Whispering Pines

June 29, 2009
“What makes Canada such fertile ground for talented artists?” When Canadian music journalist Schneider posed the question to Toronto-born guitarist Robbie Robertson, Robertson replied, “Must be something in the water.” Schneider's ambitious full-length study of Canadian musicians from Wilf Carter through the Band seeks to test that very potent water, and although the results are inconclusive, his study is sure to become a key piece in the survey of popular music history. Schneider introduces picked-over subjects such as Leonard Cohen with such nuanced attention to personal humanity, it is as if the author has revealed them to us for the first time. Schneider beautifully weaves in the complicated relationships, both professional and personal, of the various artists who have come to define the sound of 20th-century American popular music (yes, American). If Schneider's book does nothing else, it exposes the semantic futility of delineating popular music of the U.S. from that of Canada, be it Dylan's quintessential 1960s sound, courtesy of the Band, or the sound of 1970s California, as created by Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and the Mamas and Papas, Canadians all.

July 29, 2009
In this workmanlike study of the roots of Canadian music, Schneider (roots music editor, Exclaim! magazine) traces Canadian influence on country, folk, and rock from the 1930s to the 1970s. Robbie Robertson and The Band serve as bookends for this study, which includes prosaic portraits of Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Anna and Kate McGarrigle, and Anne Murray. Regrettably, Schneider offers a simple catalog of stories about these musicians and fails to provide any insight into the significance of their music. The extensive discography provides the most value. Verdict Sluggish writing and the repetition of familiar tales from music lore mar what could have been an important book.-Henry L. Carrigan Jr., Evanston, IL

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