Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?

Subject: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: GUEST,King Knapperty
Date: 26 Apr 17 - 11:12 PM

As a Canadian, I consider Stan Rogers to be the Gold Standard of Canadian folk, and indeed I think he ranks in the top 5 folk artists of all time.


Do folks outside of the Great White North appreciate this hero as much as we Canucks?


Regards,

His Highness King Knapperty

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: GUEST,gecko
Date: 26 Apr 17 - 11:33 PM

Absolutely! I remember the very first time I ever heard a Stan Rogers track - played by Barry Skipsey during the Folk Show on local radio in Alice Springs around 30 years ago. Every hair stood to attention in sheer delight at his wonderfuly deep voice and melodic, sometimes hard hitting lyrics. Still listen to him now - a lot. His heroic death at 33 deprived the folk world of one of it's best male singers.
YIU
gecko

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: GUEST,Count Me As A Fan
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 12:42 AM

I heard "Barrett's Privateers" and "Mary Ellen Carter" and "Northwest Passage" and other songs of his and was totally hooked.

One thing I love that Rogers said was that he tried to be a "contemporary singer-songwriter", but that being in a place with such history (Nova Scotia) and colorful and poignant lore, he just couldn't escape the desire to write songs rich in the imagery of his native soil and the tales of its people.

A fantastic talent who I am sure will only be more appreciated over time as more people discover his songs through covers.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 01:11 AM

I remember the first time I took notice of the singing of Stan Rogers. I was in Tower Records in Sacramento (California) sometime in the late 1980s, and I heard his rich, deep voice singing "Bluenose." I've always had an interest in that ship, so the song caught my attention. I bought every Stan Rogers recording I could get my hands on. At the time, I didn't know anybody else who was familiar with Stan's music.

I got involved with the Sacramento Song Circle and the San Francisco Folk Music club in 1993, and most of the folkies knew and liked Stan's music. I think Stan remains very popular in the U.S. folk community, but I don't think he's known by non-folkies in the U.S.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: GUEST,Tinker from Chicago
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 01:40 AM

I sing many of Stan's songs, have recorded several on my albums, and have taught them to my kids and at least one grandkid. I consider Stan to be the foremost folk composer in the English language. I am constantly struck by how often I find another layer of meaning in one of his songs after having sung it for years.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 01:52 AM

he's still popular in Sydney, Australia, not just Alice Springs!

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: Kampervan
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 01:56 AM

I live in the UK and have loved Stan from the moment I first heard him on the radio about 25 years ago. I've got a copy of every CD he made and one of the greatest moments of my life was joining in the singing of Barrett's Privateers in a bar in Halifax NS during a visit to Canada many years ago.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: GUEST,ottery
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 02:37 AM

The Corries covered Barrett's Privateers some years ago. Didn't follow up the name "Stan Rogers" from the CD jacket though - there warn't youtube or Spotify in them days. (Circa the year 2000).

Think I may have finally heard his voice by stumbling across his version of "Leave her Johnny", one of my favourite songs, on youtube. Had previously heard it on Jon Boden's Folk Song a Day project, and then realised that I knew Rolling Down to Old Maui from Spi/Bod, and so listened to it for the purpose of comparison.

Last year I heard the Yorkshire group Fireside Knights (who have now apparently become the Heathen Kings while retaining the same line-up) playing Witch of the Westmorland, which they heard from Stan Rogers. They asked if anyone in the (folk club) audience knew about him - around a quarter to a third put their hands up.

I'd say he has a fairly secure niche over here. OTW, I'd say he's more appreciated as a singer and a performer than as a song-writer.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: Raggytash
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 03:49 AM

Certainly well respected and loved singer songwriter here in the UK. I sing several of his songs.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: robomatic
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 06:51 AM

I remember hearing fragments or refrains of Stan Rogers and my mind latched onto them years before I knew who wrote the lyrics. Finally got a copy of a copy of "Between the Breaks" and wore it out. I've sung "Sailing Down to Old Maui" to scare the bears away while hiking in deep brush, and last Summer was singing "Barrett's Privateers" on the way down a local trail when from another trail came a fellow who picked right up on the refrain.(And I've sung it along with a Canadian folk group on a Halifax pier!).
I've gone walking the outskirts of a pump station on The Alaska Pipeline and sung "The Idiot".
Stan Rogers was a genius who applied his strengths to folk. He was taken too soon from us.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 07:44 AM

