• Alaskan Shirley English--anyone know anything about her?

    From Kenneth Brewster@21:1/5 to Richard L. Hess on Mon Aug 24 19:47:58 2020
    On Friday, January 14, 2000 at 3:00:00 AM UTC-5, Richard L. Hess wrote:
    I don't recall if I've ever asked this question here, but I was
    listening to my Shirley English tapes again in the car this week and
    wished that I had the music on CD and wished that I had more of it.
    The recent post on Gary Graves gave me the impetus to post this.
    It's somewhat touristy Alaska folk music--but I enjoy it and it brings
    back memories of some wonderful trips there.
    I've actually put up a web page for her on my music site http://rlhess.home.mindspring.com/music/se__000.htm
    But I've not been able to contact her nor anyone who knows her. Two
    letters to the PO Box on the cassettes have gone unanswered AND
    unreturned.
    There are two tapes that I've been able to find and the song titles
    are listed on my web page. The cassettes are called "The Land of
    Beyond" and "Land of Wild Roses." They were released in 1985 and 1988 respectively.
    Patric D'Eimon was involved in both albums to some degree and I've
    seen references to him on a few web pages but nothing concrete nor
    could I contact him, either.
    Anyway, any help would be appreciated as I'd love to get more of this
    music if any more was done and I'd love to get better copies.
    Cheers,
    Richard

    She'd be in her 70s by now. I contacted her decades ago when I was living in Anchorage, to get her music. She wasn't selling through bookstores or music stores where I'd gotten other Alaskan folk music. The only way to get it was by going to her house,
    which was in the College Park neighborhood of Anchorage. I bought two cassettes from her, Land of Wild Roses and the Land of Beyond. Then she gave me the vinyl LP of Diamonds in the Snow, saying she couldn't sell LPs anymore. (!) Another Alaskan folk
    music artist told my wife, in a bit of a complaint, that Shirley English would not do concerts. So even back in the day her music was hard to come by.
    Eventually, I put the music from the LP onto a cassette; it and the Land of Wild Roses cassette froze on a flight down from Anchorage. I just checked, found I still have the Land of Beyond cassette. My son in Fairbanks wants it.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Muddonna KPAK@21:1/5 to Richard L. Hess on Sun Nov 29 13:48:46 2020
    On Thursday, January 13, 2000 at 11:00:00 PM UTC-9, Richard L. Hess wrote:
    I don't recall if I've ever asked this question here, but I was
    listening to my Shirley English tapes again in the car this week and
    wished that I had the music on CD and wished that I had more of it.
    The recent post on Gary Graves gave me the impetus to post this.
    It's somewhat touristy Alaska folk music--but I enjoy it and it brings
    back memories of some wonderful trips there.
    I've actually put up a web page for her on my music site http://rlhess.home.mindspring.com/music/se__000.htm
    But I've not been able to contact her nor anyone who knows her. Two
    letters to the PO Box on the cassettes have gone unanswered AND
    unreturned.
    There are two tapes that I've been able to find and the song titles
    are listed on my web page. The cassettes are called "The Land of
    Beyond" and "Land of Wild Roses." They were released in 1985 and 1988 respectively.
    Patric D'Eimon was involved in both albums to some degree and I've
    seen references to him on a few web pages but nothing concrete nor
    could I contact him, either.
    Anyway, any help would be appreciated as I'd love to get more of this
    music if any more was done and I'd love to get better copies
    Cheers,
    Richard


    She is my neighbor and in very poor health. I have known her for almost 50 years. Her husband was an Alaska Native and a pilot for Wien Air Alaska. William (Bill) English and is in the hall of fame. https://www.adn.com/bush-pilot/article/legends-
    alaska-aviation-bill-english/2012/10/10/
    I can inquire if there any more copies of the recordings available. I realize this is an old post but in case you are still interested...
    Karen Peterson

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)