with Ellen Froese
Ellen is singer-songwriter who plays solo and with In With The Old. Here, she offers up six songs that influenced her formative years. If you’d like to see Ellen perform live, she’s got a solo show in Saskatoon at McNally Robinson’s Prairie Ink restaurant on June 24. /Gregory Beatty
“Blue Suede Shoes”
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley (1956)
I was six years old, cruisin’ Idylwyld with my dad in his old green and white Chevy truck when this came on A.M. radio. It’s the first song I have a vivid memory of hearing, and I thought it was the best thing in the whole world!
“Suzanne”
Leonard Cohen
Songs Of Leonard Cohen (1967)
I remember an older fella singing this around one of my parents’ campfires when I was a wee tot. It really stuck! “She feeds you tea and oranges… .” Yum! It’s not my favourite Leonard song now, but it was my initiation into my favourite artist/poet. #bless
“Spirit In The Night”
Bruce Springsteen
Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)
I got my dad The Essential Bruce Springsteen double album for Christmas when I was about 14, but ended up listening to it way more than him. I love this song because it reminds me of going to Ness Creek.
“Rank Strangers”
The Stanley Brothers
Sacred Songs From The Hills (1960)
When I first started learning about bluegrass and really diving into the folk world, I listened to a TON of the Stanley Brothers. This song, despite the name, is not rank at all. Oh, that high, lonesome sound…
“The Sound Of Silence”
Simon & Garfunkel
Sounds Of Silence (1966)
I credit this song for my harmony singing. I spent hours in the car listening to it over and over, trying to sing only one vocal part at a time without slipping into the other one.
“Sugar Sugar”
The Archies
Everything’s Archie (1969)
I read a ton of Archie comics as a kid, so I just HAD to grab this album. Actually, my mom ordered it for me for Christmas one year when I was making everyone call me Betty. There are so many songs I wanted to include by other artists who I listen to more now, but I have to credit the Archies for spurring my fixation with ’60s pop and rock.
