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Pegasus

Pegasus performs at Rising Star

Coffee House in Hampton NB

From the Taylor  COLUMN Archives, Saturday, Nov 5, 1994

Pegasus-winged horse of Greek legend- a constellation that can be seen well up in the evening skies of autumn in our northern heavens. Well, it’s autumn and Pegasus can be seen- and heard- a lot closer to Earth tonight, appropriately enough at the Rising Star coffeehouse in Hampton.

That is our Pegasus, a legend native to our particular area of North America; the instrumental duo of Allison Cran and Adrian Thorton.

A more appropriate encyclopedic defining of Pegasus explains it however; their licence to use the name. The Muses according to mythology held a contest. The music made at this competition charmed the streams and made Mont Helicon grow toward the heavens. Poseidon, the god, ordered Pegasus to strike it. He did with his hoof and the fountain of Hippocrene sprang forth. It’s waters inspired people to write poetry. In this way Pegasus is connected with poetry and music. A poet or composer is said to “mount his Pegasus when he begins to write.”

This modern Pegasus- Allison and Adrian- are two very skilled interpreters of the poetry of music. They have been entertaining and soothing Saint John audiences at receptions, weddings, parties and art and literature events for more than a decade.

Usually this respected duo- Allison on penny whistle, flute and recorder, Adrian on guitar and mandolin- is retained to create a pleasant atmosphere of low key intimate music, background interpretations of popular and classical melodies. But tonight in the non-regimented format of the Rising Star Coffeehouse they can really let their hair down and give their wildly inventive talents free rein.

Don’t miss it. Pegasus tonight along with the other very interesting duo, No Bridge To Walk. Sounds like a sequel to Woman Who Walks Far doesn’t it? I don’t think this musical pairing , Jen Mercer and Carl Killen share a drop of native blood; they do however share the ability to blend vocals beautifully. I heard them in concert at a Broadway Cafe Coffeehouse this summer in Sussex and was greatly impressed with the versatility of their repertoire, which merged modern folk style hits with originals, songs penned by Carl. They call their music acoustic rock and I guess that describes it.

Carl, the lead singer and instrumentalist has written more than 60 compositions so far. Vocalist Jan Mercer adds tight smooth harmonies that give any song interpreted by No Bridge To Walk a distinctive sound that is all it’s own.

Aside from these two great duos the Rising Star’s perennial favourite, Donnie Fowler, will be back with a wide and varied repertoire of songs. Another favourite Willie MacEwan is appearing for the first time in the solo spotlight with a selection of country standards. It is hoped that Valerie and Felicia MacDonald will also contribute a set of songs. Seating is at candlelit tables in the Masonic Hall on Church Street, just down the hill from the RCMP barracks beside the Catholic church.

Tickets $4 at the door. Barry MacDonald , as usual acts as emcee.

Also in this column,, Boiestown Jamboree, Clogger’s Workshop, Butler Family Concert and Frank Mills at Miramichi.

Sorry no photos available.

Categories
Concert Event Local History

Ashley tomorrow, Matilda and Eva Steele birthdays

ASHLEY BRINGS FIDDLING THE CAPE BRETON WAY TO THE IMPERIAL

ashleyMacIssac09Ashley’s coming to the Imperial Theatre, Saint John, Sunday at 8 p.m….Cape Breton’s native son, Ashley MacIssac, that is…and reportedly back on track!

They’re billing it ‘traditional fiddling the Cape Breton way: fast, furious, phenomenal!’ A real stompin’ Celtic kitchen party where traditional song and exceptional musicianship take centre stage! A return to his traditional fiddling roots!

As flamboyantly outrageous and controversial as any Canadian entertainer, Ashley now, reportedly, has put spontaneous misbehaving and rudeness behind him. I’m sure Conan O’Brien will be glad to hear that, should he ever think of interviewing Ashley again!

