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Eric Stephen LeBlanc (March 19, 1946 – September 2, 2015) was a Canadian librarian and blues researcher and writer.

http://www.earthsoption.com/obituaries/obituary-listings?obId=620925#/obituaryInfo Obituary for Eric Stephen LeBLANC It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Eric Stephen LeBlanc. Eric died peacefully in Victoria hospice in the early hours of Wednesday, September 2nd, 2015. Eric was born on March 19,1946, in St. John, New Brunswick to parents of Acadian heritage, Madeline (nee Doucette) and Leonide LeBlanc. Eric grew up in Montreal, where the family moved when he was still a young child. Eric believed in hard work and was motivated to get ahead with life and find a path that would bring him satisfaction and stability. He completed an M.A. in Math at McGill University and the McGill Graduate School of Library Science Degree in 1974, knowing that his natural research skills would be a good fit in the world of libraries. He worked as librarian at the National Research Council's Canadian Institute of Science and Technology (CISTI) Ottawa from 1974 to 1980. He moved to Victoria, B.C. in 1980 to become CISTI Librarian at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory. It was in Victoria in 1984 that Eric met his future wife, Mary. They married 2 years later. It was at the Observatory library that all of his personal and professional skills blossomed. He was employed there until 2005. In the words of Jim Hesser, retired director, who was responsible for transferring Eric from Ottawa to Victoria, "For some 25 years Eric managed the National Research Council's Library at the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics where the innovative services he provided garnered accolades from staff as well as visitors from around the world. His knowledge of how and where to locate information required for his clients' scientific and technical research was only surpassed once internet search engines became available. But those engines never replaced Eric's infectious good humour, big smile and reference to one and all as "Chief." This brings us to Eric's love of life, his joie de vivre, his deep love of gospel, blues, jazz, folk, and other genres of music. This love for music began at the age of 13 or younger when he joined a record club and was able to borrow seminal blues and jazz albums from the Folkways Records Anthology. Even at that age he began writing biographical notes of the artists in little notebooks, a habit that lasted his lifetime. Fast forward to the 2013 publication of Blues, a Regional Experience, co- authored with Bob Eagle. This was the culmination of Eric's lifelong and determined effort to get the artists' biographical information correct. To quote, "For me, having it wrong just marginalizes the music. That's my reason for doing this, to get it straight." Since 1986, with his radio show, "Let The Good Times Roll" at UVIC's CFUV, Eric shared his passion with others. After his retirement from librarianship, he taught courses starting in 2006 in the history of jazz and blues at the Victoria Conservatory of Music where he was much admired by his students as a very helpful and accessible teacher. There is so much to say about Eric the man. He was an attentive listener, a good friend to many, a great conversationalist who could be intense and serious but warm and funny, frequently cracking jokes. He was genuinely interested in others, never putting himself above them, and somehow always letting them know that he valued them. He was also an astute observer of human nature, letting compassion rule always. His legacy of love and laughter remains a blessing for all who knew him. Eric is survived by his wife Mary, and brothers, Hubert, Kenneth and Barry, and their respective families. Finally, we offer deep gratitude to the Victoria Hospice Society for their compassionate, gentle care in Eric's last days, helping him complete his earthly journey. Mary extends thanks to all those who visited and who have expressed their warm thoughts and memories. It means so much, and Eric is taking it all in, for sure.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:y13ws6MKfdoJ:victoriabluessociety.shawwebspace.ca/asset/view/48068/dh008.pdf+&cd=9&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk Written by Dave Harris, who is a career musician (mostly busking), sometime writer forWestcoast Blues Revue/Real Blues magazines and author of the definitive book on one man bands – Head, Hands & Feet. April 28, 2014 Interview: Eric S. LeBlanc Fans of blues radio in Victoria will be familiar with Eric LeBlanc, who hosts the longtime show in town at CFUV (Let the Good Times Roll). Eric has also recently published a book (with Bob Eagle) – Blues: A Regional Experience, which puts his longtime research on blues dates into one place. Recognized by the blues cognoscenti as the leading authority on this subject, we are lucky to have such an authority living here. Eric also teaches jazz and blues at