Obit: John Allan Cameron - 22 Nov 2006

Subject: Obit: John Allan Cameron
From: Bee
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 11:09 AM

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2006/11/22/cameron-obit.html

Sad day in Nova Scotia. I first saw him, a young, slender, kilted man with a sweet lisping voice, at the Cape Breton County Fair in the early sixties, and fell right in love with him.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron
From: Peace
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 11:15 AM

Aye, sad indeed.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 11:17 AM

Had the pleasure of this mans company at my local a few times

Johnny.... I'll see you down the road.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron
From: wysiwyg
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 11:28 AM

Is this how our own late "Little John Cameron" drew the title of "little"? If so they will be tuning along merrily somewhere by now, I'll wager.

~Susan

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron
From: Beer
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 11:37 AM

He did a lot for music in the Cape area. And he suffered long enough. I hope they have music to greet him.
beer

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 11:43 AM

Not only a sad day in Nova Scotia but a sad day anywhere that music is loved. Very sad in deed.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 11:46 AM

I shall never hear "The Four Marys " without thinking of him. What a huge, huge loss to us all.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron
From: number 6
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 11:46 AM

I credit him for introducing the music of Cape Breton to the rest of Canada.

Sad news it is.

biLL

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 11:59 AM

This should ne a dau of mourning in Nova Scotia. He did more for the culture of this samll and humble place than anyone has done before...or since.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron
From: Big Mick
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 12:00 PM

What a loss for my Canadian cousins, and all of us. God be good to him.

Mick

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 12:23 PM

Though it is not unexpected it is deeply sorrowing, but somehow I think that he would want us to celebrate his life rather than to mourn his passing. I'll bet that Winston, and Wilfred, and Uncle DanR have their fiddles tuned and ready, and Stan is waiting in the wings. Tha Neamh Lan Ceol Sona!
   All my sympathy to his family!
Thanks John Allen for all that you did to bring Cape Breton to the World and the World to Cape Breton!
                   Sandy

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron
From: Dave (the ancient mariner)
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 12:29 PM

RIP, great musician.
Yours,Aye. Dave

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron
From: Mooh
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 12:38 PM

Remember his TV show? We need more of that kind of programming now. He did more for us than we know. An era has ended.

God rest ye, sir.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 12:42 PM

I remember him on Sing Along Jubilee, great show, brought us Anne Murray, Catherine Makinnon, Gene MacLellan and so many others. We all owe him a great debt of gratitude.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron
From: GUEST,Obie
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 12:56 PM

R.I P.

http://www.iandavies.com/jacam-hilite.htm

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 01:03 PM

Helluva guitar picker too, on that old 12-string.
Another good 'un gone.

Seamus

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron 22 Nov 2006
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 01:52 PM

For the record, here's the CBC Obituary:

John Allan Cameron: Celtic godfather dies

Last Updated: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 | 12:47 PM AT CBC News

John Allan Cameron, one of Canada's music pioneers, died Wednesday morning in Ontario after a three-year battle with bone cancer.

The Cape Breton-born entertainer influenced a generation of artists, and fans say he was Celtic when the genre wasn't cool.

During the 1960s and '70s, Cameron led the charge for traditional Scottish music. Gradually, he won the loyalty of thousands of music lovers from coast to coast.

His ability to play Scottish pipe and fiddle tunes on the guitar was a surefire crowd pleaser everywhere, even at the Grand Old Opry in Nashville, where he appeared in 1972 as a complete unknown.

"I was more surprised than any of them," Cameron said in an interview. "I knew the audience was with me, but I didn't expect the response, which was about two minutes of an ovation."

The John Allan Cameron Show, which ran on television nationally from 1975 to 1981, made him a household name in Canada. The program also introduced Canadians to a number of talented performers, including the now-legendary Stan Rogers.

Cameron was named to the Order of Canada in 2003.

His work is seen as the spark that lit the resurgence of the traditional art form in the past two decades. The Rankins, the Barra MacNeils, Natalie MacMaster, Ashley MacIsaac can all attribute some of their success to his trailblazing efforts.

People in the music business say they will continue to refer affectionately to Cameron as the "godfather" of Celtic music in Canada.

Unclosed link repaired---Fat Clone hehehehehehe

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron - 22 Nov 2006
From: GUEST,thurg
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 02:37 PM

I saw John Allen here and there a few times over the years, the first being at Mariposa around '75 or '76. He was MCing a performance of Cape Breton fiddlers on a small stage, and at one point when the fiddlers were full-tilt in the middle of a medley, he came out step-dancing, and joined in. Well, about fifteen years later, I found myself playing at a festival that he was again MCing. When I was cranking out a whack of tunes on the fiddle, all of a sudden, John Allen comes dancing out from the wings and joins me on his fiddle. It was quite a thrill for me, I can tell you - sort of a highlight in an otherwise pretty lame musical career. I suppose he knew I would appreciate the gesture; I had had a brief chat with him earlier in the day, and had told told him that he had been an inspiration to me. He was very gracious.

