I first heard Stan Rogers on CBC Radio in the late 1970s.
By the fall of 1982, after the release of his album, Northwest Passage, I jumped at the chance to attend one of his concerts in Saskatoon, where I was then living.
On 02 Jun 1983, he died in an airplane fire in Cincinnati OH. It still breaks my heart that we lost him so young – he was 33.
Stan sang to us about love, about growing old, and about overcoming adversity.
He sang to us about our history, our geography, our heroes, our fighters.
He sang to us about Canadians:
- Fishermen on the east coast
- Fishermen on the Great Lakes
- Farmers on the prairies
- Blue-collar workers
- Easterners going out to Alberta’s oilfields
- Northerners surviving the long winter – or not
He sang to us about us. Damn, I miss that man.
This is one of a series on Canadian national treasures – my sesquicentennial project. They reflect people (living and dead), places and things that I think are worth celebrating about our country, and are done in no order of precedence.
He sure did. Thanks for posting this. There is no finer song than “Northwest Passage”, in my humble opinion.
Ian – Years ago, Peter Gzowski asked people what song should be Canada’s unofficial anthem, and Northwest Passage won, hands down. Not sure voters were considering its difficulty for untrained voices . . .
Excellent choice Isabel (as have they all been) Hope you will be doing a summary once you are through posting all your National Treasures.
Jim R – Like an honours list? Maybe . . .