Al Oster born 3 December 1924

Albert Adam 'Al' Oster  was born in Vanguard, Saskatchewan. Like most singers of an earlier era, he had come to love country music while listening to old-time country radio stations on his parents “Zenith” battery-powered radio on the Prairies. Years later, he bought a guitar and learned to chord western songs while working in Alberta logging camps in the winter, and on cattle ranches in the summer. Al, who had been discharged from the Canadian army in Calgary in 1946, earned the nickname “Calgary Slim” while roaming around with his “dobro”-playing buddy “Ray, playing theatres, restaurants, and dance halls in the Calgary and Edmonton areas.  They called themselves “Slim n’ Ray”. 

Then Al headed for Vancouver where he met his wife Mary. The man who wrote the ballads that define the Yukon’s colourful history and lifestyle may well have done the same thing in Saskatchewan or Alberta, except for a fateful day in June, 1957. Oster had been touring the Peace River country with another musician when, on a whim, they decided to take a few days off and travel north on the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse, just to have a look.  At the time, he had just sold his interest in a building supply firm and was living in Langley, B.C. 

Al had heard many tales about the Yukon’s colourful characters and stories.  The brief visit to Whitehorse did not disappoint him. When he returned to Langley, Al talked his wife Mary into moving north to explore new challenges.  She agreed.  The 10-day journey over the very rough, muddy, dusty road ended in Whitehorse on July 30, 1957. At the time, the town was at milepost 918.  Al, who had written country ballads since he was a kid growing up on a poor dust-bowl farm in Saskatchewan in the dirty thirties, instinctively knew the Yukon was the place for a songwriter.  The song “918 Miles” was born. 

Whitehorse

In Whitehorse, Al worked briefly at Campbell’s Lumber Yard, and then in Hougen’s Hardware department. He also played in a country-and-western band with Johnny Hutsul, guitar player John Irwin, steel player Andy Donais, and drummer Cal Waddington. The group sometimes played that new-fangled music called Rock n’ Roll. One Saturday evening, they were booked to play a dance at the Whitehorse High School.  Al always wanted to write a rock n’ roll song especially for the highschool crowd, and the song “Midnight Sun Rock” was born. 

Later, while working for Husky Building Supplies, a customer came in to buy some special-size brass screws. “We didn’t have any in stock,” said Al “so I gave the standard Yukon excuse.  They are coming in on the next boat which will arrive next Thursday.” The unimpressed customer replied that everything seemed to be on the next boat.  Al went home for lunch and in 10 minutes wrote the song “Next Boat”. “Midnight Sun Rock” and “Next Boat” were recorded on a single 45 RPM record, his first release.  The first order of 1000 45’s sold out and in 1959, Al re-recorded those songs on his first album called “Yukon Gold”.  That version of Midnight Sun Rock was inducted into the Nashville Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2002. 

Al also worked five evenings a week at WHTV as their first announcer/operator after finishing his regular day job at the RCAF base as a clerk. By 1961, he had a growing collection of Yukon songs.  In December, the CBC offered him a 15-minute radio show called Northland Echos.  After a few miscues while taping at the CBC studios, Al began recording the show in his basement.  The program aired for three years. In the mid-60s, Al was a headliner on the first pan-north radio show out of Whitehorse, called Northern Jamboree, with the youthful voice of Les McLaughlin hosting the show. 

In 1967, Al, with Hank Karr and his group, performed at the Canadian Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal.  While there, the CBC recorded an LP, featuring Hank and Al, called “The Yukon Stars. He subsequently attained national recognition for his musical works in 1968 by being the first Canadian composer to receive the BMI CANADA Certificate of Honour Achievement Award for an outstanding contribution to Canadian music in the country / folk music category. By 1987 he had recorded and released 14 LP's in Canada,USA, Germany, and Belgium. In 1988 he filmed and released a 30 minute Music/Video documentary on the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. 

In 1993 he received the Yukon Heritage Award from the Yukon Historical and Museums Association for his contribution to the preservation of Yukon history; and in April, 1999 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada for his contribution to Canadian heritage. In 2002 he was again awarded recognition by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11 for his musical contribution to Canada history. 

In his later years Al operated CD and DVD duplication service in Salmon Arm, British Columbia. He died at the Salmon Arm Memorial Hospital on October 28th, 20117 of natural causes. 

 (Edited from Yukon Nuggests & Citizenfreak)