Wilf Carter - Christmas in Canada

Kids today have no idea that once upon a time, not that long ago, cable television was a luxury, and it wasn't until the mid-'70s that most of us had a colour TV. The channels that came in with the rabbit ears were the ones we watched. There was Gunsmoke, The Beachcombers, and on Saturday* it was The Tommy Hunter Show that I watched with my parents. Despite not being a country fan, I sure did like the guitar players. Wilf Carter seemed to be a staple, but chances are I only saw him a handful of times. I also remember a big deal being made out of fiddle player Al Cherney whenever he was on ... but I don't think he has a Christmas album.

Wilf Carter was one of the first Canadian country stars in the classic cowboy tradition. Apparently, in the States, he was known as Montana Slim. Something I was this many years old when I found out. I was out to lunch the other day with my mum and mentioned I'd found Wilf Carter's Christmas album, and she told me how he was her dad's favourite singer. I thought that was pretty cool.

Christmas in Canada from what I can tell was released in 1965, decades after his early radio success. By this point, he was an elder statesman. He was born in December 1904 and was in his early '60s when this came out. Of course, this is all predicated on this being a new recording.

The songs mostly cover the contemporary Christmas era. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", "Silver Bells", "White Christmas", and even "Blue Christmas" all feature extra bits and pieces that give them a special twist. Heck, I love the yodelling on "Silent Night". It's actually more moving than you'd expect. There were also quite a few new songs to me. "Ting-a-Ling-a Jingle" is really good, and while "Christmas Time in Canada" doesn't have the magic I had hoped for, it was fun. The oddest is "Punkinhead (The Little Bear)", which is actually delightful.

Most of the arrangements are fairly sparse, organ and guitar with some extra accompaniment here and there. Every so often, some rather fancy guitar picking is thrown in, and it's tasty. Mostly, though, this is a nice collection of somewhat laid-back Christmas songs. It harkens back to an earlier time that was already removed from my musical realm by a couple of generations.

I'm not a country music fan, but I like Wilf Carter.

The fact that I found a sealed copy was just extra tinsel on my tree.

* Look, it may not have been Saturday, but we watched it.

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