Donald Charles Frederick Messer
Encyclopedia
Donald Charles Frederick (Don) Messer (May 9, 1909 - March 26, 1973) was a Canadian
musician and defining icon of folk music during the 1960s.
Born in Tweedside, New Brunswick
, Messer began playing the violin
at age five, learning fiddle
tunes with Irish
and Scottish
influences. As a young boy, Messer would play concerts in the local area and later throughout southwestern New Brunswick.
During the 1920s, Messer moved to Boston, Massachusetts for three years where he received his only formal instruction in music. Upon his return to the Maritimes, he began his radio
career on CFBO in Saint John, New Brunswick
in 1929 when he joined the station staff. Messer had organized a small studio band of musicians by that point and in 1934, they began a regular radio show for the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission
(forerunner to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
or CBC), broadcasting from CHSJ in Saint John under the name the New Brunswick Lumberjacks. Messer also began to make personal appearances throughout the Maritimes and New England
using a smaller group named the "Backwoods Breakdown".
Messer left Saint John in 1939 and moved to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
where he joined CFCY
as music director. Here he formed the "Islanders" and by 1944 the group was airing a show nationally on CBC radio. The show established itself as the most popular on Canadian radio during the 1940s-1960s and Don Messer and His Islanders began to tour outside of the Maritimes.
In 1956, Messer's music group began to make regular television
appearances on CBHT
-TV in Halifax
, Nova Scotia
. CBC television began a summer series called The Don Messer Show on August 7, 1959, which continued into the fall as Don Messer's Jubilee
, produced out of Halifax. Continuing as Don Messer's Jubilee throughout the 1960s, the show won a wide audience and reportedly became the second-most watched television show in Canada during the decade (next to Hockey Night in Canada
).
Don Messer's Jubilee was cancelled by CBC television in 1969, raising a national protest among viewers and fans and even raising questions from the floor of the House of Commons. Messer and his band continued Don Messer's Jubilee in syndication
on CHCH-TV in Hamilton
, Ontario
following the 1969 CBC cancellation until Messer's death four years later.
Messer's television show became the subject of the National Film Board
feature Don Messer: His Land and His Music in 1971 and CBC produced a commemorative video of the show in 1985.
Don Messer's Jubilee was also notable in that the half-hour television show had a regular guest performer time slot, giving rise to many important Canadian folk singers through their national exposure, including Stompin' Tom Connors
and Catherine McKinnon
, among many others.
Messer died in Halifax and his library and papers are held by the Public Archives of Nova Scotia. One of his fiddles is now located at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville
, Tennessee
, although ironically, he always claimed that his folk music was neither country, nor western - the Irish and Scottish-influenced fiddle tunes having pre-dated the country/western genre by several hundred years.
Messer was inducted posthumously into the Canadian Country Music Association
Hall of Honour in 1985 and the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989. Messer's legacy is considerable, having been given the opportunity to exploit radio and television media in their infancy. As a result, historians have claimed "Don Messer and His Islanders" to be the most popular musical performers in Canada during the mid-20th century.
Don Messer's estate has attempted to protect his name and image and his music by giving sole license to contemporary Canadian folk musician Frank Leahy, who also owns and performs with one of Messer's fiddles. A fiddle purchased by Messer in 1930 for $150 sold at an auction on July 23, 2006 for $11,750 to a resident of St. Stephen, New Brunswick
.
Also in 2006, self-proclaimed Psychic Alan Hatfield claimed to have recorded Don Messer's voice from beyond the grave during a seance conducted at the late bandleader's gravesite.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
musician and defining icon of folk music during the 1960s.
Born in Tweedside, New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
, Messer began playing the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
at age five, learning fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
tunes with Irish
Music of Ireland
Irish Music is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland.The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music. It has remained vibrant through the 20th, and into the 21st century, despite globalizing cultural forces...
and Scottish
Music of Scotland
Scotland is internationally known for its traditional music, which has remained vibrant throughout the 20th century, when many traditional forms worldwide lost popularity to pop music...
influences. As a young boy, Messer would play concerts in the local area and later throughout southwestern New Brunswick.
During the 1920s, Messer moved to Boston, Massachusetts for three years where he received his only formal instruction in music. Upon his return to the Maritimes, he began his radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
career on CFBO in Saint John, New Brunswick
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
in 1929 when he joined the station staff. Messer had organized a small studio band of musicians by that point and in 1934, they began a regular radio show for the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission
Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission
The Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission was Canada's first public broadcaster and the immediate precursor to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.-Origins:...