No one, however, has ever questioned Ashley’s musical genius. As one admirer of that genius proclaimed 15 years ago: “Don’t be judgin’ this here fiddle music before you’ve treated yer ears to the stuff. As you may already know, the devil’s in the kitchen and Ashley MacIssac is leading him around by the horns. The (then) 20 year old Cape Breton wunderkind has made (masses of) fiddle lovers out of fiddle haters!

“The kilt wearing, Doc Marten-stompin genre bender has crossed jigs, reels, strathspeys and airs with a submersive sound-scape of rock, fusing it all into a new raw exhilarating Celtic passion”.

Ashley, now, has returned to his earlier influences, a tradition known as the ‘Cape Breton Way’, defined by the recordings of Winston ‘Scotty’ Fitzgerald, Angus Chisholm and Buddy MacMaster, his original influences.

Ashley Dwayne MacIssac was born at Creignish, Cape Breton on February 24, 1975…he’ll be 35 on that date this year! At an early age he began immersing himself in the recordings of those three masters. Picking up a fiddle physically at the age of eight, once he set his bow to strings he was never the same again. A-tuned he began playing anywhere anyone would listen, at neighbours and relatives , at school…wherever people gathered. By 14 he was playing local festivals, pubs, church halls, clubs. Then, with local bands he began touring Celtic communities across Canadaand into the US, as far as Massachusetts and California,. At 16, in 1992, he recorded Close To The Floor, his first traditional album. A Cape Breton Christmas followed a year later. Before he was 18 he’d toured internationally with both John McDermott and the Chieftains.

His name then spread globally, earning him fame as an extraordinary talent who could breath new life into old fiddle music. And he was soon performing at prestigious venues world-wide, winning acclaim and sharing stages with the most elite entertainers. So although his career has had it’s thorny moments Ashley MacIsaac is still a spectacular act, master of the blazing fiddle. For more info visit www.ashleymacissac.net/

And don’t miss Ashley at the Imperial, Saint John this Sunday, Jan.31, 8 p.m. Tickets are $20, $25, $30. on-line www.imperialtheatre, at the Imperial box office or by phoning 674-4100 (outside directory 1-800-323-7469).

MATILDA’S 90TH BIRTHDAY SATURDAY

Matilda Murdoch has been part of the Miramichi’s cultural community for most of her 90 years. A Celebration of her Birthday, a milestone in this province’s fiddling history, takes place this Saturday, 7 p.m., at the Community Center, Loggieville. An unbelievably energetic and stirring fiddler, even at her age, ‘Maddy’ has a unquenchable love of music so the party’s apt to roll right on into Sunday’s early hours. Come prepared. If you play a traditional instrument bring it along. There will be music, dancing, food, camaraderie and Matilda, Queen of the Bow will be front and center, wielding it as only she can! If you love her music….the over 200 inspired tunes she has written…pop in and say ‘hello’. “It’s gonna be a shaker of biblical proportions,” I’m told. Everyone’s invited, so feel free to bring friends.

Matilda Murdoch was born January, 1920, at Loggieville, now a part of Miramichi City, where she still resides. When she was eight, her father gave her a fiddle:within months she was playing tunes. Her first public performance at 11, was in 1931, and has been thrilling and amazing a continuously growing army of fans ever since. Her playing still holds audiences entranced. Her original compositions were played even by Don Messer during his radio and TV fame. Her style has been a subject of study, not only in the Maritimes, but by fiddlers throughout North America and, in recent years, in Ireland.

In fact, Tracey Robinson (of the Miramichi’s Dirty Nellys) on Jan 10, commented on Matilda’s Birthday Facebook page that: ‘A recent trip to Ireland brought me to Doolin, a small village on the western coast, about five miles north of the Cliffs of Moore. A sign as you enter reads The Hub Of Irish Music and indeed the three pubs there were totally dedicated to it. I made my way to McDermott’s and found Irish music was, indeed, alive and well. In fact there were six musicians (The Ceili Bandits) blasting out their stuff, and of these six, five were current All-Ireland Champions. Not being able to resist, I introduced myself and when I told them of my travels and that I was from the Miramichi they instantly, asked ‘did I know Matilda Murdock?’ Like Alex (Alex Baisley had the exact same experience two days before in a Galway) , I was shocked. I said yes, and soon was sitting, 4000 miles from Miramichi, tapping my feet to the tune they played next, Matilda’s Loggieville Two Step!

