Stan Rogers

• Name — Stan Rogers • Birth Name — Stanley Allison Rogers • Born — 29 November 1949 • Birthplace — Hamilton, Ontario, Canada • Died — 2 June 1983 • Place of death — Hebron, Kentucky, U.S. • Instrument — Guitar, vocals • Genre — Folk • Occupation — Singer-songwriter • Years Active — 1970–1983 • Label — RCA, Fogarty's Cove, Borealis • Spouse — Ariel Rogers (married 1977) • Website — stanrogers.net Stanley Allison Rogers (November 29, 1949 – June 2, 1983) was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter who sang traditional-sounding songs frequently inspired by Canadian history and the working people's daily lives, especially from the fishing villages of the Maritime provinces and, later, the farms of the Canadian prairies and Great Lakes. He died in a fire aboard Air Canada Flight 797, grounded at the Greater Cincinnati Airport, at the age of 33.

Rogers was born in Hamilton, Ontario, the eldest son of Nathan Allison Rogers and Valerie (née Bushell) Rogers, two Maritimers who had relocated to Ontario in search of work shortly after their marriage in July 1948. Although Rogers was raised in Binbrook, Ontario, he often spent summers visiting family in Guysborough County, Nova Scotia. It was there that he became familiar with the way of life in the Maritimes, an influence which was to have a profound impact on his subsequent musical development. He was interested in music from an early age, reportedly beginning to sing shortly after learning to speak. He received his first guitar, a miniature hand-built by his uncle Lee Bushell, when he was five years of age. He was exposed to a variety of music influences, but among the most lasting were the country and western tunes his uncles would sing during family get-togethers. Throughout his childhood, he would practice his singing and playing along with his brother Garnet, six years his junior. While Rogers was attending Saltfleet High School, Stoney Creek, Ontario, he started to meet other young people interested in folk music, although at this time he was dabbling in rock and roll, singing and playing bass guitar in garage bands such as "Stanley and the Living Stones" and "The Hobbits". After high school, Rogers briefly attended both McMaster University and Trent University, where he performed in small venues with other student musicians, including Ian Tamblyn, Christopher Ward and fellow Hobbit Nigel Russell. Russell wrote the song "White Collar Holler", which Rogers sang frequently on stage. Rogers signed with RCA Records in 1970 and recorded two singles: "Here's to You Santa Claus" in 1970, and "The Fat Girl Rag" in 1971. In 1973, Rogers recorded three singles for Polygram: "Three Pennies", "Guysborough Train", and "Past Fifty." In 1976, Rogers recorded his debut album, Fogarty's Cove, released in 1977 on Barnswallow Records. The album's subject matter dealt almost entirely with life in maritime Canada, and was an immediate success. Rogers then formed Fogarty's Cove Music, and bought Barnswallow during the production of Turnaround, allowing him to release his own albums. Posthumously, additional albums were released. Sung in his rich baritone, Rogers' songs are often said to have a "Celtic" feel which is due, in part, to his frequent use of DADGAD guitar tuning. He regularly used his William 'Grit' Laskin-built 12-string guitar in his performances. His best-known songs include "Northwest Passage", "Barrett's Privateers", "The Mary Ellen Carter", "Make and Break Harbour", "The Idiot", "Fogarty's Cove", and "White Squall".

Rogers died alongside 22 other passengers most likely of smoke inhalation on June 2, 1983, while travelling on Air Canada Flight 797 (a McDonnell Douglas DC-9) after performing at the Kerrville Folk Festival. The airliner was flying from Dallas, Texas, to Toronto and Montreal when a fire from an unknown ignition source within the vanity or toilet shroud of the aft washroom forced it to make an emergency landing at the Greater Cincinnati Airport in northern Kentucky. There were initially no visible flames, and after attempts to extinguish the fire were unsuccessful, smoke filled the cabin. Upon landing, the plane's doors were opened, allowing the five crew and 18 of the 41 passengers to escape, but approximately 90 seconds into the evacuation the oxygen rushing in from outside caused a flash fire. Soon after his death, stories began to circulate about Rogers' final moments. Blogger Amber Frost claimed: These accounts cannot be verified, as the National Transportation Safety Board ran a full investigation of the incident and interviewed every single survivor, and there is no firsthand account, official or unofficial, of such an occurrence. Stan Rogers most likely died before the doors were even opened, due to smoke inhalation from the fire. Regardless, the circumstances of Rogers' death still circulate as folklore. As his official biographer Christopher Gudgeon writes: His ashes were scattered off the north-eastern shore of Nova Scotia, Canada.

While occasionally performing or recording solo, Rogers typically worked with other musicians. Early in his career, he was accompanied live by guitarist Nigel Russell. In 1973 his brother, Garnet Rogers, joined as principal sideman and co-arranger. For the next 10 years, they performed live as a trio, joined by a succession of bassists, including Jim Ogilvie, David Woodhead, David Alan Eadie and Jim Morison. This live trio was occasionally augmented by other musicians, as at a string of shows recorded for the 1979 live album Between the Breaks... Live!, and a 1983 CBC radio broadcast (later released as Home in Halifax). His studio albums typically featured the live trio augmented by a mix of studio musicians and special guests, with the exception of the 1983 album For the Family, which featured the unaccompanied trio, who also self-produced the album.

• "Hail To You Santa Claus" b/w "Coventry Carol" (1970; RCA) • "Fat Girl Rag" b/w "Seven Years Along" (1971, RCA) • "Three Pennies"/"Past Fifty" b/w "Guysborough Train" (1974, CBC Promo)

• Fogarty's Cove (1977) • Turnaround (1978) • Between the Breaks... Live! (1979) • Northwest Passage (1981) • For the Family (1983) • From Fresh Water (1984) • In Concert (1991) • Home in Halifax (1993) • Poetic Justice (1996) – A collection of two radio plays (Harris and the Mare, based on Stan Rogers' song of the same name, adapted by John Gavin Douglas for the CBC Radio series Nightfall, and The Sisters by Silver Donald Cameron, a play written for CBC Playhouse, for which Rogers wrote and performed the music.) • From Coffee House to Concert Hall (1999) • The Very Best of Stan Rogers (2011) • The Collection 6 CD + 1 DVD Anthology (2013) • Stan Rogers Songbook: Songs of a Lifetime 3 Vinyl + Song Book Anthology (2024)

Stan Rogers was recorded at birth as Stanley Allison Rogers. The authorities additionally record the heading Stanley Allison Rogers. One child is recorded: Nathan Rogers.