The Rankins Online Website - Articles January-June 2000 - The Official unOfficial Website of the Rankins

Last Articles - 2000 January-June update on January 13, 2008

January 9, 2000 - Halifax Herald

SOCAN and the Songwriters Association of Nova Scotia present A Date With a Tape on Sunday, Feb. 6, during ECMAs at the Delta Hotel in Sydney.

Music industry professionals like Dan Hill, Ron Hynes, Jimmy Rankin, Steve Jordan from Warner Music Canada and Robert Ott from BMG Music Publishing Canada will offer direct and immediate feedback on songwriters' original material.

Participants are asked to bring a CD or tape of one of their songs and three copies of the lyrics. Names and phone numbers must be marked on the CD or tape. Material will be accepted between 10-10:30 a.m. and will be reviewed in random order from 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, there is no guarantee that all songs will be heard during the workshop.

Musicians band together for tribute to Canadian family farms
Hawkins, Stott, Lightfoot, Big Sugar among performers

January 14, 2000 - Halifax Herald

By Andrew Flynn / The Canadian Press

Toronto - Gordon Lightfoot, Burton Cummings, Randy Bachman, Ronnie Hawkins: these are names from Canada's rock 'n' roll hall of fame, names that might not immediately be connected with life on the farm.

But the musical greats, along with some younger colleagues, are taking centre stage Sunday for a nationally televised benefit show that hopes to send up something of a distress flare for Canada's struggling family farmers.

It will be more than just another concert for Amanda Stott, a 17-year-old singer and rookie recording artist who gets to open the show with the national anthem. Stott, who grew up on her parent's cattle and organic grain farm outside of Brandon, Man., has seen firsthand what falling commodity prices and shrinking subsidies have done to independent Canadian farmers. Tens of thousands are facing hard times and, in many cases, bankruptcy as poor growing conditions and international trade pressures threaten their livelihood.

To Stott, the plight of farmers is a personal rather than financial issue: a centuries-old way of life is beginning to vanish as small farms shut down or are gobbled up by large agricultural syndicates. "I think a lot of people don't really realize the impact that a family farm has on the country," says Stott. "It's the pride of being able to carry something on that your forefathers have carried on before you. I think it's a really good thing to do."

The concert at Toronto's Air Canada Centre will air (1:30 p.m.) as the centrepiece of a live day-long event on CBC Newsworld to draw national attention to the decline of the Canadian farm. Proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the National Rural Caucus, but the event is being staged more to raise awareness than funds, organizers said.

For Saskatoon-born Shaun Verreault, guitarist and singer for Wide Mouth Mason, it is an emotional issue. "It would just be very sad to see a way of life disappear," Verreault says in a telephone interview. "It spreads out and affects not just the people who are working on farms: if they have a bad year then the province has a bad year. I think it would be a shame if it also was to turn into a big business like everything else has."

The concert was originally conceived by Toronto Liberal MP Dennis Mills following a suggestion by Hawkins. The CBC agreed to broadcast it, then decided to expand Newsworld's coverage of the issue, said CBC spokeswoman Mio Adilman. "We are certainly pegging coverage to this event and of course we have been covering the issue for many years," Adilman said.

Beginning with a live report at 11 a.m. from Melita, Man., a hard-hit farming community of 1,200, Newsworld will also feature a town hall from Regina where Prairie residents will talk with provincial agricultural ministers from Manitoba and Saskatchewan before joining the big event in Toronto. "And rarely do you see four-hour concerts on television with this kind of lineup," says Adilman.

Lightfoot, Cummings, Hawkins and Bachman will be joined by rock bands Big Sugar and Wide Mouth Mason, singers Kevin Parent, Fred Eaglesmith and Jimmy Rankin, children's entertainers Fred Penner and Sharon, Lois, and Bram, tenor Michael Burgess, country/rock band Prairie Oyster and country legend Sylvia Tyson as well as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

"This is going to be a pretty entertaining day to watch," adds Verreault. "It's not going to be all doom and gloom."

Stott, who will launch her first major-label record in April, says it means a lot to her that such major artists would donate their time for the cause. "I see my father, especially this year, the stress of not getting the crop in and harvesting late and I see how much he puts into it," she says. Stott isn't interested in seeing the event generate pity. She says she'll be satisfied if viewers gain just a little more understanding of Canada's independent farmers. "It's not just putting food on the table for you, even though that is their primary goal," she says. "It's the whole pride and heritage of the operation. I think that's what people need to understand, is that it's not just a business, it's a whole way of life."

John Morris Rankin dies in a car crash

Fare Thee Well Love

January 16, 2000 - CBC Radio News

Report from CBC-TV (Real Video)

Report from CBC-Radio (Real Audio)

MARGAREE HARBOUR, Cape Breton - An accident in Cape Breton has claimed the life of a member of the Rankin musical family. John Morris Rankin was driving to a hockey game with three teenagers when his truck plunged into the water at Margaree Harbour Sunday morning.

There are reports that the 40-year-old man swerved to miss a pile of salt on the highway.

The teens were rescued from the icy waters. One is reported to have hypothermia and is in serious condition in hospital; doctors say the other two are fine.

Police say they tried for hours to rescue John Morris Rankin, but couldn't reach him in time to save his life.

John Rankin played piano and fiddle with the Rankin family. The group began performing in Mabou, Nova Scotia, in 1989 and rocketed to fame not long after, with the release of their second album titled Fare Thee Well Love.

As one of Atlantic Canada's most successful groups, the family rose from singing county fairs and church halls to selling more than two million of their Celtic-inflected records around the world. They swept the Juno awards in 1994.

They stopped performing together last year so members of the family could pursue independent careers.

Jimmy Rankin, one of John Morris' siblings, left the Family Farm Tribute concert in Toronto after being notified of a death in the family.

John Morris Rankin dies after truck plunges into Margaree River into Gulf of St. Lawrence

January 16, 2000 - Canadian Press

MARGAREE HARBOUR, N.S. (CP) -- John Morris Rankin, a member of the former Celtic group the Rankins, died Sunday after his truck plunged into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Three teenage passengers, including Rankin's son Michael, were able to escape from the vehicle and climb to safety following the 7:30 a.m. accident. They were taken to Cape Breton's Inverness Consolidated Hospital.

Family friend Emily Butler said it appeared that Rankin told the teens to jump out of the truck as it skidded towards the water.

"John Morris told them to jump and they got out," she said. "John Morris went with the truck."

Rankin, 40, died in the crash, the RCMP said in a release.

It hadn't yet been determined how the vehicle ended up in the water.

Morris Green of Nova Scotia Emergency Health Services said one of the teenagers was being treated for hypothermia and the other two appeared to be OK.

Family friend and musician Denis Ryan said news of the accident spread quickly through the Nova Scotia music community.

"It's awful, awful, awful," said Ryan, who played music with Rankin in the mid '80s.

"I've known him for 25 years, for Christ's sake.... Why is it always the good people that die?"

Ryan described Rankin as a dedicated family man and master carpenter who was like a younger brother to him.

"He was just a beautiful person to be around -- never offensive and could be awful funny at times. And he did have a great Celtic humour and wit about him. (He) could laugh and smile and have fun with very simple things in life."

Butler, who knew the Rankins for more than 20 years and considered them her extended family, said Rankin's siblings were devastated by the news.

She said the loss is a great blow for many in Cape Breton who followed John Rankin's rise to fame.

"He was a very wonderful and talented young man and we're all heartsick," Butler said from Sydney, N.S.

Rankin's brother Jimmy Rankin left a Farm Aid concert in Toronto after being notified of the death.

Family friend Russell De Carle, lead singer for Prairie Oyster, said he was stunned when he heard the news at the benefit.

"Oh God, it's just horrendous to say the least," De Carle said from Toronto following his set at the concert.

"He was a brilliant musician. It's a huge loss. It's unbelievable. I had an incredible amount of admiration for his playing. He was a brilliant musician, keyboardist and fiddle player."

John Morris Rankin played fiddle and piano with the popular musical family from Cape Breton. The group broke up last summer so its members could pursue independent careers and interests.

Over a decade-long, storybook career, the Mabou, N.S., family band rose from county fairs and church halls to become the most successful music acts on the East Coast through the 1990s.

The five siblings sold more than two million records, won five Juno Awards, including group of the year in 1994, and took its Celtic-inflected music to the world.

"We've had a great run," John Morris said last year after the breakup.

"It's been 10 years and they've gone by fast. Originally we planned to do this for five years, and 10 have passed.

"It's all been a positive experience for us."

The family's early independent success -- they sold 75,000 records literally out of the back of a car -- led to one of the first major-label music contracts in Atlantic Canada.

After being courted by several Canadian labels, they finally signed with EMI Canada and delivered five platinum records (each selling over 100,000 copies) through the '90s. Fare Thee Well Love sold more than 500,000 copies alone.

Ryan described John Morris as a "rock" who held the band together: "He brought stability. He brought leadership in a very subtle way. He was very, really a solid guy. I mean really solid. Fame and fortune really didn't shake him."

Brookes Diamond, a Halifax promoter who had known Rankin for more than 20 years, said he was "a lovely gentleman and a wonderful man" who loved country dances and was most happy at home in rural Cape Breton.

"He had so much to look forward to in his new life," he said.

"It's just an awful thing."

Besides Michael, 15, Rankin is survived by his wife Sally and daughter Molly, 13.

John Morris Rankin has died

January 16, 2000 - CBC's The National

Guest: LAURIE GRAHAM, Reporter
DENNIS RYAN, Musician andfriend
UNIDENTIFIED

SUSAN BONNER: In other news, the Rankin family lost a loved one today and Canada lost a gifted musician. John Morris Rankin died after his vehicle slid off a Cape Breton road and disappeared in the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Laurie Graham has more on Rankin's passing and the memories he leaves behind.

LAURIE GRAHAM: The accident happened early this morning when John Morris Rankin was taking his son Michael and two other teenagers to a hockey game. He apparently swerved around a pile of salt on the middle of the road. He lost control of his vehicle and went over a cliff. Plunging 25 metres into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The teenagers were able to escape from the vehicle but Rankin died in the crash.

GRAHAM: John Morris Rankin started playing piano when he was just eight-years-old. Then a year later he picked up the fiddle. In 1989 he and four of his siblings teamed up to form the Rankin Family. They sang Celtic music. Songs with traditional Scottish sounds that rocked the world. They sold more than two million records, won five Juno awards and toured the world becoming the east coast's most successful music act of the decade. (Music) John Morris Rankin was described as the shy and quiet one. Always in the background, never in the spotlight. He let his music speak for him.

