate this fine anthology, which is book-ended by a festive trapper
drinking song
and a series of
"Moose and Bear Calls."
Folkways
fans will find these
to be a fine addition to their collections. ~ James Christopher Monger