Roots music godparents Ian & Sylvia Tyson in Studio Q

[@alonzogarbanzo]

This is beautiful, and finding it tonight is especially touching, as I got the news that Ian passed away today. What a guy. And Ian and Sylvia were of major importance in my own formative musical years. Thanks to both of those good people. And Ian, happy trails, cowboy picker.

[@dongreve3575]

Truly a classy interview. My respect for Ian and Sylvia has grow even greater ( if thats possible) after listening to this interview. RIP COWBOY.

[@French-Kiss24]

Ian &Sylvia are still my favorite musicians. I listen to my CDs in the car and sing away with them.

[@lesmolyneaux5267]

What a wonderful introspective interview. R.I.P. Ian Tyson, one of my favorites as a young adult in the 70's.

[@coinneachmaclellan3121]

When it comes to Canada and Canadian music Ian and Sylvia have always been and will always be the real deal. When I think of hanging out on Robson Street in Vancouver in the mid-sixties l remember having coffee with friends in the Mutual Coffee Bar and listening to "Four Strong Winds" on the jukebox.

[@anne91276]

So lovely to see them again! I am so happy to see that Ian Tyson is still aging gracefully like fine wine! I still have the records of Ian and Sylvia with the pictures on their album when they were young! I hope that Sirius will now play some of the greatest Ian and Sylvia tunes!

[@jonerickson2358]

I was blown away in 1964 to hear the Chad Mitchell Trio sing Four Strong Winds. Since then, I have heard Ian three times, Sylvia once in concert. I had the pleasure of introducing my 11 year old son, Ian Tyson Erickson, to Ian in Great Falls at the state fair in 1992. He was most gracious and signed a poster to Ian and dedicated a song to my son. I have all the records and CD's of both together and separate. I still enjoy these two, whether as a duet or as individuals. Just put I&S on my new I-Phone to play on my car radio. Great interview. Great job. Thanks!!!!

[@Sue-o8r]

Never get enough of listing to them wow such a wonderful time it was

[@bartschwartz7217]

They still respect each other and will sing together and not shut each other down. She admits I am proud of what we did together.

[@mary-anneswanson9931]

I got to hear Ian Tyson live and it was wonderful :) I remember him coming through the gate I was working at and everyone applauded him as he was driven back to the artists area:) These two are Canadian music royalty .

[@LoftLivingLA]

I treasure the time in the early 1960's going to D.C. coffee houses to see Ian and Sylvia in person. Amazing voices, clean simple music and arrangements, a beautiful blend of voices and harmonies, and they seemed so in love (this was before they were married). I grabbed up their albums as soon as they came out. I have all their albums still, plus CD versions, and they are on my iPod, iPad, and iPhone. I thank them for the joy they have given me over the years.

[@peterbowling950]

Went to Merriwether Post Pavilion in Columbia , Md and saw them with Chicago as their opening act !

[@jbrosecity]

I was fortunate enough to hear and see Ian & Sylvia live at a little hole in the wall club in Washington DC where I worked in 1964 called "The Cellar Door". It was a great gig while going to college and getting paid to wait tables while listening to Four Strong Winds, You Were on My Mind and Someday Soon by one of the premier folk groups in the world at the time, that was a great joy I will never forget.

[@cynthiasimmons6203]

My ex-husband and I sang all of their songs in the 70s. I played the autoharp n he played it too, along with the guitar. I think some of the things I miss most about that marriage was playing all these lovely songs together. All the lyrics drummed up such emotion. Thank you, Ian n Sylvia!!

[@jamesellsworth9673]

Iconic couple; intelligent questions; smart and thoughtful answers.

[@Archivist953]

I fell in LOVE with Sylvia back in the early 60's .... :)

[@sierradenali3270]

"Summer Wages"....a beautiful love story, my all time favorite!!!

[@doogalloonni]

Looking into their eyes I see a 'youthful' image of them that transends a lot of years of loving them both.

[@lesmis49]

It's 2020 and I still love their music..

