Phil Thomas
PHILIP JAMES THOMAS
March 26, 1921 – January 26, 2007

I’ll also miss Phil Thomas, whom I met in 1960 not long after he and a few friends had founded the Folk Song Circle in Vancouver. I was keen to bring my versions of Scottish songs to Canada, but I was intrigued and charmed to find indigenous songs here – though of course I wasn’t surprised. Phil and his wife Hilda sang songs I’d never heard before, including on Hilda’s part some songs about Feminism, which was just beginning to raise its head above the parapet.

A review of the second, expanded edition of his songbook is to be found below, and I include a copy of one of my all-time favourite songs from PJT’s collection, with a note of its original tune. A very good obituary ran in the 3 February, 2007 edition of the Vancouver Sun, page H11.

Some of his contributions to folk music publications are: Canadian Folk Music – Bulletin de musique folklorique Canadienne 37.4 (Winter 2003), pp. 10-15, “’D’ye Ken Sam Hughes?’ and Two Other Songs from the Great War, 1914-1918”. (These appear in the second edition of his book, reviewed below.) He has an article “The Louis Riel Song’: A Perspective” in CFMJ 21, pp. 12-18, followed up in CFMJ’s successor, the Canadian Journal for Traditional Music / Revue de musique folklorique Canadienne 24 (1996), pp. 56-60, “’La lettre du sang’/ ‘Chanson de Louis Riel’: Addenda”.

In BCF, appear “Edith Fowke” (obituary), 2.2 and “My Limerick Question”, 9.18; see also M. Ballantyne’s note on his biography & Heritage Award in 3.2, and being awarded the Marius Barbeau Medal, 18.2.

There are also the several contributions to Come All Ye, the magazine of the Vancouver Folk Song Society (the catchy title was his suggestion). These ranged from reviews to articles about songs he himself collected, e.g. “Where Grampa’s Gone” [collected song and note] III.11 (Nov. 1974), 11-12; “British-Canadian Folk Music in B.C.” IV.11 (Nov. 1975), 210-214 [includes “Teaming up the Cariboo Road”]; “’The Dodger’ – Where Are Its Roots?” VI.12 (Dec. 1977), 201-209. [I hope to print an updated version of this article at some point.]

Murray Shoolbraid, BCF #21, pp. 1-2

The accompanying photograph of Phil was taken at the Islands Folk Festival about 1993. Phil suffered one of his bouts of Necrotizing Fasciitis/Myositis shortly after arriving on site and had to attend the Emergency room at the Cowichan District Hospital – which accounts for the yellow band on his left wrist. However, he still managed to play the festival.