Daigle, Ted

Websites:  https://citizenfreak.com/artists/93671-daigle-ted-his-westerners
Origin: Jacquet River, New Brunswick - Fort William, Ontario, 🇨🇦
Biography:

Ted Daigle: Canada's Country-Rockabilly Crossover Pioneer
Few Canadian artists straddled the worlds of rockabilly and country music as seamlessly as Ted Daigle. Beginning his career in the late 1950s, Daigle first emerged with country-leaning recordings, only to fully embrace rockabilly with his 1961 album, Teenage Time—widely considered one of the first Canadian rockabilly albums. Backed by The Midnighters, he delivered high-energy rockers like Mary Lou, Red Hen Hop, and Cut Across Shorty, but he never abandoned his country roots. As his career progressed, Daigle blended both influences, later returning to a country-rockabilly hybrid sound that defined much of his 1960s and 1970s output.

Beyond the studio, Daigle was also a pioneering radio personality, helping shape the Canadian country music landscape by breaking records, championing artists, and launching Canada’s first full-time country FM station, CKBY-FM. His radio, recording, and performance career spanned decades, leaving an indelible mark on both rockabilly collectors and country music historians alike. This collection of recordings, spanning his rockabilly peak and country resurgence, offers a look at the full scope of his career—one that continues to inspire both genres he loved.
-Robert Williston

Core Members
Ted Daigle: vocals, guitar
Gil Glazier: lead guitar
Byron Stever: drums
Rheo Pilon: bass guitar
Al Gain: steel guitar

Additional Members & Contributors
Leo Chiasson: bass guitar
Ray Picot: piano
Art Chiasson: drums
Paul Rudachuk: bass guitar (replaced Rheo Pilon in later sessions)

Other Collaborators on Various Recordings
Ron Roy: lead guitar (The Midnighters era, also played with Daigle on early rockabilly sessions)
John Johnson: rhythm guitar (The Midnighters era)
Cliff Clinton: bass guitar (The Midnighters era)
Bob Hunt: drums (The Midnighters era)
Joan Hannah: piano (CKBC staffer, played on When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again*)

Notable Session Musicians (Nashville, RCA Studio B, 1976 Broadland Sessions)
Laurie London: guitar
Ray Edenton: guitar
Pig Robbins: piano
Lloyd Green: steel guitar
The Jordanaires: backing vocals

From Early Canadian Rockers Volume 4: Teenage Dream
Ted Daigle was born January 16, 1937 in Jacquet River, New Brunswick, but moved just a slap-shot away with his family to Bathurst at the age of 12. Music competed with hockey for the attention of the youngster, until music and radio became his future. His parents, Audrey & Peter Daigle, were country music fans, and the radio was always tuned to CKNB in Campbellton (some 72 miles away) until in the mid-1950s CKBC Bathurst took to the air. Ted was influenced by many of the stars of the day, including Hawkshaw Hawkins, Ernest Tubb & Hank Williams. An early job at the Sand’s department store found Ted selling ‘everything from records to refrigerators.’

Ted received an early introduction to radio when he was an unpaid gopher at CKBC, picking up the valuable experience of setting up the equipment in the studio for the travelling bands who played on the station in return for the opportunity to plug their concerts. After six months, Ted received a salary working as a DJ on the late night shifts. The station would sign off at midnight and it was here that Ted worked on his musical skills cutting demos with friends and experimenting by playing a song or two over the shut-down airwaves to judge his production values.

Young Ted was soon playing weekends and learning how to entertain. Ted’s first radio interview in Bathurst was Johnny Cash, when Cash was red hot with Ballad Of A Teenage Queen. This intimidating interview came about when Cash was in town with a show that included Johnny Six (a.k.a. Orville Prophet), but a more significant event soon happened when Jim Reeves invited Ted to sing on his touring show. Since Ted picked 2 songs not very familiar to the band, Reeves had to watch Ted's fingers on the guitar and shout out the chord changes, while tapping the change in his pocket for rhythm. The Louvin Brothers (on the show & backstage) wondered about the interesting little rhythm jingle this produced.