[@nancypapps1134]

Oh my , so many wonderful memories . Thank you for sharing . I loved them growing-up. And I loved there sound and words.

[@kenberner4051]

A very nice interview with two musicians who really made me sit up and listen way back in those days. We are still playing and singing Four Strong Winds; it is not over and will stand the test of time.

[@athole1954]

what a great interview

[@craigtittsworth9440]

GREAT interview, and so nice to hear from both of them again!

[@raymondpierotti8414]

To me the strength of this discussion and the thoughtful and respectful way it is conducted is the sort of thing that you experience regularly in Canada, but rarely in the US. Thye are separate people, but very protective of each other in a way that we don't see in the the US anymore, although some people like Charley Rose occasionally went there, and Garrison Keillor achieved in on occasion. I lived in Canada for three and a half years while doing my PhD and looking back I realize it was probably the best three years of my life.

[@JimFlynnMusic]

Very interesting to hear Ian and Sylvia talk about their career as a duo. I have always enjoyed their music, and I have a great deal of respect for Ian's songwriting. He has written some wonderful songs that have held up for decades.

[@richardkoenigsberg4271]

Very intelligent couple. Thoughtful about music.

[@mikeacton2203]

The first lady and first gentleman of Canadian music.

[@lindabrown6001]

Wow! I loved this! so happy CBC is making these Studio Q interviews available. Jian is a master at the INTERVIEW. Just reading Ian Tysons book the Long Trail.Also great.

[@Jamesdylandean]

I sure appreciate the civil manner they talk with to each other after all the water that has gone under the bridge between them, like a marriage and divorce. A good pattern for others to follow. mthe good and acknowledge the bad.

[@vlmagee]

Fantastic interview! I didn't see this back when it was first published online. I was lucky to receive a review copy of the book, and I absolutely loved it. I know some of the people interviewed (including David Rea who is one of the people who had already passed away, and Steve Gillette who is very much alive), and feel like I know Ian & Sylvia too although I never met them. What gifted musicians they are, and what gracious people.

[@Bitterrootbackroads]

I grew up in the US, but most of the TV came from Winnipeg. I put up with the folks watching Don Messer’s Jubilee & Tommy Hunter. The Ian Tyson show made a lasting impression on me. “The tourists have all given up for the night, coyotes howl in the cold to my left & my right.” RIP

[@wayneprince243]

Great interview and a great interviewer!

[@andrewleuss7784]

Rest in Peace Ian

[@JimGlover1]

You Guys are great and it is so cool to see you again. Maybe they joined us all Folk wise when they thought Mick and Mickey were a composition of Ian and Sylvia and Jim and Jean. Love Ya, Jim

[@raysmusic49]

Sylvia looks pretty awesome...she must be about 70 in this interview... Ian was older than her. Entertainers from that era really had to work to make it.

[@johndoe7588]

Used to watch Ian's TV show in Plattsburgh, NY from the Montreal TV station in 71-73.

[@wayneprince243]

Unique is the word, also excellent is the word........the duo that got me to be a BIG fan. Loved everything they EVER did. Feel lucky to have seen them, Sadly I was sitting in the audience at Randolph Macon in Lynchburg for the 2nd viewing and they did not show.

[@Frenchblue8]

To hear Ian say he initially had no confidence in his singing is shocking. HOW in the world do you have a God-given, natural singing voice that exquisitely beautiful ( before it was tragically and irrevocably damaged) and NOT know you're a singer?? I am a singer (local classic rock band) who has performed in duos, dance bands, choirs, etc and I knew I was a singer from my earliest memories for the simple reason that absolutely NOTHING else felt as good, or as easy and instinctive. The 'sounding' as good as it felt had to come from the input of others and positive reinforcement was crucial. So I just really cannot imagine that by the time Ian first sang his first song he ever received anything but clearly genuine compliments

[@SteveonLI]

first class interview!!! i am a huge lifelong fan and i have posted 3-4-5 songs by them on youtube

[@hitchhikrr]

they were the best around,i still play thirr music,i really love ians cowboy mhsic and his stories