DENNIS RYAN / MUSICIAN AND FRIEND: He's a great loss to Cape Breton. He's a great loss to the whole music scene in the region because he was an exceptional human being. He was very modest, had incredible talent and we all loved him.

GRAHAM: In Mabou, Cape Breton where Rankin grew up and still lived, people were devastated.

UNIDENTIFIED: I'm still stunned. It's a real tragedy. He was one of the bright lights of our community.

UNIDENTIFIED: It's like a family member. Anything that happens in this community is family. (Music)

GRAHAM: Last year when the Rankins called it quits as a group, John Morris Rankin spoke for the family.

(FILE FOOTAGE, SEPT. 19, 1999) JOHN MORRIS RANKIN / MUSICIAN: We all have our own lives. We're all getting a bit older. We'd just like to try some different things.

GRAHAM: He said then he wanted to spend more time with his family. John Morris Rankin was 40-years-old. Laurie Graham, CBC News, Halifax.

"Quiet Rankin" Remembered

John Morris Rankin dies in car crash

January 17, 2000 - CBC Radio News

Watch The National's Report

Listen to Brooks DeCillia's report for CBC Radio

Watch Laurie Graham's report for CBC TV

MARGAREE HARBOUR, Cape Breton - Canada's music industry is mourning the loss of one of its own today.

John Morris Rankin, the eldest member of the popular group The Rankins (formerly known as The Rankin Family), died yesterday in a tragic car accident in Cape Breton.

Frank McInnis, a spokesperson with the Cape Breton Fiddling Association, took a young John Morris Rankin to the Montreal Olympics in 1976 with a group of experienced fiddlers.

He says even back then Rankin's skill was of a superior quality, adding that Rankin has remained a shining example for musicians everywhere.

"All fiddlers looked to John Morris as a source of inspiration in many ways," recalls McInnis. "Probably because of his exposure as a member of the Rankin family, but because of his reputation as an exceptional individual - violin player and Celtic pianist. He was held in high regard by his peers... an extremely high regard."

Karl Falkenham, a CBC music producer and a friend of Rankin's, agrees. He says because John Morris Rankin was rarely in the spotlight, many people don't realize how skilled he was as a song-writer and multi-instrumentalist:

"He's probably one of the finest exponents of Inverness County fiddling and learned from the greats. In fact, there's a story Dave MacIsaac tells of how John's bedroom was so close to the dance hall that from the time of infancy, he heard every single Saturday night dance with all the greats.

"So it was absorbed and he was a very good guitarist but I think primarily, in my opinion, it was his piano work that impressed me the most. He and others would concur was probably the greatest Celtic piano player in the world."

Rankin was driving to a hockey game with three teenagers when his truck plunged into the water at Margaree Harbour Sunday morning.

Rankin apparently swerved to miss a pile of salt on the highway.

The teens were rescued from the icy waters. One is reported to have hypothermia and is in serious condition in hospital; doctors say the other two are fine.

Police say they tried for hours to rescue John Morris Rankin, but couldn't reach him in time to save his life.

The news of John Morris's death spread quickly in the tiny village of Mabou, and throughout the Canadian music industry.

John Morris played keyboards and fiddle and was seen as the leader of the group. Friends described him as quiet and a dedicated family man.

The group began performing in Mabou, Nova Scotia, in 1989 and rocketed to fame not long after, with the release of their second album titled Fare Thee Well Love.

As one of Atlantic Canada's most successful groups, the family rose from singing at county fairs and church halls to selling more than two million of their Celtic-inflected records around the world. They swept the Juno Awards in 1994.

They stopped performing together last year so members of the family could pursue independent careers.

Jimmy Rankin, one of John Morris' siblings, left the Family Farm Tribute concert in Toronto yesterday after being notified of the accident.

Prime Minister Jean Chretien says Cape Breton has lost one of its finest sons and Canada has lost one of its finest musicians. In a statement issued by his office, Chretien says it's impossible to comprehend how such a rich life filled with magical artistry could be taken so suddenly.

The funeral for John Morris Rankin will be held on Thursday.

Musicians sow message that farms facing crisis
City folks urged to remember 'where their food is coming from'

January 17, 2000 - Halifax Herald

By Andrew Flynn / The Canadian Press

Toronto - Some of Canada's top entertainers got together Sunday to send up a distress flare calling attention to the crisis affecting family farms across the country.

Legends such as Gordon Lightfoot, Burton Cummings, Randy Bachman and Ronnie Hawkins took the stage at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto to help raise awareness of the plight of many small farmers whose livelihoods are threatened by poor growing conditions and international trade pressures.

"The big mistake is to think that it's for 10 or 11 thousand people in this hall; it's not," veteran folk singer Sylvia Tyson said backstage during the event.

"They're going to get a great show. But it's being covered on CBC Newsworld, it's going on to radio, it's being covered in the press," Tyson said.

"It's not a money thing, that's not the point of the exercise - it's to raise consciousness, more than anything, of the average city-dweller who needs to know where their food is coming from." The concert was the centrepiece of a live day-long event on CBC Newsworld to draw national attention to the decline of the Canadian farm.

Masterminded by Toronto Liberal MP Dennis Mills and other federal and provincial politicians, the show aimed to educate urban Canadians about what falling commodity prices and shrinking subsidies have done to independent Canadian farmers.

Tens of thousands are facing hard times, and in many cases bankruptcy, amid poor growing conditions and international trade pressures. Saskatchewan farmers vented their frustration during an earlier "town hall" meeting in Regina carried live on Newsworld. Some sombrely described working for months in the field just to end up losing money. Others warned that thousands of farms could shut down this year.

"When we leave today, everybody's going to get a postcard where we describe the 10 things you can do to make a difference for rural Canada," Mills said backstage.

"You know, call your local MP or (provincial legislative member) and ask them what they are doing for our agricultural policy or our food sovereignty in this county.

"And the next time you go shopping maybe be a bit more sensitive about buying homegrown Canadian products."

Garry Breitkreuz, the Reform MP for the Saskatchewan Yorkton-Melville riding, said he has heard heart-wrenching stories from farmers in his riding. "The pain that is being experienced by grain growers is unbelievable," said Breitkreuz, who inspired Mills's participation after reading letters in the Commons from farmers in his constituency. He said he was encouraged by Mills's commitment to keeping the event non-partisan. "This is a non-political event. I think we've come to the point in agriculture in Saskatchewan where everyone must take notice. Farmers are frustrated; they say, 'You know every time Canadians sit down to eat they shouldn't just thank God they should thank a farmer too.'"

Bill Murray, 38, drove 18 hours from Charlottetown to get a glimpse of Hawkins and to show his support for farming friends in his home province.

"I think it's going to raise awareness, yes," Murray said, waving a placard reading "Hi, P.E.I. - I made it!" Federal Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief, who attended the event, said he hasn't given up trying to work out a solution to the crisis with provincial governments. More meetings between federal and provincial policy-makers will be held by mid-February, Vanclief said, with a full meeting of agriculture ministers slated for early March in Quebec City.

"Farming is a risky, risky business," said Vanclief, who is a farmer himself. "Not only are you competing with the rest of the world, you're competing with the weather and with each other. Organizers had sold about 14,000 tickets to the event at between $10 and $20 each.

Lightfoot, Cummings, Hawkins and Bachman were joined by rock bands Big Sugar and Wide Mouth Mason, singers Kevin Parent and Fred Eaglesmith, children's entertainers Fred Penner and Sharon, Lois, and Bram, tenor Michael Burgess, country/rock band Prairie Oyster and country legend Tyson as well as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Singer Jimmy Rankin, formerly of the Rankin Family group, left the venue early in the day after hearing his brother John Morris Rankin had been killed in a car accident.

Proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to farm communities through the National Rural Caucus, but the event was staged more to raise awareness than funds, organizers said. Mills estimated the event would net about $80,000.

'He lived for his family and his music'
Friends, colleagues remember John Morris Rankin

January 17, 2000 - Halifax Herald

By Stephen Cooke / Entertainment Reporter

It was often said of John Morris Rankin that he was as much at home on stage at London's Royal Albert Hall as he was at the West Mabou Community Hall.

It's also been said the only things that mattered to the Mabou-born performer were his music and his loved ones, and he attended to each with equal devotion. Rankin's death at age 40 in an auto accident near Margaree Harbour on Sunday morning sent ripples of shock through the Canadian music community, as those who knew him best remembered his consummate skill on piano and fiddle, and his gentle wit and warm personality.

He leaves behind his wife Sally, children Michael, 15, and Molly, 13, and a rich musical legacy that includes taking Cape Breton Celtic culture to the world.

"That's what he lived for, his family and his music," said guitarist Dave MacIsaac, a longtime friend who first accompanied Rankin during traditional sets at Halifax's Alexander's and the Thirsty Duck.

"He was the humblest guy you could ever meet," recalled MacIsaac, who said he felt like he'd lost a brother.

"He would never push himself into the spotlight. He was good to chat with, he was always the same."

But the spotlight did shine on Rankin, especially once the career of his family band The Rankins got rolling with a major record label contract and worldwide concert tours. The group's fiddler Howie MacDonald - a fixture in the band from its start as The Mabou Jig revue in 1989 until its breakup last year - says Rankin kept his brother Jimmy and sisters Raylene, Cookie and Heather grounded, both musically and emotionally.

"His dressing room humour was second to none, he really had a dry wit to him," MacDonald said. "He always had a comment that would really make you keel over, go weak in the knees, it was so funny. There was just something about the way his mind processed things.

"He had Cape Breton culture really well summed up; the whole music and its history and the way it was played. It captured people emotionally in the way that he played it."

Stephen MacDonald, the executive producer of The Rankins' first two albums, remembered John Morris as the quiet force behind the family band.

"Quietly and staying largely in the background, John Morris provided the most solid of bases for the musical magic of the Rankin Family," MacDonald said Sunday from his home in Lunenburg.

Bassist John Chaisson joined The Rankins in '92, and said that while the sisters' voices and Jimmy's songs were the focal point for listeners, John Morris was the musical centre.

"He was so involved with the Rankins, being the oldest, he often took everything on his shoulders," Chaisson said from his Dartmouth home.

"He never had a title like music director, but I always considered him to be in that role. He heard everything; he had great ears."

Rankin enjoyed the time off after the Rankins disbanded, according to musician/composer and close friend Scott Macmillan, and he was starting to think about where he was going to go next musically.

