Song of the Day: Ian Tyson, from 'Four Strong Winds' to 'A Mighty Wind'

The name Ian Tyson--who passed away yesterday--may mean little to you but he was an ace songwriter and influencer.

Growing up just across the border from Canada, in Niagara Falls, N.Y, I was exposed to the early folk music of Ian & Sylvia Tyson more than most Americans in the mid-1960s. More in the USA came to know the Canadian couple eventually through covers of their songs: the top ten hit “You Were on My Mind” (penned by Sylvia) and Ian’s “One Day Soon” (via Judy Collins) and “Four Strong Winds” (recorded by dozens, most prominently by countryman Neil Young). Ian helped up and coming Canadian artists such as Gordon Lightfoot and Joni Mitchell. Bob Dylan chose three of his songs to put on tape down in the hallowed basement with The Band, including “The French Girl” and “One Single River.” A few months before The Byrds cut the (alleged) first “country rock” album, Sweetheart of the Radio, Ian & Sylvia recorded their Nashville. Warren Zevon claimed Ian—one of the genre’s best singers—as a vocal influence.

Tyson died yesterday at the age of 89 and here is an obit. Fun fact: As a young man he once played on a bill with Buddy Holly. Also, hat tip to Walter Shapiro: Ian & Sylvia were the model for Mitch & Mickey (Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara) in Chris Guest’s A Mighty Wind (though Ian never grew brain addled).

We’ll concentrate on “Four Strong Winds” below as it was chosen as the greatest song ever written by a Canadian in a leading poll in that country not long ago. Up north it’s sometimes referred to as “The Canadian National Anthem.” Enjoy, then subscribe, it’s still free.

The Tysons at a reunion concert.

Here’s Neil’s version, with Emmylou.

Cut from The Last Waltz, but surviving in a black & white capture, here’s a coked-up Neil trying to get through it with The Band, and succeeding wonderfully.

Ten years earlier, Marianne Faithfull cut it.

And Johnny Cash’s late in life version.