I spent a nice hour or so with the singer and songwriter Lennie Gallant the other week, while putting together his playlist program. Gallant chose to focus on story songs and he closed with a gem; "Sonny's Dream" by Ron Hynes. The song is practially an anthem out east. Even if you think you don't know it, you do.
Gallant had a couple of stories connected to the song; one that Ron Hynes tells himself and another one more about Gallant. After the taping he called and said he preferred to keep Ron's story in. Which I did.
But the other one's good too, so here it is:
Lennie had just come home to Halifax after being on tour across the country and was totally burned out. He was trying to grab a bit more sleep that morning, when there was a knock on the door. Still groggy, he opened the door to find two young census takers, pens in hand. He tried to convince them to come back later with no luck.
"Just a few questions," the women pleaded. (Census takers can be very persistent.) And so he said okay and the barrage of questions --there are never just a few, are there? -- started coming at him. After a couple of minutes, one of the canvassers gave him a "I know who you are" look and said, "You’re Lennie Gallant, the songwriter, aren’t you?" He reluctantly agreed, suddenly wishing he didn’t look quite so sleep deprived.
Then she elbowed her friend and said, "It's Lennie Gallant."
"I’m sorry , I don’t know who Lennie Gallant is," the other girl replied.
"You know," said the first, starting to lose her patience. "Lennie Gallant, the songwriter. He wrote that song."
"Sorry, don't know him."
"That song, that song," said her colleague. And then proceeded to sing the first line of "Sonny’s Dream."
Gallant says Ron Hynes always laughs when he hears that story.
http://music.cbc.ca/play/Inside-the-Music/My-PLaylist-with-Lennie-Gallant
Listen to Inside the Music by clicking the play button, and on Radio 2 on Sunday 3 p.m. (3:30 NT) and Radio One on Sunday 9 p.m. (9:30 NT)
As you may know, Ron Hynes was diagnosed with cancer a short time ago and is undergoing treatment. There are a number of benefits taking place over the next few weeks in a number of cities, including one on Wednesday, September 26 at the Rebecca Cohen Auditorium at the Dalhousie Arts Centre in Halifax.
Lennie Gallant, Bruce Guthro, Dave Gunning, J.P. Cormier and Laura Smith are among the many fine performers taking part .
Below are today's My Playlist tracks with links to iTunes:
"Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" Gordon Lightfoot
"Walt Grace's Submarine Test" John Mayer
"Northwest Passage" Stan Rogers
"1952 Vincent Black Lightning" Richard Thompson