The Kidd Baker band, who had several releases on Quality, provided the backing on Ted’s first release Bitter Tears (on George Taylor's Rodeo label). They were at CKBC for a promo and were happy to back the enthusiastic youngster. For the flip Ted chose Elvis Presley's Young And Beautiful and it featured just Ted and his guitar. Daigle soon put together his own band The Tremeloes consisting of lead guitarist Gil Glazier, bassist Leo Chiasson, pianist Ray Picot & drummer Art Chiasson. These were the musicians who backed Ted on the studio cuts Mary Lou, No One Else, I Miss You, In A World Of Our Own & the seasonal New Baby For Xmas.

Ted sent an aircheck to Johnny Murphy at CJLX in Fort William/Port Arthur (now called Thunder Bay) after seeing an advert in a broadcast magazine. Daigle sent a ‘best of’ tape instead of an entire radio show, but Murphy saw the potential in the youngster and Ted was given an evening time slot on CJLX. He received valuable experience, eventually moving into the prime drive home afternoon slot. It was while he was at CJLX that program director Johnny Murphy brought in Don Grashey and Ted was the first to play Loretta Lynn's I’m A Honky Tonk Girl in Canada which was on Grashey's Zero label. Daigle soon joined fellow DJ Fred King in his band Fred King & All The King’s Men, doing a weekly live show on CJLX and playing the usual weekend gigs with the likes of Jerry Palmer. An early important gig was opening for the Brenda Lee show featuring Bob Beckham, Gary Miles & The Casuals.

While with Rodeo, in addition to the country & rockabilly sides, Daigle was recording in a variety of styles. There was the gospel I Saw A Man (featuring Fred King on bass) as well as two seasonal cuts: the George Jones favourite New Baby For Christmas and the Elvis classic Blue Christmas. For his final Rodeo release Ted returned to rockabilly with a 1960 revival of the Warren Smith classic Rock & Roll Ruby.

With the Jimmy Work 1955 mover When She Said You All. Opting for brevity, they were respectively retitled Ruby & Yo-All. The Thunder Bay group The Midnighters (lead guitarist Ron Roy, rhythm guitarist John Johnson, bassist Cliff Clinton & drummer Bob Hunt) supplied the rocking backings - as well as on Cut Across Shorty, Sweet Little Sixteen & Red Hen Hop on the exciting Banff album Teenage Time. Teenage Time lays claim to being the first rockabilly album recorded and released in Canada by a Canadian. The album was not totally rockabilly, but was aimed at the teenagers, yet most of the upbeat cuts fit nicely into the category. Ted was always as interested in the “billy” part of rockabilly as in the “rocka” (naming Carl Perkins’ Let The Juke Box Keep Playing as much a favourite as Carl’s uptempo songs), so some country material definitely saw its way onto the album. The size of Canada meant that not all stations jumped on the album, but it was a success in many regions and remained in the Banff catalogue for many years. If Ted and The Midnighters had been able to tour with the album, their success may have been phenomenal.

The Midnighters were a good fit for Ted in that they moved easily between the popular rockabilly and country sides. They were an ambitious group with dreams of their own and would go on to have their own solo instrumental release Slow Walk - Siam on Barry in 1961. Ted helped by sending the demo to Quality/Barry Records and featured the songs in his live shows. By this time, Ted was anxious to move back east and his mentor Johnny Murphy (now at CKOY in Ottawa) offered him a job as a disc jockey with the station. Ted soon formed The Musicmen, sending for his boyhood friend Gil Glazier on lead guitar, as well as drummer Byron Stever from Bathurst, to go with bassist Rheo Pilon & steel guitarist Al Gain.

