The Raftsmen

The Raftsmen was a Canadian folk music group active through the early and mid-1960s. They performed Canadian and traditional folk songs, as did another similar group, The Travellers. The Raftsmen collectively played 15 different instruments, including guitar, banjo and percussion, and sang songs in 13 languages.

The Raftsmen
OriginCanada
GenresFolk
Years active1960s
Past members

History

The Raftsmen was initially formed by Louis Leroux, Martin Overland and Marvin Burke.[1] (Overland had been the lead singer/guitarist/music arranger for the 1950s Montreal trio, "The Strangers", along with his sister Arlene on claves and drummer Leon Segal.)

The band made a number of recordings for RCA (RCA Camden in the United States), and performed in both Miami and Montreal in 1962.[2] In 1963 they also recorded an album in Montreal, A Night at Le Pavillon, based on a live folk performance. That year the band performed on a CTV Television folk music special.[3] The band recorded a track for the RCA Victor compilation album All-Star All-Time Folk Festival.[4]

In 1964 the group were guests on Oscar Brand's radio show in Montreal.[5] The Raftsmen's single (on Apex Records) of Brand’s Something to Sing About sold nationally and appeared on local radio charts[6] during the time period leading up to the Canadian centennial in 1967.

Overland and Burke, later left the band, and Leroux, bassist Guy Pilette, and 12-string guitarist and arranger Donald Steven, formed a successor band known as The New Raftsmen and The Raftsmen III. This group toured and performed primarily in Eastern Canada and recorded for Banff, Rodeo, Melbourne[7] and 20th Century Fox Records. Its single of Gordon Lightfoot’s The Hands I Love (known also as Song For A Winter's Night) received considerable air play.

Leroux later toured with Nana Mouskouri for the better part of ten years, then became a Latin guitar player in session work and released a pair of instrumental solo albums. He subsequently taught flamenco-style guitar technique.

Discography

Albums
  • Down in the Valley, RCA LPM/LSP-2598
  • This Land Is Your Land, Camden CAS 757[8]
  • Here and There, RCA LPM/LSP 2479
  • A Night At Le Pavillon, RCA LPM/LSP-2677
  • On Target (Raftsmen III), Banff RBS 1279
  • The Raftsmen, Rodeo SRLP 7116

Singles
  • Something To Sing About, Apex 76886
  • Hands I Love, Melbourne, 20th Century Fox 6698, TF-80814

References
  1. "The Raftsmen". AllMusic, Biography by Bruce Eder.
  2. Stan Fisher (24 March 1962). Anka's cousin does twist disk. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 14–. ISSN 0006-2510.
  3. Focus on Folk. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 19 October 1963. p. 18. ISSN 0006-2510.
  4. "All-Star All-Time Folk Festival". AllMusic, Review by Bruce Eder
  5. "Let's Sing Out". The Ottawa Journal, Ottawa, Canada. February 1, 1964 page: 71
  6. "C-FUNTASTIC FIFTY". Vancouver Top 40 Radio, Weekof December 21, 1963
  7. [https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_PigEAAAAMBAJ/bub_gb_PigEAAAAMBAJ_djvu.txt "4 Canadians Inked "]. Billboard, November 25. 1967 •
  8. American Record Guide. Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation. 1963.
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