[@murderhill1947]

At 65, I have been spending a good amount of time in reminiscing….music mostly. Ian talks about almost having to go to Viet Nam. I was in Danang in 67 and inherited the first four Ian and Silvia albums (which I still have) from some grunt heading home . I knew nothing about Ian and Silvia and they were a treat. They were so appealing then and even now. This is such a wonderful interview. Great questions. Good job Jian. Thank you CBC, I have a "Satisfied Mind"

[@rodneykitchen3869]

I love these two Love Love Rod in London

[@SecsSells]

Seen this guy interview people before. He is good.

[@annecohen8927]

I love them! To me they’re the best!❤❤❤❤

[@SteveonLI]

fantastic interview!! thanks. i have posted my own covers of short grass and lonely girls. i was SHOCKED that there have been almost NO other covers of these good songs!

[@GaryVuorela]

Nice Interview video.

[@elm100]

Sylvia looks great!!!!!!

[@GH-oi2jf]

I saw them in Georgetown after The Great Speckled Bird album. They have real class. No folk duo since that I like as much.

[@thegonz9]

Sylvia still looks good.

[@lastnamefirst4035]

Chairman meow funny

[@Guitarinthewoods]

Absolutely fascinating interview. Can’t believe the anger of some of the comments below. There really are a lot of angry people people out there. Jeez.

[@steby123]

I have always loved Ian and Sylvia!!!

[@angelicaluce3230]

"THAT's THE NAME OF THE GAME, is really RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH." IAN is way more interesting, complicated and CAPABLE than one would suspect - in so many areas! GRAPHIC DESIGNER, MUSICIAN, SONG WRITER, HORSE RANCHER - and HISTORIAN. There's more, but I can't recall right now. GOD BLESS YOU, IAN - LONG MAY YOU RUN!

[@barbtarney924]

Tinnitus

[@lastnamefirst4035]

@@barbtarney924 lol

[@hardcanard]

why aren't Ian and Sylvia on Canada's Walk of Fame?

[@nmelkhunter1]

Thank you.

[@davidaitchison9240]

Um ... the interviewer said something about Woody Guthrie that Ian corrected. Ian simply pointed out that Guthrie wasn't "a cowboy", as the interviewer suggested- he was a fruit picker. As far as I'm aware that's absolutely correct.

[@TheBarmbrackthecat]

Woodie Guthrie was an activist...

[@exaled11]

Woody's only professional accomplishment (of sorts) was as a sign painter. That was what he did to try to make ends meet during his first marriage.

[@dennisbean7336]

Very interesting story

[@dreadnought45]

This is a great interview. I must purchase Ian's biography. Ken, Toronto

[@richardkoenigsberg4271]

Yes, they are musicians, not politicians.

[@kathleenbergeron1292]

How hard must that be to have someone ask you to discuss your love life with someone you married and later divorced? Don't know that I could discuss such things with people, especially on camera.

[@IWantMyCountryBack2]

That's what I'm thinking! Eek.

[@dinkster1729]

They are pros. They dodged the question pretty much. Tyson was a drunk according to one girlfriend and unfaithful. Plus, maybe, somebody from Chatham who loves New York isn't cut out to be a rancher's wife.

[@jasholden9741]

Woody Guthrie was an Okie from Oklahoma who grew up during the period made famous by John Steinbeck in his book, The Grapes of Wrath. Many of Guthrie's songs are about fruit pickers and other types of migratory farm workers. During the 1940's a New York promoter gave Guthrie the sobriquet "The Cowboy from Oklahoma". In fact Guthrie was never a cowboy. Ian Tyson knew that and was surprised by the remark by the host that Guthrie had been a cowboy. There is no doubt that Ian Tyson was and is a real cowboy. At the time of this interview, Ian was the owner and operator of a ranch.

[@JCHaywire]

I hope I look this spry at his age. What an awesome artist. Long2 is hiding behind anonymity, and as such, feels she/he can say anything. -Jonathan in St. Paul

[@Bernietothe9th]

This is Jian Ghomeshi not Tom Power

[@wayneprince243]

I have every album in vinyl

[@guytitanic]

Good interview/er.

