John Allan Cameron, CM (16 December
1938 - 22 November
2006) was a Canadian
folk singer, known as "The Godfather of Celtic Music" in Canada. He was noted
for performing traditional music on his
twelve string guitar. John Allan
released his first album in 1968. He has released 10 albums and was
featured on national television. He is the recipient of the
East Coast Music Award's
Lifetime Achievement Award. He received the
Order of Canada in 2003.
Cameron was the first Canadian artist to reach national and
international success performing traditional East Coast Celtic folk
music, and has been hailed as an influence and a trailblazer by
artists such as
The Barra
MacNeils,
Natalie MacMaster,
The Rankin Family and
Ashley MacIsaac. John Allan's Uncle, Dan R.
MacDonald, was a prolific composer and encouraged John Allan and
his brother John Donald to play the fiddle.
Biography
Cameron
was born in Inverness County, Nova Scotia
. He moved to Ottawa
, Ontario
in 1957
where he became an ordained Roman
Catholic priest through the Order of the
Oblate Fathers. But in 1964, a few months after ordination,
Cameron obtained a dispensation from the church
to pursue studies in education at St. Francis
Xavier University
, and eventually a career in music.
He was a regular on
Singalong Jubilee in the 1960s and he
was later host of two Canadian television series. The first was the
Montreal-produced
John Allan Cameron on
CTV from 1975 to 1976. He
would return to national television on
CBC with the Halifax-produced
The John Allan Cameron Show
which enjoyed a longer run from 1979 to 1981.
Besides
his numerous television and concert appearances, he performed at
the Grand Ole
Opry
in 1970.
In January 2005, Cameron was diagnosed with
leukemia. Several benefit projects such as concerts
and a tribute CD were produced to support costs resulting from his
treatment of this cancer.
On
22 November 2006,
Cameron died of bone cancer in Toronto
.
Discography
- Here Comes John Allan Cameron (1968)
- The Minstrel of Cranberry Lane (1969)
- Get There by Dawn (1972)
- Lord of the Dance (1973)
- Weddings, Wakes & Other Things (1976)
- Fiddle (1978)
- Freeborn Man (1979)
- Good Times (1987)
- Wind Willow (1991)
- Classic John Allan (1992, double CD)
- Glencoe Station (1996)
- Getting Dark Again (1996, video)
Footnotes
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