78s From The Crates #70 on Roy’s Record Room

It’s an eclectic batch of 78s from the crates this week on Roy’s Record Room. Ninon Mondejar y su Orquesta provide some smooth Cha Cha Cha sounds. Dusty Williams’ String Busters lay out some vintage Canadian Western Swing from 1953. Jim Reeves sings one from his early honky-tonk days. Pop singer Margaret Whiting, shows her jazzier side. Eddy Arnold calls in the cattle.

And that’s just scratching the surface. You’ll also hear shellac from the Delta Rhythm Boys, Jack Teagarden & the Whoopee Makers, the Sons Of the West, the Maddox Brothers & Rose, Tiny Bradshaw, the Trumpeteers, and more.

The spin begins this coming Sunday, March 24th, 2 PM, Mountain, on donor supported CKUA Radio. Dial in on your favourite device for a mess of 78s from the crates on Rooooy’s Record Room, the show that feeds the future by honouring the past.

Listen Live! Or, this episode of RRR will be available ‘on demand’ for seven days after the first broadcast –  ondemand.ckua.com.

Roy Receives Honorary Doctorate of Letters from UBC

Congratulations, Roy!
On Wednesday, May 31st, 2023, Canadian musician/singer/songwriter/broadcaster, Roy Forbes, was given an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of British Columbia. This honorary degree is bestowed upon individuals who, in the opinion of the UBC community, fit the criteria of excellence and eminence in their chosen field.
In his acceptance speech, Roy quoted (and sang) from the works of John Lee Hooker, Carl Perkins (via Elvis Presley), Rodgers & Hammerstein, and Bill Henderson.
Marvelling at this ‘unexpected honour’, Roy thanked his family and those who have worked with him over the past fifty-plus years. He also said a few words about continuing to believe in the mystery and magic of the creative act.
At the conclusion of Roy’s speech, UBC President, Deborah Buszard had this to say: “What an amazing character. What an amazing voice”.
If you want to check out Roy’s part of the UBC Grad ceremony, click on the video link below.
Roy is introduced around the thirty-five-minute mark . His acceptance speech begins around the forty-minute mark.

Roy Performs ‘Thistles’ Live, In Its Entirety

Today’s Vancouver Island MusicFest 2023 Performer Announcement features a very special feature, put together just for us, Classic Albums – Roy Forbes performs the BIM Thistles album!

There are records that stay with you for a lifetime. You likely listened to them so much when they came out, you can still play them in your head and just maybe, even name the songs in the order they appeared on sweet vinyl.

Iconic Canadian folk-rock performer Roy Forbes (used to be known as BIM way back then) has a couple of albums from those days that fans of the 70s singer-songwriter days can relate to that way and his Thistles album is certainly one of them.

It comes from the days when James Taylor, Joni, Carole King, Gordon Lightfoot, John Prine, Neil Young and other singer-songwriters were part of th musical fabric of the day. These albums really defied genre definition, and because of that, “singer-songwriter” became a thing. It was also a time when performers really started to play their own music and that was ok. Actually, it was great!

Thistles was recorded at the Annex Studio in California in 1977/78 and was produced by Emitt Rhodes and featured a young David Foster on Keys and legendary drummer Jeff Porcaro amongst other great musicians.The album also featured the beautiful guitar work of Roy Forbes aka BIM. Considering Roy grew up in Dawson Creek long before it was easy to learn guitar off the internet or through instructional videos, its astounding he came up with some of the great guitar work he created.

MusicFest’s musical curator, Doug Cox, approached his old friend Roy and asked him if he would consider revisiting the Thistles album for a special concert bowl performance. In Doug’s words, “Roy Forbes performances are an important part of the history of pretty well every Folk Festival in Canada. He was one of our founding performers and he helped blaze the trail for so many of us. I can’t remember how many times I saw him on workshop stages at Canadian festivals and when he opened his mouth and started singing, all the other performers would just stop in their tracks, wide mouthed and in awe of this great writer and guitarist with the killer voice! You don’t see that happen very often.”

In Roy’s words, “Doug Cox is a very persuasive fellow. When he approached me last year about revisiting my 1978 Thistles LP at the 2023 Musicfest, I wasn’t quite sure. I love being a part of this treasured event but prefer to look forward, not back. However, as our chat continued, I began to see that it would actually be very cool to dive into that batch of songs from the Bim’ days. So, I’ll be there, with an excellent band in tow, to play the complete “Thistles” record, front-to-back. Honestly, I’m getting kind of excited. I haven’t performed some of these numbers since the early 80s. And, Doug has assured me that there will be several opportunities for me to share my newer work throughout the weekend. Thanks for this, Doug. Great idea. It’s gonna be a blast!”

Hopefully you didn’t miss the opportunity to revisit one of Canada’s great albums with the man who created it.

Visit www.islandmusicfest.com for more info.

Roy Gets Covered

A two-hour special on CKCU’s ‘Canadian Spaces’

A while back, Roy was chatting with Chris White, host of the long-running folk show, Canadian Spaces (CKCU, Ottawa). They talked about playing a few recordings of Roy’s songs by other artists on the show. It turns out there have been quite a few over the years. By the end of the call, after putting together a tentative playlist, they decided to do a two-hour special on the subject.

So, on Saturday, April 2nd, 10am to noon ET, tune in to Canadian Spaces for a listen to some outstanding interpretations of Roy’s songs from the likes of Hart Rouge, Susan Jacks, Matt Minglewood, Sylvia Tyson, Garnet Rogers, Shari Ulrich, Valdy, Tony Trischka & Skyline, the Great Western Orchestra (with Cindy Church), Laurie Lewis, Tracey Brown, Heather Bishop, Suzie Vinnick,  Shaye Zadravec, Jef Leeson and Shawn Colvin.

Throughout the program, which spans the years 1975 to 2021, Roy reacts to the performances and tells a few stories along the way.

This show is also available ‘on demand’ on the CKCU site.
https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/129/55796.html

CFMA Nomination for Producer of the Year

Roy got an early Christmas present this year…a Canadian Folk Music Awards nomination for Producer of the Year for his new album ‘Edge of Blue’. Since 1985, Roy has produced or co-produced all of his own albums as well as records by other artists. He is tickled to get the nod for this area of his work from the CFMA ‘Producer of the Year’ jury.

The awards will be held virtually on April 9th and 10th, 2021. Find out more here: folkawards.ca

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