"I was asking him to appear on one of (CBC Radio's) Kitchen Party shows and he was willing to do that," Macmillan recalled. "But he enjoyed life slowing down a little bit, reflecting a little bit, and looked forward to getting out and playing again."

Rankin dies in accident
Fiddler's son, two others survive plunge

January 17, 2000 - Halifax Herald

By Bruce Erskine / Staff Reporter

John Morris Rankin, fiddler and piano player with the popular Rankin Family band, was killed when his truck plunged into the Gulf of St. Lawrence Sunday morning.

The accident at Whale Cove on the old coastal road between Dunvegan and Margaree Harbour occurred at 7:30 a.m. on Route 219, RCMP Cpl. Keith Brumwell said.

Police say Mr. Rankin, 40, had three teenage boys, including his son, with him when his northbound truck left the road and went over an embankment into the water 25 metres below.

"It was submerged in the water," Cpl. Brumwell said. "It's a miracle the kids survived." The boys, two aged 14 and one 15, were able to escape from the vehicle and climb back up to the road, police said. Cpl. Brumwell said Mr. Rankin's 15-year-old son, Michael, was the first to reach the road and flagged down a passing car.

Mr. Rankin, who lived in Judique, was reportedly driving the boys to a hockey tournament in Cheticamp. By the time paramedics arrived, the three boys had taken shelter at a nearby home, Emergency Health Services spokesman Morris Green said. The boys were later taken to Inverness Consolidated Hospital where they were treated for hypothermia, Mr. Green said.

He did not know how the boys escaped from the truck, which was pulled from the water by firefighters. Cpl. Brumwell called the efforts of Margaree Forks volunteer firefighters "heroic."

"They had to put ropes on the vehicle to prevent it from washing out to sea," he said, adding that a family opened their nearby home to rescue workers. Roads were slippery at the time, and Cpl. Brumwell said a police traffic analyst is trying to determine what caused the accident.

According to the Department of Transportation, area roads were snow-covered but passable with caution Sunday morning. Three ambulances from Margaree and Inverness responded to the accident, along with Inverness RCMP.

Mr. Rankin played with sisters Raylene, Cookie and Heather and brother Jimmy in the popular Celtic pop band for 10 years. The Juno award-winning group, which released several recordings and toured extensively, broke up last fall so members could pursue individual projects.

Musician Denis Ryan said news of the accident spread quickly through the Nova Scotia music community. "It's awful, awful, awful," said Ryan, who played music with Rankin in the mid '80s.

"I've known him for 25 years, for Christ's sake.... Why is it always the good people that die?" Ryan described Rankin as a dedicated family man and master carpenter who was like a younger brother to him. "He was just a beautiful person to be around - never offensive and could be awful funny at times. And he did have a great Celtic humour and wit about him. (He) could laugh and smile and have fun with very simple things in life."

Longtime Rankins manager Mickey Quase said he has lost one of his best friends. "It's a terrible tragedy and a personal tragedy," Mr. Quase said. "He's been one of my best buddies for many, many years."

Rankins fiddler Howie MacDonald first played alongside John Morris in the mid-'70s, and the pair often got the crowd hopping with passionate sets of traditional Cape Breton fiddle tunes. "He was a very solid reference on the music and for the culture in general," Mr. MacDonald said from his Sydney home. "When people think of him, they think of a solid individual, a man of few words with a dry wit and a very likeable guy.

"He will be referred to a lot. His music will stay around for a good while yet, and he's one of the people we will refer to when we're trying to explain how this music should be done or how it should feel."

Aside from his son, Mr. Rankin is survived by his wife, Sally, and daughter, Molly, 13.

Rankin 'legend' dies as truck skids off cliff
Pianist and fiddle player for The Rankin Family killed taking son to hockey game

January 17, 2000 - Toronto Star Atlantic Canada Bureau

By Kelly Toughill

HALIFAX - John Morris Rankin's death was like one of the haunting Celtic tunes he made famous, a tale of love and grief and heroism set in a place of deadly beauty.

The pianist for The Rankin Family was taking his son and two other teens to a hockey game in Cheticamp at dawn yesterday, driving up the twisting, icy highway that hugs Cape Breton's rugged north coast when his Toyota 4-Runner plunged over a 25-metre cliff into stormy seas.

The teens escaped, but volunteer firefighters had to don survival suits to search two-metre waves for the body of the famous musician whom some of them had counted a personal friend.

In a region where every home has at least one fiddle player and children learn to dance when they can walk, Rankin, 40, was looked up to as something quite special.

``He was a legend,'' recording artist Natalie MacMaster said yesterday. ``Anywhere he would show up, there was always a buzz in the room when he walked through the door because he was the best.''

Rankin was a master pianist and fiddle player who was a key member of the family group that made Cape Breton's unique Celtic sound mainstream fare.

Their five albums sold 2 million copies and earned five Juno awards. In an era of electronic sound, the Rankins were pioneers, playing age-old Scottish tunes that had been passed down through generations.

It is music that was incubated in the tiny isolated towns of rural Cape Breton, a place where tradition is revered and people cling to their roots.

Despite his success, Rankin continued to cling to those roots, keeping his home and family in Cape Breton, just down the road from the tiny town of Mabou where he grew up with 11 siblings.

He lived in Judique with his wife, Sally, 15-year-old son, Michael and 13-year-old daughter, Molly, who is also a fine fiddle player.

Just last week, the world-renowned musician played at a house party thrown by his childhood friend Kinnon Beaton, a former next door neighbour who never lost touch.

``They used to play ball as kids,'' Betty Lou Beaton recalled of her husband's best friend. ``Or at least they tried, but then John Morris' father would call them both inside and tell them to play him a tune.''

Rankin spent eight hours in the Beatons' basement last Sunday as 68 people danced square sets to the traditional old fiddle tunes.

``What a great memory for us to have,'' said Natalie MacMaster's mother, Minnie, who was at the party. ``He played with his daughter, Molly. He played with Natalie. He played with everybody last week. And it was recorded too. Now we must celebrate his life, not just remember his death.''

Minnie MacMaster grew up with the Rankins in Mabou. ``In church, we sat just a few pews behind all the Rankin kids. And we went to all the same dances. They are just beautiful, beautiful people, all of them.''

Friends yesterday remembered a soft-spoken, unassuming man who wielded huge influence in the rarefied world of Cape Breton music because of his immense talent.

``He was just a quiet little guy,'' said Betty Lou Beaton. ``You wouldn't know he could do anything at all, but he was just a genius.''

As a child, Natalie MacMaster listened to homemade tapes of Rankin over and over again and tried to mimic his exact sound. It was that sound that gave him influence, she said.

``He was the quiet, behind-the-scenes guy, humble,'' she said of the musician who played on her first two albums. ``It was like he had a big voice without saying anything.''

Stan Chapman is a renowned local fiddle teacher who counted Rankin as one of his closest friends. ``He was one of the most incredible Cape Breton musicians I ever met,'' he said.

Rankin played on 12 different albums, including his family's five. His songs were recorded by three other artists, including Ashley MacIsaac.

Rankin was joined by four of his siblings - Cookie, Heather, Jimmy and Raylene - to make up The Rankin Family, later known simply as The Rankins. The group disbanded last year.

Natalie MacMaster said yesterday local folks were delighted that because of the band's breakup, John Morris would be travelling less. ``It was just great having him around again,'' she said. ``Everybody was really looking forward to having him home more.''

Jimmy Rankin learned of his brother's death in Toronto yesterday, where he was scheduled to play in a fundraising concert for farmers. He flew home immediately. Neither he nor Rankin's other family could be reached for comment.

Authorities yesterday called it a ``miracle'' that the teenagers travelling in Rankin's car escaped without any serious injuries. The car smashed down a 25-metre cliff, flipped upside down and was submerged in the stormy sea.

Leo Gallant, chief of the Margaree District Fire Department, said the teens crawled out a window. Rankin's son Michael then climbed up the icy cliff. ``We still don't know how he did it,'' he said last night. ``Our men had to use ropes and full gear to get up and down that cliff, but he did it with his bare hands.''

Michael Rankin flagged down a car. The driver threw an extension cord over the cliff, which the other two teens used to pull themselves up to the road, Gallant said.

Gallant said his men had to lash Rankin's car with ropes to keep it from being pulled out to sea. The car, which landed upside down in the surf, was eventually hoisted up the cliff to the road. It was only then that they realized Rankin's body was not inside, he said.

The firefighters decided not to wait for scuba divers to arrive from Halifax to search the stormy seas, he said. Instead, they donned survival suits themselves and started searching the breakers for Rankin's body, which was pulled from the water near the crash site.

``Some of our guys are in pretty rough shape now,'' he said. ``They are exhausted and I think they will need counselling.''

Road salt likely factor in Rankin fatality
RCMP probing crash; funeral in Mabou Thursday

January 18, 2000 - Halifax Herald

By Tera Camus / Cape Breton Bureau

Whale Cove - Road salt may have been a factor in the death Sunday of musician John Morris Rankin.

Salt spilled by a provincial Transportation Department truck left a large, unexpected bump on Route 219 moments before the internationally known Celtic musician and member of the Rankins approached in his sports utility vehicle. Mr. Rankin was on his way to Cheticamp to attend a hockey tournament.

"There was certainly a mound or pile of salt . . . and from talking to our staff, this seemed to be a little bigger ... (than) the ordinary," department spokesman Chris Welner said.

The mound, less than a third of a metre high and as wide as a single lane, created a speed bump in the 80 km/h zone. It's believed Mr. Rankin swerved to avoid the bump, then lost control of the truck, which plunged over a 25-metre cliff into the Atlantic Ocean near Margaree Harbour.

Mr. Rankin's three passengers, including his son, Michael, 15, managed to escape the overturned, submerged vehicle. Michael was the first one to make it up the cliff and he flagged down a passing car. He and two 14-year-old boys were later treated for hypothermia and released from hospital.

Inverness RCMP are looking into whether the excessive salt on the road caused the crash. The roads were also snow-covered and icy at the time of the 7:30 a.m. accident.

"That's still under investigation, and I do not have much comment," Const. Sheldon Miller said.

"It's sad . . . probably one of the hardest (investigations) I've had to do," Const. Miller said. "The boys were lucky" to survive. Mr. Welner said the department is working with the RCMP to determine whether the salt was a factor.

"Right now, we don't have all the facts but we're helping gather the facts and helping the police with their work," Mr. Welner said.

The department isn't going to introduce any changes to the way it clears the highway of snow and ice, Mr. Welner told CBC Radio's afternoon show in Sydney.