the Conservatory. I’m proud to know Eric, the true definition of a “gentleman and a scholar”! Dave Harris: What got you interested in blues? Who did you hear first? What year? Eric S LeBlanc: I first hear the blues on CBC radio in 1958: “Dark Was The Night – Cold Was The Ground” (Blind Willie Johnson, Columbia ’27). That record changed my life. I was 12 years old (I just turned 68 in March) and the ride began. I purchased the Frederic Ramsey JAZZ anthology series (Folkways ‘52-’53) which was mostly Jazz except for The Blues album (volume 2 of 13) which had “Dark Was The Night”, including these artists that are still favourites: Blind Lemon Jefferson (“Black Snake Moan”, Paramount, ’27), Ma Rainey (“Misery Blues”, Paramount, ’27), and Bessie Smith (“Mean Old Bed Bug Blues”, Columbia, ‘27). All this happened in 1959-1960, the same period that “The Country Blues” (Samuel Charters, 1959), and “Blues Fell This Morning: The Meaning Of The Blues (Paul Oliver, 1960) were published (ed. These are two of the seminal books on blues). The late Walter C. Allen introduced me to these books – Walter was the go-to person in the early 60s when it came to buying jazz & blues literature. His book on Fletcher Henderson, “Hendersonia” (1973) is still worth reading. As for Paul Oliver, he is the most important early blues researcher and author – his work still holds true today unlike Sam Charters’ blues research. See this link for a Paul Oliver 70th Birthday Tribute for his importance: DH: Who did you see back in those days? Were a lot of the bigger names coming to Montreal? Who were some of your favourites? ESL: We were lucky in Montreal as most of the bluesmen that were rediscovered during The Blues Revival period came to town, including Son House, Rev. Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, etc. The only person I don’t remember seeing in Montreal was Skip James. My favourites that I saw in those days were B. B. King, Bessie Jones (of The South Sea Island Singers), Big Joe Williams, Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, Byther Smith (Ottawa), Clifton Chenier, Coco Montoya, David Wilcox, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten. Fats Domino, Freddie King, Page 2 Ike & Tina Turner, James Carr, James Cotton (with Matt “Guitar” Murphy), Jimi Hendrix, John Lee Hooker, Johnny Shines, Ken Hamm, King Biscuit Boy, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Little Brother Montgomery, Lonnie Johnson, Louis Armstrong, Mahalia Jackson, Martin, Bogan & Armstrong, Mississippi John Hurt, Muddy Waters (with Otis Spann), Nat “King” Cole, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Rev. Gary Davis, Robert “Pete” Williams, Rolling Stones, Sippie Wallace, Son House, Son Seals, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Sunnyland Slim, T-Bone Walker (with Paul Pena, Ottawa) and many others, usually at music festivals like Ann Arbor Jazz & Blues Festival, Mariposa Folk Festival, etc. During this 60s period, we also saw folk-blues artists like Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, Pat Sky, Tom Rush, etc. DH: You were a big LP collector back then. Was it hard to find the records and where were you getting them from? ESL: I mostly bought albums by mail as I was an early subscriber to Blues Unlimited, and Blues World. I also bought Godrich & Dixon’s pre-1943 discography “Blues Records”. How else would you know what was available? I would guess that nearly 90% of the music I have, even today, I purchased by mail. I’m not a compulsive buyer unless you think buying every release on a record label is compulsive. The last great CD I received (just last week) was Fred Kaplan’s “Hold My Mule” featuring Sax Gordon and Junior Watson. A great instrumental CD if you’re into the 1950s Maxwell Davis jump blues sound. Lloyd Glenn was Fred’s teacher. The new box-set “Rise And Fall Of Paramount Records” v. 1 covering 1917-1927 is a major reissue in late 2013 which is must if you’re a fan of very early blues, gospel and jazz on Paramount – but you really also need to have the time as it’s 36 hours of music on a 800-track USB memory stick! Bear Family has just reissued the 1964 Piedmont album by the Rev. Robert Wilkins including the original version of “The Prodigal Son”. I would like to restate the obvious : collectors need to obtain at least the essential discographical works like Godrich & Dixon’s prewar “Blues & Gospel Records”, the postwar blues discographies by Les Fancourt & Bob McGrath, and find the time to listen! Fans can just continue to love the music. DH: Did you do radio shows in Montreal or was that after you moved here? What year did you come here and why? ESL: I started doing radio in 1969 (CKUT) when I was a McGill University grad student, then I moved to Ottawa and subbed occasionally on CKCU, then finally on CFUV when I moved here in late December 1979. I took a transfer from National Research Council (Ottawa) to work at Dominion Astrophysical Observatory/Herzberg Institute Of Astrophysics (Victoria, West Saanich Road), and retired