Matilda as a fiddler has garnered international recognition as a composer, player and teacher. She has been elected to both the North American Fiddle Hall of Fame in New York State and the New Brunswick Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2002, she was the recipient of a Stompin Tom Connors Award at the ECMA’s in Saint John. And that same year was proclaimed a Freeman Of The City of Miramichi and, more recently, honoured with the Order of New Brunswick. Join Matilda Saturday at her 90th Birthday Celebration!

EVA STEELE’S 95TH BIRTHDAY

dancing up a storm
Gerry and Eva doing the Charleston

It’s 25 years, at least, since I took my first Charleston dance lesson from Eva Steele at a St. Patrick’s Day Dinner in the, then new Saint John Trade & Convention Centre. She would have been 70 or so and I was, well…a little over 50!

But Eva has always seemed so young, the eternal Irish Colleen, since she immigrated here from Erin. And she she been the darling of the Comhaltas (Coal-tas) Saint John Chapter since their inception here: front and centre at most of their events.

Well, Eva’s Surprise 95th Birthday Party last Saturday at the city’s lavish new Chateau Saint John was no exception. The cream of Comhaltas singers and musicians were there to pay her a musical homage. Even this paper’s retired editor-in-chief Fred Hazel took a turn at the mike to dedicate his rendering of Danny Boy in an impressively deep voice to Eva. And a song written in her honour was read dramatically by its composer. Also heard were Stuart Hook, Bruce Neill, Tom Noel and and Keith Facey in the time we were there.

Also in attendance, among a multitude of invited guests, was the 2009 honorary Irish Gala chairwoman Helena Hook, originally from Athlone, Ireland, who with Dr. S. Kumar, was honoured last St. Patrick’s Day as an Irish Person Of The Week. It was a year of double honours for the Hooks: Her husband Stuart Hook was inducted into the Comhaltas Music Hall Of Fame at a Canada East Region Gala event in Toronto, for his dedication to traditional Irish music and culture. Stuart has been a member of the Saint John branch for more than 15 years. Although he was born in England, Helena says he is more Irish than even she is. And it was through the nurturing of Comhaltas that he found the confidence to play instruments and sing. Their local chapter has done the same for others and is always seeking new members. They meet Tuesdays, 7 p.m. at O’Leary’s, Princess Street, Saint John. For more info visit www.comhaltas.ca.

PARK AVE. FIDDLE JAM SUNDAY

The Park Avenue Fiddlers host a Fiddle Jam, Sunday, 7:30 p.m. at Park Avenue United Church, Saint John East. All fiddlers, accompanists and fiddle fans are invited. Coffee or tea is served with free-will offering to help with expenses. For info phone 847-81034

Categories
Collector Memories Writing

Whatever Happened to All of NB’s Big Little Books?

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Big Little Book – Dick Tracy and the Man with no Face

In the 1970’s, the CBC-TV long lived, weekly panel show Front Page Challenge featured a mystery object segment that had special significance for me, as I’m sure it did for many of my generation across Canada. The object, as it turned out, was The Big Little Book, a children’s publishing phenomenon of the 1930’s and 40’s.

I forget whether the question stumped the panel or not but it was apparent, afterwards, that the aging, often crabby Gordon Sinclair remembered them fondly. He had been trying to acquire a few, he said, and although he’d been offering $50 each for any in good condition he’d only found six.

Even then, some 30 years ago, they were as scarce here as hen’s teeth…almost! And so, I’d found in years of seeking, they’d become in the US as well.

