The Long Trail: My Life in the West

Ian Tyson

Random House of Canada, Oct 25, 2011 - Biography & Autobiography - 208 pages

A Canadian icon on his longstanding love of the West and his life in "one of the last true cowboy countries on either side of the border."

"I live on a ranch about six miles east of the town of Longview and the old Cowboy Trail in the foothills of the Rockies. On a perfect day, like today, I can't imagine being anywhere else in the world. Of course, I'm not going to say there aren't those other days when you think, 'What am I doing here?' It's beautiful country and it can be brutally tough as well." —Ian Tyson

Ian Tyson's journey to the West began in the unlikely city of Victoria, BC, where he rode his dad's horses on the weekends and met cowboys in the pages of Will James's books, and eventually followed that cowboy dream to rodeo competition. Laid up after breaking a leg, he learned the guitar, and drifted east, becoming a key songwriter and performer in the folk revival movement. But the West always beckoned, and when his marriage to his partner and collaborator Sylvia broke up and the music scene threatened to grind him down, he retreated to a ranch and work with cutting horses. Soon, he'd bought a ranch in Alberta and found a new voice as the renowned Western Revival singer-songwriter and horseman he is today. This book is Ian's reflection on that journey...

Contents

• Sunrise: 1
• West of the West: 9
• Drifting: 31
• New York: 52
• Horses: 73
• Sagebrush Renaissance: 96
• Cowboyography: 117
• The Changing West: 132
• Beef Beans and Bullshit: 149
• Raven Rock: 175
• Closing the Circle: 193

About the author

IAN TYSON was one of North America’s most respected singer-songwriters. A pioneer who began his career in the folk boom of the 1960s, he was one of the first Canadians to break into the American popular music market. In the years that followed, he hosted his own TV show and recorded some of the best folk and western albums ever made. Tyson was a recipient of the Order of Canada, and received multiple Juno and Canadian Country Music awards. He toured consistently across Canada and throughout the United States, and until his death in December 2022, he continued to live and work on his ranch in the foothills of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Long Trail: My Life in the West
• Author: Ian Tyson
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Random House of Canada, 2011
• ISBN: 0307359360, 9780307359360
• Length: 208 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Adventurers & Explorers; Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts; Nature / Animals / Horses