after 32 years in 2005. I had promised myself that I would be retired for the same number of years as I worked. So, I now need to live until I’m 92! DH: You have one, if not the, longest running blues shows on the Canadian west coast. What inspired you to do that? Are you still doing it? ESL: Holger Petersen (CKUA), Ron Simmonds (CFRO) and John Tackaberry (CKCU) are the pioneers of blues radio in Canada. I’ve been on CFUV since December 17, 1984, with “Let The Page 3 Good Times Roll” now in it’s 29th year: every Wednesday evening, 20:00-22:00. I’ve always liked radio (I still don’t watch TV!) and I treat the CFUV listeners as if they are in the middle of a very large city. The program covers Blues, Gospel, R&B, secular & gospel vocal groups, Soul, and some early Rock ‘n Roll – and mostly from currently available releases. DH: You are well known amongst blues historians/reviewers/critics for your “Blues Dates”. What made you so interested to research them? ESL: I actually started this list for “Let The Good Times Roll” and when the internet Blues-L newsgroup started up in April 1993 (it only recently closed), I decided to post these daily lists. In 2010, The Blues Foundation, granted me a “Keeping The Blues Alive” for these posting. Today, Jimmy Jacobs is posting these on the Yahoo pre-war blues newsgroup – now being updated with the latest data that I’ve gathered in the last few years. DH: Congratulations on your book (Blues – A Regional Experience) ! It was quite a while in the making and the scope is impressive. Can you tell us a bit about it and the process? ESL: This book would never have happened if it wasn’t for meeting Bob Eagle. I knew his name from Blues Unlimited, his own magazine, “Alley Music – Australia’s Blues Magazine” (1971), and the albums he compiled and annotated for Bruce Bastin/Interstate Music. Bob is one of the most knowledgeable blues scholars today. We originally wrote the book for Greenwood Press’s “Guides To American Roots Music” but it was decided that ABC-CLIO/Praeger would publish as it was too academic for Greenwood Press. As you know Dave, it is not a simple history of the blues – at least not a straight forward history. That history book still needs to be written (by someone else!). At 600 pages, it’s not an easy read as it takes into account the concept of Eco- region. Anthropologically, this term describes a geographical area by its environmental conditions (like climate), landforms (like rivers, mountains, valleys) and soil characteristics (for cotton, sugar etc). It was our way to get away from vague terms like “Pre-War Blues”, “Post- War Blues”, “Piedmont Blues”, “Memphis Blues”, etc., and I must not forget the truly vague terms, “Acoustic Blues”, “Electric Blues”, “Delta Blues”. This eco-region approach also offers better explanations of musical styles than state of origin. A dictionary-encyclopedia layout just doesn’t show all the importance of this music especially as you can’t easily tell who were neighbors when growing up. We also recognized that this approach doesn’t take into account the individuality of certain performers. Let’s face it, a Skip James was very unique – you would never confuse him with other performers from the ‘Mississippi Valley Loess Plains’ eco-region, including neighbors like Charley Patton, Gus Cannon, Jim Jackson, Mississippi John Hurt, Robert Wilkins, Tommy Johnson, Tommy McClennan, etc. except maybe for Jack Owens and Shirley Griffith. Due to space constraints, some of the entries are more complete than others. The biographical data is always included and is very complete, including birth names, parental data, day and place of birth and death, and burial data. We had enough data for 3 volumes. To make it very comprehensive, many of the entries are short excluding the career facts. The early Vaudeville performers are given their own chapter – basically because they were always moving around and not limited to a specific eco-region. We have include new biographical data for many established artists, including Bessie Smith, Big Bill Broonzy, Blind Blake, Blind Lemon Page 4 Jefferson, Charley Patton, David Bartholomew, Ernie K-Doe, Jimmy & Joe Liggins, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Lightnin’ Slim, Otis Spann, Tommy McClennan, and many, many others, including accompanying & session musicians. An essential read with basically this approach is Bruce Bastin’s book “Red River Blues : The Blues Tradition in the Southeast (1973). By the way, Jazz music does not lend itself to this ‘eco-region’ approach basically because it grew up in the city. Like they say, “Jazz may have been born in New Orleans, but it grew up in Kansas City.” You can’t say that about blues. You’ll need to read the book to find out why. Finally two important points: 1) the alphabetical index is very extensive (3400+ names) which will help readers who prefer the dictionary approach, and 2) it is suggested that the readers visit the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) website to download the necessary colored