One Last Show on the Way to Texas

Stan-ecdote

Stan was agitated. He was a six-foot, 200-something pound man and a force not to be trifled with. It was in May, 1983, that Stan Rogers barreled into a Vancouver presenter's office, band in tow. They were in town en route to the Kerrville Texas Folk Festival, where Stan was invited to give the Texans a taste of folk music, Canadian style. The Kerrville event had a big reputation and the event was seen as valuable exposure for the northerners.

Usually concerts are planned months, even years, in advance, to maximize exposure and minimize expense, other times a gig may be booked to fill in down time during travel. There were good reasons not to have Stan Rogers show on this particular run through Vancouver. Time was short, making it impossible to follow the usual steps. It was a long weekend, and difficult to accomodate folkies on the cheap. There was also that Canadian rite of spring, the Stanley Cup, to contend with. Irrespective of the obstacles, the road abhors a vacuum and commitments were made for the concert.

Stan was hoping for rooms at the Sylvia Hotel on English Bay, he and the band had to make do with rooms at the Holiday Inn on Broadway. With a few hours to kill before the concert, the group went to their rooms to recuperate from their arrival. In his room, Garnet, Stan's younger brother, discovered thoroughly plugged plumbing. His call to the front desk was responded to with great speed and courtesy, and a smiling bellhop presented him with a plunger before disappearing.

The venue for the concert, Isadora's Cooperative Restaurant, was one of the last gasps of the 1960s. It was an offshoot of a housing co-op movement of the era, and offered shares with dividends in the form of free food. It was a swell place for a family meal and could accomodate carnivores or vegetarians, especially with the nut burger on the menu. It was an oily old machine shop transformed into a trendy two-tiered west coast style restaurant on Granville Island.

Unfortunately, there were some problems with the setup for the evening. The soundboard operator's view of the stage was blocked by a potted fern, for example. Also, miscellaneous sounds made their way into the speakers and the mixing of voices and instruments wasn't well done.

Picture a flustered man the size of a linebacker stuck on a stage the size of a postage stamp in the middle of cutlery clatter hardly able to hear his own voice.  The audience didn't seem to notice, though, so he soldiered on.

Stan usually didn't drink until after a performance, but on this night he hoisted a well-deserved brandy at the half intermission and, referring to the chaotic audio elements, said, "It's like a bloody windstorm out there!"

Stan was heading home from a triumphant gig at Kerrville on June 2, 1983 when Air Canada Flight 797 had an on-board fire and Stan's was among the lives claimed. One can speculate endlessly on what the future might have held for the big fellow. Decades later his albums sell as briskly as any folkies in the country. Canadian music was robbed of a singular talent.

-Brent Gibson

Codfish

Stan-ecdote

I met Stan around 1971 at McVeigh’s New Windsor House in Toronto. He was sitting with Harry Hibbs, who introduced me to him. We didn’t have much of a conversation. Stan was a shy young lad with long stringy hair and horn-rimmed glasses and Harry wouldn’t say codfish if his mouth was full of it. If I had only known at the time what legend I was sitting with.

—Curt Graham, Halifax

Give Stan a Star

Stanecdote

I created a petition to give Stan Rogers a star on the Canadian Walk of Fame in Toronto. 75% of the comments I get on my site are from people saying they can't believe he's not already on there. Stan was a very independent man whose focus was on encouraging people. Canadians are always looking for something to represent us; Stan did just that.

-Christian Tobin

Singing The Northwest Passage with Northern Lights

Stan-ecdote

Ten years ago, Kenny Wychopen, Brian Fraser and I belted out Stan Rogers’ Northwest Passage from my back deck for a whole year while planning a trip down the Coppermine River. I read Hearne and Franklin’s journals and any other accounts that I could find while preparing to follow them into the shadowlands. Brian sang with gusto, “… to race the roaring Fraser to the sea!” We all sang to northern lights, a full moon, and dark, scudding cloudy skies.

Kenny’s four-year-old daughter Ariana could sing the entire song to her class mates by the time she was in grade one.

Since the Coppermine River trip I have sung the song on long, lonely rivers and lakes such as the Thelon, Mountain and Nahanni. No other song draws me through water so resolutely.

-Calvin Sikstrom

Seeing Stan at Isadora's

Stan-ecdote

My wife Jill Wade and I were able to attend an intimate concert at Isadora's restaurant given by Stan, Garnet and Jim Morrison in May of 1983, just before their fateful trip to the U.S. It was an experience we will forever treasure.

-Don Sinclair

A Song for Any Mood

Stan-ecdote

I remember hearing stories of Stan having a few with the boys and it didn’t matter what mood you were in because Stan could sing a song for any mood.

-Nathan Rhynold

Singing Along to Stan

Stan-ecdote

I toured around eastern Canada with my parents when I was in my early teens. While we were staying in a tiny hotel somewhere in Nova Scotia, the Irish Descendants played in the pub downstairs. They covered a few Stan Rogers songs, like “Barrett's Privateers” and “The Mary Ellen Carter.” I bought their cassette tape and listened to it in the car over and over. We must have only brought a couple of tapes on that trip. Anyway, I could sing along to several Stan Rogers songs before I even knew he existed, and did so at the top of my lungs in a small car. My poor parents. A wholehearted thanks to the Canadian folk artists that keep performing those spirited songs.

-Becky McEachern

Hearty Songs for Splitting Wood

Stan-ecdote

I remember the first song I heard by Stan Rogers. It was "Barrett's Privateers" on CBC. I dropped what I was doing. Very few musical pieces can do this to me. Stan’s strong, passionate voice, his words that touch the soul and those oh-so-singable songs are as strong today as they were when he first released them. I still sing either "Barrett’s Privateers" or "Northwest Passage" when I split wood. I was stunned to learn Stan Rogers wasn’t in the hall of fame. He speaks to the heart of Canada.

-Svetlana Borshevsky

Solace for Sore Muscles

Stan-ecdote

In the spring of 1977 I had been an unemployed librarian for over a year. I was just back from a winter spent living with friends in England was visiting my parents in Hampton, New Brunswick, when I heard they were looking for tree planters just outside Sussex. I signed on, and spent one long, brutal day planting trees. Every muscle in my body ached and I had only made twenty bucks. The next morning I could hardly move, but I dragged myself out to my car and drove over to Sussex anyway. Parked outside the dirt road to the planting site, I considered how sore I was and how much twenty dollars was worth. No, I thought to myself. I turned around and drove up to Fredericton for the day instead. I was listening to CBC Radio on the drive and they played some  Stan Rogers. I had never heard of him but I loved the songs. They were “Make and Break Harbour” and “Fogarty's Cove” I think, songs I still love thirty years later. Back home in Halifax I was lucky enough to see Stan live several times at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium. This year I finally made it to Canso for Stanfest, and it was fabulous.

-Michael Colborne

Baby Guitars

Stan-ecdote

I watched Stan and Garnet play in Morden, Manitoba in 1982.  It was so intimate and the fact that such talented artists would just stand and talk to me at the break was one of the most memorable experiences I have ever had.  They talked about their guitars like I might talk about my kids. They even buy separate seats for them so they're safe while traveling.

 -Jim Sloane