Ian Tyson
has had something of a triple career. As one half of the celebrated duo
Ian & Sylvia
, he was one of the primary architects of the Great
Folk
Scare of the 1960s. Then, in 1970, he helped to launch the
country-rock
movement as a member of
Great Speckled Bird
. Then he took part in the
cowboy
music revival with a solo album titled
Cowboyography
in 1986. A
tribute album
has been long overdue, and this one is blessedly free of obvious superstar cameos (though previously released songs by both
Gordon Lightfoot
and
Tom Russell
are included, and the legendary
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
makes a suitably grizzled appearance as well). The best tracks are ones contributed by artists whose names may not be recognized at all by non-Canadian
folk
music fans:
Cindy Church
(whose version of
"Range Delivery"
is a
reggae
song barely disguised as
country
),
Jennifer Warnes
(whose
"Blue Mountains of Mexico"
incorporates strings more successfully than one could reasonably have wished), and
the McDades
"Smuggler's Cove"
does the same with Irish flute).
David Rea
's take on the title track sounds rough in a way that comes across as more affected than genuine, and
Blue Rodeo
's
Byrds
-y version of
"Four Strong Winds"
starts out charming but eventually grows strangely annoying. Oh, but there actually is one more star turn --
Chris Hillman
delivers what may be the album's high point, a gorgeous rendition of the wryly heartbroken
"What Does She See."
Very, very nice. ~ Rick Anderson