It was this line-up that recorded two singles and two albums for London in 1963. For the first single Ted turned to Carl Perkins in When Today Is A Long Time Ago (a lesser-known Perkins tune co-written with Carl Mann), coupled with Tennessee, which Carl had recorded at Sun. This was followed by one of Ted’s seasonal favourites: his second recording of New Baby For Christmas, coupled with the Louvin Brothers song The Friendly Beast. The two albums Tennessee (London #71) & Ted Daigle (#92) included Ray Price's Invitation To The Blues, Hank Snow's Sandy Morgan's Gin & Johnny Cash's Frankie's Man Johnny, as well as a return to Ted’s composition No One Else. The Musicmen were well known throughout the Ottawa Valley, playing for two years at Papa Gauthier's in Mason, Quebec, and another two at the Royal Hotel in Angers, backing or opening for talent like Bob Luman, Jimmy C. Newman or Bill Haley & The Comets.

Daigle recorded a one-off for Sparton in 1966 in the Baker Knight song Tomorrow, coupled with Jan Crutchfield’s What Comes Next, which was taken off Rick Nelson’s first Decca album For Your Sweet Love. After that, two albums of country favourites Western Hits & It’s Me, Ted Daigle were recorded for Masterseal. While Ted would have liked more rehearsal time, they are good albums, and the latter has been re-issued on Countryville and Altone. Then Ted moved to the Excellent label (owned by Sherman's Music, an Ottawa record store), coupling two old hits in Elvis Presley’s I Forgot To Remember To Forget & Leroy Van Dyke’s Walk On By. This spawned an album 12 Million Memories, recorded in Montreal & consisting of famous country hits. The Excellent album was eventually released on Camden while Ted was enjoying success with the clever Labrador Retriever. A second Camden album appeared that included a song written by Canadian rockabilly/country singer Bernie Early.

With only one hour of country music a day on CKOY’s block programming, Ted soon tired of this wide playlist of ear candy and moved to CFGM’s around-the-clock country format in Toronto. Since he was also playing Toronto clubs like The Edison and The Horseshoe, he was presented with the chance to interview everyone who passed through the city, with many of the artists dropping over for supper as Ted and his wife Vange lived near the studios. Ted was thriving in the Toronto market when he met with CKOY owner Jack Daley, who offered him his old job at a substantial raise, with the promise of expansion into country music with a new FM station. So while still only playing an hour of country daily, CKOY soon opened an FM outlet with Ted taking the 9 AM to 1 PM shift. CKBY-FM went full-time country in 1972 with Ted as musical director before taking over as Program Director in 1973, and it became the number one country FM station in Canada. Radio was now occupying most of Ted's time, so keeping a band and playing weekend dates was not feasible anymore, and The Musicmen made their final appearance in 1975.

A single on Arc followed with the Mel Tillis-penned Ruby (Don’t Take Your Love To Town), being also the title track on the album. Ted was eventually signed to Broadland by his old friend Gary Buck, who was managing the label. Ted recorded three singles for the Quality subsidiary Broadland in 1976, featuring songs by Canadian singer/writers Wayne Rostad and Dallas Harms, the latter at the time enjoying U.S. success via his songs for Gene Watson. The singles were recorded at RCA’s Studio B in Nashville with Gary Buck producing and with session musicians Laurie London, Ray Edenton, Pig Robbins, Lloyd Green & The Jordanaires.

Wayne Rostad’s song Evangeline (better known as Being Satisfied) about a man’s love for his wife proved very popular. It was an exciting time in this studio, where Elvis Presley and many others cut their early records, for it was the last week it was open for business. The studio is now part of the Nashville Hall Of Fame Museum.

Ted Daigle produced two albums on Hank LaRiviere (a.k.a. Hank Rivers) on Camden and appeared three times on The Carl Smith Show, which was being filmed in Toronto. Ted’s last record appearance is on a project he started in 1984, called Christmas In The Valley. Local country music personalities would reminisce and sing their favorite song of the season. Seven volumes were issued and sold almost 100,000 copies in Ottawa alone, with the profits donated to Ottawa Hospitals.