[@mhikl4484]

The best. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

[@lastnamefirst4035]

@@mhikl4484 you must know

[@ColtonBlumhagen]

3:43 Ian's right, it is all gone.

[@millicentbistander]

WOW! YES!

[@cherylwaldner]

Should've had John in there with them! A treat to see Ian & Silvia chatting together.

[@excellinkus]

Respectfully, these are the facts: “The fall of Jian Ghomeshi is not indicative of the fall of men, mankind, masculinity, or anything so dire. It was the fall of one man who, by his own admission, was hurting people and abusing his power, and who, by the accounts of 23 women and one man, was a violent sexual predator.” If the CBC is going to erase every trace Don Cherry said, they should also do the same with Jian Ghomeshi.

[@robertbruce1887]

Yes, he knew he was a star & he thought he could abuse his star power. CBC knew they had a hit radio show with a star interviewer & because of that at first ignored the complaints the staff had about him, but finally they acted. It's a shame he was like that because he did get some good interviews from his guests, including this one with Ian & Sylvia. They both seemed very open & comfortable with him.

[@charlierossiter7805]

interviewer is outstanding

[@jezebeljones659]

If you haven't read John Einarson's book on Ian and Sylvia, get hold of it.

[@millicentbistander]

He's goin' on 79 rockin' a full healthy head of hair. He speaks well, he's handsome, he's witty, he's pencil sharp. You're bitter, get over it.

[@PAYNE8876]

Great interview but why does it say Q with Tom Power and yet Jian Ghomeshi is doing the interviewing

[@summerlakephotog8239]

I ❤️ Sylvia❗️”Red diaper baby.” She’s quoting El Rushbo.😃 Actually...”Red diaper doper baby.”

[@IWantMyCountryBack2]

Wait! Rush? Or Michael Savage?

[@dinkster1729]

Red diaper babies were American babies and kids brought up by progressive American parents who were always afraid of being investigated by the FBI.

[@andrewrobinson6147]

Apparently the biggest issue in divorce is how to split the possessions. And they were really lucky in that regard to have thought ahead. Actually the biggest problem is the regret, the hurt feelings, the time gone. This is just plastering over the cracks. PS There's something really British in the way the both talk.

[@arifshahabuddin8888]

Yes, Ian's parents were from England and he grew up in British Columbia. Outside of the Maritime Provinces, Victoria, BC is the most British of Canadian towns. Sylvia herself is from Chatham, ON. Remember, the Queen is still the head of state of Canada. Canada is part of the British Commonwealth. So you were very astute in picking up their "clipped" accents.

[@TheBarmbrackthecat]

Ian Tyson 's parents were English, could be he picked up on how they talked..Slivia sounds down right Canadian to me lol...

[@dinkster1729]

@@arifshahabuddin8888 That Canadian politeness or evasiveness as well.

[@TheFroperson]

Just words from two elder musicians, formerly married. Sylvia more cognizant I think but could be wrong as Ian there. Intelligent but sentences truncated. I met Ian in Victoria back then. I do love their music & singly. Ian is of course not a deep thinker. Doesn't matter. He is a great musician. In this interview I wish I could get Ian to clear his throat. Maybe a health prob. Consider this now years ago as Ghomishie scandal.

[@nelsong4719]

TheFroperson Sounds like you have a beef with Ian. His compositions sold millions but "he's not a deep thinker". Duh?????

[@bodywiseproducts]

Awesome interviewer.

[@Nottyboy50]

I miss Jian. One of our finest interviewers.

[@Mgetreal]

Because he didn't agree with you, " looked like an uneducated dick" and "nothing short of ignorant"...I don't think so. He's the genuine article, with his own point of view. Lots and lots of us think the world of him. Woody Guthrie was not a cowboy. Ian Tyson was the Grand Marshall of the 2012 Calgary Stampede. He is a hell of a man.

