Music’s Aviation Tragedies: Stan Rogers

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Today’s victim of a plane disaster isn’t well-known in America, and that’s a crying shame. However, I think our Canadian myLotters will know at least his name. And I know that @TheHorse knows his music because he specifically asked if this gentleman would show up. The answer is, sadly, yes. Here he is. Stan Rogers Sometimes he sounded like Gordon Lightfoot. Sometimes he sounded like Irish folk legend Christy Moore doing a Gordon Lightfoot impersonation. I mean, “Barrett’s Privateers” is a pure sea shanty Irish drinking song! But Stan Rogers’ vocals were his own. And his “voice” was pure Canadian life. From the farmers to the fishermen, Stan Rogers wrote about the life of the “little man” in the most remote areas of the Great White North. He didn’t have the “superstar” success of Lightfoot, and in that regard, he was free to write laments of a disappearing way of life (such as “Make and Break Harbour,” about the old fishing boats known as “make and break” because they weren’t equipped with massive diesel engines) and history (“The Mary Ellen Carter”). He made the music on his own terms, and that meant he had a small, but loyal following. His popularity spread by word of mouth, and he was soon a roaring success in Canadian and American folk circles. On Sunday, May 29, 1983, Rogers headlined a “salute to Canada” segment at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Kerrville, Texas. Rod Kennedy, the festival director, told the papers that Rogers “was a favorite with everyone here,” adding that Rogers was already booked for the 1984 festival based on his popularity. The Air Canada flight left Dallas about 4:25 eastern time on June 3, 1983. The flight was going smoothly until they reached the skies above Louisville, Kentucky, when alarms started notifying crew that there was something amiss. Passengers reported smelling smoke. At first, the crew thought they had extinguished a small “trash” fire. No, they hadn’t. Fire continued to grow, leading the plane to be sent to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport for an emergency landing. The plane made a landing, blowing out half of its tires as it did so. When the doors and emergency exits were opened the influx of air caused the fire to intensify. There were a total of 46 people on board, including crew. Half of them survived. Reports said that Rogers did make it off the plane; however, he had inhaled too much smoke and died at the hospital from smoke inhalation. A Canadian journalist lamented his death in a Vancouver newspaper, saying, “It’s no damn good saying ‘but his songs will live on.’” Rogers was only 33, and had just started to hit his stride. In 1997 a folk/songwriter festival began in Nova Scotia. It’s called the Stan Rogers Folk Festival, or “Stanfest.” He wasn’t as popular as Lightfoot, but he was obviously just as influential. Stan Rogers Born Stanley Allison Rogers November 29, 1949 - June 2, 1983 (age 33) Place of crash: Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Hebron, Kentucky Commercial airline: Air Canada flight 797, intended route Dallas - Toronto - Montreal The title song from Rogers’ debut album Fogarty’s Cove: