JOHNNIE WOODS Souvenir Album

Thursday, March 19, 2009

The late John Woods was a native of Brockville, Ontario who played for many years with Tom Wilson and his Western All Stars. Tom and the All Stars were a very popular band in Eastern Ontario during the late fifties onward. In fact, Tom Wilson still plays with a popular Bluegrass Band, "Tom Wilson and Border Bluegrass".
In the eighties Wilson produced this tape in honour of his departed fiddler, "The Johnnie Woods Album". It is comprised of tracks from the All Stars' old Banff albums as well as radio airshots. As a bonus I have included "The St. Lawrence River's My Home" from one of the group's Banff LPs, RBS 1262. This tune became a regional hit and remain's Wilson's theme song to this day.
Woods tackles a few bluegrass numbers here, but the bulk of this is good old Ontario fiddling. Some of the tunes are his own compositions. John Woods is not one of the big names remembered by fans of Canadian fiddling, but he's a great fiddler who should be heard more. I hope this post is enjoyed as much as I enjoyed transferring it! Includes a scan of the cassette insert.

Tracks:

1. Big Sandy River
2. Ploughboy's Reel
3. Thousand Islands Jig
4. Bill Cheatham
5. Katy's Jig
6. Drifting and Dreaming
7. Golden Triangle Reel
8. All Stars Reel
9. Bowin' The Strings
10. Swamp Lake Breakdown
11. Rambler's Hornpipe
12. Snow Deer
13. Beldoon Quickstep
14. Blue Mountain Rag
15. The St. Lawrence River's My Home

*download here*