Urban Carmichael

Last updated

Urban Carmichael (January 11, 1952 - February 13, 2006) was a storyteller, comic, songwriter and entertainer from Prince Edward Island, Canada. [1] Known and loved across Canada and the US for his rural based humour and his dedication to the continuance of the oratorical traditions of Prince Edward Island and his Irish heritage. Carmichael was also a gifted writer, creating copy for radio and television. He is widely believed to have been the greatest storyteller in Island history. His trademark phrases are so numerous and familiar to Islanders that they are commonly referred to as "Urbanisms".

Contents

Carmichael was the son of John and Mary (Murphy) Carmichael and one of 10 children. He began performing as a child and continued to do so for more than 35 years. He gave countless Maritime performers their first opportunities for live performance, was a beloved mentor to many, and he shared the stage with most of the greatest performers in Atlantic Canada and beyond. For five years he performed with fiddler Connor O'Callaghan in the Celtic Review that bore his name at Orwell Corner Historic Village on PEI. Carmichael's final performance was on the stage of the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, for the CBC Radio production Madly Off in All Directions with host Lorne Elliott, just weeks before his death.

Carmichael died at the age of 54 after a five-year battle with esophageal cancer. [2] He was surrounded by those who loved him and he is buried at his childhood parish in Vernon River, Prince Edward Island.

Discography

Publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Lightfoot</span> Canadian singer-songwriter (1938–2023)

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. was a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s. He has been referred to as Canada's greatest songwriter and his songs have been recorded by some of the world's most renowned musical artists. Lightfoot's biographer Nicholas Jennings said, "His name is synonymous with timeless songs about trains and shipwrecks, rivers and highways, lovers and loneliness."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Murray</span> Canadian singer (born 1945)

Morna Anne Murray is a Canadian singer of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, who has sold over 55 million album copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray has won four Grammys including the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Live Aid</span> 1985 benefit concert

Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a movement that started with the release of the successful charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in December 1984. Billed as the "global jukebox", Live Aid was held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London, attended by about 72,000 people, and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, attended by 89,484 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryan Adams</span> Canadian musician (born 1959)

Bryan Guy Adams is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million records and singles worldwide, placing him on the list of best-selling music artists. Adams was the most played artist on Canadian radio in the 2010s and has had 25 top-15 singles in Canada and a dozen or more in the US, UK, and Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Goulet</span> Canadian-American singer and actor (1933–2007)

Robert Gérard Goulet was an American and Canadian singer and actor of French-Canadian ancestry. Goulet was born and raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts, until age 13, and then spent his formative years in Canada. Cast as Sir Lancelot and originating the role in the 1960 Broadway musical Camelot starring opposite established Broadway stars Richard Burton and Julie Andrews, he achieved instant recognition with his performance and interpretation of the song "If Ever I Would Leave You", which became his signature song. His debut in Camelot marked the beginning of a stage, screen, and recording career. A Grammy Award winner, his career spanned almost six decades. He starred in a 1966 television version of Brigadoon, a production which won five primetime Emmy Awards. In 1968, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for The Happy Time, a musical about a French-Canadian family set in Ottawa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Brass</span> Chamber music ensemble

The Canadian Brass is a Canadian brass quintet formed in 1970 in Toronto, Ontario, by Charles Daellenbach (tuba) and Gene Watts (trombone), with horn player Graeme Page and trumpeters Stuart Laughton and Bill Phillips completing the quintet. As of August 2023, Daellenbach is the sole original member in the group, with the other members being trumpeters Joe Burgstaller and Ashley Hall-Tighe, hornist Jeff Nelsen, and trombonist Achilles Liarmakopoulos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Moranis</span> Canadian actor, comedian and musician (born 1953)

Frederick Allan Moranis is a Canadian actor, comedian, musician, songwriter, writer, and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Healey</span> Canadian singer, guitarist and songwriter (1966–2008)

