Jerry Palmer "Jerry Palmer's Country Sound" (Birchmount Records, 1968-?) (LP)
Starting out as an early 1960's rock'n'roller, Ontario's Jerry Palmer (ne Jerry Godick) moved into country material by the decade's end, guided in both phases of his career by record men Don Grashey and Chuck Williams. Palmer's earliest singles came out on their label, Gaiety Records, and Grashey wrote a couple of the songs on this album. Several sources online mention Palmer "going country" in the 1980s though clearly he'd been twanging it up at least since this album came out. Some of the tracks are reprises of early rock numbers like "Party Pooper" as well as his cover of Buddy Holly's "That'll Be The Day"; others show the influence of Southern California session men, including Mike Deasy of the fabled "wrecking crew" and some folks in Gary S. Paxton's kooky crew. Unfortunately, like many albums of the era, the original release provided no information about the musicians or producer, though it's a good bet Don Grashey was pretty instrumental in all of it... It's also possible that some tracks were recorded in Los Angeles, while Palmer was doing work-for-hire in Hollywood, though I dunno for sure.

Jerry Palmer "On My Way" (Birchmount Records, 1968) (LP)

Jerry Palmer "Jerry Palmer's Lovin' Country" (Gaiety Records, 1975) (LP)

Jerry Palmer "Jerry Palmer" (RCA Victor, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Don Grashey & Chuck Williams)

Rae Palmer "A Dream Come True" (Altair Four Records, 1984) (LP)
(Produced by Ted Gerow)
A French-Canadian pop-country singer from Hearst, Ontario, Raymonde Poliquin (aka Rae Palmer) started out her career as a bilingual artist, releasing a French-language single in 1983, although on her first full album she stuck to English-language material. She wrote or co-composed most of the songs on this album, including three that were written with producer Ted Gerow... The album was a modest commercial success, yielding two entries in the Canadian country Top Forty -- "Stuck On Love" and "Call Me Up," which peaked at #15 two years later, in 1986. As far as I know, this was her only country album, though she seems to have recorded a topical folk album, years later in the CD era.

Jean Pardy "Let's Sing To Newfoundland" (Marathon Records, 1973) (LP)

Terry Parker "Canada's Yodelling Sweetheart: Miss Terry Parker" (Banff/Rodeo Records, 196--?) (LP)
A throwback to the yodeling cowgirls of the 1930s, Canada's Terry Parker started her career in the mid-1950s and released at least two albums on the Banff label... Though perhaps not as dynamic or fluid a vocalist as Patsy Montana, she was very much in that same mold, covering Montana's "Cowboy's Sweetheart," as well as other classics such as "If I Could Only Learn To Yodel" and "He Taught Me How To Yodel." The musicianship is strong, brisk, and twangy, though the tonal quality changes from track to track, leading me to suspect these songs might have been drawn from singles which were issued over a span of several years. At any rate, it's good stuff, particularly for fans of the good, old yodel-ay-ti-hoo.

Terry Parker "The Yodeling Sweetheart" (Rodeo Records, 196--?) (LP)
This reissue on a US label -- an imprint of the Conversa-Phone Institute, in New York City -- is the same album as above, curiously repackaged so to omit any reference to Parker's Canadian background. The back cover includes listings for about a dozen Rodeo albums, with several other artists from up North.

Terry Parker "The Yodeling Sweetheart" (Banff/Rodeo Records, 196--?) (LP)
Just to make things even more confusing, this disc has the same title as the American edition of the album above, but totally different tracks... Go figure.

George Pasher "I Take A Lot Of Pride In What I Am" (Arc Records, 1970-?) (LP)
(Produced by Ray Kent and Frank Bertin)

June Pasher "Your Cheating Heart And Other Country Favourites" (Arc Records, 196--?) (LP)

June Pasher & George Pasher "You Are Mine" (Arc Records, 196--?) (LP)
(Produced by Ray Kent and Frank Bertin)

Murray Patron "Everybody's Plaything" (Big Chief Records, 1970-?) (LP)

Dave Paul "Good As Gold" (Dyna-West Records, 1980-?) (LP)
(Produced by Jim Shaw and Doyle Singer)

B. W. Pawley "Too Many Parties" (Dallcorte Records, 1983) (LP)
(Produced by John James Stewart)
In the early 1970s, singer B. W. Pawley led a rollicking bar-band called Plum Loco, which also included several veteran rockers who had had success down in the States... The group played all over Canada in a rootsy style they called "cow rock," mixing rock, blues and country in a style much like Delbert McClinton and other roadhouse warriors. Plum Loco played nonstop throughout the 'Seventies, though they never cut an album, and eventually the band broke up in 1980 after Pawley left to take a gig with Ronnie Hawkins,. A few years later Pawley landed a record contract, producing these two solo albums, and toured under his own name for the rest of the 'Eighties. He re-formed Plum Loco after returning to Toronto, and just kept plugging away for years to come... (Thanks to The London Free Press for their brief profile of Pawley and his career, published in 2021 when he was inducted into a regional music hall of fame...)