Yet in the late 30’s through the 40’s just about every kid I knew of my age in Sussex had a collection of them. They were small, about 4 ½ x 3 ½ inches, yet quite thick, 352 to 432 pages usually. The best of the several companies that produced books in similar formats were the originators, Whitman Publishing Company of Racine, Wisconsin. They sold in Canada for 15 cents each. Most of us traded them with friends regularly but all of us had favourites we kept as part of permanent collections.

The genuine Big Little Book was the brain child of Sam Lowe, president of Whitman’s sales division. Lowe had in the 1920’s persuaded F.W. Woolworth Company and other retail store giants to sell children’s books all year, not only during the Christmas season as had been their practice. Books for pre-teens were a mainstay of Whitman’s, a wing of Western Printing and Lithographing Company, who also manufactured jigsaw puzzles and board games.

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Big Little Books – Mickey Mouse and Dick Tracy

In 1932, after conceiving the idea of a ‘cube’ book sized to fit a school kid’s pocket, Lowe named them The Big Little Book, and had the company’s art department make prototypes of three titles with either a drawing or a still photo from a movie on the right pages and story text facing on the left. Lowe took those three prototypes to New York City and returned a few days later with orders for 25,000 books, without one even having been printed.

For exciting subject matter, Lowe entered into contracts with motion picture giants like Walt Disney, MGM, RKO and several daily comic strip syndicates making Whitman’s the first company ever licensed to reproduce daily and weekend comic strip characters such as Mickey Mouse Donald Duck, Dick Tracy, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Little Orphan Annie and such movie stars as Katharine Hepburn, Tom Mix, Buck Jones, Ken Maynard and many others in any standard book form. Big Little Books were, therefore, the progenitor of comic books which did not make an appearance until a couple of years later.

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Little Books – Charlie Chan, Captain Midnight and Tarzan

John Harmon, publisher of several Nostalgia Catalogues over the years, says: “Personally I liked Big Little Books better than comics. They were real books, those Big Little Books. Although kid’s called comics ‘comic books’, when they came on the market, they weren’t really books at all…not like Big Little Books.”

And, while parents frowned on comics during those dark depression and war years, because of the fact Whitman, along with Saalfield and other publishers who adapted similar formats, ‘novelized’ comics, movies, classics and original stories, they were accepted as having a certain literary value. Aunts and uncles could, without any pang of conscience, give them as Christmas and birthday presents to nieces and nephews, even depression impoverished parents could feel good about giving a couple to their children on such occasions by the same reasoning, and to watch their eyes light up at the sight of those excitingly colourful covers. Although only 15 cents they were presents that most kids loved and read with delight.

When I think of how many of them existed in a town the size of Sussex, where I grew up, it’s hard to believe that in the half century since the last ‘real’ Big Little Books, or Better Little Books as Whitman’s called them after 1938 (since Saalfield’s had named their line, confusingly, Little Big Books), were published they have become such rare finds even in antique stores.

A Moncton internet book dealer told me recently of getting $137 US for The Shadow and The Ghost Makers, a very common one among students in my early school years. I remember, however, trading three Big Little Books and 18 comic ‘books’ to an older student for a Shadow and The Living Death copy that was really rare by that time, toward the end of World War Two.

At the time of the Front Page Challenge flashback I had about 170 of them and have added more since. Dedications in many ‘previously owned’ copies I’ve acquired like ‘To Vernon from Marguerette, May 19/35, Happy Birthday’ bear out the fact that they were a very popular gift even then in NB and for years after.

I bought my first Better Little Book, King Of The Royal Mounted and The Great Jewel Mystery (written by Romer Grey from an outline by his father Zane Grey), in 1939 while I was in Grade One at Sussex Consolidated School. A next door neighbour’s daughter, Myrtle Goold, who had started school that same year, told me an interesting story about that purchase at our 50th Graduation Reunion in 2000. The year before she’d been in Sussex visiting relatives, and passing the town’s Broadway Café saw an old friend, Frances Helyar whom she’d worked with in Hamilton, Ontario, seated at a table inside.

