Les pionniers de la musique country de l'Ontario :
Marlene Beaudry

MARLENE BEAUDRY was born in Alliston, Ontario, and later moved to Toronto to pursue her career as a Country music performer. She was “discovered” by music producer/promoter Ben Weatherby while she was performing on the Toronto night club circuit (Edison Hotel / The Caribou Club, etc.) during the late 1960s, and he produced her early career recordings, released on the famed Arc Records label.

Marlene Beaudry entered the recording scene in 1968 with immediate airplay success on her cover of Jeannie C. Riley’s smash hit, “Harper Valley PTA”. It was the lead single from her Arc Records debut album of the same name. Oddly, Marlene gets to sing only four of the ten songs on her debut package, which also features Pop hits of the day, including “Mrs. Robinson”, “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” and “Mony, Mony” – all delivered by unidentified vocalists.

A follow-up album, “Country Reflections” (Arc-790), was filled with Marlene Beaudry’s renditions of Country favourites, including reprises of her “Harper Valley PTA”, “Nobody But A Fool” and “Touch My Heart” recordings from the debut release.

A third album, “Woman Is Boss” (Arc-812), released in 1969, was a continuation of Marlene Beaudry’s success with her cover versions of Nashville’s hits of the day, as well as two songs penned by Canadian songwriters: the album’s title track, “Woman Is Boss”, was written by Eric Robertson, and “Pride In Mind” by G. Lowe. Marlene Beaudry also teamed up with East Coast legend Dick Nolan (“Aunt Martha’s Sheep”) for two duet albums: the 1969 “Duets” and a follow-up “Country Hits” album, both on the Arc Records label.

Marlene Beaudry with duo recording partner Dick Nolan

Marlene Beaudry’s single releases on Arc Records included “Harper Valley PTA”, “Pride In Mind”, and “Roses, Rain & Yesterday” – the latter song, written by Harlan Howard, was not available on her albums. She also had four of her recordings featured on the Arc Records Various Artists album “More Country Hits”, including “Stand By Your Man”, “The Girl Most Likely”, “Flattery Will Get You Everywhere”, and “Your Squaw Is On The Warpath”.

After touring extensively in Ontario, Quebec and throughout the Maritimes. Marlene Beaudry quietly exited the music world. Thankfully, she provided us with a solid catalogue of material to keep her name among Canadian Country Music’s early pioneer artists.