Song of the Day 1/13: Ian and Sylvia, “Four Strong Winds”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona
As the guy who signed and managed Bob Dylan, smart, aggressive, tyrannical Albert Grossman has a big part in the new Dylan movie, “A Complete Unknown.” He was a driving force behind the whole 1960s folk movement.
Grossman created Peter, Paul and Mary, one of the most important acts of the era. He had only one Dylan to deal with, but he had to put the trio together piece by agonizing piece. At one point he even had the bad idea of considering gravely-voiced Dave Van Ronk for what would be one of the mellowest folk groups around.
But his arguably third most important signing was another vocal harmony act that came to him fully formed.
Ian and Sylvia blew in from the folk clubs of Toronto – maybe on four strong winds – in 1962 to launch a string of folk hits that they sang at several Newport Folk Festivals, site of the “Dylan goes electric” scene at the heart of the new movie.
Ian Tyson wrote eventual folk classic “Four Strong Winds” soon after getting to New York, inspired by a song Dylan had written and later played for him at the Greenwich Village bar Kettle of Fish. Tyson said he wrote it in about 20 minutes in Grossman’s apartment. The folk revival songs had mostly been covers. Dylan (and Tyson) changed that.
Tyson’s “Someday Soon” was influenced by his early days in western Canada as a rodeo rider. Judy Collins recorded the most successful version. Sylvia wrote “You Were on My Mind,” a hit for We Five. The duo boosted the career of fellow-Canadian Gordon Lightfoot with a recording of his “Early Morning Rain.”
Tyson made enough from “Four Strong Winds” to move back to Canada after he and Sylvia split in 1975. He became a low-key but successful writer and performer of western/country/folk songs.
Ian and Sylvia are often considered the model for the folk duo Mitch and Mickey in Christopher Guest’s fond parody of the ’60s folk scene, “A Mighty Wind” (“Yes, it’s blowin’ peace and freedom, it’s blowin’ you and me”). In fact, Catherine O’Hara consulted Sylvia Fricker before she performed “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow” in the movie with Eugene Levy as Mitch.
Mitch long ago dropped out of life and has become basically dysfunctional. The organizers of the folk reunion worry that he won’t show. So does Mickey, who has always loved him and has missed him over the years. But the duet does take place and the two present a beautiful, moving performance. The other musicians wander into the wings to watch, remembering how Mitch and Mickey used to move them back in the day.
Levy and O’Hara are wonderful actors. Levy hints at Mitch’s spaciness and sadness while performing as of old. Watch his eyes. O’Hara’s Mickey watches him carefully with her devoted eyes, maybe hoping they can rekindle their relationship.The song has always ended with a kiss. Will it still? And even if it does, is there really any hope?
I may like ‘Waiting for Guffman’ a tad more than the others, but really all Christopher Guest movies are tied for first place.
A bit of folk music trivia. Albert Grossman gave “Blowin’ in the Wind” to Peter, Paul, and Mary, but also to the Chad Mitchell Trio. The Chad Mitchell Trio recorded the song first, but their record label, Kapp, delayed releasing the album because they didn’t like the song’s message.
At that point, the Chad Mitchell Trio was very popular in the folk music scene, while Pater, Paul, and Mary were relatively unknown. One wonders what would have happened if the Chad Mitchell Trio had been first through the gate.
Trivia within Trivia: Joe Frazier, one of the original members of the Chad Mitchell Trio, lived in Wilmington’s ninth ward for several years during the 1970s.
When Kapp Records finally released the album, it was titled “The Chad Mitchell Trio In Action”. When “Blowin’ in the Wind” became a monster hit in the folk music community, Kapp put a new cover on the album, and re-released it as “Blowin’ in the Wind”. However, by that time the horse had already bolted!