2007 APRIL 13 #103
The Ukuleles Of Halifax - Country Roads
MP3:
The Ukuleles Of Halifax - Country Roads (2:33)
The Ukuleles Of Halifax were the brainchild of J. Chalmers Doane, a Halifax educator who devised a method of ukulele instruction that was eventually used in elementary schools across Canada throughout the 1970's and '80's. I myself received ukulele lessons in grade 6 at my grade school in Sarnia, Ontario, although I must sadly admit that none of it stuck with me.
Doane recorded three albums with The Ukuleles of Halifax; Ukulele Yes!, Ukulele Magic and Ukuleles On Tour. If you'd like hear about The Ukuleles of Halifax from the perspective of one of the kids in the band, you can click here to read my interview with Bruce Jacobs, who played string bass on two of the albums, although not this one.
This version - performed by 35 kids and their ukuleles accompanied by a bassist and drummer - of John Denver's "Country Roads," transforms a wimpy, annoying artifact of the '70's into a hymn-like celebration of the great outdoors.
- Contributed by: Beau Levitt
Images: Front Cover, Back Cover
Media: LP
Album: Ukulele Yes!
Label: World Records
Catalog: C-110
Credits: Produced by Music Department, Halifax School Board. Arrangements - J. Chalmers Doane
Date: 1973
