King Ganam (1914 to 1994) was the fiddler who opened Canadian television’s country era. Born Ameen Ganam in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, he led the Sons of the West from 1942, signed with RCA Victor after winning a 1950 band contest, and opened every episode of CBC’s Country Hoedown from 1956 to 1959. He was one of the original inductees into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989.
Why Ganam matters
Ganam was one of the first fiddlers Canadians saw on national television, week after week. His RCA records put prairie old-time tunes and his own western swing compositions into homes from coast to coast, and his 1956 tune book King Ganam’s Jigs and Reels put them on music stands. Tunes like Rippling Water Jig and Golden Eagle Hornpipe still show up in Canadian jams because he recorded them. He also showed that a prairie kid with a Lebanese father could become a national star with a fiddle and a wink.
Life and career
Ganam was born on August 9, 1914, in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. His father, Sied Ameen Ganam Kadri, came from the village of Lala in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, and his mother, Chelsea Pritchard, was an American of English ancestry from Nebraska. The family settled in Sheho, Saskatchewan. Ganam played fiddle by age five. He learned from old-time fiddlers around him and took formal lessons from W. Knight Wilson, Gregori Garbovitsky, and Jack Thornicroft. By 13 he was playing live on CHWC radio in Regina and working local dances. He took the stage name King Ganam because he thought his Arabic name confused audiences.
The family moved to Edmonton, where Ganam taught Arabic and Islam at the Al Rashid Mosque, Canada’s first mosque, in addition to playing. In 1942 he helped form the Sons of the West. The band toured western Canada, played weddings and dances, and appeared on CBC Radio’s Alberta Ranch House. In 1950 the band won the World Open Western Band Competition in Vancouver. Ganam signed with RCA Victor and took the title Canada’s King of the Fiddle. His early 1950s sides came out on RCA’s Bluebird label.
The band moved to Toronto, and in 1952 became regulars on CBC television and radio shows, including Holiday Ranch. Ganam had his own CBC radio show in 1954 and 1955 and played Casa Loma in Toronto. From 1956 to 1959 he appeared on CBC TV’s Country Hoedown with Gordie Tapp and Tommy Hunter. He opened each show with his fiddle, and the camera zoomed in as he winked at the audience. By 1956 his fan club had more than 1,000 members. In 1961 CTV gave him his own national program, The King Ganam Show. RCA released Square Dances in 1959, and its budget label RCA Camden issued King of the Fiddle in 1965 and Ridin’ the Fiddle in 1968.
In 1972 Ganam moved to California to be near family, though he came back to Canada to perform. He died on April 26, 1994, in Carlsbad, California. His sister, Lila Fahlman, published a biography, Fiddler With a Wink, in 1995.
Playing style
Ganam played Canadian old-time dance music with a western swing accent. His reels and jigs move at dance tempo with a clean, bouncy bow, the Down East and prairie approach that Don Messer also used. On his own compositions, like Ridin’ the Fiddle and Alberta Stomp, he added swing phrasing and a looser feel, which set him apart from the pure old-time players.
His formal training shows in his intonation and in the polish of his hornpipes. He specialized in reels and polkas, and his records keep the melody clear and danceable over a steady band.
Influences and legacy
Ganam learned from prairie old-time fiddlers and from three classical teachers, and The Canadian Encyclopedia describes him as a western swing composer. On television he worked beside Tommy Hunter, who later hosted his own long-running show with fiddler Al Cherny.
His records and his 1956 tune book seeded the repertoire of prairie fiddlers who came after him. Along with Don Messer and Andy DeJarlis, he defined what a Canadian fiddle record sounded like in the 1950s and 1960s, and the CCMA honored that in 1989 by placing him in its first hall of fame class.
Signature tunes and songs
Ridin’ the Fiddle Alberta Stomp King Ganam’s Special Rippling Water Jig Golden Eagle Hornpipe Qu’Appelle Valley Breakdown Arkansas Traveler.
Essential recordings
Square Dances (RCA Victor, 1959) King of the Fiddle (RCA Camden, 1965) Ridin’ the Fiddle (RCA Camden, 1968)
Awards and honors
World Open Western Band Competition, Vancouver, with the Sons of the West (1950) Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame, original inductee (1989) Saskatchewan Country Music Association Legend and Legacy Award (1990)
Watch and listen
Ganam’s 1956 RCA Victor recording of Rippling Water Jig. Listen for the bounce in the bow and the steady dance tempo.
Ganam’s own composition Ridin’ the Fiddle, the title tune of his 1968 album. Hear the swing feel he brought to old-time dance music.
What to learn from Ganam
Learn Rippling Water Jig from the 1956 record. It is a 6/8 jig, which most bluegrass fiddlers avoid, and Ganam’s version is clean enough to hear every note. The technique to steal is his dance bow. He plays each note with its own short stroke, keeps the accents on the beat, and never rushes. Put on the record, tap your foot, and play along until your bow lands with his. That habit will make your reels and hoedowns easier to dance to, which is what fiddle music was for.
Sources
King Ganam, The Canadian Encyclopedia King Ganam, Square Dances, Discogs King Ganam, Ridin’ the Fiddle, Discogs King Ganam, King of the Fiddle, Discogs
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the fiddle guide for more Canadian fiddlers. Ganam’s television era overlapped with Don Messer, and Al Cherny took the fiddle chair on Tommy Hunter’s later show. Andy DeJarlis recorded the prairie repertoire from the Manitoba side, and Ned Landry was his contemporary in the East.