"Every day (the drivers) go out and go out as well-trained officers who do a very difficult job in very difficult conditions," he said.

Mr. Rankin, who lived in Judique, played fiddle and piano for 10 years in the popular Celtic pop band that included sisters Raylene, Cookie and Heather and brother Jimmy. Last fall, the Juno award-winning group broke up to pursue solo careers. At the time, Mr. Rankin said he was interested in spending more time at home with his wife, Sally, his son and daughter Molly, 13.

No autopsy will be performed. Police cannot say whether he died from injuries suffered in the crash or drowned. His funeral is set for Thursday at 2 p.m. at St. Mary's Church in Mabou.

Condolences continue to pour in for Mr. Rankin's surviving family and friends.

Prime Minister Jean Chretien said he was shocked to hear of Mr. Rankin's death. "Like all Canadians, I was simply stunned to learn of this terrible accident," Mr. Chretien said in a news release. "Cape Breton has lost one of her finest sons, and Canada has lost one of her finest musicians. It is impossible to comprehend how a life so rich in talent . . . a life whose magical artistry had touched so many . . . could be taken so suddenly and under such tragic circumstances."

Premier John Hamm also sent his sympathies to Mr. Rankin's seven sisters and four brothers. "The collective grief and sorrow of Nova Scotians and Canadians cannot begin to fill the void in John Morris's family. But in time, we hope John Morris's family will find strength in our prayers, our support and our admiration for a most remarkable man. He was a model Nova Scotian . . . an artist . . . an inspiring musician and proud Cape Bretoner."

Mr. Rankin, the fourth child in the family, was predeceased by his mother, Kathleen, and father Alex J. (Buddy) Rankin.

John Morris and siblings Jimmy, Cookie, Raylene and Heather sold more than two million albums and are credited with taking Cape Breton Celtic music to the mainstream, first as the Rankin Family, then simply the Rankins. But there are seven other siblings, some living as far away as California and the United Arab Emirates. All of them arrived home Monday.

Jim St. Clair, a cousin who has been in touch with many of the Rankins, said the siblings were taking care of each other.

"These are people of faith. They are people of understanding of the difficulties of life," Mr. St. Clair said from his home in Mull River, near Mabou.

"They rally around one another in times of trouble as well as times of joy. They are being supported very well by each other."

Mr. St. Clair said the famous family was keeping a low profile and wanted to mourn in private. Wakes are to be held today and Wednesday at the old Rankin homestead in Mabou.

Organizers of the East Coast Music Awards are planning a tribute to Mr. Rankin at awards ceremonies in Sydney next month.

"The Rankins have crossed our stage almost from Day 1," ECMA spokesman Marcel McKeough said. "We're considering ways to show our respect and show our appreciation for his legacy."

With The Canadian Press

John Morris Rankin

January 18, 2000 - Halifax Herald

TRAGEDY has struck the Rankin family of Cape Breton, leaders in the Celtic music revival that has swept the airways over the past decade.

John Morris Rankin, 40, was killed on Sunday morning after his vehicle left the road at Whale Cove, near Margaree Harbour.

Mr. Rankin, the eldest of the five siblings who formed The Rankin Family more than a decade ago, is being described as the quiet leader of the phenomenally successful group, which had shortened its name to The Rankins prior to the decision to disband last year.

Tragedies of this nature strike without warning, and the blunt force of the pain of sudden death is a terrible shock for those who are left behind. In the death of John Morris Rankin the shock extends to the extended family of musicians in this province, as well as to the many fans who are thankful they have had the opportunity to enjoy his musical talents.

The Mabou native is remembered by those who knew him best as an unassuming man who shouldered the burden of success with ease by always remaining true to his roots. His dry wit, always at the ready, was testament to a tremendous sense of humour.

Mr. Rankin's priorities in life were his family and his music. As the eldest among the singing Rankins, he offered the sort of protective and encouraging guidance that comes with the role of being the big brother. While his three sisters, Heather, Raylene and Cookie, were known for their singing, and brother Jimmy for his songwriting, John Morris has been described as the rock who held the group together.

His talent for both the fiddle and piano, as well as a keen ear for the music, have been lauded in the music community as exceptional.

And as a husband and father, he showed maturity and selflessness in attempting to strike the right balance between a musician's gruelling life on the road and that of a family man. Last year, when The Rankins broke up after a glorious decade of making music, collecting awards and topping the charts, John Morris's desire to spend more time at home with his family in Judique was quoted as one of the reasons.

Indeed, at the time of his death, Mr. Rankin was involved in that most Canadian of parental duties - driving his 15-year-old son, Michael, to a hockey game in the early hours of a winter day. As the four-wheel drive left the road and plunged over an embankment and into the waters of Margaree Harbour, John Morris reportedly ordered the teenagers to jump from the vehicle.

While the three teenagers thankfully made it to safety, sadly he did not. His body was recovered later in the day by Margaree Forks volunteer firefighters, whose efforts under treacherous conditions were described as "heroic" by an RCMP officer at the scene.

The other hero on the scene, of course, was John Morris himself, who clearly put the safety of the teenagers ahead of his own as he struggled to control the vehicle. Besides his son, Mr. Rankin is also survived by his wife, Sally, and his 13-year-old daughter, Molly.

Longtime friend and fellow musician Denis Ryan described John Morris as a dedicated husband and father who was like a younger brother to him. "He was just a beautiful person to be around - never offensive and he could be awfully funny at times. And he did have a great Celtic humour and wit about him. He could laugh and smile and have fun with very simple things in life."

John Morris Rankin will be sadly missed as a man and as a musician. His family, friends and fans are all mourning his loss. His legacy is his devotion to his family, his exemplary love for Cape Breton and his tremendous musical talent. Surely, he has gone to a better place, where the music is lively, sweet and pure, and never a sour note is struck.

Fare thee well, love.

The Rankins Legacy
Rankin Family introduced Cape Breton's ancient party music to rest of the world

January 18, 2000 - Halifax Herald

By Andrew Flynn - The Canadian Press

They stole a little fire from their Cape Breton kitchen and then the Rankins lit a bonfire that caught and spread and warmed the ears and hearts of Canadians.

Breathing new life into the ancient, near-forgotten airs and reels of the immigrant Scots, the humble family musical group from tiny Mabou, would become a driving force in the nation's entertainment scene.

"The craze for Celtic music that hit Canada in the '90s was definitely started by the Rankin Family," says Larry LeBlanc, music historian and Canadian correspondent for Billboard Magazine.

"Every label decided at that point, 'We have to have someone from down there.'" Their talents first blossomed in Mabou, a small Cape Breton community literally bursting with musical tradition. There, the kitchen parties or ceilidh, would ring with the stamping of feet and the reels and Strathspeys performed by great traditional fiddlers like Donald Angus Beaton and Dan R. MacDonald.

Speaking and singing the Gaelic of their ancestors, the young Rankins were busy absorbing a truly venerable heritage.

Of the performing brothers and sisters - Cookie, Heather, Jimmy, John Morris and Raylene - John Morris, killed Sunday in a car accident, was perhaps the critical link to generations of fiddle-playing forebears.

"The spirit for all of that, the anchor, was John Morris Rankin, the person and the musician that he was," says Sheldon MacInnes, a Celtic music researcher at the University College of Cape Breton and author of A Journey in Celtic Music, Cape Breton Style.

"He was truly a link among the young fiddlers with the old time traditional style of the music."

"He was a touchstone to the older musicians in the area, carrying on a tradition that might have died when television in the '40s and '50s began to threaten it," agrees LeBlanc.

"The same Scottish airs were played in the 1640s and had a lot to do with the immigration to Canada of the clans."

The Rankins would become a bridge from the past to the future.

"The music here is a lot purer than it is even in contemporary day Scotland, that's what's really remarkable about it," says LeBlanc.

"There is a theory within music that the farther you get away from the mother root the purer the music tends to be. Part of that is because the mother body of music churns and changes."

The music of Cape Breton remained almost frozen in time, an enduring snapshot of the old world that evolved just enough to become it's own entity.

"That's why we're transfixed by an Ashley MacIsaac," says LeBlanc. "It really is a remarkable, unique musical style of swoops and bows."

The Rankins soared out of Mabou with their tradition-steeped sound in the early 1990s with two independent cassettes, The Rankin Family (1989) and Fare Thee Well Love (1990), later released by a major label. The first would go on to sell more than 100,000 copies, the second more than 400,000 - an astounding feat for any Canadian band.

Television appearances, cross-country tours and the respect of both the record buying public and international folk and Celtic performers would follow. They would dominate the East Coast Music Awards in their early career and win five Juno Awards. In 1998, Paddy Moloney, founder of the legendary Irish group the Chieftains, would invite the Rankins to record for his spotlight CD on Cape Breton talent, Fire in the Kitchen.

Ironically, the group was often doubtful about whether their music would appeal to audiences outside of their own region.

The Rankins' success was to be a catalyst for other musicians, says MacInnes, and performers like Ashley MacIsaac, Natalie MacMaster, Bruce Guthro and Mary Jane Lamond would follow in their wake as the floodgates of Cape Breton opened to the world.

"They have opened many doors for other musicians here and demonstrated that a very ancient music, a very traditional music, can have appeal universally," says MacInnes.

Their popularity would create other opportunities for Cape Bretoners, not only in music and the performing arts, but also helping to shape public policy in the region.

"(Their success) provided further appreciation and rationale for public institutions to lend some support to the whole Gaelic language scene," he says. "That's where the Rankin family perhaps would have been most instrumental in this community. And maybe beyond, in indicating that there is a Gaelic language here, a strong tradition.

"They have taken that tradition and moulded the music and the songs in a way that would be appealing to the general public so that people like myself, who research and write, could turn to the bureaucrats and say, 'Here you go, look at what happens when we support this stuff, look at the interest worldwide.'"

Plow driver 'devastated' over Rankin accident

January 19, 2000 - Halifax Herald

By Tera Camus / Cape Breton Bureau

The driver of the snowplow that dumped a mound of salt on the road where John Morris Rankin was killed in an accident is distraught over Sunday's tragedy, says a co-worker.

"Devastated is an understatement," local plow driver Don Cameron, who represents provincial highway workers with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, said of his colleague.

"It's horrible. I know if I were in the same situation, I wouldn't be able to work. All the (other) guys here are working . . . but this has had a major effect on all of us."

