We're The Ones That Did It? Canada and the Burning of Washington

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We're The Ones That Did It? Canada and the Burning of Washington

For Canadians, a popular retort about the War of 1812 is our supposed role in the burning of the White House. In 1814, British soldiers landed in Washington and looted the American capital. Canadians, in their minor role in the conflict as auxiliary forces, sometimes say that Canadians themselves burned down the White House. Despite any claims you might hear, it was British soldiers behind one of the most notable moments of the war. Where and how did the myth of Canadian involvement appear?

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Listening to the Past and Canada's Recorded Sound

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A few months ago we discovered that Library and Archives Canada has a great site all about the history of recorded sound in Canada. It has pages on the creation of a Canadian recording industry and the Quebec music scene from 1915-1920, which sheds some light on the first years that Canadians were exposed to recorded music on a large scale. It’s a bit jumbled, but there are some really great stories hidden in its pages.

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The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

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The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down, sings Gordon Lightfoot in one of the most famous songs of his career, of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.  If you haven’t heard it before, you should listen to it before reading this post. In a recent Reddit AMA, Lightfoot explained that he was compelled to write the song after it seemed to go unnoticed when it happened in November of 1975. The song rose to the top of the charts in 1976, and The Wreck is one of his most famous songs. Lightfoot gave new longevity to the memory of the men who went down on the Edmund Fitzgerald.  The song is a fascinating display of memory and history.

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Festival Express and the Canadian Rock Music Scene

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Rock music festival-goers in Canada and the United States are today familiar with events such as Edgefest, Osheaga, and Lollapalooza. These events draw crowds of thousands who are willing to empty their wallets for a chance to experience a shared appreciation for artistry and music in an unconventional atmosphere. It is this same experience that was first fostered five decades ago, in what was hailed at the time as the definitive nexus for a large cultural and generational movement. But the music festival of the late 1960s and early 70s garnered a vastly different social response than most are accustomed to today. Counterculture was the order of the time, and music festivals became definitely representative of social lore. In today’s post we take a brief look at a unique Canadian foray into this world, famously known as the Festival Express.

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