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July
23, 2010
Cape Breton fiddler
John Campbell dies in Boston at age 79
By STEPHEN COOKE, Halifax
Herald
 With
the strong bow arm of a great dance player and an ear for
lilting tunes, John Campbell was one of the most revered
Cape Breton fiddlers.
The
Glenora Falls-born musician died Thursday after several
years of ill health at the age of 79 in Boston, his home
since 1963.
The son of
fiddler Dan J. Campbell, he moved to Massachusetts shortly
after marrying Beatrice MacDonell of Port Hood, with whom he
raised five children — Sharon, Carleen, John, Brendon and
Pamela — at their home in Watertown.
Campbell
brought his music with him to the Boston area, and became
very popular playing dances and packing halls like the
Canadian-American Club, the Eagles Club and the
French-American Club.
He ran his
own furnace repair business, which allowed him to return
home to Inverness County in the summer months and play halls
in towns like West Mabou, Brook Village and Southwest
Margaree, bringing dancers from miles around.
"He was
always in demand. People always loved his music," recalled
New Waterford pianist Doug MacPhee, Campbell’s frequent
accompanist and friend of over 50 years,
"John
would be out on the truck all day driving, and he’d be
thinking about tunes and putting them together in his mind.
He’d rush home and tell me, ‘Get your pen and paper out,
Doug, and write this down!’ "
Campbell
was a prolific writer of fiddle tunes with a strong
traditional Scottish flavour. Compositions like Sandy
MacIntyre’s Trip to Boston joined the repertoire of most
Cape Breton fiddlers, including that of one of its
best-known performers, Natalie MacMaster.
He made
several recordings, including a 1976 LP for renowned folk
music label Rounder Records, while many of his tunes were
recently published by Mel Bay Books in a volume titled John
Campbell: A Cape Breton Legacy.
MacPhee
said some of his fondest memories are of sharing the stage
with Campbell, whom he described as an intensely focused
player with the precise timing and strong rhythmic drive
needed for dances.
"He’d have
his eyes closed and he’d be concentrating on just what he
was doing. He wasn’t just playing notes, he was playing with
such feeling and moving his bow with such certainty. . . .
Pouring his soul into his music, that’s the best way I can
describe it."
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