Mr. Rankin, a world-renowned Celtic musician, died when his sport utility vehicle left Highway 219 at about 7:30 a.m. and plunged over a 25-metre cliff and into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Inverness RCMP believe Mr. Rankin, 40, may have lost control of the truck when he swerved to avoid a mound of salt on the old coastal road near Whale Cove.

Officers are trying to determine how the pile of salt, less than a third of a metre high, was spilled in Mr. Rankin's lane just moments before the musician and three teenage boys came along.

The four, including Mr. Rankin's 15-year-old son, Michael, were headed to a hockey tournament in Cheticamp. Michael and two 14-year-old boys managed to escape from the truck and climb back up to the road, where they summoned help. The boys were treated for hypothermia.

Chris Welner, spokesman for the provincial Transportation Department, said officials are trying to help staff cope with the tragedy.

"I think it's fair to say (the driver) is quite shaken up," Mr. Welner said.

"It's a very stressful and emotional time for John Morris's family and for all of Nova Scotia, including our operators."

Mr. Welner said the driver was an experienced plow operator and was used to being out when conditions are at their worst, as they were last Sunday, when the highway was covered with snow and ice.

"Every time we put out an advisory to stay off the roads, this is exactly the time our guys are out," he said.

Mr. Cameron said it's not uncommon for excess salt to be spread on the road.

"Sometimes you get frozen or lumpy salt . . . and the excess salt needs to be run off," he said. "Drivers then have to scrape the stuff off the road."

But sometimes, especially when snow and ice cover the road, drivers can't always see excess salt. RCMP have impounded both the plow and the wreckage of Mr. Rankin's truck to test them for mechanical failure. Hundreds of people are expected to attend Mr. Rankin's funeral, set for 2 p.m. Thursday at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Mabou. Rev. Angus Morris will conduct the service.

Mr. Rankin played fiddle and piano for 10 years in the popular Celtic band the Rankin Family (later the Rankins), which included sisters Raylene, Cookie and Heather and brother Jimmy. Last fall, the group split up to pursue other interests. Mr. Rankin's plan was to spend more time with his wife, Sally, his son and daughter Molly, 13.

He is survived by seven other siblings, some living as far away as California and the United Arab Emirates. All are back home in Mabou.

Funeral for John Morris Rankin

January 20, 2000 - CBC's The National

Guest: LAURIE GRAHAM, Reporter
FATHER ANGUS MORRIS
JIM St. CLAIR, Family friend
DENIS RYAN, Musician and friend

PETER MANSBRIDGE: A church in Nova Scotia was filled today with people and music. As mourners gathered to say good-bye to John Morris Rankin who died on Sunday. About a thousand people attended the funeral of a man who stayed close to his roots, even as he helped bring Cape Breton music to the world. Laurie Graham reports.

LAURIE GRAHAM: They crowded into the small Catholic church. Hundreds of people: family, friends and fiddlers of all ages. They came to say good-bye and to pay tribute to one of their own.

(Voice of) FATHER ANGUS MORRIS: There's a Gaelic saying that says all things will pass away but love and music will last forever. And that's why I believe John Morris will rise again.

GRAHAM: John Morris Rankin was the oldest brother of the Rankin family, a Celtic band that sold millions of records worlwide. One of the East Coast's most successful musical groups. Last Sunday he was killed when when he was driving his son and two other teenagers to a hockey game. He apparently swerved around a pile of salt that was on the highway, lost control of his vehicle and plunged 25 meters into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The accident is still being investigated.

GRAHAM: Rankin's sudden death has shocked this community. He grew up in Mabou. People knew him not only as a musician but as a neighbor. All 11 sisters and brothers attended his funeral in the church where he was baptized.

JIM ST. CLAIR / FAMILY FRIEND: I think it's very hard for them. They loved him. You know, they just loved him. (Music)

GRAHAM: And friends loved him too.

DENIS RYAN / MUSICIAN AND FRIEND: We're all better off to have known John and I hope...He was the same with the public as he was with his next door neighbour. Just a humble, brilliant, decent man.

GRAHAM: As Rankin's casket was carried from the church, people gathered around to show their respect. And 150 fiddlers played a series of reels, some of Rankin's favorite tunes. Their way of saying good-bye to a talented musician and friend. Laurie Graham, CBC News, Mabou, Nova Scotia.

'People are still shocked'
Rankin family, friends and fans gather to mourn John Morris

January 20, 2000 - Halifax Herald

By Stephen Cooke / Staff Reporter

Mabou - In this small Inverness County village, it wasn't just the Rankins who lost one of their own when John Morris Rankin died in a car accident Sunday morning. The entire community feels like it's lost a family member.

"We will feel the impact for many years to come," said musician and composer Joey Beaton, a lifelong friend and neighbour whose father Donald Angus was Mr. Rankin's initial inspiration.

Mr. Beaton, who performed the Mabou coal mines style of Celtic music with Mr. Rankin at the Montreal Cultural Olympics in 1976 as well as at prestigious shows at New York's Kitchen in 1978 and Lincoln Center in 1982, said Mr. Rankin soaked up the influences of legendary fiddlers like Willie Kennedy and Buddy MacMaster.

Mr. Rankin died Sunday morning when his sport utility vehicle plunged into the ocean near Margaree Harbour. He was headed to a hockey game in Cheticamp with his son and two other teenagers, who managed to escape before the truck hit the water. There is speculation Mr. Rankin had swerved trying to avoid a pile of salt on the road, but the investigation continues.

"Every day was a learning day for him," Mr. Beaton said of Mr. Rankin. "And although he excelled at whatever he did, he was never a know-it-all.

"His contribution to the music of Cape Breton - his fiddling, his piano playing, his compositions - will be referred to for hundreds of years."

The whole of Cape Breton agrees. Friends, family and fans lined up for hours Wednesday afternoon and evening outside the Rankin family home in Mabou to pay respects to Mr. Rankin and offer comfort to his wife, Sally, and their teenage children, Michael and Molly, as well as his brothers and sisters.

Funeral will be this afternoon at 2 o'clock in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Mabou. A collage of photos inside the Rankin home showed Mr. Rankin doing what he loved best - playing music, enjoying the outdoors and sharing time with his family. It was a time to grieve, but also a time to reminisce.

At MacMillan's General Store, where a large outdoor painting of the Rankins greets visitors, David MacMillan remembered growing up with Mr. Rankin, getting into snowball fights and playing on the same hockey team.

"He'd give (opponents) a few jabs every now and again," Mr. MacMillan recalled. "He was a digger, he liked to stir up the pot a little."

"People are still shocked, they can't believe it happened to him," added Mr. MacMillan's brother, Bobby, who co-manages the store. "He was such a fine person, so good and witty."

Port Hood resident Harold Pond said his last memory of Mr. Rankin was also hockey-related - he spent Saturday chatting with him while their sons played in the Cheticamp tournament.

"He loved being a part of it," Mr. Pond said. "He was as proud as any father would be, especially when his son got a goal that afternoon.

"I'm honoured to have known him. Nobody could say a bad word against him."

The loss was felt most keenly on the street where Mr. Rankin's family once lived, in the heart of Mabou. Archie Rankin watched him grow up from birth, and recalls a young man who put his all into whatever he did but never asked for the limelight.

"He was so humble, you wouldn't think he had the ability," Mr. Rankin said, "but people knew him all over the world. To think he was born just across the road."

Plow driver struggles with tragedy

January 20, 2000 - Halifax Herald

By Tera Camus / Cape Breton Bureau

The snowplow driver blamed by some for the death of Celtic musician John Morris Rankin says he can't wait for the day when he can say what really happened that tragic morning.

"It's not been easy. It's been horrible," John Archie Chisholm, a longtime employee of the Transportation Department, said Wednesday. "But it will all come out."

Police believe Sunday's 7:30 a m. accident might have been caused in part by a mound of salt spilled on Highway 219 moments before Mr. Rankin's vehicle came along.

Mr. Chisholm said his lawyer has advised him not to comment on the accident until the RCMP investigation is complete, perhaps by Friday.

"Only myself and God in heaven know what I'm going through," Mr. Chisholm said in a telephone interview.

"It will all come out . . . from the time I got up in the morning to when this happened."

"When (that) time comes . . . my record will pretty well stand behind me."

Mr. Rankin, 40, was heading from Judique to a hockey tournament in Cheticamp with three teenagers, including his 15-year-old son, Michael. Near Margaree Harbour, he apparently swerved to avoid a pile of salt, losing control of his sport utility vehicle, which plunged over a 25-metre cliff into the sea. The three teens survived but Mr. Rankin couldn't escape the vehicle before it sank.

Inverness RCMP Const. Shelby Miller said details of the accident could be released by the end of the week. Part of the investigation has focused on the plow driven by Mr. Chisholm, as well as Mr. Rankin's vehicle.

The soft-spoken Mr. Chisholm said he's "hanging in there" but he finds it difficult to read or listen to media reports on how the salt got on the road.

There's been speculation the salt was dumped while the driver took a break or stopped to talk to a passer-by. Another theory is that lumpy salt was dumped and the driver didn't shovel away the excess.

Asked about a rumour that was circulating Wednesday, Mr. Chisholm said no one from the Rankin family had called him since the accident.

Mr. Rankin's funeral will be held today at 2 p.m. at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Mabou.

Local firefighters will direct traffic and handle parking for the hundreds of vehicles expected to arrive in the community. One local woman said the 600-seat church may not hold everyone.

Sampson a finalist in Lennon contest

January 20, 2000 - Halifax Herald

Gordie Sampson was named a finalist in the pop category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest for his hit Sorry.

Harry Francis of Nottingham, Pa., was the grand-prize winner with Color My World and Sampson was one of three finalists.

The finalists each received $1,000 U.S. from the New York-based contest.

There are 12 categories in the contest, which also awards prizes to six runners-up. Sampson and Ryan Szarko of Edmonton whose Where I Send You was a finalist in the dance category, were the only two non-American winners.

Sorry, from the CD Stones, has earned Sampson ECMA nominations for song, single and video. Trip has also received nominations for song and single.

Songwriters' Circle lineup announced

January 20, 2000 - Halifax Herald

The East Coast Music Awards Songwriters' Circle has announced this year's lineup.

The Tattler has learned that, the event's founder Sydney Mines singer / songwriter Bruce Guthro will host the circle that will feature Carol Ritchie, Jimmy Rankin, Cory Tetford, John Curtis Sampson, Paul Lamb, Ian Janes, Matt Minglewood and Damhnait Doyle. Longtime Canadian singer /songwriter Dan Hill will also join in the fun.

The Songwriters' Circle will be held on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 6 at the Delta Sydney Hotel.

