In 2017 Tom Russell released an album called Play One More, a tribute to Ian and Sylvia Tyson, a “Canadian folk duo who were there at the start of the Greenwich Village folk boom and who also were early starters in the country-rock stakes in the early seventies.”
There was an additional surprise at the end of that album as Paul Kerr shared in his review: “Appended are two previously unreleased demos from the actual Ian & Sylvia. Grey Morning is a short bluesy number sung by Sylvia that recalls the likes of Maria Muldaur. The French Girl has Ian singing and, for some, might be the most fascinating number here as it’s probably the earliest delivery of a magnificent song that was eventually covered by Gene Clark and here it has a wonderfully faded folk baroque grandeur.”
Regarded as pioneers of the folk & Americana genre, Ian & Sylvia first came to prominence in the early 60’s folk scene in Greenwich Village and Yorkville performing alongside Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Gordon Lightfoot and were a headliner on the now famous 1963 Newport Folk Festival. Ian’s composition “Four Strong Winds” is now considered a standard and a CBC poll in 2005 named it the “most essential” piece of Canadian music. Ian & Sylvia were one of the first artists to explore an electric Country Rock sound recording with both New York and Nashville musicians.
In early 2019 Sylvia discovered a box of old 1/4” analog tapes in her attic that were professionally recorded in the early 1970s in front of a live studio audience. Over 20 previously unreleased recordings, included many of Ian & Sylvia’s classics, but also enough to have a full CD of recordings of songs never before included on any Ian & Sylvia album. The Lost Tapes is being released as a 2CD album on September 6th, the week prior to Sylvia’s induction into the Canadian Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. Both Ian & Sylvia have been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
Taken from the forthcoming release, listen to Four Rode below:
Track Listing
Disc 1 – Classics
01 Keep On The Sunny Side
02 Darcy Farrow
03 Will The Circle Be Unbroken
04 When First Unto This Country
05 Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies
06 Four Rode By
07 Nancy Whiskey
08 Four Strong Winds
09 Little Beggarman
10 The French Song
11 Summer Wages
12 Crazy Arms
13 I’ll Fly Away
Disc 2 – Previously Unreleased
01 After The Fire Is Gone
02 Heartaches By The Number
03 Sweet Dreams
04 Come On In My Kitchen
05 Jimmie’s Texas Blues
06 How Long
07 The Last Thing On My Mind
08 That’s The Way Love Goes
09 Crying Time
10 Starting All Over Again
11 Together Again
12 Silver Threads and Golden Needles
13 The Goodnight Loving Trail