Best of the Vanguard Years
Along with Gordon Lightfoot, the team of Ian Tyson and Sylvia Fricker  represented the best that Canada had to offer during the folk boom of the early and mid- '60s. The duo's earthy voices and wraparound harmonies helped them become one of the  most commercially successful '60s folk acts. And while they gained much attention for  their interpretations of songs by the likes of Bob Dylan ("This Wheel's on Fire"), Joni  Mitchell ("The Circle Game"), and the aforementioned Lightfoot ("Early Morning  Rain"), it's their originals that remain evergreens 20-odd years after their mid-'70s split- up. To wit: Tyson's "Four Strong Winds" (covered memorably by Neil Young) and  "Someday Soon" (a longtime staple of Judy Collins's repertoire), and Fricker's "You  Were on My Mind" (a mid-'60s hit for the We Five). All of these, and plenty more, are  found on this highly satisfying 25-song collection.--Billy Altman