John Morris: a humble voice in music world

January 20, 2000 - Halifax Herald

By Stephen Cooke - Nightclub Notebook

My education in Cape Breton music began with John Morris Rankin. The year I graduated from Kings College School of Journalism, I got a job as entertainment reporter at C100-FM, and one of my early assignments was interviewing the members of a musical family from Mabou who were appearing at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium in a show called, appropriately, The Mabou Jig.

Here I was, a Dartmouth kid raised on punk rock, trying to get a crash course in the history of Celtic music from John Morris and his sister Cookie who dropped by the station to chat about the show. I knew nothing of the community hall dances or strong family traditions, or names like Beaton, Chisholm and Fitzgerald, but the Rankins' stories, and their songs, opened up a whole new world to me.

Our paths would continue to cross over the years - I remember the group wondering how they'd go over with the alternative crowd at an early ECMA showcase at the Pub Flamingo, and the audience wouldn't let them leave the stage - but I always marvelled at how soft-spoken John Morris remained exactly the same, from the day I first met him to the last time I saw him, at the ECMAs last year in St. John's, enjoying the company of his fellow musicians.

I mean, fame changes people, you almost can't help it, but not John Morris. When I asked him what he was going to do when he got his first big cash advance from EMI, the major label that signed the Rankins, he said he'd always wanted to get a wood splitter for his farm in Judique. There were clearly no stars in his eyes.

At the Fish Aid concert two summers ago, John Morris and his family sat in the crowd, enjoying the other acts, instead of hiding out in his trailer backstage and amiably chatted with those fans who recognized him. To him, music was just something you did; it didn't make you any different from your neighbours.

As for his playing, it took me a few years of listening to the Rankins on record to really appreciate it, the way he combined the rhythmic urgency of Cape Breton keyboard accompaniment with his own lyrical touches, while his wide-ranging knowledge of pop and country styles gave the band's contemporary numbers that beautiful melodic flow.

If a more talented pianist ever came across the Causeway, I've yet to hear about it.

Rembering John Morris
Rankin was happy being considered one of the guys

January 20, 2000 - Halifax Herald

By Frank Campbell

John Morris Rankin must be checking us out from above these days, wondering what all the fuss is about.

His life story and details of his death in a Sunday morning automobile accident have graced the front pages of newspapers and grabbed highlights on national newscasts.

People who never even met John Morris are suffering a great sense of loss. Public figures and politicians, including Prime Minister Jean Chretien, have offered condolences to John Morris's family.

John Morris would not wear comfortably the accolades he's received this week. Down to earth, humble and modest, he was happier to be considered one of the guys than to be thought of as the guy whose exceptional talents brought him and four Mabou siblings to the national and international stage.

In elementary school at Mabou Consolidated, John Morris was one of the guys classmates liked to taunt because he did something different - he played the fiddle and piano.

But the little boy from Back Street deflected the childish taunts, silencing the snickers by taking his music far beyond the borders of the tiny coastal community in Inverness County.

John Morris was one of the guys often razzed in high school because of his diminutive stature. But he soon learned how to use his quick wit and ready sense of humour to disarm even the most persistent of tormentors.

At St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, John Morris was one of the guys who enjoyed a good time, but he tempered it with more than enough study to be successful.

He was one of the guys who had textbooks and library books strewn everywhere on the floor of his dormitory room. When he successfully retrieved the relevant textbook, John Morris's study problems were far from over. Entire pages, save for a few words, had been highlighted by a yellow marker that John Morris supposedly was saving for significant passages.

John Morris was one of the guys at St. F.X. who would joke with friends about buying a school jacket. He somehow scraped together enough money to buy an all-leather jacket, but he took some ribbing about its exorbitant cost from friends who chose the cheaper melton-cloth jackets with leather sleeves.

"In 10 or 20 years, I'll still have the jacket and all you'll have left is the sleeves," John Morris shot back.

The leather jacket turned out to be an appropriate choice for John Morris, its durable, reliable and unchanging nature mirroring the character of its owner. In the years to come, John Morris might take the leather jacket out of the closet only once or twice a year, but it always looked the same.

Similarly, as those years passed and our situations changed, my visits with John Morris were often limited to one or two a year. Yet the conversation flowed easily and comfortably, as if only days had passed since our last meeting, for John Morris was one of the guys it was always fun to be around.

John Morris's leather jacket was just as practical in the communities of Mabou and Judique, his home for the past number of years, as it was on worldwide Rankin Family tours.

And returning to Cape Breton from the bright musical spotlight, John Morris was still just one of Buddy and Kathleen's boys. Fame had no more chance of changing John Morris's unassuming character than time had of altering his good old leather jacket.

John Morris was one of the guys who struggled after university. Through the hard times of working in Halifax as a part-time musician and part-time carpenter's helper, and the joyous times of marrying Sally and starting to raise a family, he was always ready to roll with life's punches and laugh at his own foibles.

John Morris was one of the guys who put The Rankin Family on the musical map and kept them there. And he was one of the family who had had enough after 10 years of touring the world.

It was time for John Morris to be one of the husbands and one of the fathers who could devote more time to family. While he appreciated what he had achieved and the things he had gained because of his love and mastery of music, he quietly lamented missing much of his son Michael's and his daughter Molly's early childhood.

John Morris's music is a legacy that will live on in recordings. His smile, his humour and his integrity will live on longer and stronger with family and friends.

John Morris is one of the guys who will be remembered as a musical genius, a genius that pales in comparison with his talents as a husband, a father, a brother, and a true friend.

He's one guy who merited respect, first as a man and then as a musician. And surely that's something to fuss about.

Frank Campbell is news editor of The Chronicle-Herald and The Mail-Star. A Mabou native, he grew up with John Morris.

Voice of the People - Great Musician

January 20, 2000 - Halifax Herald

Dear Editor:

I was saddened to hear of the tragic death of John Morris Rankin on Sunday.

My family and I spent a beautiful two weeks in Nova Scotia last August. We came primarily to see the scenery and listen to the bagpipes and fiddles. Along the way, we were introduced to The Rankins and their music. My 12-year-old daughter has subsequently appropriated our North Country CD; I may never get it back.

But that is far less the loss than that which Nova Scotia has suffered. My heart goes out to the province, and to the Rankin family. Please know that there are people throughout the world who mourn the death of your native son, a great musician.

David Clendinning, Tallahassee, Fla.

Mourners remember Rankin's humility, talent

January 21, 2000 - Halifax Herald

By Stephen Cooke / Entertainment Reporter

Mabou - It was fitting that friends and family would gather to remember John Morris Rankin at the community hall where so many first heard him perform.

Within minutes after his funeral, the community hall down the road from St. Mary's Catholic Church, where the touching ceremony was held, began filling up with loved ones and the air was alive with stories.

Looking out the hall's kitchen door, you could see the white two-storey home where the Rankin family grew up. Inside the kitchen, Mr. Rankin's aunt, Mary Loretta Beaton, oversaw an army of volunteers serving hot tea and carrying trays of sandwiches, squares and scones to a long table in the hall.

Too busy to stop and chat, Mrs. Beaton quickly related how she used to take the Rankin children on Victoria Day picnics and how she remembers John Morris playing the piano - the one just behind her on the stage - when his legs were still too short to reach the pedals.

That same image of young John Morris on the community hall piano bench is the earliest memory that comes to mind for Mabou stepdancer Mary Janet MacDonald. She began teaching the distinctive Cape Breton style of dancing in the early '70s and had some of the Rankin sisters in her very first class.

"He was so full of natural ability, so eager," she recalled. "I can't remember watching a child play the old tunes like that before."

Saturday, the day before Mr. Rankin was killed in a highway accident at age 40, Mrs. MacDonald sat with him at the Cheticamp hockey tournament where their sons were playing. Naturally the talk turned to music, but true to his humble nature, Mr. Rankin preferred to describe how well his 13-year-old daughter Molly's fiddle-playing was coming along.

"We were at a party at fiddler Kinnon Beaton's house a month ago," Mrs. MacDonald said, "and everyone was excited that John Morris came by. We all hoped he'd play, and he did of course, but first he made sure that Molly got to play. You could see he was so proud, he was beaming."

While Toronto record company executives and Mabou residents mingled in the hall, Cape Breton fiddler Jerry Holland ducked outside for a breath of winter air. Mr. Rankin played with him often, on stage and on record, but Mr. Holland remembers him first and foremost as a friend.

"That means a lot today if you can say that about someone," Mr. Holland said emphatically. "John Morris made sure he could come to my wedding in September, and the fact he could make an appearance was wonderful. He would always be there for his friends in support and loyalty."

Mr. Holland remembers going to the Rankin house when John Morris was 11 or 12 and hearing him play.

"His father Buddy loved to see me coming," Mr. Holland said. "He knew I could get (John Morris) away from the piano to play the fiddle for a while, while I picked at the piano. I'd tell John Morris to sit up and play the fiddle like a man, and his dad would sit down the hall so he wouldn't intimidate him. I think they both got a kick out of it."

Cape Breton music archivist Paul MacDonald credits Mr. Rankin with starting him on his career.

"I wasted my childhood on rock 'n' roll and TV, but John Morris - who's the same age as me - clearly didn't," said Mr. MacDonald, who's produced roughly 60 fiddle albums.

"When I got bitten by the Cape Breton music bug, he was the guy I looked to for inspiration, and I looked at how he did it - by engulfing himself in old tapes of the master players.

"But I'll always remember him for his humility, which is so rare in the music business."

Irish singer Denis Ryan performed a haunting Dark Island at the funeral.

"John Morris used to imitate me singing Dark Island," a laughing Mr. Ryan said later at the community hall.

"How ironic I should be singing it at his funeral. I just miss John. Besides his ability, his style and his skill, he was just a beautiful human being, solid as a rock."

As night fell and the crowd thinned, Mr. Rankin's brothers and sisters said farewell to their guests. They came here to remember, and it's certain none will ever forget Mr. Rankin's contributions to music and the community.

WHAT WAS SAID:

"He was always looked on as an equal by the older fiddlers, like Buddy MacMaster and Alex Francis MacKay." - Dan MacDonald, Cape Breton music promoter.

"He was so involved in what he was doing when he played on stage, I think in his mind he could hear the babbling brooks of Mabou Coal Mines." - Joey Beaton, Mabou musician and Rankin family next-door neighbour.

"He composed a tune for my granddaughter in Judique, called Gabrielle's Jig. She was flabbergasted that he would take the time to do that." - Archie Rankin, Mabou friend and neighbour.

