Barton Clark
Photo taken at Christmas, 2006.
Montreal was not a mecca for
western music during my teenage years in the late thirties and early forties.
The music of the big bands was all the rage even though the most popular
Canadian artists, Hank Snow and Wilf Carter (Montana Slim), made periodic trips
to Montreal to record for RCA Victor. My main interest was sports. (football,
track and baseball, but especially hockey)
Each summer I spent several weeks on the farm of my uncle and aunt with their
quiver of kids (eventually 13) in the middle of New Brunswick. Old time square
dance music and the songs of Wilf and Hank captured my attention. When I came
back to the big city, I dialed all over the radio to find country music. Two
stations stand out in my memory - one in Fort Wayne and the other in northern
Vermont - as building blocks in my love for western music.
One day I rode my bike from Verdun, a suburb of Montreal, a distance of about
four miles to downtown Montreal to seek out country music records. The
highlight was the purchase of a second hand copy of "Salt River Valley" by the
Pioneers. (still in my collection.) I was hooked by that rendition to be a
lifelong Pioneer fan.
The station in northern Vermont played various songs from the Symphonies of the
Sage transcriptions and that's where I was introduced to many new Pioneer
songs. During the later second world war years, I was stationed in Toronto. It
was there that I was able to purchase all the Sons' folios which are still in my
possession.
What a thrill it was to be walking along a street in a small town in Nova Scotia
while I was stationed there and notice a Decca release in the window announcing
"Cool Water" backed by "So Long to the Red River Valley." This 78RPM, still in
my possession, made me take notice of Bob Nolan in a big way. Always a lover of
things in nature, the beauty of this song really opened up new vistas in music
for me. The years that have followed have only intensified my love of his
songs.
Take a trip to New York City. Look for sheet music of the songs of Bob Nolan. Try to locate Bob's publisher. Hope to be greeted by a popular music composer. Come away with six of Bob's obscure songs. Wow! Does this really happen in real life? Yes, it did. When I walked into the music publisher's establishment, I was greeted by Dick Manning, the composer of "I Still Feel the Same about You" which was recorded by the Pioneers. He told me that I looked like one of the Pioneers, and before I left, I had in my hands the sheet music to "The Broken Heart Waltz," "Crossroads," "Desolation," "Empty Arms," "A Sailor Dreams" and" Stray Wind." Oh, I forgot to mention - there was no charge.
Barton Clark has constantly promoted Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers. He gave us the sheet music for "Let Me Share Your Name" and a Bob Nolan song we had been unable to find, "Crossroads". We are grateful for his generosity and knowledge of the Sons of the Pioneers.
He has a huge collection of sheet music and recordings which he willingly shared with us.
We have placed his page in the Recollections section because, although he did not meet Bob Nolan face to face, he did correspond with him. Barton is one of the rare persons lucky enough to have a note from that notoriously poor correspondent, Bob Nolan.