After leaving CKBY in 1997, Ted has spent his time as a programmer on the Country Classics Channel for the Galaxie Continuous Music Network service for CBC’s new delivery service.
While it was the music of Ted Daigle that has caused this CD to be produced, it has been radio that has rewarded Ted with awards such as Program Director Of The Year, Music Director Of The Year, Disc Jockey Of The Year & Radio Station Of The Year. Yet it is Ted’s impressive body of musical work that is responsible for him becoming a member of the Ottawa Valley Hall Of Fame as well as the Canadian Country Music Hall Of Fame (run by Gary Buck).

Pretty good for a rockabilly-country singer from Jacquet River, who thought at one time that hockey and dreams of the NHL were in his future.
________________________________________
Notes & Additional Information:
• New Brunswick and the other Maritime Provinces have a rich musical heritage with their Scottish, Irish, and French music, as well as being the home of early Canadian legends Hank Snow & Wilf Carter.
• Bathurst was the home of Charlie Chamberlain, who was the singer with nationally known fiddler Don Messer & His Islanders.
• Ted Daigle had a similar honor later in Ottawa with Ned Miller’s From A Jack To A King and was given a gold record by Quality for his help in ‘breaking’ the disc.
• The album also contains Legend Of Chaleur Bay, which Ted wrote from a poem sent in by Bathurst radio listener Maude Smith.

The CD begins with a live version of the Warren Smith classic R&R Ruby, followed by another live version of Yo’All (originally the coupling of Ruby). Mary Lou is the live version with backing by The Midnighters, as opposed to The Tremeloes on the studio cut. Ted has fun with the audience on the Hank Williams mover Mind Your Own Business, even though he repeats the same lyrics. This is the last of the four cuts done live with The Midnighters in Thunder Bay.

Frankie And Johnny is done live as an instrumental guitar workout featuring Gil Glazier, followed by Johnny Cash’s So Doggone Lonesome. Both songs are from a live radio show on CKOY. Next (from a remote broadcast on CKBY in Ottawa) comes the Stonewall Jackson/Johnny Rivers influenced version of I Washed My Hands In Muddy Water, featuring the nice harmony singing of Joe Pino. These three cuts were done with The Musicmen.

The great "Teen Time" album features the next eight cuts. The Midnighters back Ted on Cut Across Shorty, which they took from Eddie Cochran rather than Carl Smith. Sweet Little Sixteen was a personal favourite, as Ted was a big fan and always considered Chuck Berry country in his approach to his songs. Lead guitarist Ronnie Roy then takes the Louvin Brothers’ Red Hen Hop in a rockabilly direction, and everyone joins in for a great performance.

The next two cuts feature The Sunny Mountain Boys from Thunder Bay:
• Farewell Adelita was taken from the Kingston Trio hit album Sold Out.
• It May Be Silly (But Ain't It Fun?) was written by Boudleaux Bryant and popularized by Little Jimmy Dickens.
Ted admits they got their version off of the Lawrence Welk/Buddy Merrill version (dig the accordion) which was coupled with Rock ‘n’ Roll Ruby (a strange choice of songs for Welk, but it did feature his guitarist/singer Merrill and no bubble machine).
The last three songs are the Daigle originals:
• No One Else
• Mary Lou
• Ballad Of A Teenage Queen (Johnny Cash)
On Ballad Of A Teenage Queen, Ted played all the instruments, "most of them badly," he admits. According to Ted, there was no real-life "Mary Lou", but Gil Glazer, the guitarist on this session, later married one.
Ted, always a big Johnny Cash fan, recorded:
• Frankie’s Man Johnny
• Hank Snow’s Sandy Morgan’s Gin
• Little Jimmy Dickens’ Me And My Big Loud Mouth
The latter song was originally by Dickens on the flip of I Got A Hole In My Pocket, a song Ricky Van Shelton took into the best-sellers more recently—possibly Ted covered the wrong side?
These songs were done at CKOY after a snowstorm canceled a gig, and the group found themselves with time on their hands. Drummer Byron Stever had to use a records-packing box, as his drums were already set up at the canceled gig.

Ted was always a big Carl Perkins fan, so it was no surprise he revived Tennessee as well as re-recording No One Else, both released on London.