Artist / Band
Charlie MacKinnon
Biography
Charlie MacKinnon was born in Little Bras d’Or. He was exposed to traditional Scottish music and dancing in his early years; his father enjoyed played Scottish tunes on the violin and his uncles liked to stepdance and sing traditional Scottish songs. At age 10, he started playing guitar and became interested in music by country musicians such as Hank Snow, Wilf Carter and Jimmy Rodgers. When he was 15, he began to write his own folk songs.
Years later, he would meet Lillian Crewe Walsh, a poet from Glace Bay. Walsh suggested that MacKinnon write music for some of her poems. He chose to write the music for six poems, which he recorded along with some of his own material. His first single The Ghost of Bras d’Or was released around 1948. The song became a hit across Canada and a Canadian country standard.
Instead of focusing on touring and developing his music career, MacKinnon kept his job at the Sydney Steel Plant but he continued to perform songs on CJCB Radio and played shows in Newfoundland, Boston and Toronto. He was also invited to play at the Newport Folk Festival by Pete Seeger.
As a result of his music accomplishments and his great songwriting abilities, Charlie MacKinnon will always be praised as a great local “folk balladeer and storyteller.”
Tracks
39 tracks
Songs of My Cape Breton Home (1961)
10 tracks
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The Little Irish Maid
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The Ballad of a Teenage Tragedy
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Napoleon Bonaparte And the Bonny Bunch of Roses
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Twilight On the Cabot Trail
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An Old Haunted Castle in Scotland
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Down by the Big Shoal
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The Legand of Kelly's Mountain
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Black Around Their Eyes
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The Washout On the Line
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The Waters of Iona
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Rory Dan the Miner
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Mrs. Flannigan's Gooseberry Pie
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Someday's Waiting for You
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The Ghost of Bra's D'or
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Song of Prince Edward Island
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The Nova Scotia Song
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There'll Always be a Canada
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Donald from Bra's D'or
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Ballad of Pierre Radisson
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Evangeline of Grand Pre
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Song of New Brunswick
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Down In the Coal Mine
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The Fenian Gun
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A Plain Old Miner Boy
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The Phantom Ship of Nova Scotia
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Queen of a Thousand Isles
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Between Two Trees
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The Mormond Braes
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The Dream of the Miner's Child
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The Ballad of Peter Emberly
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Misty Island
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John Donald From Boston
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The Maidens Cave Parrsboro
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The Newfoundland Tory Song
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The Ghost of New Harris
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If That Day Should Ever Come
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Between Two Trees
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Country Boy From the Maritimes
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Parade of Concern Song
Discography
Featured Titles
Albums
Singles
Compilation Tracks
Gallery
Images
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MacKinnon, Charlie
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