(forerunner to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
or CBC), broadcasting from CHSJ in Saint John under the name the New Brunswick Lumberjacks. Messer also began to make personal appearances throughout the Maritimes and New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
using a smaller group named the "Backwoods Breakdown".
Messer left Saint John in 1939 and moved to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
where he joined CFCY
CFCY-FM
CFCY-FM is a country music radio station in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, broadcasting at 95.1 FM. The station is owned by the Maritime Broadcasting System. It was first launched by radio pioneer Keith Rogers on August 15, 1924 as 10AS on 250 meters. In 1925, 10AS became CFCY and broadcast...
as music director. Here he formed the "Islanders" and by 1944 the group was airing a show nationally on CBC radio. The show established itself as the most popular on Canadian radio during the 1940s-1960s and Don Messer and His Islanders began to tour outside of the Maritimes.
In 1956, Messer's music group began to make regular television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
appearances on CBHT
CBHT
CBHT is the flagship station of CBC Television in the Atlantic Time Zone of Canada. CBHT broadcasts on terrestrial channel 39 at 157.54 kW and cable channel 11 in the Halifax metro area...
-TV in Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
. CBC television began a summer series called The Don Messer Show on August 7, 1959, which continued into the fall as Don Messer's Jubilee
Don Messer's Jubilee
Don Messer's Jubilee was a television folk musical variety show produced at station CBHT in Halifax, Nova Scotia and broadcast by CBC Television nationwide from 1957 until 1969....
, produced out of Halifax. Continuing as Don Messer's Jubilee throughout the 1960s, the show won a wide audience and reportedly became the second-most watched television show in Canada during the decade (next to Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada
Hockey Night in Canada is the branding used for CBC Sports' presentations of the National Hockey League...
).
Don Messer's Jubilee was cancelled by CBC television in 1969, raising a national protest among viewers and fans and even raising questions from the floor of the House of Commons. Messer and his band continued Don Messer's Jubilee in syndication
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
on CHCH-TV in Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
following the 1969 CBC cancellation until Messer's death four years later.
Messer's television show became the subject of the National Film Board
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
feature Don Messer: His Land and His Music in 1971 and CBC produced a commemorative video of the show in 1985.
Don Messer's Jubilee was also notable in that the half-hour television show had a regular guest performer time slot, giving rise to many important Canadian folk singers through their national exposure, including Stompin' Tom Connors
Stompin' Tom Connors
Charles Thomas "Stompin' Tom" Connors, OC is one of Canada's most prolific and well-known country and folk singers.He lives in Wellington County, Ontario.- Early life :...
and Catherine McKinnon
Catherine McKinnon (actress)
Catherine McKinnon is a Canadian actress and folk/pop singer.McKinnon began as a child performer, making her first radio appearance at age eight and her television debut at age 12. She subsequently studied music at Mount St...
, among many others.
Messer died in Halifax and his library and papers are held by the Public Archives of Nova Scotia. One of his fiddles is now located at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, although ironically, he always claimed that his folk music was neither country, nor western - the Irish and Scottish-influenced fiddle tunes having pre-dated the country/western genre by several hundred years.
Messer was inducted posthumously into the Canadian Country Music Association
Canadian Country Music Association
The Canadian Country Music Association was founded in 1976 as the Academy of Country Music Entertainment to organize, promote and develop a Canadian country music industry. The association changed its name to the Canadian Country Music Association in 1987.-Awards:The CCMA held the first Canadian...
Hall of Honour in 1985 and the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989. Messer's legacy is considerable, having been given the opportunity to exploit radio and television media in their infancy. As a result, historians have claimed "Don Messer and His Islanders" to be the most popular musical performers in Canada during the mid-20th century.
Don Messer's estate has attempted to protect his name and image and his music by giving sole license to contemporary Canadian folk musician Frank Leahy, who also owns and performs with one of Messer's fiddles. A fiddle purchased by Messer in 1930 for $150 sold at an auction on July 23, 2006 for $11,750 to a resident of St. Stephen, New Brunswick
St. Stephen, New Brunswick
St. Stephen is a Canadian town in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, situated on the east bank of the St. Croix River at .-Climate:...
.
Also in 2006, self-proclaimed Psychic Alan Hatfield claimed to have recorded Don Messer's voice from beyond the grave during a seance conducted at the late bandleader's gravesite.