I think Stan is still revered in the US as well. I met him several times when he played in Chicago/Rockford, Illinois way back. He put on great performances.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 07:51 AM

of course

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: GUEST,Gerry
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 08:35 AM

I was driving through Saskatchewan one day in June, 1983, listening to Peter Gzowski's program, Morninsgide, on the car radio, reception fading in and out, hearing the most fantastic singing, never catching who the singer was, nor why Gzowski was devoting so much of the program to him. Two years later, I was living in Austin, Texas, and there was a guy with a morning radio show there who played a lot of Stan Rogers, and I recognized the voice I had heard in Canada, and now I could put a name to it. The guy also told the story of how Rogers had died on the way back to Canada from a folk festival in Kerrville, just a couple hours drive from Austin, and I realized that Gzowski had been playing a tribute to Rogers, probably the day after Rogers died. So at the very least, Rogers was much appreciated by that DJ in Austin in 1985, and by at least one of his listeners.

Two years later, I moved to Sydney, Australia, and was pleased to find Rogers' songs being sung here, where some performers even went so far as to refer to him as Saint Stan. The man or woman on the street may not know him, but the folkies certainly do.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: RTim
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 08:45 AM

Certainly appreciated in the USA where I live - but we should never forget how young he was when he died - only 33 year of age...a lot of waste there........

Tim Radford

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: Rapparee
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 09:04 AM

Yes, very much indeed.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: oldhippie
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 09:18 AM

"45 Years" is still one of my most favorite songs :)

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 10:46 AM

Jim Mageean and Johnny Collins helped to popularise Stan's songs in the UK, and they and several other Brits have recorded some of them. I went to a presentation given by John Prentice at Redditch festival on Stan's songs about 20 years ago, after John had recorded Last Watch on the Midland. Plus Nathan Rogers and Dan McKinnon have toured over here and included Stan's songs in their sets. Most Sidmouth Middle Bar song sessions include a Stan Rogers song!

Kitty

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: Alaska Mike
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 12:03 PM

I will always revere him. Stan's songs and style set me on the path of singer/songwriter. I'm always pleased when someone compares my songs to his.

Mike

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: Elmore
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 12:06 PM

I consider myself lucky to have seen Stan perform three times in Cambridge Ma. On the day he died, someone announced his death from the stage where he had played in Cambridge. The audience, myself included, was in shock. We are fortunate that Stan left a fairly substantial body of work.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: Reinhard
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 12:25 PM

I have albums with covers of Stan's songs by Eric Bogle, The Cast, Cilla Fisher & Artie Trezise, Grace Notes, Jolly Jack, Jim Mageean & Johnny Collins, Marilyn Middleton Pollock, Eddy O'Dwyer, Alan Reid & Brian McNeill, Rogues Gallery, Steve Turner, and John Wright. So I would conclude that the posters in this thread are not the only ones who like his songs ;-)

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: GUEST,DTM
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 12:58 PM

A good few of his songs are sung in the folk clubs I go to in Scotland. Great songwriter. One of the best.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: leeneia
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 02:26 PM

Stan is appreciated in the Midwest. I've heard his name many times over the years.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 02:29 PM

He's certainly appreciated here in the Backwoods of Lincolnshire, UK. I sing several of Stan's songs - Lies, 45 Years, The Field Behind The Plow.

A few years ago my wife and I were fortunate to spend an evening with Nathan Rogers when he played Mansfield Folk Club, played his Grit Laskin guitar, and had a long conversation with him. A fine evening, and Nathan did The Field Behind The Plow for us, sounding exactly like his dad.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: frogprince
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 04:53 PM

I think I can safely say that everyone I know in our Michigan area who relates to folk music at all retains a real appreciation for him.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 28 Apr 17 - 08:26 PM

Stan Rogers is much appreciated in my part of the US, Rhode Island, too. I never got to see him, but I've seen Garnet Rogers several times.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: GUEST,kenny
Date: 29 Apr 17 - 06:04 AM

"Barratt's Privateers" was sung at an event I was at in Aberdeen 2 nights ago. His songs are certainly "appreciated outside Canada", although I'd say not so much nowadays as throught the 80s/90s.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: JenBurdoo
Date: 29 Apr 17 - 10:18 AM

I listen to him in Florida, and I'd record some on Youtube except his company doesn't answer emails. The folk group at the local bar are unfamiliar with him (they mostly know '60s, Bob Dylan and the like) and have been appreciative when I've tried some of his songs. I was inspired partly by Flowers of Bermuda to visit that island, and Mary Ellen Carter and MacDonnell on the Heights are kinda personal mantras for me.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: kendall
Date: 30 Apr 17 - 04:38 AM

