In May of 1975 the Brant County Board of Education granted Gary a year’s leave of absence at half pay so that he could write a series of plays and songs about interesting events and people in the County’s past. The material he promised to produce would then be condensed into classroom kits containing pictures, slides, music and commentary to be used by County schools during the Brantford Centennial celebrations over 1977. At the time Gary was teaching at Paris District High School, and would be taking his time off from September 1975 to September 1976.
During his teaching classes Gary would often find folk songs that related to his subject, and he and Everill would sing them to the class as part of the learning experience. Gary and Everill were involved in local theatre and worked together on ‘Aleck,’ a play that was produced for the Bell Centennial in 1976.
It’s not completely clear how Thunderbird Recordings and the Muir family connected, but it was most likely through Vern Gale, the Chair of the Brantford Centennial Committee 1877 – 1977, that the idea got rolling. The Muir’s became the 21st act signed to the label.
Gary wrote ‘Brantford City,’ also known as ‘The Brantford Centennial Song,’ quite quickly, and everyone was pleased with the effort. The Muir Family recorded their single at Thunder Sound Studios in August 1976 and was backed by Dusty Road (JK Gulley, Les Childs, and Brian Callan) with the assistance of Paul Hoffert, formerly with the rock group Lighthouse. It was Paul who suggested the Muir children also sing on the A-Side. The record was engineered by Phil Sheridan and mastered by Kevin Fuller (RCA). They decided to let Everill sing on the B-side and Gary chose ‘The Homecoming’ by Hagood Hardy, whose family had Brantford roots. It was determined that they press 5,000 copies of the single, which was a boon to Thunderbird Recordings. There were also 21,000 copies of the sheet music printed, which was given away by the city for free.
‘Brantford Centennial’ by The Muir Family was officially released on Saturday January 22nd 1977, the first Thunderbird single of the new year. During the year Gary was crowned as Brantford’s official Centennial Historian. Once the centennial celebrations calmed down the visions of the family band dissipated, and each family member discovered their own path in life.
The Muir Family in January 1977, Kiri-Lynley (9) Kevin (8), Gary and Everill. This photo was featured in the Jan 12th 1977 issue of the Brantford Expositor to promote their Thunderbird Records debut.
The Brantford Centennial Song, written by Gary Muir and performed by the entire family. The record was issued on January 22nd 1977. Once the excitement of the Centennial wore off, the family didn't seem to pursue music with the same interest, and 1977 was their peak as a family band.
Everill Muir is currently a member of the band 'Pleasant Ridge,' who continue to play locally.
Gary & Everill Muir Bright Fine Gold –The Best Of Mouton CD 196577 Bar-code: 655052792016
The Musicians:
1965 - 1967 - Recorded in Auckland, New Zealand (Tracks 1 - 21)
Gary Muir - Vocals, acoustic guitar, & banjo.
Everill Muir - Vocals
Pitt Ramsay - Acoustic guitar
Nick Wilcox - String bass
1976 - Recorded at Thunder Sound, Toronto, ON, Canada (Tracks 22 & 23)
Vocals - Gary, Everill, Kiri-Lynn & Kevin Muir
Lead guitar - JK Gulley
Bass - Les Childs
Drums - Brian J. Callan
Piano, strings and vibes - Paul Hoffert
The Songs:
1) Sailing In The Boat 2:13 (1865 Traditional/Public Domain) In spite of Puritan disapproval, the rural sports of old England gradually came to life again in the colonies, together with new customs that suited the country. The people amused themselves at quilting bees, apple-parings, shooting matches, sugaring-off parties in maple sugar time, and husking bees where the fellow that found the red ear of corn could kiss his favourite girl. They danced to the music of the fiddle and, later on, to orchestras of mouth harps, banjos, pianos, drums, and combs. In communities that disapproved of instrumental music, young people played games at their evening parties, and in rural Connecticut game-songs such as Sailing in the Boat continued to be popular until about 1870. Other artists who covered this song are Mike and Peggy Seeger, Phil Rosenthal, & Liz Ryder.
2) I’m Going To Get Married 4:16 (Traditional/Public Domain) O tempora! O mores! Other generations have had their teen-age problems. This song probably had its origins in England but this version comes to us from Nova Scotia, Canada.
