Mountain City Four | |
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| Origin | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Genres | Folk |
| Years active | 1963–1967 |
| Past members |
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The Mountain City Four were a Canadian folk music group, based in Montreal and active from 1963 to 1967. [1] The group consisted of Jack Nissenson, Peter Weldon, Kate McGarrigle and Anna McGarrigle. [2] [3] They are primarily remembered for popularizing a number of songs by Wade Hemsworth, including the National Film Board animated short The Log Driver's Waltz , [4] as well as for Nissenson's recording of Bob Dylan's 1962 Finjan Club concert in Montreal.
The Mountain City Four formed in 1963 when the McGarrigle sisters were attending college in Montreal. The band performed in coffeehouses and for dances in the city. [5] [6] The participation of the Mountain City Four (as a group, and as individuals with others) during the early years of the Montreal Folk Workshop (launched 1965 at its original venue of Moose Hall, on Avenue du Parc) helped to promote this venue which became gathering place for emerging folk musicians, lasting well into the next decade. [7]
In 1966 the band recorded music for the documentary film Helicopter Canada , which was nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary film. [8] [3]
Joe Boyd is an American record producer and writer. He formerly owned Hannibal Records. Boyd has worked on recordings of Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band, R.E.M., Vashti Bunyan, John and Beverley Martyn, Maria Muldaur, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Billy Bragg, James Booker, 10,000 Maniacs, and Muzsikás. He was also one of the founders of the highly influential nightclub venue UFO.
Kate McGarrigle was a Canadian folk music singer-songwriter, who wrote and performed as a duo with her sister Anna McGarrigle.
Anna McGarrigle, CM is a Canadian folk music singer and songwriter who recorded and performed with her sister, Kate McGarrigle, who died in 2010.
Kate McGarrigle and Anna McGarrigle were a duo of Canadian singer-songwriters from Quebec, who performed until Kate McGarrigle's death on January 18, 2010.
Philippe Tatartcheff is a Canadian poet and songwriter. He is best known as the lyricist who wrote French language songs recorded by folk duo Kate & Anna McGarrigle.
Martha Wainwright is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. She has released seven critically-acclaimed studio albums.
Dane Lanken was a Canadian journalist and author.
Entre la jeunesse et la sagesse is the fourth album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released in 1980. Consisting entirely of songs in French, the album was initially available only in Canada. The subsequent international release was simply called French Record.
Laury Jane McGarrigle is a Canadian songwriter, musician and music publisher, known mainly for her work with her younger sisters, singers Kate & Anna McGarrigle. She is the co-author of a book about the three sisters' childhood and musical experiences.
The McGarrigle Hour is the eighth studio album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released on October 13, 1998.
La vache qui pleure is the ninth album by Kate & Anna McGarrigle, released in 2003. It is named after the prehistoric bas-relief of La vache qui pleure near Djanet in the south of Algeria which is pictured on the album cover. Its title La vache qui pleure may also be a joke with the famous French cheese label La vache qui rit.
Joel Zifkin is a Canadian musician and songwriter. His primary instrument is the electric violin and he is best known as a session musician and live performer.
Albert Wade Hemsworth was a Canadian folk singer and songwriter. Although he was not a prolific composer, having written only about 20 songs during his entire career, several of his songs – most notably "The Wild Goose", "The Black Fly Song" and "The Log Driver's Waltz" – are among the most enduring classics in the history of Canadian folk music.
The Log Driver's Waltz is a Canadian folk song, written by Wade Hemsworth. The Log Driver's Waltz is also a Canadian animated film from the National Film Board, released in 1979 as part of its Canada Vignettes series.
Jack Nissenson was a member of the Mountain City Four, a Canadian folk music group, based in Montreal and active in the 1960s. In addition to Nissenson, the group consisted of Peter Weldon, Kate McGarrigle and Anna McGarrigle.
Johnny Mooring was a Canadian fiddler. He was born in Springhill, Nova Scotia, Canada, on May 17, 1927, to Henry and Caroline Mooring. He was the ninth of ten children.
Canada Vignettes are a series of short films by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), some of which aired on CBC Television and other Canadian broadcasters as interstitial programs. The vignettes became popular because of their cultural depiction of Canada, and because they represented its changing state, such as the vignette Faces which was made to represent the increasing cultural and ethnic diversity of Canada. The Log Driver's Waltz directed by John Weldon set to the recording of the song by Kate & Anna McGarrigle with, and as part of, The Mountain City Four is one of the most-requested items contained in the collection by the National Film Board of Canada. A similar series was later produced in the 1990s, however the name was changed to Heritage Minutes.
Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle is a two-disc compilation tribute album to Canadian singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle, released by Nonesuch Records in June 2013.
Canadian folk music has a long history, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, mostly derived from the music of early settlers and much earlier from the music of indigenous people. Folk music thus differentiates between traditional and contemporary. Many of Canada's most influential folk artists emerged in the contemporary folk music era, notably Bruce Cockburn, American-born Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ferron, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Leonard Cohen, Murray McLauchlan, Stan Rogers, Valdy, Penny Lang, The Rankin Family and Wade Hemsworth. In the 1970s, chansonniers grew steadily less popular with the encroachment of popular rock bands and other artists, and many of the folk clubs, such as the Montreal Folk Workshop, and groups such as The Raftsmen, the Mountain City Four and, eventually, The Travellers, that had served to foster the mid-20th century revival closed down. Some new performers did emerge, however, including Jacques Michel, Claude Dubois, and Robert Charlebois. The Canadian Folk Music Awards are presented annually to musicians carrying on the tradition.
ODDiTTiES is a compilation album released by Querbeservice in late 2010. It features unreleased versions of songs that Kate & Anna McGarrigle had recorded on analogue tapes for various projects between 1973 and 1990.
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