Fred Booker (1939–2008) was a Canadian author and singer-songwriter. Booker immigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1966 from the United States and became a notable member of Vancouver's music and literary scenes. His intimately personal songs were often characterized by his versatile acoustic guitar riffs and resonating vibrato voice. Amongst Booker's influences were Black American

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

and

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

, folk and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

music, some of which he accredited to his experience growing up in a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

church and hearing the blues and gospel songs that were often sung in his childhood home. His experience as a black man in Vancouver and the "Pacific Rain Forest of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

" became the subject of much of his poetry and songwriting, where he reflected on things like his time travelling and touring Canada, his hardships amidst the starkly contrasting class structure of Vancouver, and his continuous admiration for the mystery of both his urban and rural surroundings. In 2006, the Vancouver-based black literary press

Commodore Books Commodore Books is the first Black Canadian literary press in Western Canada. Founded in 2006 by Wayde Compton, Karina Vernon and David Chariandy, this press is dedicated to publishing work relevant to black people in Canada. ''Adventures in Debt ...

published Fred Booker's first collection of

short fiction A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

entitled ''Adventures in Debt Collection'', and in 2007, two of his short stories were dramatized on the

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of Ca ...

show Between the Covers.

Discography

''Book One: Songs, Voice & Guitar of Fred Booker.'' LP. Rulebook Records, 1974. Recorded at Stoney Production Studios, North Vancouver, BC. :Side One: :• Someone's Coming Back (3:30) :• Big Mike (4:23) :• Red Flowers (4:09) :• Someone Coming Back (4.30) :• Light On The Mountain (5:10) :Side Two: :• Seven Years Of Famine (6:30) :• Rain Is A Freedom Song (6:40) :• Powell Street Conspiracy (3:37) :• Going Back To Duncan (3:20) ''Road Song''. LP. Rulebook Records, 1976. Recorded at Stoney Production Studios, North Vancouver, BC. :Side One: :• White Rock (2:27) :• Vikki's Man (4:57) :• Amazing Grace (4:20) :• Brown Earth (4:58) :• You Can Learn Nothing More Standing Still (3:33) :Side Two: :• The Ballad of Suggs Jackson (9:53) :• Better Go Down Easy (5:15) :• Wild Alberta Rose (4:35)

Bibliography

Booker, Fred. ''Adventures in Debt Collection''. Vancouver: Commodore Books, 2006.

References

External links

* Commodore Book
website
* https://www.straight.com/life/adventures-debt-collection-fred-booker * Compton, Wayde, ed. Bluesprint: Black British Columbian Literature and Orature. * https://thetyee.ca/Books/2006/11/03/Booker/ * Compton, Wayde. "The Reposession of Fred Booker." In ''After Canaan: Essays on Race, Writing and Region''. Arsenal Pulp Press, 2010. https://www.amazon.ca/After-Canaan-Essays-Writing-Region/dp/1551523744 {{DEFAULTSORT:Booker, Fred American short story writers American folk singers American folk guitarists American male guitarists Canadian male short story writers Canadian folk guitarists Canadian male guitarists Canadian folk singers 1939 births 2008 deaths Musicians from Cleveland Musicians from Vancouver 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Ohio 21st-century Canadian male writers 20th-century American male musicians