B. W. Pawley "Livin' Lovin' And Drinkin' " (Globe Records, 1985) (LP)
(Produced by J. J. Stewart)

Roy Payne "No Price Tags On The Doors Of Newfoundland" (Paragon Records, 1969) (LP)
Over his long, long career, Trout River native Roy Payne has written over three hundred songs specifically devoted to Newfoundland and his "Newfie" roots, a few of which are included here, along with more conventional, straightforward country material. Included here are Payne classics such as "No Price Tags On The Doors Of Newfoundland" and "I Wouldn't Take A Million Dollars For A Single Maple Leaf," which Payne wrote after returning to Canada from Egypt, after a twelve year stint in the military which included long tours abroad. Payne's regional patriotism struck a chord with Canadian country fans, and he went on to become one of Canada's best known and most prolific songwriters. On this album he also covers a few tunes from south of the border, such as "Is Anybody Going To San Antone" and "Me And Bobby McGee." This album was reissued as the perhaps more familiar Goofy Newfie, below.

Roy Payne "No. 2" (Paragon, 1970) (LP)

Roy Payne "Love And Hate And Women's Lib" (Marathon, 1971) (LP)

Roy Payne "Newfie Boy" (RCA Camden, 1972) (LP)

Roy Payne "Goofy Newfie" (Marathon, 1972) (LP)

Roy Payne "Roy Payne's Country" (RCA-Camden, 1975) (LP)

Roy Payne "Outlaw Heroes" (RCA Victor, 1976) (LP)

Roy Payne "Willie's Yeller Pickup Truck" (RCA Victor, 1978) (LP)

Roy Payne "I Wouldn't Take A Million Dollars For A Single Maple Leaf" (1980) (LP)

Roy Payne "Newfoundland Smile" (Condor Records, 2006) (CD)

Lewis Pederson III "Rodeo No. 1 Sport" (Broadland Records, 1975) (LP)
(Produced by Keith MacKay)
A concept album following "rodeo, from Grand Entry to last bull ride," written by a guy from Ontario, Canada who was a professional rider himself, and went on to become a well-regarded cowboy poet. Pederson is backed by several veteran Canadian country pickers, including fiddlers Brian Baron and Al Cherney, who do some nice twin fiddlin', as well as Ken Near and Keith Mackay, who helped produce the disc. The record has a healthy, stripped-down honkytonk feel, quite a bit richer than the acoustic guitar-based rodeo albums you may be more familiar with... Nice!

Freddie Pelletier "Canadian Country Guitar Picker" (Buckshot Records, 1973) (LP)

Gordon Pendleton "Something To Believe In" (Eagle Creek Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Gordon Pendleton & Tom Wilson)

Rebecca Penney "Rebecca" (Boot Records, 1977) (LP)
(Produced by Jury Krytiuk)

Colleen Peterson - see artist discography

Jimmy Phair "The Steal Of The Night" (Boot Records, 1981) (LP)
(Produced by Dallas Harms & Greg Roberts)

Paul Emile Piche "Le Cowboy" (Carnaval Records, 1966-?) (LP)

Clarence Ploof & The Barndance Gang "Gaby Haas Presents..." (London Records, 196-?) (LP)

Eddie Poirier "Banjo Bluegrass" (Pentagon Records, 19--?) (LP)

Eddie Poirier/Rose Poirier/Smiley Bates "The Best Of Bluegrass" (Marathon Records, 1972) (LP)

The (Singing) Post Family "The Singing Post Family" (Paragon Records, 19--?)
This family band consisted of patriarch Norman Post and three of his kids, siblings Debra, Joanne and Kenny Post, who hailed from Carrying Place, Ontario, east of Toronto, on the edge of Lake Ontario. The group was formed in 1967 and released several albums, mixing secular and gospel material, as well as recording a few strictly gospel disc. Both Debbie and Joanne Post took flings at solo careers, while brother Kenny seems to have done some session work and been in a few subsequent bands. This was apparently their first album.