3) I’se The B’y 3:34 (1927 Traditional/Public Domain) is a traditional Newfoundland folk song. "I's the B'y" translates to standard English as "I'm the Boy" or "I'm the Guy". Native Newfoundland folk songs have fared well in terms of continued popularity, due in part to their appearance in widely circulated publications such as Gerald S. Doyle's songsters. Doyle's company published five free and popular collections of Newfoundland songs, the first in 1927. Other artists who covered this song are Clint Curtiss, Harry Hibbs, Dick Nolan, Bill Langstroth & Jim Bennet, Great Big Sea and Gordon Bok.
4) Bluenose 4:16 (1957 David Anthony Martins – published by Star Quality Music) The Canadian ten-cent piece bears the likeness of this famous racing ship which swept all before it on the Atlantic coast of North America until its untimely end on a Caribbean reef. Also recorded by the Irish Rovers.
5) The Klan 3:21 (1951 Alan & David Grey – published by Sanga Music Inc.) A biting attack on the Klu Klux Klan, “Brother, will you stand with me? It’s not easy to be free!” Also recorded by Richie Havens and Gil Scott-Heron.
6) Un Canadien Errant 2:36 (1842 Antoine Gérin-Lajoie) Translates as "A Wandering Canadian" and was a song written after the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837–38. Some of the rebels were condemned to death, others forced into exile to the United States and as far as Australia. Gérin-Lajoie wrote the song, about the pain of exile, while taking his classical exams at the Séminaire de Nicolet. The song has become a patriotic anthem for certain groups of Canadians who have at a point in their history experienced the pain of exile. In addition to those exiled following the Lower Canada Rebellion, it has come to hold particular importance for the rebels of the Upper Canada Rebellion and for the Acadians, who suffered mass deportation from their homeland in the Great Upheaval between 1755 and 1763. The Acadian version is known as "Un Acadien errant."
7) Bottle Of Wine 1:03 (1965 Tom Paxton – published by EMI U Catalog Inc.) Tom Paxton was a Greenwich Village folksinger, and this song was featured on his third album, ‘Ain’t That News.’ It was covered in 1967 by the Fireballs who took the song to #9 on Billboard. Doc Watson & Merle Watson released a country version in 1973 which got to #71 on the Billboard Country chart. Other artists who covered this song are Bamses Venner, Judy Collins, Joe Brown, and Sweeny’s Men.
8) I Wish You Were Here Again 2:10 (Malvina Reynolds – published by Mouton Music Canada) One of the saddest and loveliest songs to come from this lady’s pen.
9) Ah! Si Mon Moine 2:05 (Traditional/Public Domain) The French voyageurs would dance to this tune – here sung in a mixture of French and English – in the frontier days, and to this day it remains a favorite with the children of Quebec.
10) Tell Old Bill 1:27 (Traditional/Public Domain) The origins of this song have been lost. Carl Sandburg collected it in Texas. Usually heard as a slow ballad, but Gary and Everill feel it and sing it with a driving blues rhythm.
11) Four Nights Drunk 2:29 (1770 Traditional/Public Domain) is a humorous Irish folk song most famously performed by the Dubliners in 1967. It is a variation of the Scottish folk song “Our Goodman” (Child 274, Roud 114) It tells the story of a gullible drunkard returning night after night to see new evidence of his wife's lover, only to be taken in by increasingly implausible explanations. "Five Nights Drunk" and "Seven Nights Drunk" are just two of the many versions of this song.
12) Two Brothers (The Blue And The Grey) 3:54 (1965 Irving Gordon – published by Sony-ATV Tunes LLC) It seems to capture the essence of the suffering caused by war. The hand of death falls indiscriminately – “A cannonball don’t have no mind.” Also recorded by Harry Belefonte.
13) Battle of Jericho 2:24 (Traditional/Public Domain) This is one of the best known spirituals. Joshua had the right idea. Knocking places about with musical instruments is a harmonious way of fighting wars.
14) Quit Kicking My Dog Around 3:22 (Traditional/Public Domain) This song was collected by Alan Lomax. An Arkansas farmer’s ‘hound-dawgs’ may have looked like flea bitten, hungry, and uncared for, but many backwoodsmen felt that dogs were more important than people. Woe betide the man who mistreated a hound.
15) Rider (Traditional/Public Domain) This song was covered by The Big 3, a New Yolk folk group featuring Cass Elliot. The appeared on their 1963 self-titled debut album.
16) Mary Anne (Traditional/Public Domain) This was an old Irish folk song, author unknown, also sung as “My Maryanne.”
