Sylvia Tyson Explained

Sylvia Tyson
Birth Name:Sylvia Fricker
Birth Date:1940 9, df=yes
Birth Place:Chatham, Ontario, Canada
Known For:You Were on My Mind
Children:1
Module:
Embed:yes
Background:solo_singer
Origin:Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Instrument:Vocals, autoharp, guitar, piano
Genre:Folk, country rock, country
Occupation:Musician, songwriter, broadcaster, author
Years Active:1959–present
Label:Vanguard, Columbia, Capitol, Stony Plain, Salt, Outside
Associated Acts:Ian & Sylvia, Great Speckled Bird, Quartette

Sylvia Tyson, (née Fricker; born 19 September 1940) is a Canadian musician, performer, singer-songwriter and broadcaster. She is best known as part of the folk duo Ian & Sylvia, with Ian Tyson. Since 1993, she has been a member of the all-female folk group Quartette.[1] [2]

Early life

Tyson was born Sylvia Fricker in Chatham, Ontario,[3] the second of four children.[4] Her father was an appliance salesman for the T. Eaton Company, and her mother was a church organist and choir leader.[5] At a young age Fricker decided to become a singer. Although her parents tried to discourage her from pursuing a career as an entertainer, she left Chatham in 1959 to perform in Toronto.[4]

Ian and Sylvia

From 1959 to 1974, she was half of the popular folk duo Ian & Sylvia with Ian Tyson.[6] [7] The two met after a friend of Ian's heard her sing at a party and let Ian know about her. Ian had been performing in Toronto clubs as a solo artist, but after he and Fricker met, they decided to work together as a duo.[8] Their full-time collaboration began in 1961 and continued for a decade.[9] From the late 1960s to the early 1970s, she and Ian Tyson also fronted the country rock band Great Speckled Bird.

Sylvia Tyson wrote her first and best-known song "You Were on My Mind" in 1962. It was recorded by Ian & Sylvia in 1964.[10] The song has been covered extensively,[11] but first became a hit single in the mid-1960s for the San Francisco-based folk-rock band We Five, and also for the British pop singer Crispian St. Peters.

Fricker married Ian Tyson on 26 June 1964.[12] During their years together, they recorded 13 albums.

The Tysons were divorced in 1975.[13] During their marriage, they had one child, Clayton Dawson Tyson.[14]

Later career

After the Tysons separated and stopped performing together in 1975, Sylvia started a solo career. She released two albums on Capitol Records, Woman's World in 1975 and Cool Wind from the North in 1976.[15] In 1978, she established an independent record label, Salt Records.[16] With the label she released the albums, Satin on Stone in 1978 and Sugar for Sugar in 1979.[17]

Sylvia Tyson contributed offstage to the Canadian music scene as a board member of FACTOR and the Juno Awards. With Tom Russell, she was an editor of the 1995 anthology And Then I Wrote: The Songwriter Speaks . In 2011, she wrote her first novel, Joyner's Dream.[10]

Sylvia joined Ian to sing their signature song "Four Strong Winds" at the 50th anniversary of the Mariposa Folk Festival on 11 July 2010 in Orillia, Ontario.[18]

In 2012, Tyson and singer-songwriter Cindy Church wrote a campaign song for the Alberta Party, a centrist political party in Alberta.

On November 3, 2023 at the age of 83, Tyson released what she states is her last album titled 'At the End of the Day'.

Awards and recognition

Sylvia Tyson was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1994.[19]

She was nominated seven times for a Juno Award, the first being in 1987 as Country Female Vocalist of the Year. The Canadian Music Hall of Fame inducted Ian & Sylvia as a duo in 1992. In 2003, Sylvia Tyson was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame.[20]

In July 2019, it was announced that Ian Tyson and Sylvia Tyson would be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame individually, not as a duo. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said that "the duo's 1964's hit, Four Strong Winds, has been deemed one of the most influential songs in Canadian history". The CBC report also referenced the song You Were on My Mind, written by Sylvia Tyson, as well as her four albums (1975–1980).[21]