eco-region maps – the Level III maps that the publisher could not include due to cost (which we regret). DH: You sold me much of your LP collection so I’m aware of the size and breadth of it. Where did you buy LPs in Victoria? ESL: Very few were purchased in Victoria, mostly all by mail. DH: I’ve run into you a few times at blues shows but not that much. Why? What shows have been memorable for you in Victoria? ESL: I’ve never been someone who goes to clubs especially as I’ve never drank and I couldn’t take the smoke. I would get ill. Also, it’s very important for me that the sound be excellent and let’s face it, Inner Harbour-Ship Point – wind and all - is no Carnegie Hall I’ve even walked out on many shows including SRV, Bettye LaVette, and many others after not even one set. When it comes to Blues-R&B type concerts I’ve heard in Victoria-area, the best include: Alvin “Youngblood” Hart, Aaron Moore (Pt. Townsend), Amos Garrett, B. B. King, Big Bill Morganfield (Vancouver), Big Dave McLean, Big Joe Duskin (with Michael Kaeshammer), Billy Boy Arnold, Billy Branch (Vancouver), Bob Brozman, Bobby King & Terry Evans (with Colin Linden), Brenda Boykin (with Johnny Norturne, Anthony Paule), Bryan Lee, Buckwheat Zydeco, Carey Bell (Vancouver), Carl Weathersby, Carlos Del Junco, Cash McCall, Cephas & Wiggins (Pt. Townsend), Charles Brown (Vancouver), Charlie Musselwhite, Chris Smither, Corey Harris, David Essig, David GoGo, Dave Goodman, Dave Harris, David Maxwell, Deborah Coleman (Vancouver), Doug Sahm, Downchild, Duke Robillard, Eddy Clearwater, Ellen McIlwaine, Eric Bibb, Frankie Lee (Vancouver), Freddie Roulette, Gary Primich (Pt. Townsend), Gatemouth Brown, Greg Piccolo, Guy Davis, Henry Townsend (Pt. Townsend), Hans Theesink (with Terry Evans, Vancouver), Henry Butler (Pt. Townsend), Henry Gray (Pt. Townsend), Holmes Brothers (Vancouver), Honeyboy Edwards (Duncan’s Garage, with my good friend Dorie Crockett 1935- 2007), Ike Turner (Vancouver), Jack Owens (Pt. Townsend, with Bud Spires), James Harman (with Hollywood Fats), James “Blood” Ulmer (solo, Vancouver), Jim Byrnes, Jimmy Rogers, Jimmy Thackery, Jimmy Witherspoon (with Duke Robillard), Jody Williams, Joe Beard (Vancouver), Joe Louis Walker, John Dee Holeman (Pt. Townsend), John Fahey, John Hammond, John Jackson (Pt. Townsend), John Lee Hooker, Johnny Adams, Jon Cleary, Jr. Boy Jones, Junior Kimbrough (Pt. Townsend), Keb’Mo, Kelly Joe Phelps, Ken & Chris Whiteley, Kenny Wayne, Lazy Lester (with Little George Sueref), Lee Allen (with The Blasters), Lester Quitzau, Leon Redbone, Page 5 Long John Baldry, Lonnie Pitchford (Pt. Townsend), Los Lobos, Maceo Parker, Magic Slim, Mark Hummel, Maria Muldaur, Matt Andersen, Memphis Slim (Vancouver), The Meters, Michael Hill’s Blues Mob, Michael Jerome Browne, Michael Pickett, Michael Roach (Pt. Townsend), Morgan Davis, Moses Rascoe (Vancouver), NRBQ, Otis Clay, Paul Geremia (Pt. Townsend), “Philadelphia” Jerry Ricks (Pt. Townsend), Phillip Walker (with Nat Dove), Pinetop Perkins, Pop Staples & The Staple Singers, Queen Ida, R. L. Burnside (Vancouver), Rick Finis, Robert Cray, Robert Lockwood, Jr. (Vancouver), Rockin’ Highliners (with Robert Tycholis), Roomful Of Blues (with Mac Odom), Roy Gaines (Pt. Townsend), Roy Rogers, Ruthie Foster, Saffire (with Ann Rabson, Pt. Townsend), Sam Myers (with Anson Funderburgh), Shuggie Otis, Sonny Rhodes, “Spider” John Koerner, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Sue Foley, T-Bone Burnett (solo, acoustic), Taj Mahal, Tim Williams, etc. DH: I understand you teach some courses through the Conservatory of Music. Can you tell us about that? ESL: I’ve been a student of Jazz since 1958 when I picked up the Frederic Ramsey JAZZ series (Folkways Records) and have kept up on the scene since those days – catching most of the live jazz acts in Montreal. When Brian Dale retired in 2006, I was also retired and was asked to take over his two Jazz Survey courses (in September 2006), covering Jazz from 1917 to today. I include Blues if it complements the Jazz players which is very easy to do if you know well BOTH your Jazz and Blues. Depending on the class, I will expand on Blues music but the main reason I’m there is to cover the Jazz era. It’s nice to see students reactions to when I feature, say, Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five’s “I’m Not Rough” (OKeh, 1927) featuring an amazing ‘country blues’ duet break by Louis & guest guitarist Lonnie Johnson, then followed by a repeated riff that sounds like the 78rpm is skipping! Killer track that was included on that early Frederic Ramsey Folkways “Blues” album that I mentioned above. I have many more examples where Jazz, Blues and Gospel meet. These courses are available to community members, not just to students. By the way, Dean Alger’s book about Lonnie Johnson (“The Original Guitar Hero and The Power of Music : The Legendary Lonnie Johnson – Music and Civil Rights”, University of North Texas Press, 2014) has just been released. DH: Thanks Eric! ESL: Thank you big time Dave!