[@lesmis49]

Sylvia is very beautiful

[@gregorynedblevins5428]

Okay, first, to the interviewer: I can't believe this is the first you've heard the phrase "red diaper baby". Now, to Ian and Sylvia: great interview about a great time and great songs. Ian specifically: my politics are closer to Dylan's, but I like your music better, almost as much as Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. I grew up in NE Montana in the seventies (and I was a DJ in high school during that time at my hometown radio station), so of course I was aware of y'all and your music, but I have only recently rediscovered it, and I'm very glad I did. So call me a fan, yes. A fan of y'all's and also, of so much of the music that came out of Canada in the sixties and seventies. Anyway, I do have a question: Is "Milk River Ridge" about actual individuals? If not, where in the heck did you come up with the name Teresa Saliski? Not exactly Scots-Irish. Also, I'm assuming it is about the Milk River in B.C. and not the one that empties into the Missouri River in Northern Montana.

[@regbloor5762]

Nobody I know has ever heard the phrase "red diaper baby". It must be some American thing

[@IWantMyCountryBack2]

@@regbloor5762 It is.

[@dinkster1729]

@@regbloor5762 I've heard it, but it is an American thing. Plus, the interviewer is too young to know much about the McCarthy era and the hunting down of American progressives. "Scoundrel Time"!

[@laurencedauplay5649]

Were they separated then?

[@brucemorrison2132]

They separated around 1974 ? Divorced about 1976-77 I think. So yes, they've been divorced for a long time.

[@ColdChicago]

wish they had gotten to amos garrett, that great great guitar player with "great speckled bird".... what you hear going back decades is the two of them getting off on each other. bravo susie rotolo.... she turns dylan on to brecht and inspires them. it was the AUDIENCES in those early days-- who formed and informed the performers.

[@meuozic23]

Yeah well said...I'm pretty sure it was a "tongue-in-cheek" comment by Ian.

[@algentry1]

I doesn't sound dated to me either.

[@jaques611]

Todd Rundgren produced one of their albums before he was a solo artist

[@christopherchubb954]

The Great Speckled Bird

[@mysteryjesus]

Was looking forward to the interview until I saw the interviewer. Even before his scandal, I knew there was something wrong with him.

[@dinkster1729]

He obviously read the book and liked Ian and Sylvia's music. Let's face it. Everybody from Toronto is probably sketchy. I pity Jian. He obviously has some issues. From being a refugee, maybe?

[@mysteryjesus]

@@dinkster1729 Probably partially that and I would guess something to do with childhood and his raising.

[@Frenchblue8]

How would the American military have drafted Ian, a Canadian citizen? Because I thought Canada was famously not in Vietnam. 🤔

[@nml5802]

Same question, but enjoying the interview, no other singing duo like those two. Like how you see just a few perfect dancing duos. Just a serendipitous blend.

[@dinkster1729]

He worked in the U.S. That's was enough to get him entered into the draft. However, he was 4F so he wouldn't likely be drafted. I used to be in a relationship with a guy who was a New Yorker. He was 4F as well. He was poitical, too. He still had his draft card in his wallet. He never burned it. I also knew a guy who was a Canadian who lived in the U.S. (Dayton, Ohio) and got his education down there before going to Osgoode Hall Law School. He got his notice to appear at the local draft board and he immediately moved from his parents' house back to Canada. You should have heard the calls he got from relatives when he decided to go back to Dayton for his brother's wedding. People were really worried he might be apprehended by the American authorities and arrested as a draft resister. He wasn't. He flew with his wife down to Dayton and came back to Toronto unnoticed. Maybe, the draft board just marked him as unfindable. "If only I hadn't worked on that garbage truck that summer!" he said. If he hadn't worked in the U.S., as a Canadian, he wouldn't be draftable in the U.S.

[@NickInDetroit]

Sylvia Looks better than ever here. Does not have that Hillbilly Cousin Effing look. Makes me wonder if some of that look is mental.