17) Old Blue (1913 Traditional/Public Domain) Alan Lomax states in his Folk Songs of North America that “the backwoods folk of the south lived off game, and they thought more of a good hunting dog than they did of most people. In the Mississippi Valley country which produced. . .the ballad of Old Blue, they tell about a boy who fell out of a tree on a possum hunt and broke his neck. ‘Well,’ said his father, ‘it could-a been worse. He might have fell on one of the dogs!'” Other artists who covered this song are Jim Jackson, Pete Seeger, Odetta, Brooks Williams, Jim Bennet, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Cisco Houston, Dave Van Ronk, Joan Baez, Furry Lewis, Byrds.
18) Hush Little Baby (1918 Traditional/Public Domain) Hush Little Baby is a lullaby which is usually sung to children before they go to sleep. The idea is that the song sung by a familiar and beautiful voice will lull the child to sleep. Lullabies can be found in every human culture, often very ancient. Hush Little Baby is a traditional lullaby and it is not know who wrote it or when, although it is thought to be American because mockingbirds are from the American continent. The form of the songs is simple allows the singer to make up more verses as needed. Other artists who covered this song are Jimmie Rodgers, Old Town School of Folk Music, Judy Collins, Burl Ives, Carly Simon (with James Taylor).
19) Oleana (1853 Ditmar Meidell) Oleanna or Oleana is a Norwegian folk song that was translated into English and popularized (1955) by former Weavers member Pete Seeger. The song is a critique of Ole Bull’s vision of a perfect society in America. Oleanna was actually the name of one of Ole Bull's settlements in the New Norway colony of Pennsylvania. The lyrics concern the singer's desire to leave Norway and escape to Oleanna, a land where "wheat and corn just plant themselves, then grow a good four feet a day while on your bed you rest yourself." The lyrics were written by Ditmar Meidell, a Norwegian magazine editor who set his words to the melody "Rio Janeiro". The song was first published on March 5, 1853 in Krydseren (The Cruiser), a satirical magazine which Meidell had founded. Other artists who covered this song are Theodore Bikel, Joe Glazer and the Gateway Singers. The Kingston Trio’s version was different from the Pete Seeger version.
20) Bright Fine Gold (1853 Traditional/Public Domain) This New Zealand folk song began as a gold rush chant and evolved over the years as the lyrics became fine-tuned. In 1965 folksong collector Neil Colquhoun rearranged the verses, giving them a woman's voice and added the tunes of Hot Cross Buns and Single Girl. He published this song in his book New Zealand Folksongs, Songs of a Young Country. Other artists who covered this song are The Song Spinners, Don Fulton, Phil Garland, Kevin Scully, Graham Wilson, Gerry Hallom, Arthur Toms and Gordon Bok.
21) The Golden Vanity (1685 Traditional/Public Domain) Song collector Cecil James Sharp (1859 – 1924) was the founding father of the folklore revival in England in the early 20th century. “Golden Vanity” was one of the songs he found and published. “The Sweet Trinity“, also known as “The Golden Vanity” or “The Golden Willow Tree“, is Child Ballad 286. The first surviving version, about 1635, was “Sir Walter Raleigh Sailing in the Lowlands. There are so many versions of this song and most only differ in the ending. The basic story is “a ship’s captain there is danger from another ship. A cabin boy offers to solve the problem. The captain promises him rich rewards. The boy swims to the enemy ship, bores holes in its hull, and sinks it. He swims back. Then comes the differences. In many versions pull him back on deck. The boy then drowns. In other variants, the boy is rescued by the crew, but he dies on the deck. And there are even more endings. Other artists who covered this song are The Carter Family, The Almanac Singers, A.L. Lloyd, Lonnie Donegan, The New Lost City Ramblers, The Chad Mitchell Trio, Loudon Wainwright III, Peter, Paul and Mary, The Brothers Four, Bob Dylan, Crooked Still, Horton Barker, Jean Ritchie.
22) Brantford City (Centennial Song) 2:34 (Gary W. Muir) Mouton Music Canada
23) The Homecoming 3:01 (Hagood Hardy – published by Big Bay Music) Also recorded by Richard Abel.
All licencing and fees for the use of these songs have been paid to the C.M.R.R.A., Toronto, Canada.
This CD is available for $19.99 from The Brantford Bookworm, Brantford, ON, and from Thom Ryerson at thom@mouton-music-canada.com
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