The Travellers are going places with their first album of
- Canadian folk-songs, Across Canada With The Travellers.

RECORDS

The Travellers record
fine folk-song album

_ Three years ago, CBC folk-
song promoter Edith Fowke
‘noted in a magazine article
hat folk song recordings of
Canada and by Canadians had
trebled in a short space of
time. This certainly attests to
‘a growing interest in this
genre of music, which is quite
distinct from the insipid popu-
| lar offerings as well as from
) the lofty and classical art

song. ~

“Interest in Canadian folk
‘music, and in the folk music
of other lands, can be seen in
packed halls all over Canada,
for visiting groups like The

eavers and Pete Seeger and
also in the rise of Canadian
groups, like The Travellers of
Toronto. This young foursome
has now made its first record-
ing. a Hallmark LP entitled,

cross Canada With The

Travellers.
The songs on the record are:
‘This Land is Your Land;
e the B’y; Whistle and I'll
Come to You; Boasting Song;
Jam on Gerry’s Rock; Vive la
adienne; Mistress Bond;
aking Hay; Lonesome Trav-
eller; Black Flies; Strawberry
‘Roan; Frank Slide; Acres of
‘Clams; Land of the Silver
Birch; and Greenland Fish-

*

We found most exciting I’se
the B’y, the rolling Newfound-
nd boatman’s ditty, the
Song, a Canadian
laptation of Woody -Guth-
’s; humorous battle of the
storians”; Making Hay, a

IStIn

fine arrangement of Joe Wal-
lace’s poem set to music by
M. J. Sago; Acres of Clams,
the story of intinerant jack-
of-all-trades; and the very
beautiful and poigant Green-
land Fisheries, a tale of tra-
gedy during a whale hunt.

This last song, in our opin-
ion is the best one on the
record and the best we’ve ever
heard the group do.

We feel that improvements
could have been made in the
selection of songs. For exam-
ple, Vive la Canadienne could
have been replaced by another
French Canadian song with
more color variation, to better
advantage. And why not two
French Canadian songs in a
selection of 15 from “across
Canada?”

Finally, congratulations
should be offered to the sing-
ing Travellers for presenting
Canadians with a new kind of

‘folk-song recording. We hope

it is only a beginning. Also,
here is a suggestion for future
records: a selection of songs
from the other peoples making
up Canada: Slavs, Jews, Scan-
dinavians and others.

The cover jacket too, de-
serves mention, before we
sign off, It is a fitting photo-
layout of composition showing
golden maple leaves on a blue
sky background, with pictures
of the singers set in. Design
is by the prominent Canadian
artist, Carl Dair.

Pick up Across Canada With
The Travellers at the Peoples
Co-op Bookstore. Price is $4.95

RADIO-TV

ad

Frank Willis interviews rude ~

Gilbert Harding on Close-Up —

NEXT WEEK Close - Up
(Wednesday, May 13 at 10
p.m.) takes an hour when
Frank Willis will introduce
three widely varied topics: an

‘interview. with Gilbert Hard-_

ing; an enquiry into drug ad-
diction in Vancouver; a dis-
cussion on stammering and
methods of curing it.

There’s more to truth than
mere facts. Take the facts
about Gilbert Harding as
stated in a press release is-
sued when he came to Tor-
onto in 1944, The biography
seems to imply a cultured, re-
served,, middle-class English-
man.

Born in the old cathedral
town of Hereford on the bor-

‘der of Wales in 1907, Gilbert

Harding was educated at the
Royal School of Wolverhamp-
ton, and went from there to
Queen’s College, Cambridge,
taking his degree in modern
languages and history.
Reserved? Middle class?
This man _ became _ famous
throughout Britain for his
public irascibility and rude-
ness. At a dinner where he
was guest speaker he told his
audience “I have been drag-
-ged to this third-rate place

for a third-rate dinner for
third-rate people.” (Next day
he apologized, as he always
does: “I consider myself
fourth-rate,” he said.)

No stranger to Canada (the
release continues) Harding is
pleased to be back in this
country.