Discography

Albums

YearAlbumCANLabel
1975Woman's World54Capitol
1976Cool Wind from the North
1978Satin on StoneSalt
1979Sugar for Sugar, Salt for Salt
1986The Big SpotlightStony Plain Records
1989You Were on My Mind
1992Gypsy CadillacSilver City
2000River Road and Other StoriesSalt/Outside
2001The Very Best of Sylvia TysonVarèse Sarabande
2011Joyners Dream: The Kingsfold SuiteOutside Music
2023At the End of the DayStony Plain Records

Singles

YearSingleChart PositionsAlbum
CAN CountryCAN AC
1972"Give It to the World"44single only
1975"Sleep on My Shoulder"3524Woman's World
1976"Good Old Song"42Cool Wind from the North
1979"Love Is a Fire"32Satin on Stone
1980"Same Old Thing"36Sugar for Sugar, Salt for Salt
1985"Up in Smoke"50single only
1986"Denim Blue Eyes"15The Big Spotlight
1987"Too Short a Ride"20
1989"You Were on My Mind"35You Were on My Mind
1990"Slow Moving Heart"43
"Rhythm of the Road"42
"Thrown to the Wolves" (with Tom Russell)43
1992"I Walk These Rails"18Gypsy Cadillac
1993"The Sound of One Heart Breaking"52

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: John Einarson . Desperados: The Roots of Country Rock. January 2001 . . 978-0-8154-1065-2 . 233–.
  2. Larry LeBlanc. Canada: Who's Who. Billboard. 4 February 1995. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.. 80–. 0006-2510.
  3. Larry LeBlanc. Tyson album, stage show, draw on her life and long career in music. Billboard. 9 September 2000. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.. 60–. 0006-2510.
  4. News: Sarah . Hampson . The Hampson Interview: Sylvia Tyson . Toronto . The Globe and Mail . 31 July 2004 . R3.
  5. News: June . Callwood . The Informal Sylvia Tyson . Toronto . The Globe and Mail . 28 October 1974 . 8.
  6. Web site: Tyson . Quartette . 8 September 2003 . 4 April 2012.
  7. Encyclopedia: Ian and Sylvia . . 4 April 2012.
  8. News: Dennis . Braithwaite . How to Get Rich . Toronto . The Globe and Mail . 29 October 1963 . 31.
  9. Web site: Ian & Sylvia – Canadian Music Hall Of Fame. Canadianmusichalloffame.ca. 12 February 2020.
  10. News: John . Barber . I've Been a Writer All My Life . Toronto . The Globe and Mail . 19 March 2011 . R19.
  11. News: A Quartette Christmas with Sylvia Tyson and friends . Ottawa Citizen . Lynn . Saxberg . 16 December 2016.
  12. News: Bach and Shubert as Ian, Sylvia Wed . Toronto . The Globe and Mail . 27 June 1964 . 18.
  13. Tyson Takes a New 'Road' . Larry . Leblanc . . 12 February 2005 . 52 . 11 November 2009 .
  14. News: Tyson comes clean . . 28 March 2008 . Marsha . Lederman . 11 November 2009 .
  15. Book: Jason Schneider. Whispering Pines: The Northern Roots of American Music... from Hank Snow to the Band. 15 December 2010. ECW Press. 978-1-55490-552-2. 1–.
  16. News: Country music to honour Tyson . https://archive.today/20130115103349/http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/Today/2003/09/08/179238.html . usurped . 15 January 2013 . The Canadian Press . The Canadian Press . . 8 September 2003 . 11 November 2009.
  17. Web site: Salt Records (2) Label . Discogs.com . 13 February 2019.
  18. News: Four Strong Winds: Ian & Sylvia by John Einarson with Ian Tyson and Sylvia Tyson . . 12 February 2020.
  19. Web site: Order of Canada: Sylvia Tyson . . 19 October 1994 . 11 November 2009 .
  20. Web site: CCMA Hall Of Fame – Sylvia Tyson . . 11 November 2009 . 5 September 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090905050443/http://www.ccma.org/halloffame/hofprofile.cfm?AwardID=64 . dead .
  21. Web site: Archived copy . www.cbc.ca . 13 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190718090448/https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/ian-tyson-sylvia-tyson-canadian-songwriters-hall-of-fame-1.5215382 . 18 July 2019 . dead.