A gentleman he was not. A singer/song writer, he was top quality.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: Jack Campin
Date: 30 Apr 17 - 06:56 AM

I've heard his songs fairly often in Scotland, but I've never heard him singing them himself, via any medium.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: Reinhard
Date: 30 Apr 17 - 12:27 PM

I'm just listening to this week's Mike Harding Folk Show and he is playing a cover of The Mary Ellen Carter, from Two Coats Colder's new CD Moment in Time.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: GUEST,MAG
Date: 30 Apr 17 - 01:10 PM

My old Folk Society in Chicago, Aural Tradition, was the first to bring Stan to the U.S. He wasa huge hit, Aural Tradition having him play at the Old Town School of Folk Music.

After he died, I took a day off work to hear the recording of that concert on the radio.

MA, formerly of Chicago

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: Anniecat
Date: 30 Apr 17 - 01:15 PM

I love his songs and often sing 'Lies' and 'The Lock Keeper' now and then. I am always telling my friends to look at his songs as they are so good.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: Hrothgar
Date: 01 May 17 - 07:43 AM

I think I first heard of him at our National Folk Festival in 1983, and was greatly impressed with "Mary Ellen Carter" which I think was the first song of his I heard.

A few years ago a group of us did a presentation at the National of "Songs of Stan Rogers" and I like to think it went over very well.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: GUEST,sciencegeek
Date: 05 May 17 - 10:16 AM

loved his music and played him on our folk show on WUSB, SUNY-Stony Brook, regularly... crushed when he died

sang many of his songs and still get a charge when I hear him being played on the air

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: deepdoc1
Date: 05 May 17 - 12:15 PM

I very much appreciate his music, right up there with Bok. Oddly enough, as I wander the country in my RV, I've met several folks from Canada, and when I ask how they like Stan Rogers, I get a "deer in the headlights" look. Oh, well.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: CupOfTea
Date: 05 May 17 - 12:24 PM

I suppose I'm a bit insular in my music tastes, because all the folkies I know deeply appreciate Stan Rogers. But outside folk and maritime music enthusiasts, I am not sure how well known he is. This is certainly their loss, and all the performers who spread his repertoire are doing much to change that. I wonder if Stan's fame within Canada owes some to the way the CBC makes a point of showcasing Canadian talent as well as those who perform traditional music - which was part of Stan's appeal.

In the US folk & folk based singer songwriters are a niche market. I'm in that niche who love his music, and have had the joy of presenting other Canadians (James Keelahagn, Garnet Rogers) and firsthand appreciation of many others.

Hope yer Highness is relieved.

Joanne in Cleveland

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: meself
Date: 05 May 17 - 02:15 PM

Generally, I think you would find there are more Canadians familiar with Stan Rogers than with, say, Gordon Bok, who was mentioned above - and who would be unknown outside circles of hard-core folkies. However, Canadians, for the most part, are like everyone else in the modern world: they/we are familiar with what's being played on Top 40 radio right now, and that's about it.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: Merritt
Date: 05 May 17 - 07:20 PM

I first heard him in the late-70s.

Appreciation? Matters of taste. And I say this as a gringo whose ancestry is about half Canuck. The baritone vocal is a little too rich for me, the lyrics just relentlessly meaningful, the presentation just a little too sincere. I can't take even one side of an album. Like trying to eat a piece of Death by Chocolate Cake topped with Triple Fudge Buttercream Icing and stuffed with Neutron Star Density Chocolate Pudding. By the 3rd bite I'm feeling kinda full.

His stripped down songs are best for my taste. Like Barrett's Privateers. And, all of the above said, and just to contradict myself, Northwest Passage is One of The Great, Big Songs I'll ever hear. Like reading a novel.

My 2 cents.

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: GUEST
Date: 06 May 17 - 07:39 AM

And I love Stan Rogers's voice and delivery, but am really not keen on Northwest Passage. Always thought the lyrics sounded like an inheritance from an Edwardian era Boy's Own magazine...

Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Appreciated Outside Canada?
From: gnu
Date: 06 May 17 - 10:31 AM

My story is that the guys I played and sang with called me Stan due to the likeness in looks and voice. At fifty feet, you couldn't tell us apart except that couldn't sing as well as himself. Alas, my voice left quite a few years ago and, sadly, so has Stan. Only 33 years old... staggers the imagination to wonder what his body of work might have grown to be over the past 34 years.