LaRena Clark
Clark, c. 1966
Background information
Birth nameLaRena LeBarr
Born(1904-11-21)November 21, 1904
Pefferlaw, Ontario, Canada
DiedMay 3, 1991(1991-05-03) (aged 86)
Orillia, Ontario
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active1961–1980

LaRena LeBarr Clark (1904-1991) was a Canadian traditional singer and folksinger.

Early years

Clark was born near Pefferlaw, Ontario, Canada in 1904 near Lake Simcoe. Her father and grandfather were hunters and guides.[1] Her mother Mary Frances Watson was also a singer.[2][3] She frequently identified herself as a "ninth generation Canadian."[4][3]

Career

Clark became involved in the folk music circuit in Canada and the United States in the 1960s and recorded an album in 1968. She performed at the Mariposa Folk Festival in 1965 and 1966.[5] She also performed at the Madoc Music Festival, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and others in Canada and the United States in the late 1960s.[6][7] In 1967 she and her husband built a model Canadian pioneer farmstead and toured it around the province as part of Canada's centennial celebrations in 1967.[8][9][10] In the late 1970s she set out to record 25 albums of traditional Canadian folk and popular songs, working with a local radio station CHAY-FM, as well as recording half hour television programming in Owen Sound.[4][11]

Personal life

Clark was married three times and during her first two marriages she bore six children.[2] During World War II she worked as a cook in a mess hall for the Canadian Armed Forces at Camp Bordon.[12] While working there, she met Gordon Clark, a veteran, and the two married in 1947. The couple were living in Ottawa in 1961 when she met folklorist Edith Fowke, who collected and recorded her songs.[1]

She died in 1991.[1]

Awards

  • 1987: Marius Barbeau Medal, Folklore Studies Association of Canada[1][13]

Select recordings

  • Clark, LaRena LeBarr (1968), Songs of an Ontario family: British ballads and Canadian shanty songs, Ontario: Clark[14]
  • Clark, LaRena LeBarr (1978), Family legend in song: Irish, English, and Scottish ballads, lumbering and railroading., Orillia, Ont.: Clark Records[15]
  • Clark, LaRena LeBarr (1978), Heritage of folk songs., Orillia, Ont.: Clark Records[16]
  • Clark, LaRena LeBarr (1979), Canada at turn of the sod: lumbering, railroading and sea ballads., Orilla, Ont.: Clark Records[17]
  • Clark, LaRena LeBarr (1979), Canada's traditional queen of song: shanty, western, sea, English, Irish, Scotch, ballads., Orillia, Ont.: Clark Records[18]
  • Clark, LaRena LeBarr (1979), Authentic Canadian folk symbol: English and American ballads ; American civil war, Orillia, Ont.: Clark Records[19]
  • Clark, LaRena LeBarr (1980), Canadiana coast to coast, Orillia, Ont.: Clark Records[20]
  • Clark, LaRena LeBarr (1980), LaRena sings for country folk: vol. 2 : Canadian, American, English, Irish ballads /$cLaRena LeBarr Clark., Orillia, Ont.: Clark Records[21]

Additional resources

  • Fowke, Edith and Jay Rahn. A Family Heritage: The Story and Song of LaRena Clark. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 1994.[3][22]
  • Rahn, Jay (2003). "Prosody, Performance and Perception: Tempo in LaRena Clark's Ballad-Metre Songs - ProQuest". Canadian Journal for Traditional Music. 30: 64–83. ProQuest 1343477.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "LaRena Clark | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  2. 1 2 Bell, Ian. "Ontario Traditional Music Library". www.ontariotraditionalmusic.ca. Archived from the original on 2020-03-22. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  3. 1 2 3 Fowke, Edith; Rahn, Jay; Clark, LaRena LeBarr (1994). A family heritage: the story and songs of LaRena Clark. Calgary: University of Calgary Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-585-14727-7. OCLC 45729657.
  4. 1 2 Gauer, Stephen (1979-03-02). "A New Rock Style for Melanie". Barrie Examiner. p. 19.
  5. ↑ Fowke, Edith; Rahn, Jay; Clark, LaRena LeBarr (1994). A family heritage: the story and songs of LaRena Clark. Calgary: University of Calgary Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-585-14727-7. OCLC 45729657.
  6. ↑ Fowke, Edith; Rahn, Jay; Clark, LaRena LeBarr (1994). A family heritage: the story and songs of LaRena Clark. Calgary: University of Calgary Press. pp. 10–11. ISBN 978-0-585-14727-7. OCLC 45729657.
  7. ↑ "Tourism Minister to Officially Open Madoc Art Festival". Canadian Statesman (Bowmanville, Ontario). 1965-06-23. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-03-22 – via Our Digital World : Ontario Community Newspapers Portal.
  8. ↑ Dempsey, Lotta (1967-11-03). "Searching for Canada's Story". Toronto Daily Star. p. 57 – via ProQuest Historical Newspapers Toronto Star.
  9. ↑ Krause, Claudia (1977-12-21). "Hawkestone Couple Dedicate Life to History". Barrie Examiner. p. 18. Retrieved 2020-03-22 – via Our Digital World : Ontario Community Newspapers Portal.
  10. ↑ "Folk singer keeps a musical tradition alive". Barrie Examiner. 1978-11-24. p. 32. Retrieved 2020-03-22 – via Our Digital World: Ontario Community Newspapers Portal.
  11. ↑ Hart, Murial (1979-05-03). "Hawkestone". Barrie Examiner. p. 17. Retrieved 2020-03-21 – via Our Digital World: Ontario Community Newspapers Portal.
  12. ↑ Fowke, Edith; Rahn, Jay; Clark, LaRena LeBarr (1994). A family heritage: the story and songs of LaRena Clark. Calgary: University of Calgary Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-585-14727-7. OCLC 45729657.
  13. ↑ "Marius Barbeau Medal Awarded to a Traditional Singer". Canadian Folk Music Journal. 15: 54–55. 1987-01-01. ISSN 0318-2568. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  14. ↑ Songs of an Ontario family: British ballads and Canadian shanty songs, Clark, 1968, OCLC 60496681
  15. ↑ Family legend in song: Irish, English, and Scottish ballads, lumbering and railroading., Clark Records, 1900, OCLC 10042479
  16. ↑ Heritage of folk songs., Clark Records, 1900, OCLC 10042531
  17. ↑ Canada at turn of the sod: lumbering, railroading and sea ballads., Clark Records, 1900, OCLC 10042322
  18. ↑ Canada's traditional queen of song: shanty, western, sea, English, Irish, Scotch, ballads., Clark Records, 1900, OCLC 10042419
  19. ↑ Authentic Canadian folk symbol: English and American ballads ; American civil war, Clark Records, OCLC 81253830
  20. ↑ Canadiana coast to coast, Clark Records, 1980, OCLC 607133502
  21. ↑ LaRena sings for country folk: vol. 2 : Canadian, American, English, Irish ballads /$cLaRena LeBarr Clark., Clark Records, 1980, OCLC 1006777630
  22. ↑ "Family Heritage: The Story and Songs of LaRena Clark". University of Calgary Press.
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