Canadian Content

From the mid-1950's thenceforth to the mid-seventies in the Great White North, over the course of many moons, there came from this country some really great tunes. For those of us young at heart (or not-so-old) we had Neil Young's Cinnamon Girl and Heart of Gold. And when they were at their very peak, The Band sang The Weight and Up on Cripple Creek. Joni Mitchell, who was oh-so-classy, sang about a Free Man in Paris and a Big Yellow Taxi. And one of the finest songs ever designed was Gordon Lightfoot's If You Could Read My Mind. Back in those days, the Guess Who was on the rise with hits like American Woman, Undun and These Eyes. And, from Nova Scotia, you may have heard of Anne Murray, who sang sweetly about a Snowbird. From Montreal came Andy Kim - now he was quite a looker! - who sang lead vocals for The Archies. Remember Sugar Sugar? And, incidentally, he had one other big hit called Rock Me Gently. Do you remember it? Oh, and by the way, there was another Canuck named John Kay, a real nineteen sixties flower child. He sang with Steppenwolf. You know Born to be Wild! Ah, I remember the summers, when we all had lots of fun listening to Sweet City Woman and Seasons in the Sun. And I will certainly never, ever forget a hit by BTO called You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet! In the history of modern music, be it rock or pop, a number of Canadians have certainly reached the top. With the Yanks and the Brits, we certainly could compete. With no mention of Canada, music history is incomplete.