Guthrie, Sheila - Takes My Breath Away b/w Roll Your Love Along

Tracks

Side 1

		Track Name	Length
	1	Takes My Breath Away	02:48

Side 2

		Track Name	Length
	1	Roll Your Love Along	02:16

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Information/Write-up

Sheila Rose Guthrie (December 29, 1933 – March 13, 2017) was a Toronto-based vocalist whose career spanned more than two decades of Canadian music, bridging radio, television, clubs, and recording studios. Remembered for her “small but rich and sometimes haunting voice,” she worked steadily from the late 1950s into the late 1970s, establishing herself as a versatile interpreter of popular song.

Her recording career began in 1958 on Toronto’s Regency label, where she issued her debut single “Love Is Universal” backed with “Smoothie.” A pair of singles followed in the early 1960s—“Funny Old Feeling” b/w “Passing Fancy” (1962) and “Mirror, Mirror” b/w “It Doesn’t Mean a Thing” (1963)—marking her as one of the few Canadian women cutting commercial pop sides at the time. These records, though modest in sales, opened doors to residencies and regular bookings at Toronto’s leading venues.

By the mid-1960s Guthrie had become a fixture on the Ontario club circuit. The liner notes to her Paragon album recall lengthy runs at The Constellation, the Inner Josef Room, the Royal York’s Imperial Room, and the Heritage Room. She also appeared on CHCH-TV’s Music Go Round and was a frequent guest on Toronto radio and television, including Country Hoedown. This period saw her voice compared to a female Nat King Cole, thanks to her preference for “soft and low” ballads, although she was equally capable of handling spirited pop tunes, country-styled numbers, and jazz standards.

Her first LP, Is That All There Is (Paragon ALS-235), recorded with producer Art Snider and his ensemble, offered a mix of contemporary covers—“I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” “Everybody’s Talkin’,” “Something”—alongside originals by Toronto songwriter Irving Dobbs. The album revealed her interpretive range, from torch ballads to light country, and underscored her reputation as one of the busiest working singers in Toronto through the late ’60s and early ’70s.

A decade later Guthrie returned with a second full-length, Call Her Lady Blue (Periwinkle PER-7331, 1978), again produced by Art Snider. Recorded at Sound Canada with a seasoned cast of Toronto musicians including Doug Riley, Brian Leonard, and Dave Classic, the album featured contemporary material such as Morris Albert’s “Feelings,” Gerry Goffin and Mike Masser’s “Theme from Mahogany,” Bobby Hebb’s “Sunny,” and a number of songs by Canadian writer Len Blum. The singles “Takes My Breath Away” and “Roll Your Love Along” received airplay, with RPM noting their release.

Though she never broke through nationally in the way some contemporaries did, Sheila Guthrie carved out a solid and enduring career. Her obituary remembered her as “a popular professional singer on radio, television and at many large hotels in Toronto,” while fans recalled her as a warm, engaging performer equally at home in nightclubs, hotel ballrooms, or recording studios. She remained active into the late 1970s before retiring from the stage. Guthrie passed away in Toronto in 2017 at the age of 83, leaving behind a small but significant body of recordings that testify to her artistry and the vibrant Canadian club scene of her era.
-Robert Williston

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