Very sad day, although it's a relief that his suffering is over.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron - 22 Nov 2006
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 02:59 PM

If you go back to the first post by Bee, CBC has added a tribute video to the link. Look on the right hand side of the page and you can watch John Allen in action.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron - 22 Nov 2006
From: Bee
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 03:27 PM

Somewhere in this house I have "Minstrel of Cranberry Lane" much played and locked in vinyl until I get a turntable. Hopefully Folk Roots (Galaxie: CBC satellite music channel) will play him up for a few days.

Before John Allan, I think the only local music I'd heard was Gaelic singers at the mod and on radio, and of course Winston Scotty Fitz. and friends. What was his (Winston's) pianist's name? I should remember it - she was outspoken regarding her feelings about young Ashley's hijinks.

I am really saddened by this death, the manner of it and his not being so old, either. So here's an agnostic hoping there's a heaven at least for some.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron - 22 Nov 2006
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 03:36 PM

Beatty Wallace played piano for Winston and Estwood Davidson on guitar.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron - 22 Nov 2006
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 03:39 PM

This is an archived CBC audio interview:

http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-68-1910-12525-11/arts_entertainment/twt/clip1

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron - 22 Nov 2006
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 04:03 PM

Indeed, a very sad day!

Emily Friedman, editor of Come For To Sing Magazine out of my old home town of Chicago, first introduced me to the music of John Allen Cameron. We then brought him into town for a concert through that magazine and the venerable old events sponsoring organization called Aural Tradition. (This was the mid-1970s.) Then I was lucky enough to see him in Winnipeg on two different festivals at Birds Hill Park.

Friends, John Allan Cameron was as fine a performer as there ever was. I was just listening to some of his music last week. What a loss.

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron - 22 Nov 2006
From: black walnut
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 04:13 PM

John Allen Cameron...I think the last time I saw him was at a funeral of a friend. He was the well-loved and respected, the kind of person who built our Canadian identity.
We certainly feel the loss when we lose such a giant.

~b.w.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron - 22 Nov 2006
From: gnu
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 05:01 PM

I just saw it on the 6PM news. Sad day.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron - 22 Nov 2006
From: karen k
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 09:22 PM

A sad loss. My condonences to his family.

karen

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron - 22 Nov 2006
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 22 Nov 06 - 11:39 PM

I met him once, what a nice man. A loss for all of us.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron - 22 Nov 2006
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 07:15 AM

More here:
http://www.herald.ns.ca/Front/542620.html

and here:
http://www.herald.ns.ca/Editorial/542718.html

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron - 22 Nov 2006
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 08:38 AM

We last saw him accompanying Ashley MacIsaac at the Ottawa Folk Festival in '03, or perhaps '04. He was grey and tired-looking, but he carried the show, doing the patter and bringing Ashley along effortlessly when the young fella sagged. His guitar backing was solid and beautifully accomplished, a background when the fiddle was soaring and then by turns duet partner and leader as the fiddle dropped away. It was as if he was reading Ashley's mind, feeling where the tunes were going and just knowing what to do next to maintain the tension and keep the audience spellbound. The applause went on and on and on, and it was John Allen who got the roar.

I heard him in concert in Halifax during the summer of '76, and I still remember how he described the small-townness of Glace Bay in his youth: "We used to go down to the funeral parlour to watch the coffins warp. When I went to university at St. Francis Xavier's in Antigonish [Ed: itself no Big Apple], for excitement I would go to Woolworth's to try on gloves."

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron - 22 Nov 2006
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 10:37 AM

I do hope that Nova Scotia erects a memorial to JohnAllan. He saved a culture in the Provence that was dying of neglect. Not only did he revive it, he taught us to love and respect it. A great loss.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron - 22 Nov 2006
From: GUEST,thurg
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 11:59 AM

Check out this clip of JAC & family from the '70's - it's wonderful:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CgcJeVb6Hs   ...

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron - 22 Nov 2006
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 12:13 PM

...and there are at least two photos of John Allan Cameron at my forty years of personal folk scene photos web site at http://rudegnu.com/art_thieme.html

Enter the word mudcat (lower case) as both the user name and the password. These snapshots were taken at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in the 1970s.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron - 22 Nov 2006
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 01:26 PM

The first time I heard Lord of the Dance by john allen..he made the song his own wnd introduced to a whole generation of Canadians. When will we ever see his like again.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Allan Cameron - 22 Nov 2006
From: MAG
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 01:54 PM

He was wonderful; my thoughts go out to his nearest and dearest.