Great Speckled Bird was a

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

group formed in 1969 by the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

musical duo

Ian & Sylvia Ian & Sylvia were a Canadian folk and country music duo which consisted of Ian and Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker. They began performing together in 1959 (full-time in 1961), married in 1964, and divorced and stopped performing together in 1975. Hi ...

Ian Tyson Ian Dawson Tyson (September 25, 1933 – December 29, 2022) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who wrote several folk songs, including "Four Strong Winds" and " Someday Soon", and performed with partner Sylvia Tyson as the duo Ian & Sylvia. Ear ...

sang, played guitar and composed.

Sylvia Tyson Sylvia may refer to: People *Sylvia (given name) * Sylvia (singer), American country music and country pop singer and songwriter *Sylvia Robinson, American singer, record producer, and record label executive * Sylvia Vrethammar, Swedish singer cre ...

sang, composed and occasionally played piano. The other founding members were

Amos Garrett Amos Garrett (born November 26, 1941) is an American-Canadian blues and blues-rock musician, guitarist, singer, composer, and musical arranger. He has written instructional books about music and guitar. Garrett holds dual citizenship and was rai ...

on guitar and occasional vocals,

Ben Keith Bennett Keith Schaeufele (March 6, 1937 – July 26, 2010), better known by his stage name Ben Keith, was an American musician and record producer. Known primarily for his work as a pedal steel guitarist with Neil Young, Keith was a fixture of ...

on steel guitar,

Ken Kalmusky Ken Kalmusky (18 November 1945 – 19 October 2005) was a Canadian bassist from Stratford, Ontario. He worked with some of the top names in the music industry, including Ronnie Hawkins, Ian and Sylvia, Jerry Reed, Amos Garrett, and Todd Rund ...

on bass and Ricky Marcus on drums. They were named after the song, " The Great Speckled Bird", as recorded by

Roy Acuff Roy Claxton Acuff (September 15, 1903 – November 23, 1992) was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the "King of Country Music", Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown ...

(1938).

Career

The group was featured in the film ''

Festival Express ''Festival Express'' is a 2003 documentary film about the 1970 train tour of the same name across Canada taken by some of North America's most popular rock bands, including the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Buddy Guy, Flying Burrito B ...

'', a documentary about the music festival of the same name that took place in 1970. The shows were scheduled, and the performers traveled by train, across Canada. In the film, Great Speckled Bird performs "

C.C. Rider "See See Rider", also known as "C.C. Rider", "See See Rider Blues" or "Easy Rider", is a popular American 12-bar blues song that became a standard in several genres. Ma Rainey, Gertrude "Ma" Rainey was the first to record it on October 16, 192 ...

", along with Delaney Bramlett and members of the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

. A performance of the Dylan/ Manuel song "

Tears of Rage "Tears of Rage" is a song with lyrics written by Bob Dylan and melody by Richard Manuel. Dylan and the Band first recorded the song in 1967, but it was not released until 1975 on ''The Basement Tapes'' album. In 1968, the Band recorded it for t ...

", without the aforementioned accompaniment, is included in the extra features of the DVD release. In 1970, the group became the house band for the television show ''Nashville North'', produced by the

CTV network The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned television network and is now a divis ...

and filmed at the

CFTO-TV CFTO-DT (channel 9) is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Barrie-based CTV 2 outlet CKVR-DT, channel 3 ...

studios in Toronto, which, after one season, became the ''Ian Tyson Show''. The show ran until 1975. The group backed Ian & Sylvia until the duo parted ways in 1975. They also backed Ian Tyson as a solo artist, for his 1973 debut solo album and his live performances,"Ian's 1st Solo Album Marks Return To Country Roots"
Billboard, November 23, 1974, p.66 until 1976.The Cool Groove.

'. 2008. retrieved 2011-09-14.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Videography

References

Bibliography

*J. Einarson, I. Tyson, S. Tyson.
Four Strong Winds: Ian and Sylvia
'. 2011. McClelland & Stewart Ltd. . retrieved 2011-09-13.

External links

website o

former members of the band * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Great Speckled Bird (Band) Musical groups established in 1969 Musical groups disestablished in 1976 Canadian country rock groups Musical groups from Toronto 1969 establishments in Ontario 1976 disestablishments in Ontario