Music: Without Canadian artists where would we be?
by Bob Schwartz
Among the treasures recorded by k.d. lang is Hymns of the 49th Parallel, an album of covers of songs by her fellow Canadians—the artistry of Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and others. And of course k.d. herself.
This should give you a clue to just how important Canadians have been to popular music and other arts. If Canada was represented by just one of these extraordinary artists, it would be enough. Taken together (need I add The Band, The Guess Who, Arcade Fire, Celine Dion, Alanis Morrisette, The Weeknd, Shania Twain, Drake, Rush and more?) it is a banquet of music. (See Rolling Stone’s 50 Greatest Canadian Artists of All Time. No surprise that Joni is #1, Neil #2, Rush #3, Leonard #4. Okay, maybe I’d move Leonard Cohen up a notch, but that’s quibbling.)
Listening to just Canadian artists until this madness is over is asking too much. Listening to lots of Canadian artists, maybe having one Canada-only day each week, is not punishment and would be a joy.
Since I often include one video track in my music posts, I have a quandary. Look at the list above. Just the ones named add up to hundreds of tracks. So if I offer just one or two, that doesn’t take away from the mountain of song. O Canada!
Bob Schwartz 
I’d like to add David Clayton-Thomas…
Yes, of course. But there is a controversy, at least for me. Blood, Sweat & Tears was founded and led by Al Kooper. Their first album, Child Is Father to the Man, is an all-time great, and began BS&T integration of pop, rock and jazz. Kooper left as leader and singer, Clayton-Thomas arrived, the music became less adventurous and edgy but more popular. The second album, just called Blood, Sweat and Tears, was a huge hit. The Clayton-Thomas era of BS&T is the best-known, but for me and some others, not nearly the musical breakthrough BS&T had been.