[@johnharrington2400]

What a stupid bigoted comment. Do your homework and understand music and those who play it through ages and in the areas that influenced these two wonderful musicians.

[@HallsteinI]

I'd leave a good comment, but my connection is slow so I haven't watched the vid yet.

[@governorbud]

An interesting icon to meet.

[@cowhandron]

Enjoyed the interview. I don't understand the point of long2granger's mean spirited comment. Just one of those kind of people , I suppose.

[@nmelkhunter1]

Guthrie was a fruit picker...He did afterall pick fruit with other migrant workers for pay. I am sure that Ian was showing that as much as people classify Ian as a cowboy since Ian rides cutting horses competions for money, Guthire was a fruit picker since Guthrie picked fruit for money. Maybe the laughing by both Ian and Sylvia was merely to show how people try to classify people based on their influences and meant no disrepect. Let it go.

[@IWantMyCountryBack2]

Cowboys have skillsets and strong culture that fruit pickers don't have. Also Guthrie and Seeger were Communist revolutionaries. Cowboy culture rarely abides that crap.

[@nmelkhunter1]

@@IWantMyCountryBack2 Here’s something for you to think about. Ian Tyson, who I think highly of, thinks highly of Bob Dillon. I don’t, but Tyson does.

[@dinkster1729]

@@IWantMyCountryBack2 Ian certainly didn't sound like he was a progressive, did he? His remarks about B.C. unions were interesting. My mother was a leftist and my father was a sensible man. A long time after my father had passed away, my husband said to me, "Why aren't sweet like your mother?" Me: You never heard the debates those 2 would have over the breakfast table." There are marks in the arborite table where my mother banged her coffee mug to make her points. I don't know who won.

[@kathehuot1101]

I always thought that Sylvia’s song “ Nobody” was about Ian’s womanizing.🤔

[@sgiovanniello1]

Jean Gomeshi was the real deal

[@sethauto44]

interesting but i am sorry i heard it. he fell a bit with his description of Guthrie. But his being drafted? still great songs.

[@dinkster1729]

He was honest about that. He could have been drafted because he worked in the U.S., but his status was 4F which means he's medically unfit to serve. If you are a leftist, Ian's honest comments about unions in B.C. when he was growing up would grate wouldn't they? He liked Bob Dylan's music, but knew he wasn't capable of working at a physical job as Ian had. Ian's honest about his politics anyway. No wonder Ian and Sylvia weren't poliical. They would have been backing Johnson or Nixon.

[@hannah4peace]

and exactly what is wrong with being a fruit picker. i do not feel ian tyson was dissing woody guthrie at all. i am not at all politically similar to him, more like woody, but give us a break.

[@long2granger]

Ian looks like a rough old guy, who's been dragged down a gravel road with a bottle.....she looks great

[@lindakate4644]

Sheesh!!!...unnuanced critique... Ian lived a multi-faceted life, and survived the hard living Musician lifestyle (that many of his peers did not) always a real, blue collar Rancher, up to this interview and ultimately his passing. Ian has endured many successive health issues and surgeries. Let's see how well you look at 80 years of age and how articulate and prepossesing of mental acumen you showcase IF you have an audience!! ❤💯

[@ralphsimpson679]

Ian looks a bit like Michael Caine.

[@gloiven]

the bit player in trailer park boys lied and ruined his career.

[@dinkster1729]

You mean Jian, right? He ruined his career by saying his sadistic behavior was consensual. CBC didn't care what it was. Other women have come forward since, you know. Sarah Polley?

[@ambrosemackinnon8314]

Cowboyography.

[@davitofarito]

Sylvia was lucky to get through the interview without being choked or punched!

[@randynagel111]

care to explain that?

[@capyboppy]

davitofarito ????

[@dinkster1729]

@@capyboppy Jian was found "not guilty" of attacking various women a few years ago, but nobody believes he was innocent. CBC fired him because of his out of the office behavior. The guy has problems. I wonder what he's doing now. He was a singer himself so maybe, that's why he gets on well with Ian and Sylvia.