The (Singing) Post Family "The Family Bible" (Marathon Records, 19--?)

The Singing Post Family "Christmas Time In The Country" (Marathon Records, 1972)

The (Singing) Post Family "Country Music" (Marathon Records, 1973)

The (Singing) Post Family "One Song Away" (xxxxxxxxxx Records, 2008)

Joanne Post "It's A Lovely, Lovely World" (Marathon Records, 1972) (LP)

Normand Poupart "Le Diseur Des Prairies" (London Records, 1968) (LP)
Jaunty, mildly chaotic country/stringband tunes from Normand Poupart, a French-Canadian country singer from Montreal who had a high, light, intensely nasal vocal tone, with a strong stylistic similarity to Louisiana cajun music. This appears to be the only full album by Mssr. Poupart, whose career dated back at least as far as the mid-to-late-1950s, when he released some singles at the tail end of the 78rpm era(!) The songs on this album do not include any of those earlier recordings, and this appears to be a contemporary album from 1968, and not a reissue compilation. Mr. Poupart is backed by J. P. LaPlante (guitar and violin), Tex Lavallee (bass), and Michel Poupart -- who I assume was a relative -- on accordion. It has to be said: none of these guys really sounded like virtuosi, and if it's amiable amateurism you're looking for, this disc's a doozy. There's no biographical information about Normand Poupart on the back cover -- just pictures of other country releases on the London label -- and nothing I could find about him online, either. In 1958 he recorded a few duets with the equally obscure Janine Perreault, a gal who seems to have specialized in yodeling tunes, such as "Cow-Girl Tyrolienne." (These included titles such as "Ton Bebe D'Amour," "Tu M'as Fait Pleurer," and Vers Demain," which were cut for the Canadian branch of RCA Victor, circa 1957-58. Tex Lavallee was also a recording artist, cutting several singles under his own name, and was apparently a "trick" rider on the Canadian rodeo scene who was also a fan of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers; a few of his stories from the old days were transcribed and posted online around 2002, though details were sparse concerning his musical career.

Irwin Prescott "...And Friends" (Cheyenne Records, 19--?)
(Produced by Edgar Taillfer)

Princess Pale Moon "Come On And Live!" (Praise Records, 1970) (LP)
(Produced by Dr. Paul Weaver & Jim Conklin)
A Canadian gospel singer with a first-peoples background... Not entirely sure how "country" we should consider this, though it is clear that she was not a great singer. If you're looking for Christian music to make fun of, this Mrs. Miller-ish outing is a real doozy. Mostly, though, I just wanted to include this one here to ask the question: why were so many female Native American entertainers nicknamed "princess"? Is there some kind of hidden monarchy that no one told us about? Or is it just plain old goofy exoticization? Anyway, this a terrible record. Just so you know ahead of time. She had several other records, but let's not go there.

Orval Prophet "The Canadian Plowboy" (Birchmount Records, 1980) (LP)

Ronnie Prophet "Strictly Instrumental" (Globe Records, 1963) (LP)

Ronnie Prophet "Recorded Live At The Jolly Roger Hotel" (Art Records, 1965-?) (LP)
Though known as a country singer, Ronnie Prophet "lounges" it up on this relaxed, somewhat lackadaisical live album, where showtunes and schtick outweigh twang by a pretty hefty margin. He kicks things off with a decent Roger Miller imitation ("King Of The Road") then drifts into pop-oriented material like "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" and "They Call The Wind Maria," delivered in a fairly disengaged (if not totally checked out) journeymanlike style. The best stuff is his guitar work, notably his zippy mashup of "Dixie" and "Yankee Doodle" -- the low point comes with his racist twist on the novelty number, "My Boomerang Won't Come Back," where he blurts out a bunch of gibberish syllables meant to be taken as aboriginal Australian. My, how times have changed. Prophet appears to have been midway through a longterm contract with a company in Fort Lauderdale, Florida which had him booked at the Jolly Roger Hotel, as well as a lounge in the Bahamas. Sounds pretty swell, weatherwise, for a kid from up in Canada!

Ronnie Prophet "Faces And Phases" (Prophet Records, 1973-?) (LP)
(Produced by Ronnie Prophet)

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