Norman Jeffrey Healey was a Canadian blues, rock and jazz singer, guitarist, and songwriter who attained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. He reached No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Angel Eyes" and reached the Top 10 in Canada with the songs "I Think I Love You Too Much" and "How Long Can a Man Be Strong".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Brown</span> Jamaican reggae singer (1957–1999)

Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of lovers rock, a subgenre of reggae. Bob Marley cited Brown as his favourite singer, dubbing him "The Crown Prince of Reggae", and Brown would prove influential on future generations of reggae singers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Live 8</span> International series of benefit concerts prior to the G8 summit in 2005

Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 2005. Both events also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid. Run in support of the aims of the UK's Make Poverty History campaign and the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, ten simultaneous concerts were held on 2 July and one on 6 July. On 7 July, the G8 leaders pledged to double 2004 levels of aid to poor nations from US$25 billion to US$50 billion by 2010. Half of the money was to go to Africa. More than 1,000 musicians performed at the concerts, which were broadcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janina Fialkowska</span> Musical artist

Janina Fialkowska, is a Canadian classical pianist. A specialist of the Classic and Romantic repertoires, for more than thirty years she has appeared regularly with professional orchestras around the world, often performing the music of Chopin, and also contemporary Polish composers including Lutosławski and Panufnik. In 1990, she gave the world premier performance of the recently discovered Franz Liszt Third Piano Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

"Better Man" is a song by the American rock band Pearl Jam. It is the eleventh track on the band's third studio album, Vitalogy (1994). The song was written by vocalist Eddie Vedder. Despite the lack of a commercial single release, "Better Man" reached the top of the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart and spent a total of eight weeks at number one. The song was included on Pearl Jam's 2004 greatest hits album, rearviewmirror .

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serena Ryder</span> Canadian musician

Serena Lauren Ryder is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Born in Toronto, she grew up in Millbrook, Ontario. Ryder first gained national recognition with her ballad "Weak in the Knees" in 2007 and has released eight studio albums.

Laura Smith was a Canadian folk singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 1995 single "Shade of Your Love", one of the year's biggest hits on adult contemporary radio stations in Canada, and for her adaptation of the Scottish folk song "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean" which she entitled "My Bonny". She recorded a version of this with The Chieftains, which they erroneously listed as "My Bonnie" on their album Fire in the Kitchen. In December 2010, that version received a nod for Song of the Decade from Bill Margeson at LiveIreland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beverley Knight</span> British recording artist and stage actress (born 1973)

Beverley Knight is an English singer, songwriter, actress and radio personality. She released her first album, The B-Funk, in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin, Knight has released nine studio albums. Widely regarded as one of Britain's greatest soul singers, Knight is best known for her hit singles "Greatest Day", "Get Up!", "Shoulda Woulda Coulda", "Come as You Are" and "Keep This Fire Burning".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Carmichael</span> American composer (1927–2021)

Ralph Carmichael was an American composer and arranger of both secular pop music and contemporary Christian music. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of contemporary Christian music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rose Cousins</span> Canadian folk-pop singer-songwriter

Rosanne Millicent "Rose" Cousins is a Canadian folk-pop singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Prince Edward Island, she is currently based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Ziba Shirazi is an Iranian-American writer, poet, singer, songwriter, storyteller and ghostwriter. As a poet and music artist, she is best known for her poignant songs and storytelling through poetry. Shirazi's compositions blend flavors of Persian melodies with world music and jazz.

Bill Carr is a Canadian stage and screen actor. He is remembered for his role as Possum Lodge cook and wannabe actor and singer Eddie Johnson on the second season of The Red Green Show. as well as numerous live performances. Carr is also known for his work with the CBC's The Journal and Midday and received two Atlantic Journalism awards for his satirical commentaries.

Judy Carmichael is a Grammy-nominated jazz pianist and vocalist who specialises in a form of early jazz called "Stride Piano". She has been honored as a Steinway Artist. Carmichael was the first jazz musician sponsored by the United States Government to tour China.

References

  1. A National Treasure – Urban Carmichael, Prince Edward Island: Visitors' Guide
  2. Island comedian Urban Carmichael dies, CBC News, February 15, 2006