This is another pandora's box for me. I found this record ($1 at the Salvation Army), and only knew it would be Canadian because the group is pictured boarding an Air Canada jet. So, I picked it up and started my usual research.

It didn't take long to figure out that I had just found an early album from one of the most popular and prolific Irish-Canadian Celtic bands of the past 50 years. I think I can be forgiven for not knowing them at first. They had their peak of popularity in the late 60s and early 70s, and continued touring and releasing albums until they eventually dissolved the band in 1996.

In fact, the Carlton Show Band was the house band on the incredibly popular CTV Variety Show, "The Pig 'n Whistle", set in a fictional pub and featuring any number of musical guests. They were a fixture on this show for 11 years until it was inexplicably cancelled by the network. Still, even after retiring from television, the Carlton Show band kept going for another 19 years, touring and releasing album after album, picking up one Juno award (out of three nominations) and selling hundreds of thousands of albums.

Such was there popularity in Canada in 1966, they were #2 on many Canadian charts with their track "The Merry Ploughboy"...they would have made #1 if it wasn't for those damn moptops, the Beatles and their "Eleanor Rigby"

I managed to get in touch with Fred White, an original member of the band, who was very kind and helpful when I asked him about his life with the group. He even mailed me a booklet that documents the entire history of the band, complete with lots of stories and photos of the 33-year life of the Carlton Show Band.

Fred White has been maintaining the band's website for many years. Check out http://www.carltonshowband.com/ to see what's going on. By the Spring of 2008, he informs me that he'll have a newly revamped website complete with an online store so you can purchase all of their great albums on CD, including "On Tour."

He also allowed me to rip a few tracks from this old vinyl. Enjoy these songs (complete with the crackles and pops you would expect on 40-year-old vinyl. For the genuine article, make sure to check out their new site when it's up.

Leaving Tipperary
The Blarney Stone
All For Me Grog

For a glimpse into how the band changed over the course of 25 years, here's two tracks from their self-released "25th Anniversary" LP (which is also available at http://www.carltonshowband.com/).

Town Of Ballybay is probably one of my favourite songs...it's a quick, bouncy celtic number
The Blacksmith is a nice slow ode to love

I was really happy to find another CSB record, and even happier when my wife pointed out that it was autographed by all the members of the band who were on the 25th anniversary tour back in 1988. The signatures are in blue ballpoint pen, so they don't really stand out, and are pretty much impossible to photograph.