"John Morris was one of the best piano players in Cape Breton - Buddy MacMaster said he was THE best. Then he started playing the fiddle, and people said he could never do it, you were only supposed to play one instrument. But he became a big star playing both, but it never went to his head." - Willie Kennedy, Mabou fiddler and family friend.

"John Morris was very much a part of our family. We all feel like we've lost a brother and son. We're all family here - you know who everyone is and where everyone comes from - and when someone dies, it has a domino effect on the community." - Mary Janet MacDonald, Mabou stepdancer.

'We have lost a great friend'
More than 1,000 attend Rankin funeral

January 21, 2000 - Halifax Herald

By Tera Camus / Cape Breton Bureau

Mabou - John Morris Rankin would have been humbled by the tribute that family, friends and fellow musicians paid to him Thursday in their final farewell.

"He would have said, 'This is nonsense, I'm not worth all of this,' " family spokesman Jim St. Clair said after the traditional funeral mass.

More than 50 musicians - including Buddy MacMaster, Denis Ryan, Ashley MacIsaac, Scott Macmillan and Gordie Sampson - played traditional strathspeys and reels like the Glen Coe March in front of more than 1,000 mourners who packed St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church.

"Really, he was too humble, too modest, I guess," Mr. St. Clair said. "I think he would have far better enjoyed playing with them."

Mr. Rankin, who soared to fame with some of his siblings in the Celtic group The Rankin Family, later The Rankins, was killed last Sunday in a motor vehicle accident on Highway 219 at Whale Cove, near his home. His sport utility vehicle went out of control, perhaps after hitting a pile of salt on the road, and plunged over a 25-metre cliff into the Atlantic Ocean. Three teenagers, including his 15-year-old son Michael, survived. Transportation Minister Ron Russell said Thursday his department's investigation into why the pile of salt ended up on the road should be complete next week.

"It's my understanding that there is a mechanism that is supposed to cut off the delivery of salt when the truck is not moving," Mr. Russell said.

Rev. Angus Morris told those who gathered at the 100-year-old church to resist blaming God for taking the 40-year-old musician's life.

"You may ask yourselves, 'Where was God in all of this?' Ever since Sunday morning, God was present, in all the people who came by and spoke to you and consoled you, all the people here today, all the phone calls, God was present," Father Morris said.

"God speaks to us through His people. Was He present last Sunday in Margaree? . . . He had to be, because today we have the three boys with us in church who were in that car."

Family members leaned on one another and cried, as did many others. John Morris's six brothers, including fellow musician Jimmy, served as pallbearers.

His widow Sally and two children held hands as they walked behind the casket.

Mr. Ryan, who sang Dark Island, was moved.

"I've known John Morris for 25 years and that particular song was the first song John Morris learned on the fiddle," Mr. Ryan said.

"He was a friend of everybody's. I think Father Morris said it best today when he said we have lost a great friend to Canada."

Father Morris described Mr. Rankin as a loyal man who believed in God, his family and his heritage.

"John Morris was an artist, his culture was strong. Maintaining what is good and beautiful, John Morris has done that to our culture. He brought it to the top stages in Canada and beyond with dignity and honour."

Father Morris, who also plays the fiddle, shared some lighter moments he'd had with Mr. Rankin. He said John Morris once whistled him a tune, claiming it was from Father Morris's younger days, and wanted to know if he was singing it correctly.

"I said 'John Morris, I never heard it so correct before.' It was a good line, because he said, 'I never heard it,' " Father Morris said, giving the crowd a small laugh.

Mr. Rankin was buried in the church's nearby cemetery, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean.

Father Morris recognized the pain Cape Bretoners and the rest of Canada shared at losing such a gifted man.

"We cannot even fathom the great contribution John Morris had yet planned to make to his family, church and traditional music that he supported and played so well."

A special service in Toronto was to be held Thursday night in the chapel at St. Michael's College. Mary Jane Lamond, John Allan Cameron, Con O'Brien of the Irish Descendants and others were expected to attend.

With Barry Dorey and Amy Smith, staff reporters

A musical farewell for Rankin
80 fiddlers play at funeral of N.S. musician, 40

January 21, 2000 - Toronto Star Atlantic Canada Bureau

By Kelly Toughill

MABOU, N.S. - They said goodbye with music in Cape Breton yesterday, playing the songs of John Morris Rankin in the church where he was baptized, then laying the famous pianist to rest in a snowy field.

Yesterday's funeral of the beloved member of The Rankin Family was a tribute both to the world-famous musician and to the unique, tightly knit culture that nurtured his immense talent.

More than 1,000 people jammed the pews and vestibule of St. Mary's church and another chapel nearby for the chance to bid a last farewell to the man who helped export this island's Gaelic sound to the world.

There were famous musicians in furs, and a little girl in a kilt playing quietly on the floor with a Barbie doll.

Friends and family and total strangers were brought together with the familiar sounds of jigs and reels and ancient, aching old Gaelic laments.

``John Morris spoke from the heart in his music. No one was going to take him away from his traditional style; he was loyal to his roots,'' his cousin and parish priest, the Rev. Angus Morris, told the crowd.

``John Morris went into the world and came back John Morris. That's the way he was to his friends."

More than 80 fiddlers, guitar players and singers crammed into a corner of the church where they played ``Molly's Reel,'' which Rankin wrote for his 13-year-old daughter, and ``Jack Daniels,'' which he also penned.

There was Ashley MacIsaac, the controversial punk fiddler from Cape Breton, and Dennis Ryan of the Irish Rovers.

There were even children in the orchestra of musical friends. The head of one curly-haired fiddler barely reached the belt loops of the revered master, Buddy MacMaster, who was playing beside her.

Rankin, 40, died Sunday after his Toyota 4-Runner plunged off a cliff into the sea as he was taking his son, Michael, and two friends to a hockey game. All three teens escaped the crash.

Yesterday, the entire hockey team filed into the church for the funeral, sitting with the family beside the coffin.

Parish priest Morris remembered Rankin as a family man and uncompromising musician who was loyal in every aspect of his life.

``He gave up his musical career to be with his family,'' Morris said, referring to last year's break-up of the family band.

``What a message to send across the country. I hope it's not wasted on our nation.''

Rankin grew up in this tiny town on the cold north side of Cape Breton, where the traditions of Scottish immigrants still shape the lives of their descendants.

Gaelic signs hang in the few shop windows of Mabou and the community hall is ringed with pictures of Scottish warriors. At yesterday's funeral, the white columns of St. Mary's Church were draped with clan tartans.

The traditions also dictated the rituals of death this week.

Rankin's body was laid out in the parlour of the home where he grew up. More than 600 people lined up in sub-zero weather for a chance to file past the coffin and offer condolences to Rankin's 11 brothers and sisters, his wife, Sally, and two children.

His death has hit hard here, where people are fiercely proud of The Rankins' success and perhaps most fond of the only Rankin who never left home.

Yesterday, it was the traditional music that helped raise spirits and ease grief at Saint Mary's.

The balcony of the church shook with toe-tapping as the massive orchestra of fiddlers played a jig before the service began.

``The service was a bringing together of all the hurt that everybody around the countryside and all of John Morris's relatives and friends felt,'' said Jim St. Clair, who is a cousin and former teacher of the famous musician.

``We shared all those hurts and I think the music and the words started healing today. That gathering together of word and song and music and prayer is what brings people of faith an eventual healing.''

Hundreds of people later gathered in the Ciad M�le F�ilte community hall to share stories of Rankin over plates of homemade cakes and sandwiches.

Close friend and fellow fiddler, Stan Chapman, said he and many others had trouble yesterday playing the music that Rankin wrote.

``That was hard music to play today, very hard,'' he said.

``It's been a tough, tough week.''

Cape Breton Farewell
A grief-stricken community says its final goodbyes to a homegrown star

January 31, 2000 - Macleans

By John Demont

"They lined up four abreast in the numbing cold outside the old family homestead in Mabou -- waiting for hours to say a final goodbye to John Morris Rankin. Inside the Red Shoe Pub, 100 m from the wake, old friends embraced and a doleful woman heading for the bar blurted, "He would have wanted us to have a pint." At the front of the room, a fiddler in dress shirt, tie and suspenders, along with a piano player sporting coveralls, tossed off some of the same reels, jigs and strathspeys the eldest member of The Rankin Family made his own. And on the hill overlooking the village, St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church -- where the world-famous Celtic musician was baptized and last week eulogized -- shone brightly into the night, lit by strobe lights and a simple illuminated cross atop its steeple."

Tiny, picture-perfect Mabou was disconsolate last week. Not just because the world lost an important musician. Rankin's death at age 40 in a freak auto accident was a tragedy on a deeper, more personal level for the people in the close-knit Cape Breton village. They had watched the uplifting family saga unfold: the 12 kids brought up by their mother, Kathleen, after their father, Buddy, died; the first musical steps taken by John Morris and his siblings Jimmy, Cookie, Heather and Raylene at local ceilidhs and kitchen parties; their blossoming into a roots-oriented band that sold two million records and ignited the Celtic music boom in Canada before calling it quits last September.

In John Morris, perhaps more than in the other members of the group, the villagers seemed to glimpse something of themselves. He, after all, was the shy Rankin who shunned the spotlight despite his virtuosity on the fiddle and piano. He was the one who stayed closest to the area's proud 300-year-old musical tradition. He was also the Rankin who came home, moving to nearby Judique when the group announced its amicable split. "He just wanted to slow down after all that time on the road, play a few gigs and spend time with his family," said Joey Beaton, a piano player and composer whose fiddler father, Donald Angus Beaton, was Rankin's early mentor. His retirement, spent with his wife, Sally, his daughter, Molly, 13, herself a promising fiddler, and son Michael, 15, lasted only five months. After a decade of travelling the globe, John Morris died while driving his son and two friends to a hockey game, less than an hour from home on a stretch of straight road he had travelled countless times before (all three boys survived).

By the end of last week, the pile of salt he likely swerved to avoid was gone. But footprints from mourners and the curious covered the snow on top of the 25-m cliff over which his sports utility vehicle plunged before landing in the pounding sea. In Mabou, his body lay in state for two days and nights in an open casket in the flower-filled parlour as visitors streamed by. Then the 11 remaining siblings (their mother died in 1998), some of whom had travelled from as far away as the United Arab Emirates, said their goodbyes and the hearse drove slowly along the main street, where the sign on a general store read, "Closed from 1 to 3 p.m. because of a death in our community."

