Charlie Chamberlain (14 July 1911 in
Bathurst, New Brunswick
Bathurst ( 2021 population; UA 12,157 ) is the largest City in Northern New Brunswick, it overlooks the Nepisiguit Bay, part of Chaleur Bay and is at the estuary of the Nepisiguit River. As part of the New Brunswick local governance reform , ...
, Canada – 16 July 1972) was a featured entertainer on
Don Messer's Jubilee
''Don Messer's Jubilee'' was a folk musical TV variety show produced at station CBHT in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It was broadcast by CBC Television nationwide from 1957 until 1969, after almost two decades in various formats on CBC radio.
T ...
, which ran from 1957 through 1969 on
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...
.
He died in Bathurst, New Brunswick, the town where he was born, only two days after his 61st birthday. At the time, he had been appearing with Don Messer on independent TV station
CHCH-TV
CHCH-DT (channel 11) is an independent television station in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Channel Zero, the station maintains studios on Innovation Drive in the west end of Hamilton; prior to 2021, it was located near the corner of Jack ...
in
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of ...
, who picked up the show for some four years after it was cancelled by the CBC in 1969.
Life
Chamberlain's mother was widowed early and to assist her around the home, he went to work in the lumber woods at the age of eight. In this setting was an extroverted young person who was eager to entertain. During WWI, he allegedly sang to the soldiers on passing trains. While riding a train himself, a friend of Don Messer's heard Charlie singing, and put him in touch with the fiddler who was looking for a vocalist. Charlie Chamberlain performed pretty much exclusively with Messer for the rest of his career.
Chamberlain is most often recalled as an incredible character, a huge man with huge appetites, who was notoriously generous, and quite freely shared his money with friends and neighbours. During the sixties, when
Don Messer's Jubilee
''Don Messer's Jubilee'' was a folk musical TV variety show produced at station CBHT in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It was broadcast by CBC Television nationwide from 1957 until 1969, after almost two decades in various formats on CBC radio.
T ...
was one of the highest rated TV shows in Canada, Charlie also worked pumping gas at a service station in Lakeside, NS.
Career
Chamberlain was known as Messer's "Singing Lumberjack," and his vocal work is featured on many of the albums released by ''
Don Messer and His Islanders''. Chamberlain is remembered as a showstopper, famed for his signature bowler hat and shillelagh.
Discography
Solo records
* Charlie Chamberlain Sings Irish Songs, Apex, AL1619
* With My Shillelagh Under My Arm (LP), Point Records, P-319
Collaborations with Marg Osburne
* By Request Favorite Sacred Songs with Marg Osburne And Charlie Chamberlain, Rodeo Records, with
Marg Osburne
Marg Osburne (December 29, 1927 – July 16, 1977) was a Canadian country, folk and gospel singer. She was a recipient (posthumously) of the ECMA Stompin' Tom Connors award.
Early life
She was born in Moncton, New Brunswick and received her vocal ...
.
* They Never Grow Old, Point Records, P-318 MG-251-252, 1967.
* ''Favorite Sacred Songs''. 1970. Rodeo RO6M-1267
* ''Beyond the Sunset''. 196?. Point Records
* ''They Never Grow Old''. 1973. MCA Coral
* ''He: Songs Of Reverence: Volume 2.'' 196?. Apex
* ''Best of Marg and Charlie''. 1973. MCA Coral, CBT 35006
Awards
* Inducted into the
Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame The Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame honours Canadian country music artists, builders or broadcasters, living or deceased. The artifact collection includes extensive biographical information on the inductees. It is located in downtown Merritt, ...
in 1989.
* Recipient (posthumously) of the ECMA
Stompin' Tom Connors
Charles Thomas "Stompin' Tom" Connors, OC (February 9, 1936 – March 6, 2013) was a Canadian country and folk singer-songwriter. Focusing his career exclusively on his native Canada, he is credited with writing more than 300 songs and has rel ...
Award.
References
External links
Charlie Chamberlain at CCMA Hall of FameIsland Lives – Charlie Chamberlain on PEI
*http://www.islandlives.ca/fedora/repository/ilives%3A85365-p_101/OCR/OR
*https://www.discogs.com/artist/2390349-Charlie-Chamberlain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chamberlain, Charlie
1911 births
1972 deaths
Musicians from Bathurst, New Brunswick
Canadian country singers
20th-century Canadian male singers