Several factors led to Country Music's increased popularity in North America: the social upheaval of the Depression and of World War II, which brought people of varying backgrounds together and resulted in a mixing and levelling of musical tastes; the rise of Hollywood films starring such 'singing cowboys' as Gene Autry, Tex Ritter, and Roy Rogers, whose styles were tempered purposely to appeal to an urban audience; and the adoption of some superficialities of the country genre by Tin Pan Alley songwriters. Canada reflected these trends, which lasted into the 1950s.
Canadians Wilf Carter, Hank Snow, and Earl Heywood early on reflected a Canadian take on Country Music, and other performers also emerged between the late 1930s and the early 1950s, including the Bunkhouse Boys, the Hillbilly Jewels (with Joe Brown, later patriarch of the Family Brown) and Tex Cochrane in the Maritimes, Sid Plamondor and His Western Pals in Ontario, the Happy Wanderers, Cammie Howard and His Western Five, and Mac Beattie in Ottawa, Jim Magill and the Northern Ramblers in Toronto, Abbe Andrews and His Canadian Ranch Boys in St Catharines, Ont, Bob Boyd and His Red River Playboys in Winnipeg, Sleepy and Swede and the Tumbleweeds in Saskatoon(see the Rhythm Pals), Cactus Mack and His Saddle Tramps and.Vic Siebert and His Sons of the Saddle in Calgary, and King Ganam and His Sons of the West in Edmonton. Singers included Stu Davis, Allen Erwin ('The Calgary Kid'), Bob ('Mr Sunshine') King, Myrna Lorrie, Bev Monro, Jimmy Arthur Ordge, Stu Phillips, Orval Prophet, Keray Regan, Donn Reynolds ('Canada's Singing Yodeller'), Oral Scheer (b Madawaska, Ont 1917, d Ottawa 29 Oct 2004), Scotty Stevenson, Billy Whelan, and The Canadian Sweethearts (Lucille Starr and Bob Regan).
These three volumes are a collection of rare Canadian Country recordings from those early years.
Volume 1
- I'm Not To Blame - Bunkhouse Boys (02:50)
- New Melody Rag - Bunkhouse Boys (02:55)
- Round And Round And Round - Bunkhouse Boys (02:06)
- Stephen's Special - Bunkhouse Boys (02:55)
- Black Mountain Rag - Fiddlin' Red Crawford (02:57)
- Why Have You Left Me The Way I Am - George Cook (02:51)
- I`ll Spend My Life Loving You - Hank Noble & His Red River Valley Boys (02:33)
- Things That Might Have Been - Hank Noble & His Red River Valley Boys (02:45)
- Angel Waltz - Hap Lambie & The Country Playboys (02:51)
- Broken Hearted - Hap Lambie & The Country Playboys (02:29)
- Fireman's Dream - Hap Lambie & The Country Playboys (02:34)
- Sadness And Tears - Hap Lambie & The Country Playboys (02:23)
- Stream Liner - Hap Lambie & The Country Playboys (02:36)
- Your Mother - Hap Lambie & The Country Playboys (02:15)
- Bluebird On Your Windowsill - Jack Jensen & The Rhythm Pals (02:27)
- Down In Lily Valley - Jack Jensen & The Rhythm Pals (02:19)
- Back Home On The Caribou Trail - Lloyd & Leta Wade (02:27)
- I'm Riding High (For That Ranch House In The Sky) - Lloyd & Leta Wade (02:20)
- Ellie Mae - Pat Gerow & His Western Gang With Clover Lane (03:08)
- If You Come Home To-night - Pat Gerow & His Western Gang With Clover Lane (02:32)
- Deserted - Stu Davis (02:37)
Volume 2
- Candy Coated Apples - Abbie Andrews (02:36)
- Don't Roll Your Eyes At Me Baby - Abbie Andrews (02:31)
- Driftwood On The River - Art Grant & His Northern Lights (02:58)
- The Meanest Lowest Lowdown Blues - Art Grant & His Northern Lights (02:18)
- No Love For Me - Big Four (03:00)
- Submarine Waltz - Big Four (02:52)
- I'm Scared To Go Home - Boyd Cameron (02:37)
- The Province Of Ontario - Boyd Cameron (02:48)
- Give Me Good Old Canada - Carl Lofstrom (01:59)
- Yodeller's Dream - Carl Lofstrom (02:14)
- If You Don't Care - Joe Alen (02:19)
- Mountains Of Gold - Joe Alen (02:11)
- Bought For A Song - Juliette (Juliette Augustina Sysak) With The Rhythm Pals (02:34)
- I Keep Telling Myself - Juliette (Juliette Augustina Sysak) With The Rhythm Pals (03:08)
- Kylie's Reel - Lloyd Wright & The Radio Rangers (02:15)
- Teenage Boogie - Lloyd Wright & The Radio Rangers (02:22)
- The White Rose - Ron Scott With Bobby Hill & His Rank Band (02:23)
- When The Bees Are In Their Hive - Ron Scott With Bobby Hill & His Rank Band (02:27)
- I Can't Go On Without You - Roy Rudolph With The Rodeo All Stars (02:29)
- The Miracle At Springhill - Roy Rudolph With The Rodeo All Stars (03:56)
- Talkin' Blues - Tex Bloye (03:22)
- Valley Of Peace - Tex Bloye (02:41)
- Dreamy Okanagan Moon - The Rhythm Pals (02:27)
- I Wonder If The Ogopogo's Lonesome - The Rhythm Pals (02:33)
Volume 3
- I Love My Gal - Billy O'Boie & The Country Jewels (02:23)
- Little Rosa - Billy O'Boie & The Country Jewels (03:27)
- Aunt Martha's Washing Tub - Charlie MacKinnon With The Downeasters (02:19)
- The Wreck Of The John Harvey - Charlie MacKinnon With The Downeasters (02:45)
- Jour De Tristesse - Claude Dubois (02:33)
- Look To Me - Del & Stan & The Supreme Dial-o-matic Rhythm Man (01:52)
- My Little Porohy (Para-a-hai) - Del & Stan & The Supreme Dial-o-matic Rhythm Man (02:02)
- Three Red Leaves - Diane Leigh (03:12)
- Ballad Of The Calgary Stampede - Ernie Mcculloch (02:19)
- Brand New Heartache - Gerry Myers With The Country Squires & Gaynor Twins (02:11)
- Two Hearts Are Broken - Gerry Myers With The Country Squires & Gaynor Twins (02:18)
- Klondike Mike - Hal Willis (Leonald Francois Joseph Guy Gauthier) (00:46)
- So Right But So Wrong - Hal Willis (Leonald Francois Joseph Guy Gauthier) (02:20)
- Canada's Song - Scotty Stevenson & The Canadian Nighthawks (02:59)
- The Convict And The Rose - Scotty Stevenson & The Canadian Nighthawks (02:48)
- I Forgot To Remember To Forget - Ted Daigle (02:34)
- Walk On By - Ted Daigle (02:13)
- Bitter Tears - Ted Daigle (02:49)
- Young & Beautiful - Ted Daigle (02:29)
- If You Were Mine - The Matlows (02:18)
- Only You - The Matlows (02:32)
