This album crosses the line between independent and vanity. It’s well-packaged and -produced, with notable cameos (Ian Tyson, Johnny Burke) and countrified hits (Dave Clark Five, Buffy Sainte-Marie). Even an original, “Honeymoon,” borrows liberally from an Anne Murray chestnut. The sense is of someone moving to make their pastime a second career. A melding of “This Land” (Woody Guthrie made Canadian by Oscar Brand) and our national anthem sounds like an effort to garner airplay royalties in perpetuity at sign-off time on TV stations. A defter stroke is “So’s Christmas,” adapting the standard dismissal of a promise to the chime of holiday cheer.