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a4brightsmall Little Books – Buck Jones, Red Ryder, the Lone Ranger and Tom Mixhtsmall

Surprised, she went in and gasped: “Frances whatever are you doing in this part of the world?” Frances explained that she’d moved to Saint John some years before to try and make a living singing in clubs and other venues. She’d recently released a CD.

“Gee, I went to school here with a guy who writes about music in The Telegraph- Journal,” Myrtle told her. “You should talk with him.”

Frances explained she knew me and I’d already written about her. Myrtle told her she’d been with me the day I’d bought my first book.

“His mother gave him ten cents to buy a Montreal Standard,” she said, “but Gamblin’s Drug Store had sold out of them, so he went across to Stedman’s, put a nickel he had with the dime and bought a book.”

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That was the first of quite a few Big Little Books I purchased at Stedman’s until wartime measures late in 1940 cut most book imports. The next year, however, a wall of used ones appeared in Van Wart’s Restaurant on Broad Street in Sussex and I began stopping there often on my way home from school. They’d bought ‘a trunk load of ’em’ at a second hand store in Boston, Mr. Van Wart told me, and he’d decided to sell them for a nickel each since his family had all read them.

Another vivid memory of mine concerning those Big Little Books is the morning in 1946 that Everett Lounsbury, head of the Sussex Cheese and Butter Company’s ice cream division, took his big La Salle limousine out of their garage for the first time since war-time rationing of gas was imposed and drove Mrs. Lounsbury, their daughter Grace, son Fred, a mutual friend Raymond Thorne and I to Moncton. In Eaton’s we discovered the first display of new Better Little Books we’d seen in five years and I bought three: a Buck Rogers, a King Of The Royal Mounted and a Tailspin Tommy, in a new series called ‘All Picture’ which dispensed with novelizing in favour of comic word balloons. I didn’t realize until months later that these had actually been printed in 1942 before the US itself, feeling the pinch of war following Pearl Harbour, had curtailed all such printing and distribution. And, because of our Canadian embargos before that, they had never been for sale in Canada until that week.

When new Better Little Books began to appear later that year, increased publishing costs had bought about a format change. The books were now a regular 327 pages instead of the 429 that had been the norm since 1936. By the 50’s new titles had ceased to be issued as the television age filled much of a child’s leisure time.

A talk I had recently with a book dealer here in Saint John sent me on a computer search for information on the Whitman Publishing Company and I was astounded at the wealth of Big Little Book knowledge and lore to be found on the world-wide net. There’s even a collective you can join, The Big Little Book Club, by writing them at PO Box 1242, Danville, CA 94526, USA and enclosing $18 in US funds. The club holds show and sell meetings from time to time, mostly in Texas and California, but there was one recently in Maine. Members receive six issues of the Big Little Times newsletter yearly, are given access to continuously updated club books for sale listings and several other perks.

And here is something to watch for! A new omnibus hitting book stores in mid-December 2004, The Big Big Little Book Book: An Overstreet Photo Journal Guide by Arnold T. Blumberg, published by Gemstone Publishing will have 2000 photos of Big Little Books in colour, a perfect gift for holidays and birthdays for those of us who remember them so nostalgically.

If you have access to the internet and want to learn more about all this, visit: http://www.biglittlebooks.com/whitman.html

The sad part of this is that Whitman no longer publishes children’s books and Western no longer exists. On the other hand the first Big Little Book published by them, The Adventures of Dick Tracy can fetch $2000 in mint condition, so be sure to check your family’s attic. No, I haven’t got one, but I sure wish I’d tucked away a dozen or two.

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talking New Brunswick history with long play examples
Talking New Brunswick history with long play examples

looking at the record collection

Looking at the record collection