Sylvia Tyson (née Fricker)
artist | born 1940
BornSeptember 19, 1940 in Chatham, Ontario, Canada
Biographyby Sarah Davachi
Sylvia Tyson was born Sylvia Fricker on 19 September 1940 in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, a rural municipality not far from the American border. Tyson cites that her musical interests were present as a child and were nurtured by her parents, who themselves were musical and educated. She received her first guitar from her parents in the early 1950s and relocated to Toronto in 1959 to begin her performing career. It was in Toronto that Sylvia met Ian Tyson (born 25 September 1933 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) and the two soon began singing and performing together, primarily within the United States. Throughout her illustrious career, Sylvia Tyson has been active as a performer, songwriter, and broadcaster, but is perhaps most well known for her involvement alongside Ian in the group Ian & Sylvia, which was active between 1959 and 1974 and featured Sylvia on vocals, autoharp, and guitar, and Ian on vocals and guitar. Their initial efforts included some original songwriting, but consisted largely of their interpretations of traditional repertoire, including Scottish laments, country blues and French-Canadian sing-alongs. The group, who were considered Canada’s first folk superstar duo, born of the same lineage that produced Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, released thirteen studio albums, including Ian & Sylvia, Four Strong Winds, and Northern Journey, all from 1963, and The Great Speckled Bird from 1969, which was produced by Todd Rundgren and featured musicians who had performing associations with Neil Young and Gram Parsons. Their most well known songs include “You Were On My Mind”, written in 1964 by Sylvia and “Four Strong Winds”, written by Ian. During the 1960s, Ian and Sylvia also formed a more rock-oriented group called The Great Speckled Bird, which helped develop the burgeoning genre of country rock. The pair were married in 1964 and divorced in 1975 following the amicable dismantling of their musical partnership. Tyson subsequently released a series of solo recordings, including Woman’s World (1975), which was produced by Ian Tyson and featured Al Cherny on fiddle, and Cool Wind from the North (1976), both on Capitol Records, and went on to host the CBC radio show, Touch the Earth, and the CBC television show, Country in My Soul. Tyson was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1995, and has been nominated for seven Juno awards beginning in 1987. She established her own record label, Salt Records, in the 1980s and has released several of her own albums on that label. Ian & Sylvia were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1992, and in 2003 Sylvia Tyson was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. Tyson continues to write songs, and has recently begun exploring the realm of fiction and stories, currently working on her first novel, Joyner’s Dream with an accompanying soundtrack. In 2011, Canadian publishers McClelland and Stewart released John Einarson’s Four Strong Winds: Ian & Sylvia, the first authorized biography of the folk duo.
Sylvia Tyson was born Sylvia Fricker on 19 September 1940 in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, a rural municipality not far from the American border. Tyson cites that her musical interests were present as a child and were nurtured by her parents, who themselves were musical and educated. She received her first guitar from her parents in the early 1950s and relocated to Toronto in 1959 to begin her performing career. It was in Toronto that Sylvia met Ian Tyson (born 25 September 1933 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) and the two soon began singing and performing together, primarily within the United States. Throughout her illustrious career, Sylvia Tyson has been active as a performer, songwriter, and broadcaster, but is perhaps most well known for her involvement alongside Ian in the group Ian & Sylvia, which was active between 1959 and 1974 and featured Sylvia on vocals, autoharp, and guitar, and Ian on vocals and guitar. Their initial efforts included some original songwriting, but consisted largely of their interpretations of traditional repertoire, including Scottish laments, country blues and French-Canadian sing-alongs. The group, who were considered Canada’s first folk superstar duo, born of the same lineage that produced Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, released thirteen studio albums, including Ian & Sylvia, Four Strong Winds, and Northern Journey, all from 1963, and The Great Speckled Bird from 1969, which was produced by Todd Rundgren and featured musicians who had performing associations with Neil Young and Gram Parsons. Their most well known songs include “You Were On My Mind”, written in 1964 by Sylvia and “Four Strong Winds”, written by Ian. During the 1960s, Ian and Sylvia also formed a more rock-oriented group called The Great Speckled Bird, which helped develop the burgeoning genre of country rock. The pair were married in 1964 and divorced in 1975 following the amicable dismantling of their musical partnership. Tyson subsequently released a series of solo recordings, including Woman’s World (1975), which was produced by Ian Tyson and featured Al Cherny on fiddle, and Cool Wind from the North (1976), both on Capitol Records, and went on to host the CBC radio show, Touch the Earth, and the CBC television show, Country in My Soul. Tyson was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1995, and has been nominated for seven Juno awards beginning in 1987. She established her own record label, Salt Records, in the 1980s and has released several of her own albums on that label. Ian & Sylvia were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1992, and in 2003 Sylvia Tyson was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. Tyson continues to write songs, and has recently begun exploring the realm of fiction and stories, currently working on her first novel, Joyner’s Dream with an accompanying soundtrack. In 2011, Canadian publishers McClelland and Stewart released John Einarson’s Four Strong Winds: Ian & Sylvia, the first authorized biography of the folk duo.
artist, singer-songwriter | 1950 - 1996
