Happy Birthday Stan Rogers!

For those of you who are folkies, Stan Rogers needs no introduction. For the rest of you, Rogers is generally considered the best Canadian folk singer, ever. And I put him in the top 5 folksingers of the baby boomer generation. He has a clear, strong voice, and a wonderful songwriting ability. Rogers died in a plane crash in 1983 shortly after playing a show at the Birchmere, (a gig I foolishly missed). He made half a dozen albums, all of which are worthwhile listening to. My personal fave is “Between The Breaks…Live!”. I like every cut on it. The album includes “White Collar Holler”, Stan’s gentle satire of modern work as well as “Mary Ellen Carter”, a song, really an anthem, to inspire anyone trying to do something positive in the face of derision and overwhelming odds, (the man must have been a Socialist…).
Rogers is one of those people for whom the phrase “If only they’d lived….” Really rings true to me. He was right on the cusp of breaking into the American folk music market in a big way when he died. In addition, I sincerely believe he had the capability f reaching an even wider audience in the States. For the past 30 years it’s been almost impossible for any folkie to break through to the mass market, but I think Stan could have – he was that good; and he would have done it with quality intact. We really lost someone in ’83. The main site for Rogers is at: http://stevebriggs.superb.net/stanrogers/. Do yourself a favor and check him out.