“Culturally,” he once said,
“Canada _ stinks.” :

He’s a thorough believer in
radio but thinks that unless
it promotes better under-
standing between the peoples
of the world it will have
failed in its mission.

“One has earned one’s noto-

riety through the phony
media of. radio and _ tele-
vision,” he has said disgust-
edly. :

Since his latest arrival in
Canada, Harding has travel-
led across the country, to ex-
tend further his knowledge of
the Canadian scene.

“Wily is everyone so proud
of being born in Vancouver?
I ‘would sooner have been
born in a_ water-closet
Toronto is not a very fashion-
able address .. . I was re-
volted by Ottawa.”

There will be more of Gil-
bert Harding on Close-Up.

UFAWU kiddies will

star at ballet recital

ONE OF the most enjoy-
able and interesting events
of the year will take place
Friday, May 8 at 8 pm. in
the Fishermen’s Hall, 138
East Cordova, when the Van-
couver UFAWU ballet group
will perform special dances in
their annual ballet recital.

Children of fishermen, shore-

AUUC cast presents
Ukrainian operetta

THE VANCOUVER Branch
of the Association of United
Ukrainian Canadians will
perform the contemporary.
Ukrainian operetta Chervona
Kalina at the York Theatre
on May 28, 29 and 30.

This will be the first time
that a Canadian audience will
have the opportunity of see-
ing this operetta written by
the Ukrainian composer and
dramtists V. Sokal and O.
Ryabov, for the 300th an-
niversary of friendship and
brotherhood between the Uk-
rainian and Russian people in
1954,

The music of Chervona
Kalina uses typical Ukrainian
and Russian folk melodies
and songs as a base which
makes them easily remember-
ed and caught up by the audi-
ence.

“Because the operetta com-
mands a large cast and excess-
ive stage requirements more
than one director was neces-
sary, William Philipovich,
drama director; Marion So-
chatsky, assistant director;

Karl Kobylansky, music di-
rector; Ed Polowy, stage di-
rector, have combined their
talents in-this production.

A great amount of assist-
ance has been directly re-
ceived’ from the Theatre of
Musical Comedy in Kiey in
conjunction with the Ukrain-
ian Society for Cultural Re-
lations with Foreign Coun-
tries. Many photographs of
the actual performances, art-
ists in character, senarios, cos-
tumes and properties were re-
ceived which will assist in
presenting the operetta as au-
thentically as possible.

Although the dialogue is in
the Ukrainian language, Cher-
vona Kalina will be enjoyed
by non-Ukrainians for the
music, songs and dances ‘as
well as dramatic performance
contained.

Reserved tickets are now
available ($1.25 and $1.50) at»
the People’s Co-op Book
-Store, 307 West Pender; Uk-
rainska Knyha, 652  Kings-
way, and the Ukrainian Hall,
805 East Pender Street.

workers and others closely
associated with the industry
will display their talents
under the supervision of Miss
Lillian Bullman, popular bal-
let instructress of the UF-
AWU group.

The children look forward
enthusiastically to this even-
ing set aside once a year,
when they can perform for
their parents and friends the
many dances they have work-
ed so hard to perfect.

In keeping with the festivi-
ties will be the crowning of
the Mermaid Queen when re-
tiring Queen Jeannine North
will place the crown on the
incoming Queen who is select-
ed by the children of the bal-
let class.

The UFAWU children’s choir
under the direction of Roy
Lowther will entertain with
four specially selected songs
during the course of the eve-
ning.

Admission will be 50 cents
with children half price, Re-
freshments will be served.

TV series
on May 10

A CRITICAL appraisal of
education trends will be the
subject of a two-part Sunday
TV series on Chanhel 2 on
May 10 and 17.

The series, entitled Educa-
tion Today, will offer the
viewpoint of educators, mem-
bers of industry and social
welfare in the light of cur-
rent technological demands
and whether education ful- |
fills the needs of society.

May 8, 1959 — PACIFIC TRIBUNE—PAGE 5

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