And the community responded, with a send-off the likes of which Mabou has never seen. At the church, 17 clergy sat in the front, while about 600 mourners crowded the pews or stood, and another 300 listened to a broadcast at the nearby convent chapel. At the end, about 70 Maritime fiddlers said goodbye the only way they knew how, by playing The Glencoe March as the grief-stricken family made their way down the aisle. "How do you make any sense out of something like this?" said Denis Ryan, an Irish singer living in Halifax who sang during the funeral. "Maybe there's no way to." Many others gathered for the final farewell likely felt the same.

Canada loses musical star

Jan-Feb, 2000 - Words & Music

The whole country was shocked by the untimely death of John Morris Rankin. A member of the celebrated Rankin Family, the accomplished pianist, fiddler, and composer was a pioneer in bringing Celtic music from the Maritimes to the rest of Canada and to a worldwide audience.

Snow Segment dropped from ECMA awards show
Rankin Tribute Planned Instead

February 2, 2000 - Halifax Herald

The songs of Nova Scotia's Singing Ranger, the late Hank Snow, will not be heard in tribute as planned during Sunday's East Coast Music Awards Gala in Sydney.

Instead, the East Coast Music Association will feature a tribute to the late John Morris Rankin, who died tragically in an automobile accident two weeks ago.

In a press release issued Tuesday, the East Coast Music Association announced it has been flooded with requests from the public and the music industry to honour the life and musical contribution of the beloved Cape Breton pianist and fiddler.

Unfortunately for Snow fans, time is at a premium on the broadcast portion of the show, and as a result the planned tribute to the country legend, who died just before Christmas, has been dropped from the program.

The memorial was to feature performances by John Curtis Sampson, Cory Tetford, Denise Murray and John Gracie.

"The East Coast Music Association would like to sincerely thank those artists for their gracious understanding in a very difficult time," the news release states.

ECMA chair Marcel McKeough said it was a tough decision, but the association said it was imperitive that Rankin's contribution be recognized on the show.

"Members of the board, like all Atlantic Canadians, indeed all Canadians, are deeply saddened by this loss," he said in the relase. "We wanted to tell the world that we are proud to have known John Morris as a musical colleague and friend."

Details of who will take part in the Rankin tribute have not yet been released.

The ECMA Gala will be broadcast live to the nation on CBC Television and simulcast on CBC Radio Two at 9 p.m.

Canned snow tribute creating sour note

February 4, 2000 - Halifax Herald

By Greg Guy and Stephen Cooke / Entertainment Reporters

Sydney - The decision to drop a Hank Snow tribute from the nationally televised East Coast Music Awards on Sunday night has brought controversy to the 12th ECMA conference in Sydney.

The seven-minute segment to honour Snow was announced in January at a news conference but the awards show's producers and the East Coast Music Association have opted instead to pay tribute to John Morris Rankin, who died Jan. 16 in a highway accident.

The producers plan only to lead into a commercial break with a brief clip of Snow.

Dave MacIsaac, one of John Morris's longtime friends, says the show should include both tributes.

"They have both contributed to the world of music," MacIsaac said while checking in at the Delta Sydney Hotel. "They both deserve this honour."

Cape Breton singer-songwriter John Gracie - who was slated to perform during the Snow tribute, along with John Curtis Sampson, Denise Murray and Cory Tetford - agrees with MacIsaac.

"In a two-hour-long television show, one would think there would be time," Gracie said. "A few minutes to (pay) tribute and honour the legacy of both John Morris Rankin and Hank Snow - musicians who both revolutionized their genres of music in their respective eras."

Canada's country gentleman, Tommy Hunter, has added his voice to the debate, bringing national attention to the show.

"I'm appalled they would cancel a tribute to Hank Snow," Hunter told the National Post on Wednesday. "I don't want to downplay the Rankins but . . . there's no question they have made a very serious mistake to choose one or the other."

Presentations to host ECMA 2002, slated for New Brunswick, were made Thursday by Saint John, Fredericton and the 1997 host city of Moncton. The ECMA board will announce its decision in March. Next year, for ECMA 2001, it's back to Charlottetown, Feb. 8-11. The ECMA buzz is everywhere in the Sydney area and promoters, managers, musicians and even graphic artists are hyping their careers with posters plastered throughout sold-out hotels, stores, bars, restaurants and even elevators.

Double ECMA nominee John Curtis Sampson of Port Morien and his Gemstone Entertainment management have come up with an original idea. Sampson has a song called When I'm Drinkin' on his CD You Got Me, and he and his management have distributed coasters with Sampson's photo announcing his country artist and new artist nominations and his 10:45 p.m. showcase tonight.

Emotions run high at Stompin' Tom Awards

February 5, 2000 - Halifax Herald

By Stephen Cooke and Greg Guy / Entertainment Reporters

Sydney - The annual Stompin' Tom Awards, honouring unsung heroes in East Coast music, tugged the heartstrings as well as guitar strings at the ECMA industry awards brunch Friday.

Hosted by Grammy Award-winning Newfoundland musicologist Neil Rosenberg in Centre 200, the awards brought back a flood of memories as they paid tribute to artists from every region, in genres from Celtic to country to big-band swing.

Cape Breton band leader Gib Whitney was remembered in song by his daughter Nancy and sister Lorna MacVicar as they crooned his signature tune The Night Watch.

Newfoundland folk duo Christina Smith and Jean Hewson accepted a Stompin' Tom Award on behalf of the late troubadour Omar Blondahl, who was one of the first singers to take Newfoundland folk songs "out of the kitchen and into the media."

Eddy Poirier of New Brunswick picked up his award, saying, "I never did it for the money, as long as I got some money for gas at the end of the night."

P.E.I. singer Maxine MacLeod paid tribute to her father, fiddler Gordon Gallant, by singing The Legacy (written with co-performer Terry Kelly) and tearfully inviting her dad to the podium.

Mainland Nova Scotia was represented by country and gospel singer-songwriter Carol Frederick-Frank, whose daughter Trina, also a singer, choked back tears as she introduced her mother.

Frederick-Frank, who recorded and performed in the '60s and '70s and is now Trina's manager, exclaimed: "This is wonderful, I never even got a bowling trophy!"

Surprise guest Rita MacNeil got a standing ovation as she strolled to the stage to introduce the Industry Builder Award recipients - Rave Entertainment's Max MacDonald and Joella Foulds.

"It's an honour to introduce two people I have worked with professionally in the past," MacNeil said. "They have brought integrity to the industry that is so needed these days, don't you think?"

Other industry award recipients included Tidemark Music, the Halifax music distribution firm, as company of the year; Sheri Jones, just named president of Tidemark, as industry professional of the year; Steve Dupuis of Big Bang Marketing in Moncton as graphic designer of the year - on his birthday; ATV entertainment reporter Todd Battis as media person of the year; CBC as radio station of the year; Jamie Foulds, son of Joella, as technician of the year; and Lakewind Sound Studio in Point Aconi as production company of the year.

Geoff D'Eon, CBC producer of Sunday night's nationally televised ECMA Awards show, has shed some light on the John Morris Rankin tribute.

Howie MacDonald and Dave MacIsaac will give a fiddling tribute to their friend, killed in a highway accident Jan. 16.

"It will be a simple, beautiful, musical tribute," D'Eon said.

Meanwhile, Hank Snow, who died Dec. 20, will be remembered in a video tribute that D'Eon says will be "very tasteful," with a Snow song guiding the images.

"We, too, would have liked to do a full-blown tribute, but there simply isn't time to do everything."

The Hank Snow Tribute was to include performers John Gracie, Cory Tetford, John Curtis Sampson and Denise Murray.

Gracie, up for two awards, decided that with no opportunity to perform on the show, he would decline to appear at all. His wife Andree said he left Sydney on Friday morning.

Fiddler Lee Creemo, who died in October, will be posthumously given the Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award.

Sydney hotels, oversold leading into the four-day ECMA event, now have some rooms available. There are also about 200 tickets left for the awards show.

John Morris Rankin Memorial Fund Established

February 5, 2000 - Halifax Herald

In an emotional ceremony (at the ECMA's), The Rankins' manager Mickey Quase stepped to the podium to announce creation of the John Morris Rankin Memorial Fund.

Rankin, 40, died in a highway accident three weeks ago.

"This fund is being established as a result of the overwhelming response received from the general public and the music industry to establish a lasting tribute to the musical legacy of John Morris Rankin," said a news release.

The fund is intended to preserve and enhance the Cape Breton musical tradition, which Rankin always tried to do in his encouragement of younger players.

The fund's board of directors include

Musicians band together for tribute to Canadian family farms Hawkins, Stott, Lightfoot, Big Sugar among performers

John Morris Rankin dies after truck plunges into Margaree River into Gulf of St. Lawrence

John Morris Rankin dies in car crash

Musicians sow message that farms facing crisis City folks urged to remember 'where their food is coming from'

'He lived for his family and his music' Friends, colleagues remember John Morris Rankin

Rankin dies in accident Fiddler's son, two others survive plunge

Rankin 'legend' dies as truck skids off cliff Pianist and fiddle player for The Rankin Family killed taking son to hockey game

Road salt likely factor in Rankin fatality RCMP probing crash; funeral in Mabou Thursday

The Rankins Legacy Rankin Family introduced Cape Breton's ancient party music to rest of the world

Rembering John Morris Rankin was happy being considered one of the guys

A musical farewell for Rankin 80 fiddlers play at funeral of N.S. musician, 40

Cape Breton Farewell A grief-stricken community says its final goodbyes to a homegrown star

Snow Segment dropped from ECMA awards show Rankin Tribute Planned Instead

Musicians band together for tribute to Canadian family farms
Hawkins, Stott, Lightfoot, Big Sugar among performers

Musicians sow message that farms facing crisis
City folks urged to remember 'where their food is coming from'

'He lived for his family and his music'
Friends, colleagues remember John Morris Rankin

Rankin dies in accident
Fiddler's son, two others survive plunge

Rankin 'legend' dies as truck skids off cliff
Pianist and fiddle player for The Rankin Family killed taking son to hockey game

Road salt likely factor in Rankin fatality
RCMP probing crash; funeral in Mabou Thursday

The Rankins Legacy
Rankin Family introduced Cape Breton's ancient party music to rest of the world

Rembering John Morris
Rankin was happy being considered one of the guys

A musical farewell for Rankin
80 fiddlers play at funeral of N.S. musician, 40

Cape Breton Farewell
A grief-stricken community says its final goodbyes to a homegrown star

Snow Segment dropped from ECMA awards show
Rankin Tribute Planned Instead