January 7, 2010

Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah,
singin' fi, fie, fiddly-i-o

Born Maurice Beaulieu in Edmunston, New Brunswick in 1920, Maurice Bolyer became known as "Canada's King of the Banjo".

He performed frequently on various radio and television shows in Canada and the United States, most notably as a regular on The Tommy Hunter Show in the 1960s and 70s. Aside from the banjo, he was skilled at a number of other instruments, particularly the piano. He passed away in 1978, but was eventually inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.

I bought this album for next to nothing, mainly for a larf, but WOW ... I had no idea how good he was. This guy could strum on the ol' banjo like nobody's business - and did so with a big smile on his face the whole time (check out the cover, or watch this YouTube video). The LP itself was pretty beaten up, so I had to take a few tracks out completely, and it's a bit "noisy" in spots. But worry not, because Maurice's mad banjo skills will make you forget all of that.


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